Wildlife Conservation Trust, Mumbai

WCT is active in 23 states of India in 82% of India’s 50 tiger reserves for communities living in the buffer zones. Their intervention is in the areas of healthcare, education, training and employment opportunities. Since 2013, Shyaonti Talwar has been associated with WCT as an English Language and Pedagogy consultant and designed several programmes for teachers focusing on English Enhancement, Teaching Strategies and Approaches, Embedding Communication and Cognitive Skills in the Curriculum and so on.

The training is given to teachers teaching in these and areas adjoining the tiger reserves which use the regional language as the medium of instruction in rural districts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Her action research project and programmes aim at upskilling teachers in their English language proficiency, pedagogical approaches, materials and resource management and understanding learner backgrounds and needs.

The programmes also aim at imparting training to resource persons identified by WCT who work on the field in areas such as Teacher Observation, Mentoring and Evaluation. Shyaonti works in a cluster of schools in each state through collaborations with local partners and NGOs like Aide-et-action and IIE to accomplish the objectives of her project.