(SK) ) Asha for Education Seva Mandir
UPDATE ON SUPPORTING EDUCATION FOR RURAL CHILDREN (THROUGH SHIKSHA KENDRAS (SK)) July 2014 to December 2014 Supported by
Asha for Education
Submitted By:
Seva Mandir Old Fatehpura, Udaipur – 313001, Rajasthan (India). Ph: 0294 - 2450960 / 2451041; Fax: 0294 - 2450947 E-Mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: www.sevamandir.org
Background In Badgaon block, like the rest of Udaipur district, poor access to quality education is a significant development challenge, severely limiting the prospects for advancement for the poor and marginalized communities with which Seva Mandir works. Poverty and the lack of quality education reduce the likelihood of a child going to school. To address this issue, Seva Mandir helps the village communities run the following activities: Shiksha Kendras (Community schools) Residential learning camps Scholarships to children Activity Center Youth resource centres (YRC) The SK programme in Badgaon block is being supported by ASHA for Education since 2007. From 2009 ASHA has extended support for other interventions in this block, which are the residential learning camps and the activity centres. A brief progress on the three initiatives is given in subsequent sections for the period July to December 2014.
Section 1: Shiksha Kendra: Seva Mandir helps village communities run Shiksha Kendras (SKs) to ensure quality education to out of school children of tribal and marginalized communities. These SKs also act as sites for communities for experiencing quality education and provision for it. Currently, there are 19 Shiksha Kendras being run in Badgaon block reaching out to 581 (49% girls) children, spread over 17 villages and 19 hamlets. The enrolment of this year is similar to last year’s enrolment of 592. No.
Zone
1 2 3 4 5
Delwara Bagdunda Dhar Godach Kadia Total
SKs in July SKs in Dec. 2014 2014 5 5 7 7 2 2 1 1 5 4 20
19
Enrollment in Dec. 2014 Boys Girls Total 64 56 120 118 107 225 48 46 94 27 25 52 39 51 90 296
285
581
Table 1: Zone wise enrolment of children in SKs
During the reporting period one SK of Waghelo Ka Guda village was closed due to the irregularity and unavailability of other instructor. Of 20 children enrolled in this centre, 13 have been enrolled in nearby Government school and 7 younger children temporarily sent to Anganwadi – Government run preschool.
New Enrolment In the academic session 2014-15, 162 new children got enrolled in 19 SKs with 74 boys and 88 girls, striking a balance between overall enrolment of girls and boys at SKs. This year’s new enrolment has been little higher as compared to last year’s new enrolled of 139 with an increase of 7 boys and 16 girls. Zone
No. of SKs
Delwara Bagdunda Dhar Godach Kadia Total
5 7 2 1 4 19
No. of Children enrolled till Dec 2014 Boys Girls Total 16 18 34 30 30 60 11 11 22 7 10 17 10 19 31 74 88 162
Table 2: Enrolment details of new children
Graduation to other institutions Once the students from SKs have achieved basic competencies in language and mathematics, they are encouraged to enrol in a government school for continued education. This year 111 (19%) students graduated to other institutions for higher studies. Of these 44% are girls. The class-wise detail of enrolment is given below. No. of children graduating from SKS
Class 1-3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6 & above
Total
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
24
18
42
13
9
22
17
8
25
9
12
21
63
47
110
Table 3: Class wise enrolment of children in other schools from SKs
As seen in the above table, 46% children have got admission in standard, 5 and 6 with a stay of approx. 5 years (mode of all the records) at the SK. In the year 2013-2014, a follow up survey was conducted to find out the status of SK passed out students of 2008 to 2012. According to the data 5048 students passed out from SKs in 2008 to 2012. Out of these 5048 students, 2591 (51%) students were tracked. The results of the survey showed that Out of 2591 students, 2042 (80%) students found in schools. Another small study was conducted in the reporting period to verify the above collected data. In this study 339 students who were in school in previous year in Kotra block were surveyed. The results showed that out of 339 students who were in school, 302 (89%) students, including 104(35%) girls continued their study in current year. In coming months, another study is proposed to check the retention of children specifically in Badgaon block. Having said that, it is also important to mention that facilitating children’s graduation to government schools has had its own challenges. Getting them to enrol in government schools is easy but to retain
their interest in learning and successful completion of school becomes challenging given the erratic quality of schooling there.
Evaluation of the children: Half yearly evaluation of the children was conducted in the month of December 2014. All the copies of the evaluation across 19 SKs have been checked; the marks obtained by children shall be entered in the data base and the results are proposed to be declared by the end of February 2015.
