Aamir Khan’s film “Taare Zameen Par” has been an eye-opener for harried schoolteachers in West Bengal’s Burdwan district.
At their wits’ end in dealing with recalcitrant children, teachers in the district, around 273 km from Kolkata, have found the film “inspirational enough” to tackle slow-learners and habitual troublemakers in the class.
The district primary school council has obtained video CDs of the film and is playing them for 4,500 teachers under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan. The weeklong training for primary school teachers is meant to stress the need for a “proper and joyful learning system”.
In the film, Aamir Khan, who plays an art teacher, helps fellow teachers, an eight-year-old boy and his parents come to terms with the child’s learning disability (dyslexia).
Aamir Khan’s novel teaching methods and sensitivity to the child’s problem help unravel the ordinary student’s extraordinary talent in painting. The boy, once derided by teachers, is much admired.
