Story-telling a big hit with primary school children

The state education department’s initiative to introduce story telling classes for primary school children has already  become a big hit among kids. The programme has been introduced in state schools in four districts and the  government is set to launch similar classes in schools across the state.

Primary and secondary education minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri said the story telling classes have already  introduced in 300 schools.

“The story telling class will be held once in a week. The story teller can be elderly person who is well versed in the art  of narrating stories. He/she will be paid `100 per class. Children have been overwhelmed by the introduction of  story telling classes in the syllabus,” Kageri said.

The project aims at narrating stories with historical, mythological, folk and moral themes to children studying  between Class I and IV.

According to sources, Kageri conceived this project as he felt that mythical characters such as Shravan Kumar (known for his dedication towards his parents) and Ekalavya (known for his respect for his teacher and commitment to achieve excellence through practice) are not known to most students.

The project has been launched to introduce  stories of role models such as these for the new generation and to impart cultural and moral values to kids. Deputy director of public instruction (DDPI) in Sirsi, Prasanna Kumar said the project is in the pipeline. “Guidelines  are yet to be formulated. The stories will be displayed to the students on the screen also,” he said.

Revanasiddappa, DDPI of Karwar district, said teachers are given the responsibility to tell stories to the children.
“Teachers are trained to present stories through acting, singing and dancing. Teachers can also convert the classroom into a platform to give the real feel of the story,” he said.

Some schools have already bought story books to implement the initiative. In Karwar alone about 13,000 students  have benefited from story telling classes. Close to four lakh children studying in schools across the state will soon have the opportunity to enjoy these stories.
    ashoka.kemparaju@dnaindia.net