Capacity Building of Teachers Instructors running the SKs are individuals from the same/ nearby village as that of SK with varied educational qualifications ranging from Bachelors’ degree to 8th pass. Thus, it is important to conduct timely meetings and trainings, in order to enhance their academic skills and provide them with innovative teaching material/ methodology. Currently 23 instructors (11 male and 12 female) are associated at 19 centers in Badgaon block. The brief of various interventions done for capacity building of these teachers is given below: Instructor Meeting: During the reporting period 4 instructor meetings were held in
Badgaon block. The below table gives a brief insight of the points discussed in the meetings. S.No.
Month
1
August 2014
2
September 2014
Meetings -
-
3
October 2014
-
4
November 2014
A two day meeting on SK status report, discussion on HH survey; revision on English session; Intro to science session; camera monitoring. A one day meeting on WTT (description of the programme is given below) follow up: introducing lesson plan and preparations A one-day meeting on Basic English: words, gender, singular-plural, usage of is am are and simple conversation Compilation of material requirement from the instructors A two-day meeting cum training had been organized. Agenda of the meeting being – revision of eng conversation; nutritional facts; learning levels of students and time-table preparation.
Table 4: Details of Instructor meetings held
Participants
20
20
23
21
Annual instructor training: In addition to the quarterly instructor meeting at the block level, annual trainings of instructors form an integral part of Seva Mandir's Education program. Each time, new aspects are included in the training agenda, while older topics are revisited. These trainings also provide the much needed space for interaction for all those involved with Shiksha Kendra. The trainings also prove to be a forum where theoretical knowledge meets practical experience enabling both the resource persons and the instructors to learn from each other. This time it was decided to conduct the training in 2 separate batches: One for the experienced teachers and the second batch for the new instructors and those instructors who needed more hand holding on class room transactions. Training for the first batch was conducted from 8th September to 13th September with the participation of 124 instructors. 11 instructors from Badgaon block participated in the training. The training of second batch will be planned in March 2015. The sessions were held on good classroom and school including how to make classrooms attractive, cleanliness of schools, the ideal teaching practices, behaviour and relationship of instructors with children; writing skills- different styles of writing including application writing, news paper article, story writing and basic mathematics and follow-up of WT 2013 which included lesson preparation before coming to the school and how to evaluate what children have learned. One session was also organized on child rights and protection. World Teacher Exchange Program was organized from 10th – 24th October 2014, in cooperation with Edukans (A Dutch organization) for the third time. The World Teacher programme is designed with the aim to facilitate professional and informal exchange between education professionals from the Netherlands and SK, Residential Learning Camp and Activity Center instructors of Seva Mandir. The program was divided into three phases of observation, teacher training (workshops) and implementation of learning. One female instructor Ms. Shehnaz, participated in the complete program while 5 additional instructors, from AfE supported SKs, participated in the workshops. Training on Science teaching: During the reporting period three rounds of training on science teaching was organized. 14 instructors, including 2 instructors from Badgaon block, were selected for the training who will serve as trainers for other instructors during the quarterly instructor meetings. In the first training, modules were prepared, on parts of body, digestive
system, respiratory system, water cycle, water pollution & control, hygiene etc. and introduced to the instructors. After the training, teachers selected modules and taught them at their centers with the help of volunteers. Based on the observations by the volunteers and feed back of the instructors, other two rounds of training were conducted.
Community Participation Community participation and ownership is a central component of Seva Mandir’s vision and is a critical part of the SK program. For this reason Seva Mandir works in a systematic and comprehensive manner to involve communities in the functioning of SKs and to deepen their understanding on quality education. Various initiatives were taken to encourage partnership with the parents and the local community and bring a sense of accountability both from the teachers and the community. Some of those initiatives are described below. Shiksha Shulk (Education Fees): In all the SKs, a token amount of Rs.150 is collected from parents of the enrolled children. Parents are not bound to deposit this amount if their financial conditions do not allow them and are free to deposit it at any time of the year. The prime purpose behind this monetary assistance from students’ parents is to involve them actively in the learning process of their children. Amount thus collected is an assistance used for buying essentials like clothes, water bottles, tiffins etc. for students of SKs as per the requirement. A total of Rs. 40,650 (52%) has been collected in the reporting period which is almost similar to 50% collection in December 2013. At 3 SKs the fees has already been utilized in buying school uniforms and sweaters after deciding it with the parents. While other SKs are planning to utilize the collected amount in January and distribute it during Republic Day celebration. Engagement of community through various activities Praveshotsav (Enrolment festival) was celebrated at all the SKs with old students welcoming the new comers. Rallies were conducted with slogans and parents were also invited to attend the function. Independence Day was celebrated at all SKs on 15th August, 2014. Children took out rally with slogans like “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” and collected at the centre for cultural programme. Sweets were distributed by Panchayat. Children also attended celebration at nearby govt. schools and recited poems and songs. Community in Dholigati village donated Rs. 10 per family and bought sweets which were distributed among children and other people present in the function.
