THE name Manjari Patil might not immediately ring a bell, but this maths teacher has been quietly working towards ensuring that when children learn their numbers, it becomes a pleasurable task rather than a drudge.

With this leitmotif, she has developed a teaching-aid kit with which she has conducted 800 workshops in 100 institutions across the country to drive home her point that the 'weak-in-maths' tag should not be a disqualification for students.

"I don't care much for marks. My main aim is to make children enjoy studying maths. The marks will follow," Patil, who could change the way teachers look at the subject, told IANS.

"My goal is that even if 40 percent of my students say they like maths, it's like getting an award," said the soft-spoken teacher at the Anandalaya School run by the National Dairy Development Board at Anand, 90 km from here.

She has set up a company called 'Concept Mathematical Teaching Aid' to make the teaching-aid kits in collaboration with Educational Initiatives, an NGO launched by three alumni of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad.

"The maths kits are simple," Patil explained.

"Teachers focus on theory but learning by rote has no relevance. Up to 14 years of age, a child needs support to conceptualise this. For example, when we speak about volume, surface area, edge of a cube or square, children need to have models in their hands and my kits address this deficiency," she said.

Photograph : (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

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