ADULT EDUCATION

What if instead of carrying heavy snap-knacks to school if students have to carry playing cards? I am not kidding. Play-way methods work better than mundane educational tools. They seem to be more welcoming even at the age of 30. Such educational tools not only work for kids but for adults too, proved two Germans Kim and Marga.
To fight the grave problem of illiteracy in India our these two friends have come up with an innovative idea of using a specially designed deck of playing cards with objectives of making illiterate slum women literate and self-reliant. This exciting method emerged as a primary tool to teach illiterate women under an adult literacy project at Colony no. 5 at a mutually agreed and fixed time convenient for learner.
Joginder Kaur, Supervisor of the ‘PLAY-LEARN & EDUCATE Adult literacy PROJECT’ says, “This programme is supported from Germany by Kim (Kumad) Jit Singh and Marga Buhrmann Singh both co-founders of Buhrmann Singh Creative Learning, Germany, and volunteers of a Chandigarh based non-government organisation.”
Interestingly, teachers addressed as coaches are themselves school going girl students. They are generally drop-outs of class VIIIth and Xth living in the neighbourhood. So, the students don’t have any jilts of going to school or getting caught by teacher as they rather relate to learners with a greater ease.
Keeping in mind the availability and convenience of the learner, each pays visit thrice a week in order to make them read Hindi language through the play-way method designed by Kim & Marga. Joginder says, “Every coach teaches 5 adults. Pesently 11 such girl coaches are working for the programme. Instead of the learners having to come to a classroom, their trained “teachers” go to them, to “teach” 121 (one to one).” Elaborating on the initiative co-ordinator Pramod Sharma says: “Old methods of promoting adult education have not shown as great results as this. It entices illiterate females and males to attend a school..” Sharing concern over illiteracy in rural, suburban and urban slums are not able to read and write in their own mother tongue Dr. Satinder Dhillon, principal Dev Samaj College, Sector 36 says, “The traditional educationists should ask themselves what might have gone wrong that despite numerous efforts put into eradication of illiteracy, almost a third of the population remains at the level of having to render “thumb signatures.”