NEWS

ILP meet in Kolhapur, Maharashtra

Integrated Learning Program meet was held in Kolhapur on November 12, ‘09. In all 45 schools had participated in this meet. It was a Principals Meet organized by Pune team led by Mr. Abhijeeet Chaphale and Mr. Sandeep Deshmukh with joint efforts from Mr. Mangesh & Mr. Prabodh. In words of many participants, they look forward to the Integrated Learning Program- a holistic solution for schools and feel highly optimistic about achieving educational goals of their institute with it.

English Relay Program, Noida

English Relay Program (ERP) was initiated in 4 Govt. schools of Gautam Budh Nagar in Noida (U.P) by the District Administration. The objective is to offer English language skills training to students from disadvantaged socio-economical and environmental background in an innovative way.

ERP implementation commenced on 20th October ‘09 and will complete on 19th April ‘10. IETS is implementing ERP through level 1 to 2500 students. Four trained resource person are monitoring and implementing the program in the four schools.

IETS conducted one day orientation and training of 7 teachers and 2 Principals on 4th of November ‘09. It also conducted a 3- day teacher training workshop on ‘Skills and Attitude Enhancement’ for 463 teachers in 7 batches in three venues. The workshop incorporated capacity building activities for them to enhance their competencies. A lot of input was given to learn English as a language and how to help their children to acquire it easily.

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ILP Meet in Malad, Maharashtra

St Anne’s school organized an ILP (Integrated Learning Program) meet for the management, teachers and parents of the school on November 07, ‘09. Parents appreciated the ILP approach since it provides holistic development for the students. K-Yan, a group learning tool, Life Skills training program and the multimedia content were very well appreciated. Parents gave a positive feedback of ILP.

English Plus Training for Zilla Parishad schools in Vasai, Maharashtra

Twenty-two teachers from the Zilla Parishad’s Primary schools were part of the English Plus Training Program from October 21 to October 29, ‘09. The English training was the first of its kind for teachers of the Zilla Parishad schools. The training focused on basic grammar, sentence formation and conversational skills. Teachers expressed the need to organize regular follow up sessions. The 8-day training ended with each of the teachers attempting to give their feedback in English to all those present in the valedictory function.

Math Master for classes 2 & 3 in BMC schools

IETS Mumbai has signed an MOU with Naandi Foundation-Mumbai for implementing Math Master in Municipal schools in the period -September ‘09-March ‘10. The project covers 4000 students in classes 2 & 3 and 30 Community assistants. Most community assistants (CAs) have studied up to class 10 or 12. Very few of them are graduates. The challenge is to reinforce their math concepts, impart Math Master training to them and equip them with facilitation skills.  Detailed lessons plans have been worked out for each CA. Most of the sessions are being observed by the IETS team.

Adolescence Education & Life Skills Program for Master Trainers of Bhutan

IETS Mumbai conducted a Train-the-trainers programme (TOT) for teachers of Bhutan on Adolescence Education and Life Skills Integration. UNFPA India had referred IETS to UNFPA Bhutan and this is how the journey began. Six officials from UNFPA Bhutan, Education, Youth & Sports and HR Ministries of the Royal Govt. of Bhutan were part of the first training as observers. The first batch was conducted from August 03-07, ‘09 with 10 teachers from different regions of Bhutan, after which 20 teachers were sent for the second batch from September 07 to 13, ‘09. The third batch was trained from October 21- 27, ‘09.

There was a marked attitudinal change amongst the teachers from the first to the last day of the training. The training focused on observation and experiential learning. They appreciated facilitation styles of various trainers and agreed to implement the facilitation tips and styles in their classes.

Participants shared that they are confident of training teachers back home in Bhutan. They found the school visits extremely beneficial. Educational and cultural tour of Mumbai was also appreciated.

Toyota Safety Education Program

In response to the overwhelming feedback on Toyota Safety Education Program in 2008-09, Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Bangalore decided to implement the program again in the academic year 2009-10. Like last year, the program is being conducted across 5 locations, namely, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.

