(Image: Group photo of participants and dignitaries at the Pragya Teacher Training program held at IIC Center, Jatni, Odisha, with teachers from special schools across the state)
Pragya Teacher Training was held on 10th and 11th September at IIC Center, Jatni, Odisha, with teachers from 27 special schools across the state participating. The program was inaugurated by Shri Bhaskar Raito, Additional Secretary; Shri Basant Kumar Behera, Deputy Secretary; and Shri S.K. Alli, OSD. On the second day, Shri Sanyashai Behera, Deputy Secretary of the SSEPD Department, Government of Odisha, joined the session. He shared valuable suggestions with the teachers and students and spoke about his own experiences.
Over the two days, teachers engaged in sessions on STEM, focusing on science and mathematics activities. The science activities covered topics such as sound in surroundings, production of sound, sound in vibrating strings, sound medium, and sound reflection. The mathematics activities included concepts like sets, set sorting, union and intersection, and subsets. Additional sessions introduced computational thinking games, assistive technologies like Hexis and Iris, Subodha, digital literacy, and audiobooks.
For the first time, a Teachers’ Presentation Session was introduced, where educators demonstrated innovative methods of teaching math and science. The second day also featured an exposure visit to the Special ITI, where visually impaired students are trained in various trades by the National Association for the Blind, India’s Centre for Blind Women and Disability Studies.
The teachers gave overall positive feedback. Some mentioned that with the availability of required materials, they could conduct even more effective sessions with their students. Many also shared that for certain activities, the materials already available in schools are sufficient for delivering good lessons. This kind of training is expected to lead to a better understanding of the topics, which is a very encouraging outcome.