Are you looking for the right place and people to learn how to make the popular and tasty recipe of tomato chutney? Then, the place to visit is ‘Heal Paradise’ school at Thotapalli Village, of Agiripalli Mandal in Krishna district and the people, are the primary grade children of the school. Other food items like salad, chapati, pulihora etc are their favourite choice. In order to get a satisfactory answer to the query why culinary to the students in place of academic activity, a visit to the school is a must.

In the exploratory ‘project Umbrella’ undertaken by ‘Seed Bird Association imparting primary life skills is an important component of the syllabus for primary education.

To continue with the example of making tomato chutney, it starts with the procurement of the ingredients by the students themselves. The process includes finding out the names of the ingredients in Telugu, English and Hindi. Interactive sessions help the students trace in detail their farm-to-market journey. Children learn how to raise crops in their farming classes. They have to know if the tomatoes to be used are to be raw or ripe. It is part of the syllabus for science subjects to know about the colour, taste and smell of things like Tamarind, Jeera, Mustard, clove etc.

For the chutney to be tasty, everything used to make it should be in the right proportion. Fixed weights and measures of the ingredients is adopted. Thus the students gain practical knowledge of the chapter ’weights and measures’ in mathematics. They make a record of the things used, their weight or measurement and the elaborate making procedure. This, of course, helps the students come to grips with their writing skills as well.

Even the students who are reluctant to attend classes regularly have started participating in these skill development classes with enthusiasm. As they enjoy the pleasure of working, they also learn their regular lessons.

‘Seed Bird’ trains the teachers and tries to help them become experts in their chosen profession and motivates them with out-of-the-box ideas. The habit of planning an activity that brings about clarity to a lesson has become a routine thing for them now.