Scores of children in the rural areas discontinue their education at an early age due to lack of proper academic guidance, poor educational infrastructure, lack of encouragement from parents, dismal quality of school education which lead to poor results. In such a scenario, majority of the students appearing for the matriculation examination perform poorly, thus leading to increasing drop-out ratio.
In a bid to check this situation and ensure access of quality education to needy and eager students from the marginalized communities, Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) has been running Pre-Matric Coaching (PMC) Classes for standard 8, 9 and 10 in three subjects which are English, Mathematics and Science since 2010. A total of 95 centres with 9000 children are functional across locations, of which 40 centres are in and around Jamshedpur Block.
In order to induct the PMC teachers from Patamda, Potka, Gamharia, Seraikela & Jamshedpur block for the new academic year of 2014-15, TSRDS organized an 'Orientation Programme' at Dhatkidih Community Centre, Jamshedpur. More than 100 teachers participated in the programme. The programme commenced with the lighting of lamp by the guests. The inaugural address was given by Dilith Castleton, Hony. Jt. Secy, TSRDS. She spoke about the evolution of the idea behind PMC and why was this intervention very important. She also mentioned the remarkable success of students in the past academic year.
Dr. Deepali Mishra, who is an educationist and a consultant for the Tata Education Excellence Programme (TEEP) of Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS), graced the occasion as the Special Guest. She spoke about the causes behind increasing drop-out ratios and how teachers through better teaching methods can boost the creativity and understanding of their students. She further informed about the TEEP and how it helps in assessing the quality of school education and filling the necessary gaps. She also conveyed to the participants that two Pre-Matric Coaching Centres have been brought under the TEEP project on a pilot basis and 20 more PMC centres would be taken under its purview.
Rajesh Chintak, Chief, HRM, K & E and Profit Centers, Tata Steel, volunteered under the Tata Steel's Employee Volunteerism Programme by counseling and guiding the PMC teachers (for two hours), on the ways and methods to strengthen their engagement and relationship with the students. He added that the teacher's objective is to understand the needs of his/her student and guide him/her accordingly and that this approach can only increase the potential of students.
This session also encouraged an exchange of response and feedbacks among the PMC teachers. They shared their experiences with students and the practices they implement to ensure their success in matric examinations. An announcement to conduct teachers' training in respective subjects was made and information about the PMC guidelines to be followed by the teachers was provided.
