This story is from October 27, 2020

Saturday tales fire up imagination of Gadchiroli schoolkids

As zilla parishad school teacher Vinit Padmawar vividly describes adventures of a girl who finds a treasure chest, about a dozen students around him listen with rapt attention. For these tribal children of the remote Koyunguda village in Naxal-infested Gadchiroli district, Goshtincha Shanivaar (Saturday story sessions) is an escape to an alternate reality filled with fairies, adventure and fun.
Saturday tales fire up imagination of Gadchiroli schoolkids
NAGPUR: As zilla parishad school teacher Vinit Padmawar vividly describes adventures of a girl who finds a treasure chest, about a dozen students around him listen with rapt attention. For these tribal children of the remote Koyunguda village in Naxal-infested Gadchiroli district, Goshtincha Shanivaar (Saturday story sessions) is an escape to an alternate reality filled with fairies, adventure and fun.
Started in the first week of October, this story telling session is an initiative of the state’s District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), and its impact is best seen in Gadchiroli.
With no access to smartphones or satellite TVs at home, for a majority of these tribal children the Saturday sessions at school are a welcome relief.
Though formal physical schooling has still not started in Maharashtra, the premises are used as a gathering place for children. Since enrolment at ZP schools is extremely low— an average of 25 students in entire school— things are managed easily.
Padmawar said the stories are sometimes from Panchatantra or related contemporary ones. “Purpose of these sessions is to stimulate the child’s creative side. As we narrate the story, they start conjuring up images of the character or landscape thus sharpening the brain,” he said.
Kids are then encouraged to draw their versions of the story. “This puts their visual imagery on paper and the characters become relatable to kids,” said Padmawar. Apart from creative side, students are also nudged to do critical thinking. “We ask them questions related to the story and make them analyze if actions of the characters were right or wrong,” said Padmawar.
Ashwini Sonawane, block education officer of Bhamragarh taluka, said students were loving these sessions. “Unlike their urban counterparts, our children cannot listen to these stories on TV or smartphones. They are already looking forward to the next Saturday and everyone reaches well before time,” said Sonawane.
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