A MAHARASHTRA teacher, who did not allow coronavirus-induced lockdown to come in the way of continuing his classes for his students in rural areas, has won recognition for his efforts that involved the use of conference calls and storytelling. Balaji Baburao Jadhav (35), who hails from Sangavi village under Renapur tehsil of Latur district in central Maharashtra, has been selected for the Honey Bee Network Creativity Inclusive Innovation Award 2020.
He is a Zilla Parishad teacher at Vijayanagar in Maan tehsil of Satara district and won the award for his teaching through the conference call method. Earlier, Ranjitsinh Disable, 32, who works as a teacher at the Zilla Parishad Primary School at Paritewadi in Solapur, won the Global Teacher Prize 2020 in recognition of his efforts to promote girls education and trigger a quick-response (QR) coded textbook revolution in India.
Attending online classes was difficult for students in rural areas due to the non-availability of computers, laptops, smartphones, and Internet connectivity problems. To overcome this hurdle, Jadhav came up with an innovative teaching method to impart education to his students during the lockdown period.
He adopted the idea of conference calls to conduct classes from April onwards. Jadhav taught 10 students at one time in a conference call in the morning and evening. Parents of these students were mostly shepherds and laborers, who had simple keypad mobile phones and faced network issues in rural areas. He concentrated on developing four fundamental skills of language, listening, speaking, reading, and writing (LSRW) among students.