AP To Send 29 Award-Winning Teachers to Finland for Training

Vijayawada: As part of its efforts to strengthen the quality of school education in Andhra Pradesh, AP government has selected 29 teachers, who received the State Best Teacher Awards last year, for an international professional development programme in Finland.

Speaking about the programme at the YESJ Excellence Centre within the Andhra Loyola College campus in Vijayawada, Samagra Shiksha AP project director B. Srinivasa Rao said the government views teachers as “change agents” capable of transforming the state's education sector.

He said government teachers of AP are being sent to Finland to expose them to globally recognised teaching methodologies and innovative pedagogical skills. He requested these teachers to study Finland’s strengths in foundational and school education and adapt relevant best practices for inclusion in the proposed “Andhra Model of Education.” On return, they should mentor fellow educators, so that the benefits of the training could be extended across the state.

The International Professional Development Programme is being organised jointly by the School Education Department and Samagra Shiksha in three phases. The first phase is being conducted in Vijayawada until June 17. It is being led by experts from the University of Turku, Finland. The faculty includes educational technology specialist Ari Koski, basic education principal Sari Isokyto-Sinjoi and Early Childhood Care and Education expert Suvi Puolakka. Their sessions focus on learning through joy and play, innovative classroom practices, and foundational learning approaches.

In the second phase, the teachers will undertake an eight-day study visit to the Finnish cities of Turku and Rauma from August 17 to August 26. The visit will include classroom observations, interactions with educators, and visits to early childhood education centres, preschools, and teacher training schools.

Under the final phase, participants who have returned to AP will implement school-based projects based on their learning in Finland, while continuing to receive online mentoring and feedback from University of Turku faculty members.

Those who attended Friday’s programme included Andhra's Learning Transformation coordinator Dr V. Satish Reddy and officials and staff of the Samagra Shiksha and SCERT (State Council of Educational Research and Training).