Deepak Kesarkar, the Minister for Education, Maharashtra, on 10th Feb 2024, has initiated the journey towards transforming every block into a smart block through the Sampark Smartshala and Sampark TV programs, commencing with Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra. The occasion witnessed the presence of multiple senior officials from the Education department alongside Vineet Nayar, Founder and Chairman of the SAMPARK Foundation.
Addressing the audience, the Minister expressed his support for the ‘Sampark Smart Shala Smart Blocks’ initiative, stating, “I am delighted to see such a large-scale innovative program being launched in our state. With the expertise and dedication of the SAMPARK Foundation, I am confident it will be a success, over 5000 children from Sawantwadi, Dodamarg, Vengurla blocks of Sindhudurg district will benefit from the special program”
Sampark Smartshala is already been showing great results in other Indian states. On the occasion, Nayar said, “We hope to convert these 150 government schools into smart schools, one smart block at a time, touching the lives of over 5000 children.”
“Smart classrooms will enable teachers to teach and engage with children through interactive learning. This has made the task of ‘teaching in the right way’ easy and the learning environment in the classroom is energised with excitement,” he added.
The program provides a comprehensive set of resources designed to support classroom transformation. These resources are carefully curated to align with the state curriculum and SCERT and are organised based on subjects and grade levels. State government education officers will support the activities and will closely monitor them to ensure the successful implementation of the program.
They include a TV Set for each school, a Sampark TV Device, a Math and English Kit with an Audio Box, the Sampark Smart Shala application, 500 lesson plans, 1,100 lesson videos, 450 activities that utilise teaching-learning materials (TLMs), 2,000 subject-wise and class-wise worksheets, 3,000 assessment questions in the format of “Sampark Didi ke Sawal” inspired by the popular TV show “Kaun Banega Crorepati”, Songs and experiment videos specifically tailored for science subjects targeting grades 6th to 8th and a Resource Book for Teachers.
These resources have been developed to enhance the learning experience in classrooms and provide valuable support to teachers in their teaching practices. These resources help teachers teach in the right structure and the right way.