Professional Preparation of In-Service Teachers for ‘Prayas’ Program in Science and Impact in Classrooms

Today most teachers enter teaching by means of a one or two-year undergraduate program in education (B.Ed.). There is provision of in-service training for teachers to make teaching effective in bringing quality to education. Various in-service teacher training programs are organized by District Institutes of Educational Training and State Institute of Educational Management and Training under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan in Himachal Pradesh. Yet, the impact of the training has not been reflected in the classrooms for the last fifteen years. There is not optimum improvement in the academic achievement of students. It is necessary to make teaching enjoyable and flexible through various activities, small projects and ICT in the new era. Creative and experimental activities are very much needed in the teaching of mathematics and science subjects. These activities help in building student confidence and give students more opportunities of learning. ‘PRAYAS’ at the upper-primary level is one of the programs organized by the DIET Solan to professionally prepare in-service teachers for implementing it at the school level. The objective of the study was to study the impact of the ‘PRAYAS’ in-service training program in Science in the educational block Kandaghat block of district Solan of Himachal Pradesh. Three schools were conveniently selected, two Govt. Senior Secondary Schools Chail and Kalhog, and one Govt. High School, Sakori, of the concerned educational block. Data was collected with the use of a semi-structured interview and the observations were recorded. It was found in the study that students made models and activities on the topics of their textbooks under the ‘PRAYAS’ program with eco-friendly materials and waste materials, utilized where suited. In this way, students learnt to use waste materials in everyday life. The models and activities were very low cost and easy to handle and care. The students learnt and understood the concepts easily. The outcomes of the program are discussed in the paper, which will be beneficial for the educational planners and administrators and in-service teachers of the State.