Mumbai News: BMC Renews Partnership With Pehlay Akshar Foundation To Train Municipal School Teachers

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) renewed its partnership with Pehlay Akshar Foundation (PAF) by signing a five-year extension to scale its flagship teacher training programme. Over the last five years, the initiative has trained 8,000 teachers across 814 municipal schools, directly impacting over 2.5 lakh students.

Launched in 2019 to Address Teacher Gaps

The collaborative initiative was launched in 2019 to address critical gaps in teacher preparedness and classroom engagement. The programme is said to blend structured training workshops, peer-to-peer learning, live classroom demonstrations, and one-on-one mentoring with continuous support through digital resources such as energisers, worksheets, lesson plans, and more, delivered via the Pehlay Akshar App and WhatsApp bot.

Focus on Confidence, Inclusion, and Modern Pedagogy

This multi-layered approach is said to have helped teachers build confidence, embrace activity-based learning, and create more inclusive and participative classrooms. It has been working to empower eachers with functional English, modern pedagogy, and student-centric classroom practices, transforming classrooms into joyful, engaging spaces of learning.

BMC Commissioner Emphasises Importance of Functional English

BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, said, “If we nurture social skills through functional english in the formative years, then it becomes the first step, english for knowledge the second, and together they open the window to the world, and to learning. Pehlay Akshar is that beginning, and by passing on these skills to students, we take the right step forward.”

Assessments Show Strong Teacher and Student Impact

PAF claimed that assessments by independent agencies like Sattva and CSRBox show that four in five teachers were able to recall and apply core training concepts, and 85% of teachers actively use the programme’s digital app 2–3 times a week. According to the findings, teachers report a noticeable rise in student confidence, participation, and collaboration across different learning levels, with 86% observing greater teamwork among students.

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PAF Founder Calls for Systemic Change in Education

Radha Goenka, founder of PAF, said, “This partnership with BMC is proof that systemic change is possible when public institutions and social innovators work together. The next five years are about building on this trust and creating a replicable model of teacher empowerment that can inspire public education across India. It’s our commitment to reimagine every classroom as a space where curiosity thrives and every child feels seen, heard, and inspired.”

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