Prepared by Sk Mosharaf Hossain

June, 2015

Project Brief: VIDYA an education intervention

Daltonganj Area Program

ABOUT THE PROJECT AREA Daltonganj, where Child Fund India Area Office located, is headquarters of district Palamau and some 185 Kms (114 Mile) from state capital Ranchi. The area intervention covers three adjoining districts – Palamau, Latehar, and Garwah – in the southwest part eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, covering 76 poorest villages. The demography of the region is characterized by a predominantly tribal population (66%) from 7 major primitive tribal groups living in remote and relatively inaccessible areas. Majority of them earn their livelihood from seasonal agriculture, hunting, daily-wage labor. As per latest estimate 54% of population live below the Govt. fixed poverty line. Government of India’s Planning Commission has identified the districts as among the poorest in the country. Daltonganj Area Program started its ambitious journey in serving DEV children way back in 2007 and continuously striving to bring in positivity in the lives of children in need of support. Today we have reached remote and non-descript pockets and touched upon 76 villages of 3 districts with a range of need-based and life-stage wise program responses. The current operational locus spread across three blocks-Satbarwa, Balumath and Ranka. In serving needy children of this underserved area of Satbarwa and Balumath we have joined hands with two local partners which have strong and commanding presence at community level. Vedic Society at Satbarwa is with us since 2007 as local partner while at Ranka and Balumath block we are directly implementing programmatic interventions. GENESIS OF VIDYA Though India has made great strides in the field of education in the past few years, many challenges remain to be addressed. While the literacy rate of the country has reported a sharp increase from 18.39% in 1950-51 to 74% in 2010 -2011, one-third of the population, or nearly 300 million people in the age group 7 years and above are still illiterate in the country. More children than ever before are in school, but there is a realization that many children actually leave primary school without learning the basic skills of reading and writing. According to an education survey1 in 2012, 53.2% children in class V across India could not read a class II text. Additionally 46.5% class V children could not solve a two digit subtraction sum with borrowing. According to the organization2 which carried out this study these percentages have been increasing over the years. This is a critical issue for the children and youth of the country as poor learning levels lead to poor skills and poor preparedness to change existing patterns of poverty and deprivation. The state of Jharkhand was carved out from the state of Bihar in the year 2000. It is one of the poorer and lesser developed states of India. According to the census of India 2011 its total literacy rate was 67.6%, significantly below the national average of 74%, and the literacy rate for women in Jharkhand is much lower at only 55.4%. About 40% of the people live below the poverty line (BPL), the official criterion of poverty adopted by the government of India based on per capita caloric intake and monthly income. About 28% of the population of the state is comprised of tribal groups. More than 75% of the population resides in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture for sustenance. A team from ChildFund Delhi and Jharkhand offices carried out a brief assessment in Ranka block of Garwa district. It also collected and analyzed information from Satbarwa block of Palamu district.

Facts to act….

54% drop-out rate after 8th standard. Low priority attached by community for girls’ education Child friendly environment with joyful learning opportunity is often missing. Poor school infrastructure in every school---a critical and key issue. Teacher-students learning and teaching environment has not been built up and often it is not

recognized by the teachers. Student-Teacher ratio is below the mandatory 40. Community participation in school governance is very minimal and often their participation is passive

in nature 86% teachers work on contractual basis and not trained. Irregular attendance and drop out of children Little provision of special attention to academically poor children.

1 Annual Status of Education Report, 2012 www.asercentre.org 2 Pratham www.pratham.org

PROJECT FRAMEWORK Goal: Children in Jharkhand enjoy quality primary education Objective: Primary school children in 2 districts of western Jharkhand have achieved grade appropriate learning levels in language and math at the end of 3 years Outcome 1: Teachers in targeted schools are using improved teaching techniques to strengthen learning levels of students Outcome 2: Community is actively involved in promoting the education of children Outputs:

1. Child friendly curriculum and methodology have been developed

2. Child Learning Centers are functional in 80 schools

3. 800 Government school teachers demonstrate knowledge and skills in child friendly teaching

methodologies

4. 800 School Management Committees (SMCs)members are aware of their roles and responsibilities

PROJECT STRATEGY

1. Strengthening the capacity of existing teachers to create an atmosphere conducive to learning in

the classrooms

2. Strengthening community involvement and participation in schools.

PROJECT LOCATION AND TARGET GROUP This project has been rolled out across 80 select schools at Satbarwa and Ranka block of Palamu and Garwaha district respectively. Selection of school was made on the basis of needs and resources available with the organization. Impact Group: Around 7000 children of grade 1 to 5 have been included in this project. Target Group: Project focused approximately 800 SMC members and community people as target group to achieve those objectives.

MAJOR COMPONENTS

Major Milestones reached

Baseline studies to assess learning level of children and its determinants, engagement and capacity deficit of Govt. teachers, teaching learning environment quality, community participation in school management, have been undertaken successfully at the very outset of this year-long project.

Each of 80 target schools has been supported with a trained CLC volunteer who was especially skilled in dealing with and improving school performance of academically weak children.

All the 80 target schools have been equipped with supporting materials and a range of appropriate TLMs.

Around 5000 children have been reached with this project and tangible positive results like improved school enrollment and retention, reverse trend in drop out, enhanced learning skill acquisition among children, better and proactive participation of SMC members are quite obvious.

With a view to embolden community participation in school management 800 SMC members have been thoroughly oriented on their roles and responsibilities of being members of this CBO.

VIDYA

Trained support volunteer in each

school

Teaching capacity enhancement of Govt

teachers

Increased involvement of SMCs

and community in school management

Capacity development of SMCs thru series of

trainings and orientations

Stimulating teaching and learning materials

in each school

Facilities of recreation and play for children