Teacher’s Training Programme of Community Development Programme, Sarenga

Bunty: A two day Teacher’s/ Animator’s Training Programme was organized by the Community Development Programme, Sarenga on the 4th and 5th of August 2009 at Shanti Griha, Durgapur. 15 teachers from all the focus villages under the programme joined in the curriculum which was aimed to prepare the teachers not only in education but education related to development.
The training started with an induction ceremony in which the opening word of prayer was offered by the Rev. Swagata Das. The Bishop and Chairman of the Community Development Programme Sarenga, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Probal Kanto Dutta, in his key note introductory address emphasized that the education that the programme is imparting to the children is very much different from the formal schools that they are going to. He further stressed that the auxiliary education imparted to the children are in vision of a holistic developed community in the future and that the teachers should not act as simple teachers but as changing agents bringing about a total development to the lives of the children they touch.
The first day sessions were taken by Mr. K. N. Das, Coordinator of three programmes under the Diocese of Durgapur. In the first half Mr. Das trained the partakers about Societal Education and its related values that are to be implanted in the children of the centres. Participants, divided into groups, were asked to discuss among themselves and bring out the possible teachings that are to be instill in the children regarding Education, Health, Native Tradition, Language, Attire/ Dressing, Food Habits, Social Values and above all to identify the characteristics of each individual child. It was inspirational to see that the teachers themselves found out the teachings that they would be imparting to the children of the focus values. The second half of the day saw the participants being trained on the duties and responsibilities on the part of the Teachers, Parents as well as the Children also. This half was aimed towards increasing the interest among the children and consciousness among parents towards education which will ultimately relate to their development.
The second day sessions were facilitated by Mr. Sushil Sharma, Director of the Ecumenical Social Industrial Institute. He resourced the trainees on addressing the challenges and opportunities in rural education – changing threats to opportunities and weakness to strength. This session was especially useful to the participants as they do face quite a couple of challenges, both social and economical, while educating the children of the children and connecting with the people of the village. Further Mr. Sharma took a session on capacity building, which is another very important factor in rural education; because according to Mr. Sharma no development can be possible if the teachers do not enhance their personal capacities and well as the societal and organizational capacities.
To conclude the training programme the participants were appealed for their personal feedback, which to the contentment of the Programme Officials was very satisfactory, because, they have expressed their eagerness to partake in more analogous, educative, modern and extensive scaled working out curriculum. The Programme sincerely hopes that this training will further augment the inner aptitude of the teachers who are acting as transfigure instrument for the future of the politically disturbed, deficient villages in and around the block of Sarenga.