For example, in Kolkata 20,000 school children will be impacted among which a sizeable number will include students from last year’s participating schools. While students of the new schools will be trained directly by trainers from IL&FS ETS, the trainers will train the teachers of the old schools who will in turn carry forward the program for their students. So far the program has been directly implemented for 7567 students in Kolkata.

Similarly in Chennai, the program is being implemented in an additional 12 new schools. Training has been conducted for 36 Teachers in 12 Schools between September ‘09-October ‘09.

Read to Lead- Maharashtra

Train-the-trainer program for Read to Lead project has been conducted in all the targeted 28 schools between June ‘09 -October ‘09 in Maharashtra. Out of these, 2 schools are in Satara and the other 2 in Dahanu & Talasari respectively.

The first Teachers training program conducted in June was very well received. After this training, baseline monitoring was conducted for the students. The Kits and student workbooks have been dispatched to the schools. Soon after receiving the Kits (Math Master & English Relay) teachers began implementing the program. These Kits have been designed to supplement classroom teaching and have eased teaching difficult concepts in Maths to children especially in lower classes.

Teachers in Mumbai had a challenging task to complete the syllabus in less time as the schools were closed for a week due to swine flue. According to teachers, the Kits have been very useful in speeding up the teaching process and in providing them with extra time to revise just before the exams. Students are enjoying the classroom sessions and also the student books. This has resulted in improved classroom attendance and regularity in completing the assignments.

iTech- Educators guide to technology in Pune

363 teachers are being trained in computer skills to use Open Office applications as a part of "Prakash" project from 7th September to 5th November in Pune. This project was initiated for upgrading 154 schools of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

DHL UK Foundation- Inauguration of Science Labs and Review of the Project

DHL UK Foundation caters to underprivileged children all over the world, specifically in India, Sri Lanka and Africa. IL&FS ETS Chennai is working DHL UK Foundation to promote development and cause impact in 6 Government Schools in Nagapattinam and Pudupattinam areas in Tamil Nadu. IL&FS ETS was referred to DHL UK Foundation by Srinivasan Services Trust, with whom the company has been implementing the Vidya Vision Project.

The foundation has spent over Rs 3 crores for developing physical and social infrastructure in Tsunami affected schools in these areas. IL&FS ETS Chennai is working on development of social infrastructure in these schools through educational activities. Coaching classes for students appearing in board exams and slow learners, setting up and maintaining school gardens and library as well as workshops for teachers and students in life skills and motivation are being organised.

The Manager of DHL UK Foundation, Ms. Helen Parker, Ms. Jyoti Rowkavi, Manager of Mumbai DHL Foundation, Mr. Rajashekar, Project in Charge DHL Foundation and Ms. Malathy Kumar Asst. Manager of IL&FS ETS Chennai visited the schools in Pudupattinam and Nagapattinam in August ‘09.

It was noted by DHL that the importance of the laboratories was recognised in the schools after  conducting summer camps by IL&FS ETS from April ‘09 to May ‘09. It has now become mandatory in Government schools in these areas that the students use the labs at least once in 15 days.

ILP implementation in Pune

IL&FS ETS Pune has covered 6 months of journey so far building capacity in teachers as part of Integrated Learning Program in Saraswati English Medium School. Aspects like English Language, effective Classroom Management, Classroom communication, Computer Education and use of Technology in the classrooms were part of the program.

Baseline Monitoring had been done and the students are now gaining from sessions on Multimedia lessons, Computer Education and Anchor, a life skills program.

Srinivasan  Services Trust - Vidya Vision Project in Tamil Nadu

IL&FS ETS has been working with Srinivasan Services trust for the past four years in 27 schools in 6 places across Tamil Nadu. The project aims at helping schools in a holistic development. This effort has made schools and neighbouring areas evolve as self-sufficient entities.

This year it was decided by  Srinivasan Services trust that they’ll work with IL&FS ETS Chennai in 11 schools in 4 places. The focus will be on developing soft skills through workshops for teachers and students. Training programs on Class room Management have been completed for the teachers in these areas. SPEED, a Spoken English program has also been completed for the students from Classes 9 to 12.

