A webinar series launched by the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) for knowledge upgrade among teachers during the lockdown period has attracted international audience as well.
The Pleiothematic lecture series conducted by the institute, which was originally planned only for teachers within the district, for moral development of the students, has now attracted audience from within the country and also from foreign nations such as Saudi Arabia, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Syria and Cameroon.
Principal of the institute M. Selvam said the adverse situation created by COVID-19 and the restrictions during the lockdown to prevent its spread had actually been turned into an opportunity to improve teachers’ knowledge on a variety of subjects through the online medium.
The online webinar series was started as a 15-day programme only for teachers from Taramangalam block, but it went beyond boundaries.
Resource persons from various other organisations such as UNICEF had also been invited to conduct sessions through the platform.
E. Maanvizhi, a lecturer at the institute, who is involved in organising these sessions said “Flyers are being distributed through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram. Till date, about 15 sessions have been conducted online and 250 persons attend each programme. As many as 4,250 persons have attended these programmes till date, including those from different levels of the teaching profession such as secondary grade, graduate teachers, post-graduate teachers, college and university professors and representatives of non-governmental organisations involved in education-related activities.”