Learning fillip
Rural schools are at the centre of an effort to enhance learning outcomes for primary and secondary students in Jharkhand and Odisha
Sunita Saraka used to find it difficult to get her children to school. “They were not interested in studies and we had to pressure them to attend classes,” says Ms Saraka, whose children study at the government-run upper primary school in Badamatkabadi village in Odisha’s Rayagada district.
That’s not an unfamiliar story in rural India’s government-run schools, which face a morass of challenges: teacher shortages, large class sizes, antiquated learning methods and more. The hardest hit here are children from marginalised communities who depend on government schools for their education.
Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI), an associate organisation of the Tata Trusts, set out to help remedy this situation back in 2012, when it launched a three-year initiative aimed at enhancing primary and secondary education.
The CInI effort kicked off in Jharkhand’s Khunti district. Called the school and community-based quality improvement programme (SCQuIP), the objective was to find the best way to support children who do not speak Hindi, the medium of instruction.
In Jharkhand, the CInI team realised that children who spoke local dialects such as Mundari or Sadri found it difficult to understand the learning material in Hindi. SCQuIP aimed to bridge this learning gap through remedial centres that helped children with their curriculum.
The programme began delivering results within a year. In 2013, the percentage of students passing reached 87%, significantly higher than the district average of 64%. Across all subjects, marked improvements were seen in a survey of 1,300 students from classes II and III.
“My children have benefitted a lot,” says Parwati Xaxa, parent of a class VI student from Karra village in Khunti. “My daughter is now a member of the school’s bal sansad (children's parliament) and she is doing good work. Her art has improved and she is eager to learn.”
That's the SCQuIP touch, enabling students to become more articulate and confident in their academic pursuits.
Apart from the positive changes in the learning outcomes of students, there has been a stark improvement in facets like punctuality, discipline, regularity and leadership skills.
Community connect
The good work done has been much appreciated and it has sparked greater community involvement. Interestingly, the increased participation of parents and community members has had a ripple effect on teachers, while upping student enrolment and retention in schools.
SCQuIP’s demonstrated success has led to it being expanded to eight districts in Jharkhand. It was also introduced in three districts of Odisha, where the goal was to improve the education quality and learning outcomes for underprivileged children.
The Kolibri connection
Back in 2019, Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives (CInI) piloted the use of the Kolibri platform, an open-source educational system specially designed to provide offline access to a wide range of quality, open-licensed educational content in low-resource environments such as rural communities or schools without WiFi.
The Kolibri platform was first used in 15 schools in Jharkhand’s Khunti district and benefitted more than 1,100 students. The platform offers a range of educational resources, including learning exercises, videos, audio files and documents, all of these publicly accessible. Educators can select content that aligns with the local curriculum or meets the specific needs of their students.
A key feature is the coach dashboard, which enables teachers to create exams, assign learning exercises and provide tailored support through differentiated instruction based on each student’s progress, history and goals.
An important part of the platform is the use of computer tablets in learning. The tablets give students access to digital learning and teachers proactively use digital content to improve learning outcomes.
Since 2015, the programme has reached about 250,000 children in schools and anganwadis (childcare centres) across Jharkhand and Odisha. In Jharkhand, the project is being implemented in collaboration with the Jharkhand Education Project Council, while in Odisha it is being operated in collaboration with the state government's District Education Department.
SCQuIP follows a three-pronged approach: a learning improvement programme, improvement in the overall school environment, and community and system strengthening.
The key objectives are to improve classroom teaching and learning processes, particularly in foundational literacy and numeracy, science and maths; enhance the overall learning environment in schools to create a more conducive atmosphere; strengthen school systems and leadership; and foster greater ownership of schools by school management committees (SMC) and the local community.
At the school level the programme works to create a vibrant atmosphere, with engaging morning assemblies, a colourful, print-rich environment in class, and well-stocked libraries. The effort goes beyond academics to place a strong emphasis on co-curricular activities. One initiative, for instance, involves students and community members working together to establish kitchen gardens in schools.
Creative expression is encouraged through arts and crafts, while library programmes have storytelling sessions to spark a love for reading and improve language skills. The bal sansad initiative works to build leadership, decision-making, teamwork and problem-solving abilities in students.
Going beyond rote learning has been a boon for the children. “My children now go to school willingly,” says Ms Saraka. “This summer they enjoyed a programme that kept them engaged in project work and learning activities, particularly in maths and languages.”
Capacity building is a key component in SCQuIP, which focuses on strengthening the academic system by providing training at subdistrict levels through resource centres and at district institutes of education and training. The resource centres help in training government teachers, anganwadi workers and support staff.
Fostering employment
Teachers and support staff are typically hired from the village community. Local stakeholders, such as panchayat (village council) members, are actively involved in need assessments and resource allocation. By recruiting from within the community, the initiative fosters employment. The idea is that local educators will be able to make education more relatable for students.
Teachers and anganwadi workers are trained to make classroom sessions more engaging, especially in key learning areas such as foundational literacy and numeracy. “Literacy and numeracy are being integrated into daily activities with children and through playful learning,” explains Sahib Alam, an assistant teacher at the upper middle school in Machhbhandar in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district. Technology plays a key role in the success of this initiative (see The Kolibri connection).
The CInI team also works to strengthen SMCs so that there is a greater degree of community ownership in how their children learn. Committee members are made aware of their responsibilities vis-à-vis student attendance, learning outcomes, identifying out-of-school children, child rights, health and wellness, etc. They are also guided in school infrastructure work (fencing, creating kitchen gardens, etc).
The community-based approach helps in tackling student absenteeism, low levels of teacher motivation and high pupil-teacher ratios. Community support has also encouraged teachers to take greater ownership of their students’ learning.
With SCQuIP showing impressive results, CInI plans to push the programme further. “Thanks to this initiative, children are learning through games and enjoying the process. Their attendance has also improved,” says Asha Devi, an SMC vice president at the Ichak government middle school in Jharkhand’s Latehar district.
