Goa: Soon, activity-based learning at DSE schools

PANAJI: The Diocesan Society of Education (DSE) is preparing to introduce more activity-based learning at the primary school level in its institutes, assistant secretary of DSE, Fr Arnaldo Pinto said recently.
Fr Pinto said that activity-based learning can help in laying a strong foundation at the pre-primary and primary school level, after he unveiled an activity workbook for pre-primary school children. He said that the DSE was in the process of similarly preparing activity-based learning material for the primary school students as well.

The core premise of activity-based learning is that learning should be based on doing hands-on experiments and activities.
The idea of activity-based learning is rooted in the common notion that children are active learners rather than passive recipients of information. If the child is provided the opportunity to explore on their own and provided an optimum learning environment, then the learning becomes joyful and long-lasting.
Sr Olivia Oliveira, who is a specialist in kindergarten education and under whose guidance the workbook for pre-primary students was prepared, said that the workbook contains activities which help the child to develop and keep them steady in their writing skills.
The book will help children solve and learn even more difficult cognitive tasks. It will aid in “creating a natural period of thinking through various activities”, she said.
The workbooks have already been implemented in Santa Cruz Pre Primary School, school manager Fr. Ricardo Pinheiro said, stating that the teachers and parents too had helped introducing the activity-based teaching-learning process in the school.
The school headmaster Russell Coutinho said that the parents had cooperated well in programmes as per the workbook where their active participation was required with their children.