Kerala high school IT teachers struggle with heavy syllabus after just 5 days of training

Thrissur: “We are given just five days of training. The rest, we have to learn on our own. Even while preparing to teach my main subject, Hindi, I had to find time to study IT. Still, when I stand in front of the class, I feel lack of confidence. We have to teach IT to both Malayalam and English medium students, which is an added effort. On days with IT periods, I hardly get any sleep the night before,” says a high school teacher from Thrissur.

Teachers are finding it extremely challenging to handle the revised IT textbooks introduced for Classes 8 and 10.

There are no dedicated IT teachers to deliver lessons on topics ranging from word processing, presentation software, block coding and computer games to robotic engineering. In addition, students must also be introduced to software such as GeoGebra and Avogadro.

Teachers with no formal qualification in IT, mostly from other subject areas, are having to take on the responsibility of teaching this content. The rationale for not appointing dedicated IT teachers is that information technology is meant to be integrated into the teaching and learning of all subjects, from languages to science.

Some schools have unofficially appointed temporary lab assistants to help teachers. However, many educators point out that they are being forced to teach an extensive and demanding syllabus with only five days of training.