28 Parents Teacher meetings were organized during this reporting period with an average attendance of 8 to 10 parents. Major point of discussion being regularity of students, collection of fees, hygiene of children and distribution of study material. This year Children’s day (14th November) was celebrated at 6 centres of Badgaon to commemorate the birth anniversary of Jawahar Lal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. Children participated in various activities organized at the centre like recitation, dance etc. and were given prizes in the form of stationery item. Some of the SKs took an initiative to clear their SKs and surroundings by collecting polythene bags, wrappers and other waste material.
Figure 1: Children participating in cleaning of SK
Figure 2: Children giving ‘shramdan’ in cleaning surroundings of SK
Section 2: Residential Learning Camps The purpose of the residential Learning Camps is to enable out of school, working children (most of whom have not previously attended school) “to be able to read and write independently and with comprehension”. The learning camps have been highly effective in reaching out to out-of -school, working children and providing them with quality education. They have also been effective in encouraging several of these children and their parents to enroll their children in regular schools thereafter. The camps are fully residential for both children and teachers. The two main subjects taught in the camp are language (Hindi) and mathematics. The camps have demonstrated a high impact on the learning levels of the children and their interest in learning has also increased. It is due to use of child-friendly teaching material, teaching pedagogy, classroom environment and regular follow-ups. Regular assessments of children’s learning level help the team modify teaching method and material. Variety of teaching aids including books, charts, picture cards, dice, games enrich learning for children. It also allows them an opportunity to work in groups and learn on their own as per their own pace. A follow-up
study was conducted during the reporting period to track the status of children who have attended previous camps (2011-2013) from Badgaon block. 83 students from 4 villages were tracked in the study. The results show that 65 children (78%) continued their studies after the camps. During the reporting period one residential learning camp was held at Kaya training center from 1st November for 60 days. The brief of the camp is below.
Participation of Children A total of 176 children (71 girls and 105 boys) from 21 villages across 4 blocks of Seva Mandir were reached through this camp. Out of these, 152 children came for the first time, 21 children came for the second time while 3 children came for the third time. The table below shows the details of children who participated in the camp. 20 teachers (13 male and 7 female) were deployed to undertake teaching at the camp.
Learning Process The two main subjects taught in the camps are Hindi & Maths. The children are also taught Basic English, Environmental Science and General Knowledge. Per day six hours are devoted towards classroom learning followed by sports in the evening and cultural night – ensuring all round development of children. During a week the language class is taught in the morning and math class in the afternoon and then the sequence is changed. All the teachers teach with methods that help the children truly understand the subject they are learning. The teachers use various materials (e.g. charts, books, flash cards, stones, wooden sticks, tree leaves, pencils, crayons) to facilitate the learning process and to help make it more fun, thus encouraging the children to learn.
Impact 1. Assessments At the start of each the camp, an informal (but through a set format) assessment is carried out, through interactions with the children and small group discussions, to test their reading and writing skills. The information gathered from this informal assessment was used to divide the classes according to their learning ability, with each class having approximately 10 – 12 children per teacher. The initial assessment showed that 163 children were in Level C1, 8 in Level B and 5 in Level A. At the end of the first month a mid-term evaluation was conducted. Since this was the first major test teachers were available to help the children and clear up any doubts by explaining or reading the questions. During the mid-term tests, teachers changed classrooms in order to supervise the tests and
1
To identify the progress of a child we have different levels of their learning levels. When a child can barely read and write anything, she is at Level C. When a child can read and write small words in language and in Mathematics can do basic counting and simple operations like addition and subtraction with small numbers, she placed in Level B. When a child progresses and can write small text in Language and in Mathematics can further also do operations like multiplication, division etc. she is placed in Level A.
