Amruta Pawar – Project Coordinator
Quality education begins with empowered teachers as they play a crucial role in shaping students’ learning experiences, curiosity, and future aspirations. When teachers are equipped with the right knowledge, skills, and innovative teaching methods, they can create engaging classrooms that inspire students to think critically, solve problems, and actively participate in learning.
Recognizing this, CYDA launched its STEM Teacher Capacity Building Program in 2022 to equip educators with the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to deliver engaging STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in classrooms.
One of the major challenges in schools is the continued use of traditional lecture-based teaching methods. Many teachers have limited exposure to inquiry-based learning, hands-on experiments, digital teaching tools, and project-based approaches. As a result, students often miss opportunities to explore, question, and apply concepts in real-life situations. To address these challenges, CYDA designed a practical training program that helps teachers create more interactive and student-centered learning environments.
Over the last four years, the program has reached more than 180 teachers across 50 schools. The success of the initiative also attracted the attention of the Socrates Foundation, which partnered with CYDA to conduct STEM teacher training in two additional schools—Dr. Mrs. Erin N. Nagarwala School and H.K. Hakim K.T. High School, Kondhwa. Through this partnership, nearly 200 more teachers were trained, bringing the total number of trained teachers to 380.
CYDA successfully conducted six STEM Teacher Capacity Building Trainings, including four within PCMC schools and two outside the project area. Each training was conducted over two days, with six hours of learning per day and total of 12 hours of intensive professional development. The participants included 57 primary teachers, 196 middle school teachers, and 127 secondary and higher secondary teachers.
- The workshops were highly interactive and focused on practical learnings.
- Hands-on STEM activities
- Collaborative problem-solving exercises
- Inquiry-based learning sessions
- Project-based learning activities
- Design thinking exercises
- Demonstrations of digital teaching tools.
The training encouraged teachers to move beyond textbook instruction and support student-led exploration and learning.
1. Understanding of STEM Concepts
The STEM Teacher Capacity Building Workshop helped bridge knowledge, gaps and strengthened their ability to integrate STEM approaches into classroom teaching.
2. Awareness of STEM Tools
Exposure to various STEM resources, digital platforms, and hands-on materials significantly improved teachers’ awareness of tools that can be used to enrich classroom learning.
3.Confidence in Using STEM Tools
Practical demonstrations and hands-on activities enabled teachers to gain the confidence needed to use STEM tools effectively in classroom settings.
4. Inquiry-Based Teaching Skills
Teachers became more capable of facilitating student-centered learning, encouraging questioning, critical thinking, exploration, and problem-solving rather than relying solely on traditional lecture-based methods.
Impact of the Program
The STEM Teacher Capacity Building Program created significant improvements in teachers’ knowledge, confidence, and classroom practices.
- Pre-test and post-test assessments showed an estimated 45–50% increase in teachers’ STEM knowledge.
- More than 85% of teachers reported increased confidence in planning and delivering STEM lessons.
- Around 80% of trained teachers regularly incorporated hands-on activities, experiments, and project-based learning into their classrooms after the training.
- Nearly 75% of participants reported greater confidence in facilitating inquiry-based learning, encouraging students to ask questions, explore ideas, and solve problems independently.
- More than 70% of teachers independently initiated STEM activities such as model-making, science investigations, engineering design challenges, coding exercises, and environmental projects in their schools.
- Schools reported higher student participation and classroom engagement after teachers adopted activity-based learning approaches.
- Students demonstrated greater curiosity, stronger teamwork, and improved critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Teachers became more confident in using digital teaching tools and innovative classroom practices.
- The program contributed to the creation of more student-centered, experiential, and interactive learning environments across participating schools.
Rukhsar Sayyed, a Primary English Teacher from Kondhwa Khurd, shared, “The workshop made my explanation easier. I feel very confident now while conducting activities with students. The activity-based sessions were the most useful part of the training. Such workshops help teachers make learning more interactive and enjoyable for children. Many educators who were initially hesitant to conduct STEM activities gradually became active contributors, sharing ideas, experimenting with new teaching methods, and discussing ways to adapt activities to their classrooms.
By strengthening teachers’ capacities, CYDA is indirectly impacting thousands of students who now experience more engaging, creative, and problem-solving-oriented STEM education.
CYDA extends its sincere gratitude to the Socrates Foundation for its trust and partnership in advancing STEM education. Together, we are building a future where teachers are empowered, classrooms are transformed, and students are inspired to become the innovators and problem-solvers of tomorrow.
Through sustained investment in teacher development, CYDA continues to create lasting educational impact—one teacher, one classroom, and one student at a time.