Life Skills and Presentation Skills workshops for students and professional development programs for teachers are scheduled for completion by March ‘10.

ILP Meet in Nashik

A meeting with several school principals was organised in Nashik on 2nd July, ‘09 to share the idea of Integrated Learning Program with the schools. Good response was received from the schools and efforts are being taken to create impact in these schools.

Read to Lead- Maharashtra

Train-the-trainer program for Read to Lead project has been conducted in all targeted 28 schools between June ‘09 -October ‘09 in Maharashtra. Out of these, 2 schools are in Satara and the other 2 in Dahanu & Talasari respectively.

The first Teachers training program conducted in June was very well received. After this training, baseline monitoring was conducted for the students. The Kits and student workbooks have been dispatched to the schools. Soon after receiving the Kits (Math Master & English Relay) teachers began implementing the program. Designed to supplement classroom teaching, the Kits have eased teaching difficult concepts in Maths to children especially in lower classes.

Teachers in Mumbai had a challenging task to complete the syllabus in less time as the schools were closed for a week due to swine flue. According to the teachers, the Kits have been very useful in speeding up the teaching process and in providing the teachers with extra time to revise just before the exams. Students are enjoying the classroom sessions and also the student books. This has resulted in improved classroom attendance and regularity in completing the assignments.

ERP in Akshay Pratishthan, New Delhi

Akshay Pratishthan is a voluntary organization in New Delhi, providing rehabilitation services to children with special needs as well as underprivileged children. It also helps in vocational training and self employment. IETS conducted English Relay Program to empower the facilitators to deliver language learning to the children through an innovative approach. The training was conducted on 7th July 2009 for 30 teachers. It was received very well by them.

ILP in Nashik, Maharashtra

The "Integrated Learning Program" was launched in an All Principals Meet organized at Nashik on 2nd July. The session was successfully conducted by Ms. Padma J, Western Region Head. In all, 35 schools attended the event. In words of many participants, they look forward to the Integrated Learning Program and feel highly optimistic about achieving educational goals of their institutes with it.

Adding Dimensions workshop, Delhi

St Mark’s Sr Sec School, Janakpuri organized a 3-day workshop on ‘Classroom management’ enhancing teaching for tomorrow. The workshop was conducted by IL&FS Education on 27^th June.

English Relay Program -Amethi, U.P

English Relay Program (ERP) was started in Amethi in September 2008 - the parliamentary constituency of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, Indian politician from the Congress Party. While this program involved training of 74 facilitators, 31 schools in 9 Blocks and 2 Self Help Groups enrolled more than 1200 students in Level 1 and Level 2 of the ERP Program.

As part of Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana, a Self Help Group (SHG) initiative in Sultanpur and Rae Bareli districts of Uttar Pradesh, unemployed women were trained in the ERP so that they in turn can teach English to the rural children at a nominal charge.

On a visit to a class of the English Relay Program along with Mr. Rahul Gandhi last December, Mr. David Milliband, British Foreign Secretary highly appreciated the initiative.

All the facilitators were awarded certificate of completion and the students given out certificates for successfully completing the ERP in the month of April 2009.

In order to reach out to a larger section of people for language learning, IL&FS Education conducted more than 10 seminars to increase new enrolments for the ERP. In all, 30 SHGs are participating in the ERP (in the level wise mode) as compared to 2 last year. Involving 54 female participants, the training for the same was conducted on 25th and 26th June, 2009. Out of these, 35 core facilitators were identified to take the program forward through the year. Mostly Class 10 pass-outs, these rural women will be imparting English to children of their respective villages. Through this project, IL&FS Education aims to empower them to be self-reliant and become earning members of their families.

Apart from 28 schools, which were a part of the program last year, the enrolment has gone up to 32 new schools this year. These private schools will conduct the ERP in the class wise mode for children from class 1 to 7. Training for the same will be held in the 2nd week of August.

ILP in District schools, West Bengal

The Sarva Shiksha Mission of North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal in its attempt at qualitative enhancement of school education has introduced Information and communication technology (ICT) enabled education through an initiative termed "K-Yan based ILP Project in 20 schools of North 24 Parganas of West Bengal." This project aims to spread application of ICT in classroom transactions. Twenty Government-aided schools of North 24 Parganas have been identified for this project.