maintain the integrity of the results. After the mid-term assessment the papers were checked and the results shared in a feedback and review meeting. On the basis of the results, which indicated an overall improvement, the children were regrouped as per their learning level. At the end of the camp the children were tested for the final time. Although the questions differed, the design of the paper was similar to the mid-term test, though since this was the final exam there was no extra help from the teachers. The papers were divided into two sections – with a maximum of 50 marks for language and 50 marks for math questions. The following table indicates the camp-wise progress: Results of Total Children A B C children Girls 68 3 49 16 Boys 101 11 72 18 Total 169 14 122 34 *7 children (3 girls and 4 boys) left camp due to family obligations before the final exams Table 5: End term evaluation results
Other Activities: Visit from St. Christopher U. K.: Every year group of 10-15 children from St. Christopher School London comes to visit the camp for 2-3 days; it provides them an opportunity to engage with children from different background. St. Christopher children also come prepared to undertake sessions on English language, mathematics, science etc. with the camp children as these sessions become medium of interaction and friendship. This year also a group of students came to visit camp on 15th and 16th February 2015. They took sessions on arts & crafts, mathematics, English language and science. Instructors at camp and St. Chris children also had a friendly match of volleyball on their final day at camp. Participation of children in My School Bag Campaign: On 27th December, My School Bag campaign was organized by Celebration Mall of Udaipur. Under the campaign the children were invited to the Mall. Children were introduced to some games and sports and participated in cultural event at celebration mall. Magic show and puppet show were organized for children. At the of the ceremony children were given a complete kit of school bag including stationery, 2 sets of uniform etc. followed by some refreshments.
Children’s’ fair: On 22nd November a ‘Bal Mela’ was organized at the camp. There were many different stalls and games like oil painting, mask making, jewellery making, spoon races, mehandi, ring toss etc. Every child
attending the camp participated both in managing the stalls as well as participating in them and playing the games and winning prizes. 50 children from ‘child line’ also participated in the camp.
Section 3: Activity Centers Activity centre is a unique initiative working in the existing government school system. These centers are housed within the government schools and are run by Seva Mandir teachers from last 5 years. The main objective of the program is to enable the students to have meaningful and joyful education by providing various opportunities and exposures to learning which they are not able to get in mainstream schools. With the implementation of Right to Education Act, education has been made free and compulsory to all children in the age-group of 6-14 years of age yet not much changed at ground. Through these centers Seva Mandir is trying to provide continues engagement to build conceptual understanding of children in the subjects of Math and Hindi. At present, 4 Activity centers and one Tuition centre are being run in Badgaon block. Classes in No. of teachers in School School December 2014
No. of children enrolled in July 2014
1st – 10th
2 teachers + 1 HM
B-128 ; G-93 ; T-221
2
Selu/ Kadia
1st – 8th
6 teachers (including HM)
B- 76 ; G- 66 ; T- 142
2
Pipad / Kadia
1st – 8th
6 teachers (including HM)
B- 98 ; G- 55 ; T- 153
2
3 teachers (including HM)
B-86 ; G-81 ; T-167
1
B-388 ; G- 295 ; T- 683
7
Village/Zone Undithal Bagdunda
/
Maruwas/Kadia 1st – 8th
Total
SM Teachers
Table 6: Details of Activity Centers
Village Undithal Selu Maroowas Pipad
School Type/ Class
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
Secondary UPS UPS UPS Grand Total
10 19 9 12 50
12 16 10 11 49
15 21 19 18 73
17 15 24 30 86
21 31 26 28 106
43 18 22 29 112
34 12 30 11 87
27 10 27 14 78
27 0 0 0 27
15 0 0 0 15
221 142 167 153 683
Table 7: Class wise enrolment of children
Capacity Building of teachers Facilitator Meeting
2 facilitator meetings were held during the reporting period. These meetings provide them a platform where they can share their concerns and experiences amongst each other and with the block level program co-coordinator. The prime agendas of these meetings were inclusion of drop out/out of school children in schools, reasons and possible solutions regarding irregularity of children and better use of available resources.
Special Activities Teachers day was also celebrated at all the activity centers. Students of higher classes taught lessons to junior sections and performed activities like poem recitation, singing, dancing etc. Students at all the schools participated in National Level Project Competition wherein students had to submit charts on Watershed development / Water Conservation. Bal Sabhas or children’s meeting - student – teacher open session is being conducted every Saturday where extra-curricular activities like quiz, story-telling, debates, etc. are organized. It is an interactive session which gives students a platform to showcase their talents. 35 applications for Navodaya Vidhyalay have been sent from UPS Maroowas and UPS Selu.
Conclusion: The situation of primary education has changed a lot since Seva Mandir started its SK program. In Badgaon block the availability of schools is increased but quality education is still a big challenge. While every year, a large number of children are prepared for higher classes there and their admission facilitated, the lack of quality and teaching there pushes out these children after a few years. Despite so much pressure and constructive engagement with the government schools, the results are niche and few. Once again, newer solutions and approaches are needed. These will be our main focus in the coming years. Seva Mandir is especially grateful to ASHA for supporting Seva Mandir and hope the collaboration continue in future.
