Non-Formal
Education Centres
At present, Seva Mandir is supporting a total of 176 community-run
Non-Formal Education centres (NFEs), thereby securing quality
education for 4977 students in the age group of 6 to 14.
These NFEs are run by local teachers, who, on average, have
only studied up to class 8. However, carefully developed
training programmes for NFE instructors have enabled them
to provide a quality of education for the children which
far exceeds that available in government schools. A major
reason for this is the emphasis that is placed on trying
to cultivate a sense of trusteeship and mutual respect in
the relationship between teacher and students. Yearly and
half-yearly evaluations are conducted to assess the progress
of the children in specially designed tests.
Parent-teacher meetings were planned to be held once in
two months, with the basic purpose of developing understanding
and engagement amongst parents, teachers and children. Though
the meetings could not always be held very regularly, key
issues discussed included children’s attendance, hygiene,
the teaching pattern, parents’ roles, fees and the ongoing
research involving the diary and the collage (in selected
centres). These forums have also served to resolve issues
that may crop up from time to time.
Action Research
In order to enhance the quality of the non-formal education
centres, various action-research studies have been conducted.
These are outlined below:
Camera Project:
This initiative was launched in August 2003 to address teacher
absenteeism in NFE centres. Tamper-proof cameras were installed
and teachers were required to take photographs of the children
at the beginning and end of the school day. They were then
paid according to the number of valid days (defined as those
with more than 8 children attending and at least five hours
spacing between beginning and end photographs) that they
were present. This led to a significant increase in teachers’
attendance and, as a result, more learning time for children
and better results. Given the positive outcome of the camera
project, it has been decided to continue their use beyond
the research. At present, 38 centres continue to use the
cameras.
Intrinsic motivation study:
Two interventions, one involving a diary and the other a
group collage, were taken up in 2006 in order to explore
whether intrinsic motivation could also reduce teacher absenteeism
and contribute to higher learning levels.
Diaries were given to each child attending an NFE. Each
day the child would draw or write something in the diary
and get it signed by the teacher. At the end of the week
the child would then get their diary signed or stamped by
their parents. It was felt that this would contribute to
parents taking more interest in their children’s education,
giving the teacher a sense of accomplishment and enabling
parents to see how many days a week the teacher was actually
present in the NFE. The diaries were applied in 103 centres.
Overall it appears that the diaries have been well integrated
into the daily teaching practice, that it has contributed
to the objective of brining together different stakeholders,
that it aids children’s learning and parental awareness
of child’s progress and attendance. However, end-line data
on attendance and learning levels is yet to be analysed.
The collage is a one-time event that takes place in each
NFE centre through which the parents and children prepare
a collage based on magazine cuttings that represents what
education means to them. Once they have done this, they
then explain to the rest of the group why that photograph
makes them think of education. This creates a medium for
communication between parents, instructors and children
on the importance of education. This activity saw enthusiastic
participation – especially of women. Instructors greatly
appreciated the attention and recognition they received.
Everyone treated the event positively and took it seriously.
Most pictures represented parents’ hopes and dreams for
their children’s education – most of which were very high.
This was a one-time research intervention, carried out in
126 NFEs. The data on impact is presently being analysed.
Reducing Children’s Migration
In 2008 a pilot was launched in 2 villages to explore ways
of keeping children in school rather than migrating out
of their villages for work. Essentially, this involves awarding
scholarships to students to offset economic pressures and
making schools more attractive and meaningful for students.
All children studying in classes 3 through to 8 are eligible
for a scholarship worth Rs.2,500 annually if they attend
school regularly. School level awards will also be given
to schools meeting performance criteria. This will be used
to address such issues as adequacy of teaching-learning
materials, teachers, textbooks, etc. If 60% of the children
in a village are regularly attending school then in addition
to the individual scholarships, the whole village will get
a certificate and cash award that will be deposited in the
GVK. This last element has been kept to evoke community
involvement and peer pressure.
It is hoped that this will motivate the committee and the
samuh to take a more active interest in education. Regular
monitoring is required for the implementation of this system,
including random checks on the schools to measure attendance.
Children’s Learning
Camps
Learning camps are organized with the objective of enabling
some of the most marginal, out of school children in Seva
Mandir’s work area to read and write independently. All
camps are fully residential and organized at the Vidya Bhawan
KVK campus, in Udaipur. All children come from very poor
backgrounds and many of the children have either never been
to school or dropped out at a very early age due to poverty,
migration and family pressures. Many of the children gained
considerable self-confidence as a result of participating
in these camps and most have expressed a desire to continue
studying.
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