Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Nov 6: Textbook lessons for students from Grade I to VIII in Goa will soon be available in video format, with the Goa State Council for Educational Research and Training (GSCERT) initiating work to convert content across all subjects into digital learning material.

GSCERT has added two studios to its infrastructure and will also utilise two studios belonging to the Directorate of Higher Education for the project. The process of filming videos featuring teachers has already begun, GSCERT director Meghana Shetgaonkar said.

"This year, we completed introducing new textbooks in all subjects aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) from Grade I to VIII. A lot of new content and local topics have been added to the textbooks as part of the exercise. We have two studios now, besides two more studios belonging to the Directorate of Higher Education. All four will be utilised for turning the new textbooks into digital content," Shetgaonkar told TOI.

The Directorate of Higher Education had earlier completed the creation of videos covering its syllabus across different subjects and streams in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The videos prepared for school students will be uploaded to the Diksha portal, the national digital platform for school education launched by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in 2017. Teachers and students will be able to access the videos as reference material and use them to supplement classroom learning.

While videos explaining textbook lessons are available online for CBSE and ICSE students across classes, similar content for Goa Board schools was only partially developed during the pandemic.

"Now that the textbook content has been overhauled and we have our own studios, the textbook content will be created into videos in a better manner. The work has already been initiated. It will act as a supplement to classroom learning for students. We also realised that previously the content put up online was difficult to access, so those issues will be resolved this time for better access," Shetgaonkar said.

She added that funds from the Central government were already available for the initiative.

Meanwhile, GSCERT conducted another round of taluka-level interactions in September with heads of institutions, teachers and parent-teacher associations (PTAs) of government and aided schools to discuss the implementation of the National Education Policy.

Shetgaonkar said such interactions had been organised regularly over the past two years to address queries and concerns arising from the implementation of the policy.

"Implementation of NEP is a huge task and so regular interaction to address the queries of schools and parents becomes vital, especially to deal with any misinformation. This time, we informed them about changes in the assessment patterns as part of NEP," she said.