Asha for Education
Submitted By:
Seva Mandir Old Fatehpura, Udaipur – 313001, Rajasthan (India). Ph: 0294 - 2450960 / 2451041; Fax: 0294 - 2450947 E-Mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: www.sevamandir.org
Background In Badgaon block, like the rest of Udaipur district, poor access to quality education is a significant development challenge, severely limiting the prospects for advancement for the poor and marginalized communities with which Seva Mandir works. Poverty and the lack of quality education reduce the likelihood of a child going to school. To address this issue, Seva Mandir helps the village communities run the following activities: Shiksha Kendras (Community schools) Residential learning camps Scholarships to children Activity Center Youth resource centres (YRC) The SK programme in Badgaon block is being supported by ASHA for Education since 2007. From 2009 ASHA has extended support for other interventions in this block, which are the residential learning camps and the activity centres. A brief progress on the three initiatives is given in subsequent sections for the period July to December 2014.
Section 1: Shiksha Kendra: Seva Mandir helps village communities run Shiksha Kendras (SKs) to ensure quality education to out of school children of tribal and marginalized communities. These SKs also act as sites for communities for experiencing quality education and provision for it. Currently, there are 19 Shiksha Kendras being run in Badgaon block reaching out to 581 (49% girls) children, spread over 17 villages and 19 hamlets. The enrolment of this year is similar to last year’s enrolment of 592. No.
Zone
1 2 3 4 5
Delwara Bagdunda Dhar Godach Kadia Total
SKs in July SKs in Dec. 2014 2014 5 5 7 7 2 2 1 1 5 4 20
19
Enrollment in Dec. 2014 Boys Girls Total 64 56 120 118 107 225 48 46 94 27 25 52 39 51 90 296
285
581
Table 1: Zone wise enrolment of children in SKs
During the reporting period one SK of Waghelo Ka Guda village was closed due to the irregularity and unavailability of other instructor. Of 20 children enrolled in this centre, 13 have been enrolled in nearby Government school and 7 younger children temporarily sent to Anganwadi – Government run preschool.
New Enrolment In the academic session 2014-15, 162 new children got enrolled in 19 SKs with 74 boys and 88 girls, striking a balance between overall enrolment of girls and boys at SKs. This year’s new enrolment has been little higher as compared to last year’s new enrolled of 139 with an increase of 7 boys and 16 girls. Zone
No. of SKs
Delwara Bagdunda Dhar Godach Kadia Total
5 7 2 1 4 19
No. of Children enrolled till Dec 2014 Boys Girls Total 16 18 34 30 30 60 11 11 22 7 10 17 10 19 31 74 88 162
Table 2: Enrolment details of new children
Graduation to other institutions Once the students from SKs have achieved basic competencies in language and mathematics, they are encouraged to enrol in a government school for continued education. This year 111 (19%) students graduated to other institutions for higher studies. Of these 44% are girls. The class-wise detail of enrolment is given below. No. of children graduating from SKS
Class 1-3
Class 4
Class 5
Class 6 & above
Total
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
B
G
T
24
18
42
13
9
22
17
8
25
9
12
21
63
47
110
Table 3: Class wise enrolment of children in other schools from SKs
As seen in the above table, 46% children have got admission in standard, 5 and 6 with a stay of approx. 5 years (mode of all the records) at the SK. In the year 2013-2014, a follow up survey was conducted to find out the status of SK passed out students of 2008 to 2012. According to the data 5048 students passed out from SKs in 2008 to 2012. Out of these 5048 students, 2591 (51%) students were tracked. The results of the survey showed that Out of 2591 students, 2042 (80%) students found in schools. Another small study was conducted in the reporting period to verify the above collected data. In this study 339 students who were in school in previous year in Kotra block were surveyed. The results showed that out of 339 students who were in school, 302 (89%) students, including 104(35%) girls continued their study in current year. In coming months, another study is proposed to check the retention of children specifically in Badgaon block. Having said that, it is also important to mention that facilitating children’s graduation to government schools has had its own challenges. Getting them to enrol in government schools is easy but to retain
their interest in learning and successful completion of school becomes challenging given the erratic quality of schooling there.
Evaluation of the children: Half yearly evaluation of the children was conducted in the month of December 2014. All the copies of the evaluation across 19 SKs have been checked; the marks obtained by children shall be entered in the data base and the results are proposed to be declared by the end of February 2015.