The Teachers’ training was held at "DRDA Hall", Barasat, North 24 Parganas from 15th to 23rd June, 2009. Schools have received Kyan, a group learning tool and technology-aided classes have started in full swing.

Read to Lead in Maharashtra

IETS organized training of teachers at Dahanu, Talasri and Satara in Maharashtra for introducing English Relay Kit under Read to Lead Programme. The teachers found the kit apt for the children studying in Ashramshalas. Each training program was spread over 4 days - 1 day for Capacity building and 3 days for English Relay Program. A total of 35 teachers from 1st to 7th standard were trained in June.

The teachers found the kit to be very interesting, involving fun and interactive method of teaching.

One of the senior teachers participating in the training gave the feedback that in 18 years of his teaching career, he has never attended any training which has been so interesting and made easy for each of them. He also found the kit useful and attractive for the children. He was sure that teaching with this kit would be fun-filled and interactive for the children and the teachers.

ILP in Koregaon, Satara, Maharashtra

Integrated Learning Program has been implemented in Saraswati English Medium School, Koregaon, Satara. The school was signed off for ILP on 5th June. "English Plus" program has already been conducted in the school, the feedback of which is very positive. Training for introducing K-Yan, our group learning tool is being provided to the school. The teachers are also being trained for implementing Anchor, the Life Skills Training Program for adolescents.

Colonel Public School- Tohana, Haryana

IETS has taken up a consultancy project for Colonel Public School in Haryana, which functions under the administration of International Heritage Research and Education Society. The vision behind the project is to build a robust education delivery mechanism for holistic development of the students and strengthening the teaching-learning process.

The project commenced on 28th March 2009.An orientation program was conducted for the parents as well as the teachers. So far the teachers have been trained on English Relay program (ERP) and the implementation of the same has also begun. IETS team makes monthly visits to address any concern and conduct trainings for the academic staff. There has been a great impact of our initiative on the enrolment of the students which has gone upto 750 children this year.

Valedictory Function of SPEED, Bhopal

The valedictory function of SPEED, a programme on Spoken English was held at ITI (Gas Rahat), Bhopal. The function was presided by Padma J, Assistant Vice President of IL&FS Education.

The SPEED pilot programme for the students of two ITIs was sponsored by Directorate of Training and organized by IL&FS Education. SPEED is a multimedia-based Spoken English training programme, which includes one hour practical session on computers and half an hour classroom interaction for the students. The multimedia lessons involved students in activities like self presentation, group discussions and role plays, which also helped them in attitudinal changes. The activities assisted students to converse in correct English with proper pronunciation.

The entire valedictory function was conducted in English by the students. Group discussion was held for the students and certificates were awarded to successful participants.

Feedback:

• Himanshu Jain, a student of RAC, said that he now feels confident in speaking functional English.
• Deepak Ode, another student was motivated by the Theme song "SPEED will help me what I want to do.... The programme helped him to be comfortable in speaking English.
• IT Student Neha requested to start this kind of training in all ITIs across Madhya Pradesh, which will help them during the interviews and campus selections.
• One of the best students, Hirkan Kushram shared that the programme helped her increase her vocabulary with about 1000 words. 
• Jagmohan of Gas ITI told that the audio visual training helped him build interpersonal skills.

Read to Lead in Bombay Municipal Corporation Schools June to Dec 2009

Read to Lead is a initiative is to facilitate elementary education to 1, 00,000 children who are currently out of school. Within Mumbai / Dahanu / Talasari / Satara, we will be reaching out to 24 schools and reaching out to approximately 8,000 children. Till date we have completed pretest in 18 schools and an introductory training of teachers of Hwest ward.

The feedback has been very positive and the teachers very open to implement the Kit approach in their respective schools.

As soon as the school reopens, the project will take off in full swing in terms of extensive training and implementation of the Kit in each school with complete follow up and evaluation of the program.

