Page 56 - Tata-Trusts-Annual-Report-2021-22

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS partners; namely, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences
• Under the regional initiatives carried out across
Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Odisha, eastern Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Assam, Mizoram, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and
Karnataka, the Trusts’ teams reached out to children
through community-level volunteers to retain their
engagement with the learning process, regardless of
school closures.
• A community-based intervention entitled, ‘Promoting
Learning during the Pandemic’ was implemented in
Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, and Rajasthan,
where a common baseline-endline of student
assessment was undertaken to understand the status of
learning in Languages and Mathematics. Across states,
gains in these two categories ranged between 11% and
43%. 84% to 97% of the students (in Languages) and
72% to 96% of students (in Mathematics) scored above
the benchmark cut-o defined for each grade, showing
significant retention of foundational skills.
• Tata Trusts was invited by the central government to
develop a course for the professional development of
teachers on Experiential Learning, a concept also
highlighted in the National Education Policy, 2020. An
eight-week long certificate course on Experiential
Learning for the 21 Century for educators from the
st
Central Board of Secondary Education Board (CBSE) and
Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)
system was launched and o ered to
a batch of 259 teachers in 6
states, as part of a Continuous
Professional Development (CPD)
initiative. The course saw a
completion rate of 74% among
participating teachers. The course
was created as part of a joint
initiative between the Trusts,
the CBSE, and the Trusts’
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(TISS), Mumbai, and the Mahatma Gandhi International
School in Ahmedabad.
• The Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education (CETE),
seeded by the Tata Trusts at TISS, to strengthen the
teacher education sector in the country was inaugurated
on November 12, 2021, at TISS, Mumbai. CETE will focus
on in-service, pre-service teacher education, policy
advocacy, and research. The Centre also received
recognition from the National Council for Teacher
Education (NCTE) for B.Ed. and M.Ed. programmes
o ered under the innovative category, allowing multiple
entry and exit options to students. It also launched an
online Digital Badge course on ‘Inquiry Based Learning
with Technology: Design and Implement WebQuest for
Students,’ which is a self-paced course that endeavours to
explore the concept of inquiry-based and problem-based
learning activities for students using technology.
• CETE’s collaboration with UNESCO led to the
publication of a report on ‘No Teacher, No Class- State of
the Education Report for India 2021,’ authored by the
former’s academic team. The report strongly recognises
the importance of a teacher’s professional development
for ensuring quality education among students and
emphasises a teacher’s autonomy, motivation, and
agency, through concepts like creating vibrant
communities of practice.
• The Parag Initiative of Tata Trusts
continued its work by:
(i) supporting the development
of children’s books in Indian
languages, at schools, and
community-based libraries; and
(ii) launching the Parag Honour
List 2022.