Capacity Building of Teachers Instructors running the SKs are individuals from the same/ nearby village as that of SK with varied educational qualifications ranging from Bachelors’ degree to 8th pass. Thus, it is important to conduct timely meetings and trainings, in order to enhance their academic skills and provide them with innovative teaching material/ methodology. Currently 23 instructors (11 male and 12 female) are associated at 19 centers in Badgaon block. The brief of various interventions done for capacity building of these teachers is given below: Instructor Meeting: During the reporting period 4 instructor meetings were held in
Badgaon block. The below table gives a brief insight of the points discussed in the meetings. S.No.
Month
1
August 2014
2
September 2014
Meetings -
-
3
October 2014
-
4
November 2014
A two day meeting on SK status report, discussion on HH survey; revision on English session; Intro to science session; camera monitoring. A one day meeting on WTT (description of the programme is given below) follow up: introducing lesson plan and preparations A one-day meeting on Basic English: words, gender, singular-plural, usage of is am are and simple conversation Compilation of material requirement from the instructors A two-day meeting cum training had been organized. Agenda of the meeting being – revision of eng conversation; nutritional facts; learning levels of students and time-table preparation.
Table 4: Details of Instructor meetings held
Participants
20
20
23
21
Annual instructor training: In addition to the quarterly instructor meeting at the block level, annual trainings of instructors form an integral part of Seva Mandir's Education program. Each time, new aspects are included in the training agenda, while older topics are revisited. These trainings also provide the much needed space for interaction for all those involved with Shiksha Kendra. The trainings also prove to be a forum where theoretical knowledge meets practical experience enabling both the resource persons and the instructors to learn from each other. This time it was decided to conduct the training in 2 separate batches: One for the experienced teachers and the second batch for the new instructors and those instructors who needed more hand holding on class room transactions. Training for the first batch was conducted from 8th September to 13th September with the participation of 124 instructors. 11 instructors from Badgaon block participated in the training. The training of second batch will be planned in March 2015. The sessions were held on good classroom and school including how to make classrooms attractive, cleanliness of schools, the ideal teaching practices, behaviour and relationship of instructors with children; writing skills- different styles of writing including application writing, news paper article, story writing and basic mathematics and follow-up of WT 2013 which included lesson preparation before coming to the school and how to evaluate what children have learned. One session was also organized on child rights and protection. World Teacher Exchange Program was organized from 10th – 24th October 2014, in cooperation with Edukans (A Dutch organization) for the third time. The World Teacher programme is designed with the aim to facilitate professional and informal exchange between education professionals from the Netherlands and SK, Residential Learning Camp and Activity Center instructors of Seva Mandir. The program was divided into three phases of observation, teacher training (workshops) and implementation of learning. One female instructor Ms. Shehnaz, participated in the complete program while 5 additional instructors, from AfE supported SKs, participated in the workshops. Training on Science teaching: During the reporting period three rounds of training on science teaching was organized. 14 instructors, including 2 instructors from Badgaon block, were selected for the training who will serve as trainers for other instructors during the quarterly instructor meetings. In the first training, modules were prepared, on parts of body, digestive
system, respiratory system, water cycle, water pollution & control, hygiene etc. and introduced to the instructors. After the training, teachers selected modules and taught them at their centers with the help of volunteers. Based on the observations by the volunteers and feed back of the instructors, other two rounds of training were conducted.
Community Participation Community participation and ownership is a central component of Seva Mandir’s vision and is a critical part of the SK program. For this reason Seva Mandir works in a systematic and comprehensive manner to involve communities in the functioning of SKs and to deepen their understanding on quality education. Various initiatives were taken to encourage partnership with the parents and the local community and bring a sense of accountability both from the teachers and the community. Some of those initiatives are described below. Shiksha Shulk (Education Fees): In all the SKs, a token amount of Rs.150 is collected from parents of the enrolled children. Parents are not bound to deposit this amount if their financial conditions do not allow them and are free to deposit it at any time of the year. The prime purpose behind this monetary assistance from students’ parents is to involve them actively in the learning process of their children. Amount thus collected is an assistance used for buying essentials like clothes, water bottles, tiffins etc. for students of SKs as per the requirement. A total of Rs. 40,650 (52%) has been collected in the reporting period which is almost similar to 50% collection in December 2013. At 3 SKs the fees has already been utilized in buying school uniforms and sweaters after deciding it with the parents. While other SKs are planning to utilize the collected amount in January and distribute it during Republic Day celebration. Engagement of community through various activities Praveshotsav (Enrolment festival) was celebrated at all the SKs with old students welcoming the new comers. Rallies were conducted with slogans and parents were also invited to attend the function. Independence Day was celebrated at all SKs on 15th August, 2014. Children took out rally with slogans like “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” and collected at the centre for cultural programme. Sweets were distributed by Panchayat. Children also attended celebration at nearby govt. schools and recited poems and songs. Community in Dholigati village donated Rs. 10 per family and bought sweets which were distributed among children and other people present in the function.
