Funway: Classes I-III in Tamil Nadu state board schools will now learn through stories, songs, games

Chennai: A primary school student learning mathematics under the state board will no longer be introduced to numbers in the conventional sense, where the teacher jots them down on the black board and asks students to recite them in ascending order. Instead, they will be introduced through stories such as an injured sparrow asking for a certain number of twigs to build a nest. As the lesson progresses, shapes are introduced by drawing parallels to the sparrow’s body, and subtraction and addition through the number of eggs laid and hatched. Compassion is also shown to students, nudging them to be kind towards animals.

This is how the lessons have been planned in the newly launched textbooks for maths, language, social/environmental science for Classes I to III, in line with the state education policy (SEP).

TOI found every page of the books, to be used by students from this academic year, had illustrations and an activity — from drawing and colouring, to designing posters and songs. The font size was higher and a pictorial story preceded almost all lessons — a change in approach compared to last year’s textbooks for the same subject. Concepts such as money, introduced from Class III generally, have been pushed up to Class II.

“The aim was to get the child to enjoy reading the textbook. We brought in storytelling experts into the textbook committee (formed last year) to decide on how to present the concepts in an innovative and fun-driven way. Lessons henceforth will not only teach concepts, but also a value, a life skill, and hone children’s fine motor skills through simple activities,” said school education secretary B Chandra Mohan.

Subjects such as language have seen a deviation in approach too, with the first few chapters requiring students enact skits, sing songs, greet one another and engage in classroom conversations. The alphabets come much later.

“Earlier, the focus was on learning the language first and then doing activities, but this time we decided to teach language through a natural learning process. And the efficient way to do that is through listening and speaking first,” Chandra Mohan added. Another value addition is the introduction of personal hygiene and morals into the lessons through pictures, said a faculty from District Institute of Educational Training (DIET).

“There are illustrations depicting a polluted lake or an elderly person needing help, and students are asked to write down what they would do. Earlier, these were taught heavily through text. Now, the text content has been reduced significantly,” he said.

For teachers, a welcome feature is the integration of the textbooks with the workbook. “Until last year, we had separate workbooks and textbooks for primary students. Now, both of them are the same and this makes our jobs a lot easier,” said Stella Rosaline, a headmistress.

The school education department will be training primary school teachers to use the new textbooks from June 1 to 3. A section of faculty, however, say that while the ideas were welcome, much would depend on what the teachers do inside classrooms. “Though there is a three-day training session, teachers also need to adapt to the change and allow students to express themselves. That will take some time,” a senior faculty from SCERT said.