School Induction Programme - Day 1🖤

It was the first day of the school induction programme. The group sent to GGHS Karamana consisted of 7 student teachers from English, Tamil and Natural Science optionals. We took the city shuttle and reached the school by 9. The first day started off really slow. We met the HM of the school Ms. Mini PV and discussed about the schedule and the things to be done. We were asked to meet the concerned optional teachers and finalise the schedule of our lessons. The classes started at 9 30 followed by the prayer and pledge. Everybody in the school was busy at the day marked the reopening of the school after a 11 day long vacation. Teachers were seen hurrying to the classrooms with bundles of answer sheets that carried the marks of the students' mid-term examinations. Almost every teacher spent the first class after vacation distributing the answer sheets, discussing the question paper and explaining the answers. We were given a classroom on the second floor to sit and keep our bags.

The entrance of the school had a wall painting of Ayyankali and Panchami. The painting commemorates Mahatma Ayyankali's revolution attempt to enroll a Pulaya girl in a government school in Ooruttambalam which led to violent acts perpetrated by the oppressor caste. It declared the history of the injustice meted out to the lower caste and their historic resistance.

Ashly, Bhagya and I met the English teacher and enquired about the portions to be taken. It was said that only a single unit is left for Standard VIII and XI and they are being handled by the trainee from another B.Ed college. We were asked to communicate with the trainee regarding the lessons and inform her. After the discussion, we were allotted the first chapter of the last unit of Std VIII coursebook titled 'School for sympathy' and the timetable was also provided. As the English teacher who handled the HS classes wasn't available to take proper classes, we asked the permission for observing the classes from two teachers who handled English in UP and Malayalam in HS section. Thus, by the end of first day, the schedules of the observation and the first lesson was finalised.

Later, we took a quick tour of the school to understand the infrastructure and basic facilities of the school and noted down the necessary details. The experience was brand new since the teachers and students of the school referred to us as 'teachers'. The first day of the school induction programme ended at 3 30 followed by the national anthem.