By Asha Sharath | Coordinator, Donor Relations
Ganitha Kalika Andolana (GKA) is an innovative support programme rolled out in June 2015 by Akshara Foundation in collaboration with the Karnataka State Government. The programme is aimed at bridging learning gaps in math among children in grades four and five by using an activity based creative approach and peer learning rather than rote application of mathematical concepts. The programme also aims to build significant math capacity among teachers in the state. GKA is being conducted in all government primary schools in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
The partnership with Akshara Foundation is one of the first that the state Government has entered into in the spirit of public-private partnerships. The comprehensive teaching methodology envisaged in GKA program is compliant with the guidelines prescribed by the National Curriculum Framework 2005 and supports the textbooks and workbooks designed by the Karnataka Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT).
To keep the excitement going amongst teachers and to recognize the creativity and efforts of the teachers in teaching math inside classrooms, we launched the Most Innovative Math Teacher contest in the rural block of Kushtagi in Koppal, in December 2015. The contest saw a record number of 230 entries sent in by public school teachers from the 220 schools in Kushtagi. Centered around the use of all the elements of the Akshara Ganitha Math kit, the aim of the contest was to motivate the government school teachers to come up with innovative ways of using the kit to teach math to their students.
A total of 20 participants were shortlisted for the semi-finals based on the videos sent in as part of their entries. These 20 semi-finalists participated in an exciting buzzer round which consisted of questions based on math curriculum and pedagogy. The top 6 participants from the buzzer round went into the challenging final round, where they had to find the most innovative way of teaching a concept using the Akshara Ganitha Math Kit.
The inaugural season of the contest focused on finding the three most innovative teachers in Kushtagi. The finals was held on 3rd February, 2016. Iranna Patel of Government Kannada Higher Primary School, Topalakatti was judged as the Most Innovative Math Teacher in Kushtagi Block of Koppal District! The second and third prize winners were Hafiza Begum of Government Kannada Lower Primary School Mankalakeri, Bijakal and Geeta L Basarakod Government Kannada Lower Primary School Sharif Nagar, Kustagi. The winners received individual cash prizes and gifts for
their respective schools.
Akshara parterned with a local TV channel to telecast the episodes on their channel as that enabled us to reach out to a larger section of people and create awareness about the programme. The episodes are also uploaded on our YouTube channel. Please click on the below links to view the episodes:
Episode 1: Semi Finals - https://youtu.be/-G_tTxGyAoc?list=PLxWlHsIoCtrmbMdZVrXH7jJMFrSTqZj36
Episode 2: Meet the Finalists - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvahS3yKXCc&list=PLxWlHsIoCtrmbMdZVrXH7jJMFrSTqZj36&index=4
Episode 3: Finals - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iOkM-9S43Y&index=5&list=PLxWlHsIoCtrmbMdZVrXH7jJMFrSTqZj36
We are encouraged by the high level of enthusiasm shown by the teachers in participating in this contest. We hope that they will continue this enthusiasm and share more of their knowledge with their peers in the teaching community so that it will benefit all the children in Karnataka. We are now thrilled to take this contest all across the state and motivate teachers to showcase their creative abilities while teaching math!
Look forward to season 2 towards the end of 2016!
Links:
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