Shidlaghatta school adopts Columbian teaching method

The Madenahalli Government Lower Primary School in Shidlaghatta taluk and other cluster schools which comes under Ganjigunte grama panchayat have adopted the Columbian Escuela Nouela model multigrade primary school progamme.

Schools in Columbia adopted the multigrade New School (Escuela Nuela) methodology. Studies suggest that multigrade schools, i.e. those with classes that are mixed in age and ability, can be a cost-effective means of raising student achievement and expanding access to education in poor countries.

Popular method

Multigrade schools are a commonly advocated means of providing primary education to children in rural areas of developing countries. Typically schools have one or two teachers with classes that are heterogeneous in both age and ability.

Multigrade schools can be effective and cost-effective ways of expanding educational access and raising student outcomes especially in areas of low population density.  There is consistent evidence of positive effects on student achievement.

The term ‘multigrade’ encompasses two separate but related characteristics of schools and their students. First, multigrade schools enrol students of multiple ages and grade levels in the same classroom.

Second, these schools are the occasional recipients of an additional ‘package’ of training and instructional materials that are expressly designed to improve learning in heterogeneous classrooms.

Multigrade schools are usually small, with as little as one classroom that is staffed by one teacher. They enrol children of multiple ages and grade levels in that classroom.

To teach the students directly the round-table seating arrangement has been adopted in the district for the first time in the Ganjigunte panchayat cluster primary schools in Madenahalli, Brahmanarahalli,  Majarahosur, government Lower Primary School.

Each seat for the columbian model of seating costs Rs 33,000, while the table costs Rs 40,000 besides repairs every year.

“The Cluster Resource Centre (CRC) Circle observed similar seating arrangements in two schools in Kolar district and decided to adopt the same in four schools in Shidlaghatta”, Resource person L V Venkatareddy said.

Byra Reddy a teacher says, “It is convenient to teach in this kind of seating arrangement. Students can keep their books in the desk. It is also good for library reading. In a group a student can learn from his peer. It is particularly useful in one-teacher school.”