ILP Principals Meet in Hyderabad

An event involving Principals of reputed Schools was organized in Hyderabad on 2nd, 6^th and 7th May 2009. While the Integrated Learning Program was introduced, K-Yan, Toolkids & the Kits captivated the participants of the meet.

ILP Launch in Pune

On 28th April 2009, Hotel Centurion in Shivaji Nagar, saw a pack of enthusiastic academicians. The occasion was launch of the "Integrated Learning Program". It was an All Principals Meet organized by IETS Pune team led by Mr. Abhijeet Chaphale and comprising Mr. Dattatray Dakle, Mrs. Kapila Panganti, Mrs. Priyanka Pande and Ms Tanu Awasthi. The session was successfully conducted by Ms. Padma J. How well received was this session can be judged by the fact that 31 schools and 72 participants attended the event. In words of many participants, they look forward to the Integrated Learning Program and feel highly optimistic about achieving educational goals of their institute with it.

ILP Meet in Bhopal

IETS had organised First Principals Meet for ILP in India at Bhopal on 24th April, 2009. Sanjeev Joseph (Manager Education Services) and Reji Chacko (Business Development Executive) invited sixty schools personally. Nine principals and their representatives attended the meet. The event was organised at Hotel Amer Palace Bhopal from 10 a.m to 1.30 p.m. Mr Joseph gave the Welcome address. Western Region Head Padma J. briefed on the ILP concept and Products offered by IETS in this comprehensive programme. All invitees understood the concept well and found it very useful for their schools.

In the feedback, 8 principals showed their interest in various products of IETS. Principals emphasised the need for Teachers capacity building and training for better and valued education. Mrs. Gurdish of Zee High School shared her experience of using IETS multimedia lessons in her institution.  Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Principal of Mithi Govindram Public School shared his vision for changes in education system for better learning using technology.

An exhibition of IETS publications and products was also organised at the venue. The event concluded with a Lunch.

Adding Dimensions in Pune

Adding Dimensions (AD) Session was successfully conducted for 30 nuns of Holy Spirit Convent in April 2009. All 30 nuns from different schools, expressed their satisfaction with AD module, content and Facilitation. They look forward to enhancing their soft skills and role effectiveness with this program.

ILP in Bangalore 

In Bangalore, Mahila Seva Samaj School has joined ILP for the duration of 2009-12. The school has student strength of 850. The school has been one of the K-10 schools for the past 7 years and is now on board for the ILP programmes. 

ANCHOR- The D N & H Silvassa SSA

Department of Education of The Dadra and Nagar Haveli of Silvassa conducted a Mother-Daughter Mela,, under SSA for 22 schools. The objective was to enhance the "Life skills" of the Girl Students of 22 Primary Schools. The total number of participants went up to 2200- 1100 girl students and 1100 mothers.

Department of Education, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan of The D N & H Silvassa and IL&FS-Educational and Technology Services successfully completed an intervention in these schools through a specially developed Programme termed as ANCHOR. The training was rolled out for a period of 11 days in different schools from February 24, 2009 to March 7, 2009 

IETS findings after the roll out:

• 1100 girls students & 1100 mothers of 22 Central Primary School at D N & H, Silvassa underwent this training.
• Majority of the students were shy and introvert. However, when the trainer built a rapport with the girls, they started interacting.
• They had difficulty in following instructions due to lack of exposure in this kind of interaction.
• In some schools, girls were found to be creative.
• Most of the girls were unaware of their own talents.
• Some girls were excellent in cultural activities like dance, drama, songs and drawing.

Benefits of the training, according to the Principals:

• The girls have started taking responsibilities.
• Communication has improved among the girls.
• They are posing questions, inquiring to learn.
• Seniors are now sorting problems of the juniors as well as of their own.
• Their organization skills have improved remarkably.
• They are taking initiative to perform the activities.
• Fighting amongst the students has reduced.
• Group coordination has increased.
• Confidence level of the students has increased.
• There is reduced teasing.
• They have started managing their anger as per the situation.

The broad objectives of the program have been mostly fulfilled. In the feedback, it was found that this program made a significant change in life of the girls; now they are confident, can work in a group, analyze problems, share their views with their peers and try to resolve them, raise an issue and debate on it.
They have started believing in themselves and enjoyed.

