4 Grades, One Hall, and Teaching That Works

On 13 January, during a visit to a government school in Khordhadistrict, Odisha, I spent time at Samantarapur Project Upper Primary School. The school serves children from Balvatika to Grade 8, and like many government schools, works with limited infrastructure. While the higher grades had separate classrooms, space constraints meant that Balvatika to Grade 3 […]

What is the Teaching Learning Practices Survey (TLPS) 2025?

The TLPS 2025 is India’s first large-scale, multi-state study that examines how teaching and learning take place inside early-grade classrooms. It goes beyond assessments to understand how teaching and learning of language and mathematics unfold in Grades 1 and 2, how teachers engage students, and how inclusive our classrooms are What is the Teaching Learning […]

Unpacking ‘Invisible Backpacks’

Every weekday, as the sun rises and schools open their gates, swarms of backpacks fill the city streets. Each with a different colour, size, and shape, carrying books, bottles, and big dreams. But some children will carry heavier bags with invisible weights – packed with hunger, identity-based discrimination, exhaustion from having returned from livelihood activities, […]