Nali Kali: A Fun-Loving Way of Teaching by Karnataka School Teachers

 “Nali Kali” precisely means ‘PLAY AND LEARN’. In India, Multi-grade classrooms are a reality and this way of teaching aims at supporting the interaction between children of different ages. According to Mrs. Sukanya Subramanian, Assistant Project Officer – Education for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka at Hyderabad Field Office of UNICEF, it has some inbuilt advantages of addressing multilevel learning stages of different students of the same age that exists within a class.

The difference is distinct. While in all other classrooms students ‘listen’ to the teacher and sit in neat rows of boys and girls, kids in the Nali-Kali (NK) class are all over the place. Whereas the other normal classrooms discover pin-drop silence as a part of discipline but in Nali kali classes there is a consistent chattering. There are over 7000 schools in Karnataka offering the Nali-Kali classes, the first one to be established in 1995. Roopashri, a teacher at the Horagere government school stated that the difference is clearly noticeable. When students are grouped and learning happens in a non-formal mode, they’re likely to remember it longer. Mathametics, a subject that is found hard to mesmerize and understand by the students is one of the most liked subject in the Nali-Kali classroom. For instance to show how students understand it is that when one child understood that 44 is less than 61? She has a bunch of cards with numbers written on them. She places one next to another and keeps changing positions until she realizes 44 is less than 61 or that 61 is more than 44. So, the kids learn at their own pace. How does one know they’ve learnt something or not? The ‘self-evaluation’ chart enables teachers and students know where they stand. Kids ‘mark’ their ‘progress’ on the chart only when they’re confident about their learning. Post lunch is drawing time. The innumerable charts and cards and their explorations find expression in their drawings. A random quiz with the students goes to prove that this non-intrusive teaching model is effective. This leaves one with little doubt that Nali-Kali will make better individuals of the kids. In a recent survey based on the said project it was observed that, the teachers at the govt. Primary School at Udupi perform beyond expectations. The seven teachers employed by the school is a part of a novel system of learning which includes setting up classrooms in the school specifically for each subject, it also runs a monthly newspaper written itself by its students as a part of activities.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/7-teachers-ktaka-govt-school-are-changing-way-children-are-taught-87892