28 Parents Teacher meetings were organized during this reporting period with an average attendance of 8 to 10 parents. Major point of discussion being regularity of students, collection of fees, hygiene of children and distribution of study material. This year Children’s day (14th November) was celebrated at 6 centres of Badgaon to commemorate the birth anniversary of Jawahar Lal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. Children participated in various activities organized at the centre like recitation, dance etc. and were given prizes in the form of stationery item. Some of the SKs took an initiative to clear their SKs and surroundings by collecting polythene bags, wrappers and other waste material.
Figure 1: Children participating in cleaning of SK
Figure 2: Children giving ‘shramdan’ in cleaning surroundings of SK
Section 2: Residential Learning Camps The purpose of the residential Learning Camps is to enable out of school, working children (most of whom have not previously attended school) “to be able to read and write independently and with comprehension”. The learning camps have been highly effective in reaching out to out-of -school, working children and providing them with quality education. They have also been effective in encouraging several of these children and their parents to enroll their children in regular schools thereafter. The camps are fully residential for both children and teachers. The two main subjects taught in the camp are language (Hindi) and mathematics. The camps have demonstrated a high impact on the learning levels of the children and their interest in learning has also increased. It is due to use of child-friendly teaching material, teaching pedagogy, classroom environment and regular follow-ups. Regular assessments of children’s learning level help the team modify teaching method and material. Variety of teaching aids including books, charts, picture cards, dice, games enrich learning for children. It also allows them an opportunity to work in groups and learn on their own as per their own pace. A follow-up
study was conducted during the reporting period to track the status of children who have attended previous camps (2011-2013) from Badgaon block. 83 students from 4 villages were tracked in the study. The results show that 65 children (78%) continued their studies after the camps. During the reporting period one residential learning camp was held at Kaya training center from 1st November for 60 days. The brief of the camp is below.
Participation of Children A total of 176 children (71 girls and 105 boys) from 21 villages across 4 blocks of Seva Mandir were reached through this camp. Out of these, 152 children came for the first time, 21 children came for the second time while 3 children came for the third time. The table below shows the details of children who participated in the camp. 20 teachers (13 male and 7 female) were deployed to undertake teaching at the camp.
Learning Process The two main subjects taught in the camps are Hindi & Maths. The children are also taught Basic English, Environmental Science and General Knowledge. Per day six hours are devoted towards classroom learning followed by sports in the evening and cultural night – ensuring all round development of children. During a week the language class is taught in the morning and math class in the afternoon and then the sequence is changed. All the teachers teach with methods that help the children truly understand the subject they are learning. The teachers use various materials (e.g. charts, books, flash cards, stones, wooden sticks, tree leaves, pencils, crayons) to facilitate the learning process and to help make it more fun, thus encouraging the children to learn.
Impact 1. Assessments At the start of each the camp, an informal (but through a set format) assessment is carried out, through interactions with the children and small group discussions, to test their reading and writing skills. The information gathered from this informal assessment was used to divide the classes according to their learning ability, with each class having approximately 10 – 12 children per teacher. The initial assessment showed that 163 children were in Level C1, 8 in Level B and 5 in Level A. At the end of the first month a mid-term evaluation was conducted. Since this was the first major test teachers were available to help the children and clear up any doubts by explaining or reading the questions. During the mid-term tests, teachers changed classrooms in order to supervise the tests and
1
To identify the progress of a child we have different levels of their learning levels. When a child can barely read and write anything, she is at Level C. When a child can read and write small words in language and in Mathematics can do basic counting and simple operations like addition and subtraction with small numbers, she placed in Level B. When a child progresses and can write small text in Language and in Mathematics can further also do operations like multiplication, division etc. she is placed in Level A.
