Anjani Kumar Srivastava, the director of higher education in Jharkhand, lights a lamp during the inauguration of the workshop at Jamshedpur Women’s College. Pix: Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 27: It was study-time exclusively meant for teachers. And from their reactions it was clear that they were enjoying themselves completely.

About 20 teachers of Jamshedpur Women’s College were exposed to various facets of the environment during a workshop that began on the college premises today.

The three-day workshop, “Environment Education in Teacher’s Education”, was inaugurated by Anjani Kumar Srivastava, the state director of higher education.

Among others present on the occasion were Shukla Mahanty, the principal of Jamshedpur Women’s College, and Daisy Narayan, a senior professor of Patna University and secretary of Prativesh, which is organising the workshop.

“The environment is not just about our natural surroundings, but is also man-made,” said Narayan.

“This is a one-of-its-kind workshop being held in Jamshedpur for the first time and it aims at making teachers aware of the environment around them and how to deal with it,” she added.

The teachers were delighted.

Joohi Samarpita, a faculty member of the college, said: “When we were in school, we never got the opportunity to study the subject. Through this workshop, teachers will be better equipped to handle students and thus create a healthy learning environment. This workshop will prove to be very beneficial.”

Saroj Kumar Mishra, another participant, said: “This workshop involves activity-based learning. This type of learning involves not just teaching in the classroom but also teaching through activities. The workshop is useful because it has academic input that enables teachers to disseminate such information to students. This is an effective workshop, which will benefit everyone.”

The workshop also aims at imparting the four values — attitude, awareness, skill and participation — to the teachers, as they can either make or spoil the education system, explained Narayan.

The three-day workshop also seeks to enlighten teachers about the history of education by telling them about the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, which gives basic values on which school education should be designed.

Addressing the inaugural function, Srivastava hailed the efforts of the college to organise such a workshop.

“It is a relevant issue. The teachers should be made aware of issues pertaining to the environment so that they in turn can share the information with students,” he said.

Later, Srivastava said that the HRD department has set the ball rolling for setting up a sports university in Ranchi.

Moreover, he added, the department is also serious about the proposed national-level law university in the state.

An open session would be organised as a part of the workshop tomorrow.