LEP
As Kerala has impressive achievements in a number of indicators, the States key challenges are in terms of attaining equity and quality in school education. SSA is committed to impart the quality of education so that the students at elementary level can perform at the grade appropriate level. The overarching goal of the Learning Enhancement Programme is to develop a high quality Language, Science, Social Science and Mathematics education programme for ensuring equity, inclusion, provision of learning resources, continuous assessment and child-centered instructional practices. For enhancing the quality of Language Learning SSA Kerala introduced Hello English Programme and Malayalathilakkam (Special Programme for mother tongue). Teachers Learning Circles a forum for networking and sharing resources among teachers was one of the innovative activities under LEP. The expenditure was Rs.719.99 lakhs in this year.
Malayalathilakkam:
The initiative Malayalathilakkam (Malayalam lustre) focuses on making children acquire basic skills in reading and writing in Malayalam. Based on the State Level Achievement Study, it has been found that in Lower Primary classes there are 5 to 10% of students who find it very difficult to read with comprehension and write well and convey meaning. Malayalathilakkam was an immersion programme intended to improve the basic literacy skills of the learners.
Hello English:
Hello English was an English Language Empowerment programme initiated by SSA, Kerala during 2017-2018. The project had two central objectives improving the teacher quality and enhancing the learners proficiency to use English. Five day teacher training programme under the project Hello English had been conducted in all 168 BRCs across the state. According to the study conducted by DIET Alappuzha, nearly 70% to 80% percentage of the teachers reported that the training Hello English was excellent in terms of content, activities, use of materials, confidence building, conducting games etc. The study also reported that the confidence level of learners has gone up and learners are enthusiastically taking part in learning activities. Teachers also started giving more opportunities to the learners in listening, speaking, reading, writing and performance.
Several other measures were undertaken for the strengthening of teacher capacity and thereby enhancing quality in teaching and learning. (Self-learning, Masters Work books, Learning kits were supplied for enhancing the level of achievement of learners in science and mathematics as suggested by the PAB 2017-2018.)