maintain the integrity of the results. After the mid-term assessment the papers were checked and the results shared in a feedback and review meeting. On the basis of the results, which indicated an overall improvement, the children were regrouped as per their learning level. At the end of the camp the children were tested for the final time. Although the questions differed, the design of the paper was similar to the mid-term test, though since this was the final exam there was no extra help from the teachers. The papers were divided into two sections – with a maximum of 50 marks for language and 50 marks for math questions. The following table indicates the camp-wise progress: Results of Total Children A B C children Girls 68 3 49 16 Boys 101 11 72 18 Total 169 14 122 34 *7 children (3 girls and 4 boys) left camp due to family obligations before the final exams Table 5: End term evaluation results
Other Activities: Visit from St. Christopher U. K.: Every year group of 10-15 children from St. Christopher School London comes to visit the camp for 2-3 days; it provides them an opportunity to engage with children from different background. St. Christopher children also come prepared to undertake sessions on English language, mathematics, science etc. with the camp children as these sessions become medium of interaction and friendship. This year also a group of students came to visit camp on 15th and 16th February 2015. They took sessions on arts & crafts, mathematics, English language and science. Instructors at camp and St. Chris children also had a friendly match of volleyball on their final day at camp. Participation of children in My School Bag Campaign: On 27th December, My School Bag campaign was organized by Celebration Mall of Udaipur. Under the campaign the children were invited to the Mall. Children were introduced to some games and sports and participated in cultural event at celebration mall. Magic show and puppet show were organized for children. At the of the ceremony children were given a complete kit of school bag including stationery, 2 sets of uniform etc. followed by some refreshments.
Children’s’ fair: On 22nd November a ‘Bal Mela’ was organized at the camp. There were many different stalls and games like oil painting, mask making, jewellery making, spoon races, mehandi, ring toss etc. Every child
attending the camp participated both in managing the stalls as well as participating in them and playing the games and winning prizes. 50 children from ‘child line’ also participated in the camp.
Section 3: Activity Centers Activity centre is a unique initiative working in the existing government school system. These centers are housed within the government schools and are run by Seva Mandir teachers from last 5 years. The main objective of the program is to enable the students to have meaningful and joyful education by providing various opportunities and exposures to learning which they are not able to get in mainstream schools. With the implementation of Right to Education Act, education has been made free and compulsory to all children in the age-group of 6-14 years of age yet not much changed at ground. Through these centers Seva Mandir is trying to provide continues engagement to build conceptual understanding of children in the subjects of Math and Hindi. At present, 4 Activity centers and one Tuition centre are being run in Badgaon block. Classes in No. of teachers in School School December 2014
No. of children enrolled in July 2014
1st – 10th
2 teachers + 1 HM
B-128 ; G-93 ; T-221
2
Selu/ Kadia
1st – 8th
6 teachers (including HM)
B- 76 ; G- 66 ; T- 142
2
Pipad / Kadia
1st – 8th
6 teachers (including HM)
B- 98 ; G- 55 ; T- 153
2
3 teachers (including HM)
B-86 ; G-81 ; T-167
1
B-388 ; G- 295 ; T- 683
7
Village/Zone Undithal Bagdunda
/
Maruwas/Kadia 1st – 8th
Total
SM Teachers
Table 6: Details of Activity Centers
Village Undithal Selu Maroowas Pipad
School Type/ Class
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Total
Secondary UPS UPS UPS Grand Total
10 19 9 12 50
12 16 10 11 49
15 21 19 18 73
17 15 24 30 86
21 31 26 28 106
43 18 22 29 112
34 12 30 11 87
27 10 27 14 78
27 0 0 0 27
15 0 0 0 15
221 142 167 153 683
Table 7: Class wise enrolment of children
Capacity Building of teachers Facilitator Meeting
2 facilitator meetings were held during the reporting period. These meetings provide them a platform where they can share their concerns and experiences amongst each other and with the block level program co-coordinator. The prime agendas of these meetings were inclusion of drop out/out of school children in schools, reasons and possible solutions regarding irregularity of children and better use of available resources.
Special Activities Teachers day was also celebrated at all the activity centers. Students of higher classes taught lessons to junior sections and performed activities like poem recitation, singing, dancing etc. Students at all the schools participated in National Level Project Competition wherein students had to submit charts on Watershed development / Water Conservation. Bal Sabhas or children’s meeting - student – teacher open session is being conducted every Saturday where extra-curricular activities like quiz, story-telling, debates, etc. are organized. It is an interactive session which gives students a platform to showcase their talents. 35 applications for Navodaya Vidhyalay have been sent from UPS Maroowas and UPS Selu.
Conclusion: The situation of primary education has changed a lot since Seva Mandir started its SK program. In Badgaon block the availability of schools is increased but quality education is still a big challenge. While every year, a large number of children are prepared for higher classes there and their admission facilitated, the lack of quality and teaching there pushes out these children after a few years. Despite so much pressure and constructive engagement with the government schools, the results are niche and few. Once again, newer solutions and approaches are needed. These will be our main focus in the coming years. Seva Mandir is especially grateful to ASHA for supporting Seva Mandir and hope the collaboration continue in future.
