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Dr. M.P. Vijayakumar (IAS) is widely credited with introducing activity-based learning (ABL) in Chennai’s corporation schools in 2003, and subsequently in Tamil Nadu’s 37,486 government primaries including corporation, panchayat and aided schools. In 2008, he spearheaded the introduction of a similar activity-based pedagogy christened Active Learning Methodologies (ALM) in the state’s 10,000 government middle schools. A committed proponent of ABL, Vijayakumar is currently honorary advisor to the state’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme. Hemalatha Raghupathi interviewed him in Chennai:
ABL was introduced by you in the primary classes of Chennai’s municipal schools in 2003. What was the objective/rationale of switching to the new pedagogy?
In May 2003 when I was appointed commissioner of Chennai Municipal Corporation which runs 264 schools in the city, I became aware that student learning outcomes in these schools were abysmal. Several studies conducted by NCERT and the directorate of elementary education indicated that around 35-40 percent of primary school children couldn’t read or write and nearly 65 percent couldn’t solve basic maths sums even after five years of schooling.
Consequently after an analysis of existing classroom methodologies, we concluded that a systemic change was required. We explored innovative pedagogies in different states and were impressed with the ABL methodology developed by the Rishi Valley Rural Education Centre, Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), which was adapted to suit our needs. After ABL became a success in corporation schools, I used all my bureaucratic and political influence to persuade the then DMK government to implement ABL in all government and aided primary schools.
How satisfied are you with the progress of ABL thus far?
In the past four years, significant improvements have been made in developing ABL and ALM pedagogies and curriculums. Evaluation studies conducted by us indicate that learning outcomes in government schools are as good as in private aided schools. In ABL classrooms, factors such as poverty and parental education become negligible. Moreover, ABL has raised the confidence and self-esteem of students who can now speak and question without fear. Teachers’ workload has substantially increased but Tamil Nadu’s 120,000 primary teachers are willing to cope with it.
Yet ABL has been criticised for failing to improve student learning outcomes in Tamil Nadu’s primary schools…
Studies conducted by SchoolScape and NCERT have confirmed remarkable improvements in learning outcomes of students after the introduction of ABL. But ABL is not a panacea for all the ills of the primary education system. It is merely a classroom pedagogy which enables children with differential learning abilities to cope in some subjects and prevents them from being pushed to a higher grade without adequate proficiency.
ABL is also suitable for India’s multi-grade, multi-level government school system, allowing children to learn fundamentals and acquire skills and competencies at their own pace. This system is especially a boon in rural areas where single-teacher schools with children of mixed age groups in one classroom, are common. The ABL syllabus incorporates 663 learning skills for classes I-V and the capacity of children to learn differs vastly, hence the disparity in learning outcomes. However, this is only a transitional period for ABL and results will gradually improve as children and teachers become familiar with the new system. Moreover, we are always open to suggestions for improving the system.