Coastal district catching up with smart education trend

MANGALORE: More private brick and mortar classrooms in Dakshina Kannada are bidding goodbye to chalks and dusters, and embracing smart education tools. The coastal district is also picking up with the trend of schools going in for smart classes to make children smarter.

With the introduction of smart classes, teachers in many schools here feel comfortable teaching portions in a hi-tech way, without using blackboards, chalks, dusters and textbooks. Teachers assert they find it very easy to make students understand and learn the topic with the help of smart class solutions, where computer projectors and screens reduce the burden of teachers while teaching.

Lourdes Central School principal Grace Noronha told STOI that the school could improve performance of the students in examination after smart classes were introduced last year. Smart classes are interactive which allow students to involve and participate in the learning process. Text portions, related images, clips, maps and other visual aids, including PowerPoint presentations enable children to grasp the lessons taught, very easily. "In short, teachers and students in our school enjoy the teaching learning environment in smart classes," she said, adding that the school has 38 smart classrooms to teach about 1,600 students from kindergarten to 12th.

Principal of Mount Carmel Central School, Sr Melissa and headmistress of Sooraj International Higher Primary School Sudharani, too, assert that students are more enthusiastic towards studies after smart classes were introduced.

While many schools have already introduced the smart class solutions to make their institution competitive, the number is expected double in the years to come. While there were only 68 institutions, which had smart classes in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in 2010-11, the number has gone up to 98 in 2011-12.

Joel Cutinho, regional manager of Educomp Solutions Limited, Bangalore, which provides smart classes to institutions, said the smart class solutions will be introduced in 100 more schools in coastal districts in the next academic year. Though none of the government schools in the region has the smart class solutions, there are plans before the company to introduce smaller versions of the smart classes for government schools as well.