Bangalore:

How often have you heard of government teachers getting to go abroad? Two such teachers working in Davanagere and Dharwad schools have been selected to visit the University College of Arteveldehoge School, Ghent, in Belgium.

The offer is part of Gurupuraskar, an initiative by Shikshana Foundation. The teachers – Shivappa Badiger from Halumagulu in Davanagere, and  Somashekhar Kumtakar from Madhihonnalli – will get an opportunity to interact and exchange ideas with their counterparts for 15 days.

Last year, teachers from Belgium were hosted by Sikshana in Kanakapura taluk. They were impressed by the Nali Kali programme being implemented in state schools. In a return gesture, Belgium invited Karnataka teachers to share information about their educational system.

“I love teaching, especially in villages. There are no labs in our schools to teach Science. In mine, we have divided the classroom to make space for a lab too. During summer camps, we make low-cost models. I enjoy working with children,” said Somashekhar, who teaches Maths and Science.

“We will try to understand the techniques being used in Belgium and give suggestions to the department here for their implementation. They have one of the best education systems in the world,” said Shivappa, a  Kannada teacher.

“One of the things I’d like to focus on is techniques to explain difficult concepts to children,” added Somashekhar. The teachers will leave for Belgium on Thursday.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / October 12th, 2012