Indian Institute of Technology Madras – NPTEL (National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning) has collaborated with Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA) to offer a free online teacher training program to “provide remedial support to children with specific learning.

This course titled “Corrective Instructions for Primary Children with Specific Difficulties” is now available on the “SWAYAM Prabha” TV Channels of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. This training program has been made available in digital format so that distances and other infrastructural resources are not barriers.

This course is broadcast between July 26, 2020 and August 4, 2020. Detailed broadcast schedule is available on the website: https://www.swayamprabha.gov.in/

This course is intended to help children with specific learning difficulties (dyslexia). The gap between their potential and actual performance is perhaps the only manifestation of the hidden neurological condition of dyslexia.

Talking about the benefits of this initiative, Prof. K. Mangala Sunder, Head of Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, and Channel Coordinator, SWAYAM Prabha said, “DTH SWAYAM Prabha is an ideal vehicle to disseminate and sensitize students of all ages in all areas of education. The 33 channels have huge bandwidth to broadcast educational programs regulated by various ministries and can also reach the last mile via TV and mobiles with low-speed internet.

The SWAYAM PRABHA is a group of 33 DTH channels dedicated to broadcasting high quality educational programs 24/7 using the GSAT-15 satellite. New content is generated daily for a minimum of four hours and repeated five more times per day, allowing students to choose when it’s convenient for them. The channels are uplinked from BISAG, Gandhinagar. Content is provided by NPTEL, IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS. The INFLIBNET center manages the web portal.

This course consists of the following modules:

Ø Introduction to dyslexia

Ø Child development

Ø Screening

ØReading

Ø Spelling

Ø Writing

Mathematics

Ø Study skills

Ø Multiple Intelligence (MI)

These child-centered teaching lessons can be included in all primary classrooms by any teacher. MDA conducts a training program towards this goal. Self-directed teachers can facilitate the learning process for children with mild dyslexia in the comfort of the classroom. Caregivers who provide extra support during after-school hours would also be able to teach the child how they learn, which may therefore be more effective.

Over its 28-year journey, the Madras Dyslexia Association has garnered the infrastructural and governmental collaboration required to expand so far. The training programs conducted by MDA benefit a large number of teachers, reaching several thousand children. This can be one of the effective ways to reduce the educational gap and improve positive outcomes for children who otherwise risk missing out on opportunities to receive remedial support.