Hyderabad: How do you strike a serious conversation on issues such as sexual abuse with pre-primary students who are just starting out to learn alphabets? Ask Bhavani Bompelly, the only teacher from Telangana among the 48 nationwide to be selected for the National Teachers Award this year, and she will tell you a rhyme that addresses this problem.Bhavani, a teacher at the Mandal Parishad Primary School (MPPS) Girls, Gandhari in Kamareddy, has been using rhymes to teach children as young as three about ‘good touch, bad touch’. This is also in consonance with advice from experts on teaching children about sexual abuse at an early age.“Even small children are facing abuse. They don’t even know what is happening. I felt that it is necessary to teach all children, right from nursery, about this topic. I also speak to parents as they too need to be aware about sexual abuse and what to do if their children face it,” Bhavani, who teaches children from nursery to class 5, told TOI.Her efforts to create awareness about the issue go well beyond the classroom. She follows up with awareness programmes and meets parents to ensure their children are safe.On introducing rhymes to deal with the issue, the 39-year-old said she wanted to ensure that all students understood the concept before striking a more serious conversation with them.Bhavani, who was part of a team of teachers from Telangana that visited Finland recently on a study tour, uses innovative techniques in teaching other subjects too. She has made several videos showing easy tricks for multiplication and division.Her videos on social media also frequently feature her students, who sometimes join her in dancing to the latest songs to learn aptitude, reasoning, cursive writing, and general knowledge.“Because of these videos, hygiene levels among children have also improved. Children became more active and creative. Now, they are giving me ideas on what videos to do,” Bhavani said. She learnt Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam during the pandemic, which she teaches her students to ensure their holistic development.After she joined the school in 2018, the schools enrolment rose from 40 to 135. The school now also has basic infrastructure in place, including computers.“Right after the pandemic, I donated Rs20,000 to improve infrastructure. Seeing me, other donors came forward, and we could get basic infrastructure in place. Last year, I got the state award, which came with a Rs10,000 cash prize. I added another Rs10,000 to buy a computer for the school,” she said.
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