– Pavithra Rajagopalan
RTI (Ratan Tata Institute), Mumbai announces the inauguration and commencement of Chandigarh’s first-ever AMI Montessori Primary Diploma Course. The modular course is being run by RTI for the teachers of Vivek High School that has been serving Chandigarh since 1984 and also has a branch in Mohali. Over the years there have been attempts to incorporate Montessori in their schools. Towards this, Neelima Mhaskar had run an AMI Assistants’ Course for the school in March 2016.
On December 24, 2017, the first module of the course commenced, aligning with Vivek High School’s holiday schedule. Zarin Malva, Neelima Mhaskar, Geeta Savla and Pavithra Rajagopalan from RTI Mumbai form the training team. The course has 31 students, all of whom are staff of Vivek High School. Future modules will coincide with the holiday schedule of Vivek High School. The modular structure will provide the group of teachers who are being trained the opportunity to use their new understandings in class in between successive modules. The course was inaugurated with a tree-planting ceremony which took place in an atmosphere of cheer and expectation.