New Delhi: To mark the occasion of Teachers’ Day, Ampersand Group launched a Pan-India campaign as a mark of gratitude to teachers for their contribution in ensuring continuity of education during the COVID-19 pandemic and their role in strengthening ECCE, as envisaged under the new National Education Policy (NEP) implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
#ThankYouTeacher campaign was launched across Balwadis, Anganwadis, pre-schools (ECCE centres) and Adarsh Schools that are under the aegis of state governments and state government municipal bodies but run through public-private partnerships (PPP) with education institutions powered by Ampersand group.
This initiative covered over 700 Balwadis under the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, which achieved a total outreach of 20,000students, 25 Anganwadis under the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) in Nashik (in Maharashtra) that was extended to over 600students. Further, around 5000 students were covered under the programmes initiated across schools of Hubble Adarsh School in Punjab.
The #ThankYouTeacher campaign entailed students and teachers sharing photos and videos as mark of their gratitude. In addition, a ‘Plant a Tree’ initiative was also held, under which students planted a tree with the name of a teacher on it. Self-shot videos and photographs of drawings, craft, song, poems, and other artistic creations dedicated to their teachers were also shared by students.
Ampersand Group has over the past few months successfully conducted teacher training projects through online mechanisms in Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu with the respective state governments, and Central Tibetan School Administration in Uttarakhand and West Bengal. In Maharashtra, Ampersand Group has initiated digitisation of classrooms, provided training and curriculum to the MCGM Balwadi teachers and MWCD Anganwadi workers in Nashik. In Punjab, it has undertaken management and operations of Adarsh School under the public private partnership model.
Elaborating the Teachers’ Day initiative, Mr. Vinesh Menon, CEO –Education, Skilling & Consultancy Services, Ampersand Group said, “Teachers were, are and will always be the pivot around whom a student’s life will be nurtured. Our campaign on this day is a bit special. Apart from our gratitude to all the teachers for contributing selflessly and tirelessly to the betterment of students, the Ampersand group recognises all teachers who have moved away from their comfort zone and rose up to the occasion to ensure education continuity during the COVID 19 pandemic that unfortunately shut off access for children to schools. While we at Ampersand brought out innovative solutions to empower teachers to acquire the new skill-sets for delivering education through alternate technology-powered medium, we would not have been successful but for the proactive and open minded willingness displayed by them to adapt and adopt new ways teaching despite many challenges faced in their environment.”
As a PPP partner, Ampersand Group has helped build a better infrastructure that includes provisioning for hygiene and safety measures, and establishing modern tracking and assessment processes. It also helps in developing state-of-the-art lesson plans and designing of modern age appropriate curriculum, curated by teams of experts including academicians and pedagogical specialists. Ampersand also aids in establishment of fully-equipped contemporary classrooms with e-learning facilities and app-based learning modules. Comprehensive teachers’ training programmes are held from time-to-time to enable teachers to learn new skills for online education delivery, latest teaching methodologies and childcare knowledge. The teachers are trained by professional educational trainers through patented software and various class activities.
