JAINUS jacob: national award for innovative teaching
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| Jainus Jacob, Primary School, Kendriya Vidyala, Puranattukara, Thrissur |
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She
has always believed -
and has been telling her students - that hard work will be rewarded one
day or
other. And sure enough, her hard work in
teaching primary school children in an innovative way has been
recognized at
the national level: Jainus Jacob,
primary school
children at Kendriya Vidyala,
Puranattukara,
Thrissur, has
been selected for the National Award to Teachers.
Jainus who
teaches all
subjects to primary school children once
noticed that pupils
in standard 3 were not able to read Hindi fluently, though they were
supposed
to do so by that age. Since they lacked
opportunities
to speak in the language, she made comic cards of Hindi sentences to
make the reading
and understanding easier for them. She drew all the pictures of comic
cards either by
hand or digitally. Thus her innovations
in teaching started.
This is not
her first
national-level recognition. Earlier, in
2018, she had received the National ICT award from the then President
for her
innovative use of information and communication technology.
With this
background in
ICT-based teaching, Jainus and her students took to online classes
during
pandemic like fish to water. Learning
became more fun-filled games than stressful classroom listening for the
students.
Her efforts
were noticed
in wider circles and she was selected for the Fullbright Distinguished
Award
for International Teachers in 2020. Thus,
she got a chance to interact with similar candidates from 16 countries. She visited USA and learned about the
educational
system there.
She lives
in Thrissur
with her husband Sajan Jose, who has retired from Army after 30 years
of
service. Their only son, Steve Joe is
pursuing engineering.
With her
educational qualifications,
she could have opted to teach students of higher classes.
But she considers teaching little ones a more
rewarding experience.
Gopika
Varrier (text), The New Indian Express, August 27, 2022.
Mathrubhumi (photo)
