Visit to Ghatipari High School, Ganjam

I had an opportunity to visit Ghatipari High School, located at a distance of about 25 kms from Berhampur, recently. Marina Yakhnis, Clinton Fellow, DE Orissa accompanied me on this visit. The excitement in the atmosphere was palpable, due to the presence of a foreigner in their midst. Although the Headmaster was retiring the very next day and had a lot of tasks to complete - related to the transition, still he was kind enough to spend some quality time with us. I had the opportunity to interact with most of the teachers, who had undergone training in DPIASE, Berhampur (training center) and was glad to know that the training was useful and they enjoyed the entire time they spent, at the training centre. Shanti Bhushan Padhi, the trainer in DPIASE, got a lot of accolades from the teachers for his creative approach and interesting examples related to the training. The most interesting and gratifying thing to know from the teachers was that the training and the EDU-KIT provided by us motivated them to make a use of computers, once they returned from their training. I was even lucky enough to observe a lab transaction - a teacher teaching about the circulatory system using computers with the aid of EDU-KIT. An interaction with the students and the teacher proved beyond doubt that using animations, multimedia etc. were proving to be useful as far as clarity on fundamentals was concerned. Although like any rural school in India there were day to day problems to contend with, I felt that the spirit and enthusiasm which was displayed by both the teachers as well as the students, will make them overcome day to day problems as far as effective and appropriate integration of technology in teaching learning is concerned.