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What is Portage Service


Portage derived its name from a small town in Wisconsin (U.S.A) where the first home-teaching scheme began in 1969-a place which was Portage or a crossover from body of water to land. This is how it is used as a crossover or bridge-a way of transferring knowledge and skills from Professionals to Para-Professionals and to Non-Professionals.

Why is it called Portage

It is also known as Portage because the services are carried out to the door-step of the needy. The term Portage is now being used as

  1. a concept

  2. an educational construct

  3. an educational service

Founders of Portage Service
The classic portage model was developed by David Shearer & Marsha Shearer in 1972. It has been adapted and tried in India under various Models by the President of INPA Prof. Tehal Kohli and her team of workers since 1980.

How does it Work
Trained home advisors can weekly visit the home or pre-school education centres and can study the child with special needs. Parents or pre-school educators then can decide what the child can learn in the coming week. Long and difficult tasks can be broken down into easily achievable tasks and can be practiced daily. Parents/pre-school educators can keep a record of child's progress on an activity chart describing each teaching activity.

Phases of Portage Model in India (Simplified Model)
Phase I: Planning weekly curriculum objective by home advisors.
Phase II: Teaching curriculum objectives.
Phase III: Recording and assessing curriculum objectives.
Phase IV: Evaluating curriculum objectives on the basis of targets set for teaching.

Aims & Advantages of Portage Services

Techniques & Material employed in Portage Services