Dharamshala: A 3-day Reading Helpers Program for Primary Teachers organised by the Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration concludes successfully on 18 April 2024. The program was held from 16 – 18 April 2024 at Goa in collaboration with the Bookworm. A total number of 48 teachers from 37 different Tibetan schools participated in the program.

Reading Helpers is a program for teachers to support children who need help with their reading. Through this program, children are encouraged to learn and practice reading with one-on-one support in a structured yet enjoyable environment.

The program is being offered in a dual mode. 

• Pre-workshop orientation – An online session for 90 minutes in two batches (24 teachers each) was conducted on 26 and 27 March.
• 3-day face-to-face sessions in Goa from 16 – 18 April 2024.
• Post-workshop – Online presentation of assignment by the participants which will be conducted in July.

Participants were introduced to a range of reading strategies and activities that can stimulate joy or reading in children by identifying children who need help and then applying the strategies in small groups to improve their reading. The participants not only received theoretical understanding of the program, they also visited Goa’s Beach to perform various nature related activities on the 2nd Day and visited Goa’s Central Library and Bookworm’s Library on the 3rd Day of the program.  The participants got the opportunity to experience and understand the framework of Reading Helpers session plans with the Bookworm Facilitators. The facilitators were Sujata Norohna, Anandita Rao, Jennifer Thomas, Vishawanath & Melcolm.

This program is coordinated by Sonam Gangsang from the Department of Education which is a part of the TSRR program, funded by USAID.