GUWAHATI, May 3 � The Sangeet Natak Akademi is supporting an initiative of the Guwahati Sishu Natya Vidyalaya in promoting the concept of classroom theatre. This method of transforming mundane classroom teaching into an interesting experience for the students has been gradually gaining popularity in the capital city.
According to director of Guwahati Sishu Natya Vidyalaya Manik Roy, since the concept was launched in Guwahati, it has received overwhelming response from the school authorities.
�Classroom theatre is just a way of making the lessons interesting for the students. By including dramatic elements in the lessons, it is possible to make the students focus and learn the subject in the backdrop of an entertaining experience,� explained Roy, adding that such an experiment has covered the students from eight schools in Guwahati so far.
It needs to be mentioned that for this experiment, subjects such as Assamese, English and Hindi are selected by the Guwahati Sishu Natya Vidyalaya. In a 40-minute class, the first 20 minutes are devoted to reading out the lesson and the remaining minutes are utilised in dramatisation and interaction amongst the students and the performers.
�Students of our drama school mainly enact the lesson. But sometimes the students of the selected schools evince keen interest to take part in the dramatisation part and we invite them to do so,� said Roy, observing that this initiative helps the students understand their lessons well.
Roy said the students become a part of the lesson when it is acted out and it also gives them an opportunity to spread out their wings of imagination. �I feel this method of classroom teaching should be expanded to cover more students. With changes sweeping across the State, it is also important that we experiment with newer methods of teaching the young generation,� mentioned Roy.
This year�s classroom theatre will begin soon. Five schools of the city will be covered this year.
