Siliguri, Aug. 12: From this year, Nepali and Hindi medium government schools will be brought under the Integrated Learning Improvement Programme (ILIP) of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a Centre-state initiative aimed at achieving 100 per cent literacy in the 5-14 age group.
The programme was launched last year in Siliguri educational district, and around 63 schools, all with Bengali as the medium of instruction, were covered. Nepali and Hindi medium schools were left out because no books were available in these languages.
Under the programme, students are provided with three sets of books on math, environmental studies and language (Bengali, Nepali or Hindi). The ILIP books, which have been prepared by Paschim Banga Rajya Prarambik Shiksha Unnayan Sanstha, will be in addition to the usual course books. The schools are also provided with teaching-learning materials like abacus, pictures and charts.
“We could not start the programme last year in the non Bengali medium schools because the books were only in Bengali. Now all the translation work has been done and we will launch the programme in 10 Nepali and 10 Hindi medium schools from all the six educational circles,” said N.C. Paul, the project officer of SSA, Siliguri educational district.
“Apart from these 20 schools, 35 other Bengali-medium schools will be taken up for the quality-improvement drive. The schools have been selected on the basis of survey and assessment,” he added.
By 2006, all the 393 primary schools of Siliguri educational district are likely to be brought under ILIP.
Aimed at improvement in teaching-learning techniques, ILIP is introduced in Class I of primary schools. The programme is continued in the successive classes.
“Unlike the traditional teaching style, this is a participatory teaching approach, in which children are their own teachers. It seeks to bring out the best in them by giving them personalised attention, which is often seen missing. We have started training teachers for this,” said Ananya Roy, the community mobilisation and alternative schooling co-ordinator of SSA.
