As a 10-year-old, Saroja Sundararajan fared exceedingly well in all subjects except Mathematics. Before the final examinations, her teacher warned her about her poor performance in Mathematics, which shook her deeply.
That evening, her father came up with some exciting methods to teach her maths.
She went on to score a hundred in the examination. Years later, she became a Maths teacher and also bagged the Best Teacher Award at the national level.
Today, 85-year-old Saroja Sundarajan isn’t resting on her laurels. To help pitch in for PM CARES Fund, she has been selling her Maths activity worksheets through a website created for it.
“Thousands of people are suffering in the country because of COVID-19 pandemic. While I’m confined to my house, I want to contribute in some way to help society,” she says. Within a span of two weeks, she prepared 100 worksheets for children studying in classes VI to VIII and came up with a website, https://www.mathfundsindia. com with the help of a teenager.
On Monday, the policy think tank of the government, Niti Aayog, put out a tweet appreciating her effort.
“Children aged between 11 and 13 are impressionable and they can love or hate a subject at this time,” she says.
“When art is integrated with Mathematics and taught through activity-oriented sessions, children will fall in love with this subject." “Teaching and learning Maths should be fun. Sometimes, teachers begin a chapter warning them that it could be very tough. That doesn’t help. Instead, when they begin with a puzzle or a game or by sharing an anecdote, they can immediately grab the attention of students,” she adds.
After an extensive teaching career, she served as a consultant with Hey Math! and then volunteered to help poor students, she adds. Now when she isn’t preparing worksheets or solving problems, she begins baking, her latest fascination.
“I have been hooked to finding new techniques to make healthy desserts and I’m loving it,” she adds.