Pune: SCERT plans to develop foreign language training for school teachers

Pune, 17 July 2022: “The new education policy encourages learning of different foreign languages but the major challenge is preparing the teachers who can teach the languages to students. To address this problem, the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) is aiming to develop a separate training program for teachers where they can learn foreign languages with the help of institute like Goethe and other language experts,” said Vikas Garad, Deputy Director, SCERT.

He was speaking after the launch of an E-learning called ‘Kinderuni Marathi’ by The Goethe Institut Max Muller Bhavan, Pune to introduce children to science and instil interest for Science in them through Marathi language as well as facilitate learning of German language in fun and playful way. This Marathi digital university was launched at the Goethe Institut Max Muller Bhavan on Sunday, July 17. The university aims to give the children lessons in various topics like Humankind, Nature and Technology in an easy and simple manner and it will be available for free of cost for all children in the age group of 8-12 at home or in school.

Tejasvi Vartak, Deputy Director and head of language department and examinations of Goethe Insitut, Andrea Walter, South Asia Regional Head of the project PASCH, Vaishali Dabke, Project Coordinator and Jayashree Joshi of the Institut, Mumbai were present during the inauguration ceremony.

About 10 Marathi schools from Pune including two rural schools, one from Bhor Tehsil and the other from Gorhe Budruk village participated in the program during which various activities such as Taster lessons of Kinderuni, Science workshops, reading of Science stories in Marathi and quizzes were organized for them.

While giving information about this project, Vaishali Dabke said, “We are implementing this project to create interest in science among children. Various sub-topics are covered under the main topics and children will be able to learn the lessons available on this platform themselves or under the guidance of their parents at home or in school with their teachers. The special feature is that the children will also learn some German words and their pronunciation through this medium, which have been included in the lessons. This will encourage children to learn German. The children will get a badge after successful completion of their homework.”

Started in 2020, initially the program was conducted only in two languages including German and English by the Insitut and it was later decided to make lessons available in Indian regional languages including Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada.

“The initiative received a good response from across the country and as many as 34,554 children have visited the Kinderuni website and have completed various lessons since 2020. The highest response however has been received from Maharashtra. Along with India, the university has been implemented in Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well,” said Dabke.

About ‘Kinder Uni Marathi’

Upto 30 lessons based on various subjects have been made available in audio-visual format on ‘Kinderuni Marathi’ platform and cartoon characters like Professor Einstein, Miss Lau, Chrisstoff and Yovo the drone will take the children through stories and videos. There are various tasks which the children have to complete in each lesson. The students are awarded a badge for answering questions correctly at each level.