Poster-cum-slogan Writing Competition: Road Safety Week in Kolkata

In keeping with the spirit of the Traffic Safety Week organized by the Kolkata Traffic Police, IETS Kolkata celebrated the Road Safety Week in 10 of the 27 participating schools from 14th to 22nd January 2009. An intra-school poster-cum-slogan writing competition was organized in these 10 schools for students of class VIII. One of the schools requested that it be allowed to conduct the event on 09th January. The theme for the same has been mentioned above.

Students were divided into groups of 4 and were given the theme on the spot. There were standard prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions. In addition, prizes were given for best slogan, best poster, best colour scheme, etc. The posters were evaluated by a team comprising the Toyota facilitator and the EVS/Art teacher of the schools concerned. The students showed a lot of enthusiasm for the event. The Taratalla, Beniapukur, Garden Reach and Watgung centres of Nabadisha participated in the event. For the prize distribution, the Office-in-Charge of the Taratalla Police Station was invited. This proved to be very motivating for the students.

The dates on which the event was held in various schools is mentioned in the table below:

 K-Yans in Pune

IETS (Pune) has been doing very well in promoting K-Yans in schools and educational Institutions across the state. It recently made an entry into the corporate sector for K-Yan through Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Ltd.

Vikhe Patil Foundation, which has been our client for past 3 years, has acquired 3 more machines. One each for Pune, Nashik, and Ahmednagar.

IETS Pune has also had a strong ongoing relationship with Mahatma Phule Krushi   Vidyapeeth (MPVK) for the last 3 years. They have found K-Yan very useful and suitable for their educational institutions. In the past 3 years IETS (Pune) has installed a total 36 K-Yans for them. They took 10 K-Yans in year 2008- 09, and they’ve bought 2 K-Yans in the year 2009 so far.

K-Yans in Coimbatore

IETS Chennai has reached 30 corporation schools in Coimbatore through the Coimbatore Corporation with the use of the KYan. The schools have benefited as through this project, technology is now being taken into the classroom. Teachers from all the schools have been trained and teachers have described the KYan as a "Blessing". In all, 20 KYans on purchased on 6^th May 2008 while these technology tools are being implemented from June 2009 with training from IETS.

Teacher Training in Lesson Planning

IETS has trained several Teachers in Lesson Planning between 2008-09. It has successfully trained around 450 Master Resource Persons from Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission across all districts of Chhattisgarh in three phases. IETS was invited to train teachers of Upper Primary level in familiarisation and mastering of different teaching-learning strategies and application of different theories of learning such as Multiple Intelligences, Constructivism, Bloom’s Taxonomy and Mind Mapping as a teaching - learning tool.  The training equipped the teachers to apply these theories and tools in preparing lesson plans and teaching aids.

The training, which was subject based, focussed on core subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English language.  The programmes conducted in Chattisgarh were replicated in Jharkhand, wherein about 200 wardens of KGBVs were trained in managing KGBVs and teachers were trained through Take Off programme and English Relay Programme.

Global Scholar-Education World Young Achievers Award 2008

IETS Bangalore was part of the evaluation team for the Global Scholar-Education World Young Achievers Award 2008, instituted by US-based software concern Global Scholar and ‘Education World’, a magazine on education in recognition of their skills and for "showcasing their ability" to the world.

The second edition of the Tata Consultancy Services-Education World Teachers Awards attracted an overwhelming response of 25,000 nominations from across the country including the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Teachers award acknowledges excellence in teaching by recognizing teachers with exceptional attributes and teaching innovations.

Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT services and Consultancy Company and Education World instituted the Teachers Award in 2005. The Award was open to all primary and secondary school and junior college teachers. Teachers who have exhibited innovative techniques, inspired students and aroused their curiosity were nominated by students, parents, principals, and school boards or by fellow teachers.

The winners of the award were selected through a stringent three-round selection process. A panel of distinguished judges, supervised by IL&FS Education & Technology Services Ltd. (IETS), scrutinized the nominations.