Mita Mukherjee

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has developed a module on experiential learning with an aim to build awareness on the need and scope of allowing students to learn through hands-on experience and activities, a concept emphasized in the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The module also contains the strategies that teachers will have to adopt for designing the learning experiences for their students.

In a circular issued to heads of all ICSE schools on Monday, the CISCE said: “ In alignment with the guidelines on Experiential Learning by NEP 2020, CISCE has developed a module for all stakeholders entitled ‘Experiential Learning ‘ with the aim to build an awareness on the need, scope and relevance on experiential learning along with strategies for teachers to design these learning experiences for their students.”

According to the circular, learning by doing or experiential learning is an innovative pedagogy that engages students in hands –on-experiences followed by guided reflections on their experiences to build linkages between theoretical concepts and their relevance in the real world.

This helps to ensure active engagement of students for deeper conceptual understanding as well as internalization of the knowledge skills and values that are being developed through these joyful experiences, the circular says.

The module on experiential learning has been uploaded on the CISCE website and school heads have been asked to inform all concerned teachers regarding the availability of the module and ensure that it gets integrated into their daily teaching in the classrooms.

The NEP 2020 says that experiential learning needs to be adopted at all stages of school education. The NEP also makes it mandatory for inclusion of all students in the new learning process.

Most schools welcomed the move but according to them the infrastructure facilities will have to be upgraded to implement the new concept.

“ Experiential learning is definitely better than the conventional method of learning. Children will learn better if they are allowed to learn through activities and hands-on experiences along with the regular classroom teaching,” said Rev Rodney Borneo, principal of St. Augustine’s Day School, Shyamnagar.

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