Enhancing The Quality of Primary Education

By Local Community Involvement

Team Details Natwar Singh Tomar Akshita Gupta Kshitij Jatale Mahima Rathore Palash Patni

Problem Statement

Kids lack in basic aptitude which is necessary in order to make them independent in day to day life.

Over 99% of the 7.95 Lacs Teachers Failed to clear a Central Teacher Eligibility Test
Major Problem Lack of Accountability Teachers Eligibility Pupil Teachers Ratio (PTR) Parents Teacher Interaction

In 2010, Nationally,46.3% of all children in class 5 could not read a class 2 level text book. There are about 20% Teachers without professional qualifications. Facts & Figures Ideal national PTR is 30:1, about 43% schools at primary level have a PTR higher than 30:1.

Causes

Lack of Strict Action against teachers irregularity. Rote learning rather than improving childrens knowledge of concepts because of noneligible teachers. Poor rationalization of teachers deployment and using them for non-academic duties. Corruption problem. Example Haryana, 1999 Case.

Proposed Solution
Involvement of local community will enhance and enforce the school management to work effectively.
Society Involvement as Teaching(Guest Teacher) Inspection Committee Community People may involve Group of people pursuing higher education like bachelors, masters & young professionals could be involved. Group of retired professionals could also be formed for this purpose.
Govt. Supervision fails due to corruption at one or the other level. Involvement of Local people will reduce the corruption problem up to some extent Involvement of Social Community will help in quality check and improvement for the same.

How local community can be involved?

Enthusiastic participation should be shown by common people to improve the prevailing situation
Form a group of such enthusiastic people Search for schools near their locality.

Identify a time slot (may be 2-3 hrs in a week) in which they can teach.
Contact the school administration about their plan and acquire permission for teaching.

Start their services according to the plan.

Also inspection team need to identify the understanding of subject by the students and should have power to redefine syllabus if needed. Ex- If maximum student of 7th class dont understand the concept of 3rd class level then the class 3rd level concept should be taught again.

Job Role of the Committee

Coordinator
Coordinator Provides info. Regarding the ongoing & future activities

Regulator
Regulator

Resource Allocator

Mediator
Mediator Makes effective communication between all those associated with the organization Setups link between outside world and organization

Resource Allocator

Simple, Effective, Manage all the Interactive Syllabus resources & based on an economically Integrated Assessment of each class. Indulging activities which bring out their artistic skills. Manages financial help for the organization

Dividing tasks among the members

Working Example
In the city of Indore there is an organization which has taken the initiative to uplift the standards of primary education in a few government schools. The idea started when six undergraduate students met hands to bring community participation to reality in 2011. RANG DEY ZINDAGI as the name very well suggests is bringing colors to these childrens lives. The group has now expanded from a mere six to an appreciable sixty members. With an aim to ignite minds academically, socially and morally the group acts as a step to build the future of young and underprivileged minds.

Challenges & Mitigation Factors

Challenge: To maintain the regularity of volunteers involved in teaching.
Steps Taken Coordinators at each School are given the task to contact each volunteer about their presence.

Challenge: To aware masses about idea of group and gather more volunteers.

Steps Taken Campaigning in various colleges were done. Power Point and posters presentation were shown. Facebook invitation. Online promotions though web pages, groups etc.

Challenge: To separate student of different level and to teach accordingly.

Steps Taken Students level wise groups were formed in each class. 4-5 volunteers per class were assigned, so to give personal attention on each individual group.

Impact
Students will be able to perform better in basic elements of education like addition, subtraction, division etc. The attendance of students as well as teachers will increase. Interest among student will improve. Personal attention will increase as there can be more than one volunteer in each class.
80-85% students can now perform well in basic mathematics . Attendance on particular day of their teaching increased significantly. Thinking ability of the students increased as the scientific questions were promoted. Curiosity about technology increased.
(Data Courtesy: Rang Dey Zindagi)

References
http://databank.worldbank.org http://www.ssa.nic.in/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rang-DeyZindagi/161605797285814 http://epaper.bhaskar.com/