Tutor Training Workshop: A Report 

A Tutor Training program was organised by NIOS on February 15, 2016 at 30 venues across North East region of India. Prof. C.B Sharma, Hon’ble Chairman of NIOS, lit the ceremonial lamp of learning and inaugurated the program from the HD Media Studio at NIOS headquarter, Noida. Speaking on the occasion Prof. Sharma said that it is indeed heartening and a proud moment for us that NIOS has taken a step to fulfill the ‘Digital India’ dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narender Modi ji. Through digital virtual classroom, NIOS is constantly taking steps in furtherance of Government’s vision of social empowerment and education. Organized under Adolescence Education Programme by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), NCERT and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with Vigyan Prasar and NACO, this workshop was the concluding event under Learner’s Engagement Activity 2015, which was organized from December 7-9, 2015. It is heartening to note that 3930 learner and tutors across nation had participated in LEA 2015 program through A-View, two thousand of these were from North East. All the participants came together in possibly the largest ever virtual classroom. Dr. Kuldeep Agarwal, Director Academic NIOS formally welcomed 700 dignitaries, Trainers and tutors who joined through A-View. Dr. Agarwal explained that under this Tutor Training workshop, special focus has been given to better teaching learning of Science stream, conducting Science Practical, activities based Science learning and conducting Science practical examinations. Apart from this some important adolescent issues such as role of life skills in

adolescent empowerment, healthy life style, HIV, Drug Abuse etc wee also focused upon. He also welcomed the Vigyan Prasar and NACO for having joined forces with NIOS for this training programme. The workshop began with mass yoga session of 30 minutes. Considering that the tutors begin their day early and finish late, the concept of chair yoga was introduced. It is a great

  

way to relax from head to toe without the stress of getting out of the chair. Conducted by the experts from HD Studio Noida, more than 700 participating tutors across venues performed the asanas simultaneously. The program was then followed by the different session taken by NIOS Academic Officers and Experts from Vigyan Prasar and NACO.  

Session I: NIOS Academic Officers: 

A number of subjects offered by NIOS has compulsory practical component. It was found important to discuss the various requirements for effective implementation of the same. The scheme of practical examinations at secondary and senior secondary level to be followed at each AI was discussed with the participant tutors.

Dr. Rajeev Prasad (AO, Chemistry) explained the Practical Guidelines for conducting Practical's in subjects Science and Technology at secondary level. He also discussed the requirements for subjects like Chemistry, Biology and Physics at senior secondary level. He

Ms. Neelam Gupta (SEO, EVS), focused on curriculum for the practical in Environmental Sciences. She explained to the participants that a student needs to compulsorily carry out four laboratory exercises, two creative activities and three field studies to make a total of nine practical exercises in the whole year.

Dr. Anjana Agarwal (AO, Home Science) explained in detail the activities to be carried out during the five practical PCPs available at secondary and senior secondary level in Home Science subject.

Similarly for subject of Geography, Ms. Tarun Punia (AO, Geography) explained the same in detail.

 

Session II: NACO NACO and NIOS joined hands to fulfill the common objective of reaching out to the diverse population of the country. Ms. Nidhi Rawat, Deputy Director (Social Protection & Mainstreaming), Delhi State AIDS Control Society, Govt. of NCT of Delhi took an exceptionally informative session of one hour on an important subject ‘HIV’. She explained to our tutors across various centers and learners present in HD studio at Noida about HIV and AIDS. She covered important subjects like Knowledge about HIV and AIDS, skills to protect self, removing myths and misconceptions, tackling stigma attached to HIV/ AIDS. ‘Drug abuse’ was another topic of discussion taken by Ms. Rawat. She explained the factors that lead to drug abuse and what can be done to cure this abuse. She further explained how tutors and teachers may look out for vulnerable children and can play an important role in channelizing the energy of adolescents in other activities. The number of queries raised across the centers was answered by the expert.

  

Session III: Vigyan Prasar (VP) NIOS collaborated with Vigyan Prasar with a common objective of promoting scientific and rational outlook among our target group. Vigyan Prasar had sponsored prizes to the winners of different activities in the form of books in LEA 2015. Over 100 marginalized young people received the books published by Vigyan Prasar which were highly appreciated by them. In this Tutor training workshop, VP took an enlightened session of 90 minutes, which included a Panel discussion on the theme of “Healthy Life Styles for Children”, Innovative Teaching methods like “Teaching Science through Role play’ and ‘Teaching Maths through video program’. Panel Discussion: “Healthy Life Styles for Children” Dr. Neeraj Goyal, GI Surgeon, Metro Hospital, Dr. Sarita Anand, Prof., Lady Irwin college, DU and Ms. Kinkini Dasgupta Misra, Scientist, VP led the session. Discussion on hygiene, and healthy living was done with learners and tutors. Interacting with tutors and learners, Dr. Goyal and Ms. Kinkini explained the right technique of washing hands. Interesting questions were raised by the participants. Dr. Sarita explained how to maintain a good personal hygiene and how exercise can help keep body and mind fresh all day. Learners in Delhi seemed excited and thus more queries poured in for the experts. A 40 minute panel discussion was extended to an hour session. Innovative Teaching Methods: Teaching Science through Role play: Dr. Arvind Ranade Scientist, Vigyan Prasar presented a session on innovative teaching techniques. He explained how science can be taught to learners through role play. Dr. Ranade conducted a role play with the learners attending the workshop in the studio. Using role play he explained how earth revolves around the sun and how moon revolves around the earth. Learners enthusiastically participated in the role play session. Dr. Ranade was successful in making the Learner’s thoughts revolve around the earth and moon..!!! Teaching Maths through video program: A different technique of teaching maths was presented by Dr. Kapil Tripathi Scientist, Vigyan Prasar. A video program on maths was developed by Vigyan Prasar on understanding the subject in day to day life. Dr. Tripathi informed that these video program developed by VP have already been showcased on Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha channels and are one of the most demanded series. From an entire series of 12 episodes, one was selected on basis of its relevance to NIOS curriculum. This was highly praised not only by learners but also by the tutors across the North East. The workshop ended with the vote of thanks presented by Ms. Asheema Singh PC (AEP)