Mitra Safar

At Mitra: The Adolescent Friendly Centre, Bhubaneswar Regional Centre (NIOS)

(December 9-13, 2011)

Report

Dr. Kuldeep Agrawal, Director Academic, NIOS

inaugurated a weeklong celebration of Mitra Safar on

December 9, 2011. The traditional lamp was lit by the

Chief Guest Dr. Kuldeep Agrawal, Mr. Rushi Kumar

Rath, Regional Director, Bhubaneswar and Ms Asheema

Singh, Project Coordinator, Adolescent Education

Programme along with esteemed guests Mr. Shushant

Panda, ARSH Project Manager at KISS, Dr. Binodini

Patra, Dr. D.N. Routray and Mr. Binay Sarkar.

The Safar programme was designed on group specific concept viz. learners in general, tutor/

coordinators, learners with special needs and girls. An overview of Mitra’s journey since its

foundation was given by Ms Asheema Singh along with the rationale behind celebration of Mitra

Safar in brief. The programme also marked the opening of the Creative Writing Clinic.

In his inaugural address Dr. Agarwal focused on the importance

of learning. He emphasized on the connection of education to

life and livelihood. He said that this relationship becomes even

more relevant when education is linked to life and life skills. He

appreciated enthusiastic participation of the learners through out

the year since the establishment of Mitra at Bhubaneswar.

Mr. Rushi Kumar Rath shared his experience on the journey

of Mitra the adolescent friendly centre (AFC) of NIOS

established at regional centre, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He

expressed his gratitude to NIOS and appreciated the concept

of Mitra for providing a learners friendly environment at

regional centre Bhubaneswar.

9th

December, 2011

Two parallel sessions were being conducted on December 9-10, 2011at Mitra. To mark the

occasion of Human Rights Day,2011 a poster making competition on Human Rights was

organized for the learners. The learners were first sensitized about the Human Rights in general

and Child Rights in particular. The themes chosen were

1. Right to free and compulsory elementary education for all children in the 6-14 year age

group (Article 21 A)

2. Right to be protected from any hazardous employment till the age of 14 years (Article 24)

3. Right to be protected from being abused and forced by economic necessity to enter

occupations unsuited to their age or strength (Article 39(e))

4. Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in

conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and youth

against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39 (f))

The learners were informed about the various features of Poster making. Sample posters were

also shown. Approximately 40 adolescents participated enthusiastically and came up with

creative and thoughtful concepts on Child Rights through the medium of art. This session was

conducted by an artist and lecturer in BK Art College Dr. A.C Sahoo. The posters were

Prize Winners

First Prize- Priyadarshini Sahoo, First Runner-up- Sanjeet Tiwari, Second Runner-up- Lokanath

Samal, Consolation Prizes- Soumya Shakti Saman, Baburam Murmu, Jalandra Nayak & Andrea Timms.

displayed at Hotel Kalinga Ashok on December 10, 2011 and the prize distribution ceremony for

winners was held there during a seminar on Human Rights organized by NIOS. The winners

received their prizes from Justice S.C. Mahapatra in the esteemed presence of Prof Rita Ray,

Dean National Law University, Odisha Prof Premanand Panda, Director Schedule Caste and

Schedule Tribe Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) and Mr. Sanyasi Bahera,

Coordinator State Nodal Agency of the Centre of National Trust. The presence of Dr. S.S Jena,

Chairman NIOS and Dr. Kuldeep Agarwal, Director Academic was very encouraging for the

prize winners. This moment was cheered by around hundred guests.

The last session of the day one ended with the screening of Pate ki Baat, a national award

winning movie followed by the detailed group discussion among the viewers. This session was

conducted by Ms. Anushree and Ms. Neha SEO (AEP).

A parallel session of Creative Writing Clinic was being held in which 16 short listed learners

participated. All the participating learners were given an opportunity to present their essays

previously written for the Creative Writing Competition organized by UNFPA. Each piece was

critiqued by the experts, who then explained the various parts of an essay and gave qualitative

inputs for improvement. The learners were then given an opportunity to improve upon their

work. The Creative Writing Workshop was conducted by Dr. DN Routray, Mr. Binay Sarkar

and Dr. Binodini Patra, Lecturer BJB College Bhubaneswar and a prolific writer.

10th

December, 2011

The second day was specially designed for the learners with

special needs. The formal opening of the day began with

registration and an ice breaking activity among the participants,

followed by screening of the movie Children with Special

Needs. The movie was followed by group discussion. The movie

helped the learners and other participants to open up and get set in the

mood of session which was conducted by Ms. Anushree and Ms.

Neha, both SEO (AEP). Over 45 learners

participated in this session. The salient

feature of the session was its inclusive

quality as it was attended by both able and differently-able group of

learners. Post film discussions exhibited a great deal of empathy and

opened the doors of communication between both the groups. As a

special initiative Mitra made available the services of sign language expert and thus were able to

bring the deaf and dumb learners within the ambit of discussions.

This session was followed by a talk “Hum kisi se kam nahin”. Mr. Sanyasi Behera, State

Coordinator of National Trust for Disabled (NTD) delivered an inspirational talk to learners with

special abilities. Being visually challenged himself Mr. Bahera was able to motivate the learners

and showed them the window of opportunity under various schemes. Even the able learners were

visibly motivated by his talk. Mr. Pramod Mahapatra, sign language translator was present for

the day long programme. His presence was of great benefit to the auditory impaired learners. It

also enthused the able learners to open a channel of communication with this group. So much so

that the auditory impaired learners got the confidence and chose to stay back for other activities.

The session was coordinated by Mr. Sambit Mishra, Anu Shree and Neha Sharma SEO (AEP).

The third session was a workshop on Enhancing Self Esteem

and Confidence, Peer relationships and Communication

skills. This session was conducted by Ms. Asheema Singh

(PC, AEP).

After a brief introduction on self esteem and its impact on

personality the participants were divided into groups and were asked

to discuss primarily on two questions: Do you think that you are important? If yes in what ways?

and how do you feel if people appreciate you? The learners had to observe each other during

discussion and say a few words about each other. This activity sensitized them towards the issue

of enhancing their self esteem and improving their

relationships through effective communication. Each of the

group was catalyzed by Ms. Anushree, Ms. Neha and Mr.

Sambit SEO (AEP). Towards the end of the workshop all

learners were able to appreciate the role of honest praise in

enhancing self esteem and establishing a healthy channel of

communication.

A learner sharing his experience on

Mitra during the workshop for

Enhancing Self Esteem

A parallel session of Creative Writing Clinic was carried out in the lawns of Kalinga Ashoka

with an objective of providing an inspiring environment. The session concluded with the

participants narrating a new write up on Child Rights. By the end of the workshop the

participants felt very comfortable in writing an interesting piece. They were also more confident

in narrating their work in front of peers. The ability to critically evaluate each other’s write-ups

and to suggest positive feedback was observed in all the participants.

11th

December, 2011

With an objective of sensitizing the tutors and coordinator to

AEP the third day was devoted to the tutors of Bhubaneswar

region. The programme was inaugurated by Mr. G. S.

Mahapatra, Coordinator Teacher Training Programme

IGNOU. An overview about the day was given by Ms.

Asheema Singh.

Shri. Mahapatra suggested practical outline and steps to

introduce open learning system with the learners. He explained the following steps:

1. Sensitization: He said that the first and one of the most important steps is to sensitize the

learners to the system of open education. All issues related to administration, admission,

examination, fees etc should be clearly spelt out well in advance.

2. Rapport Building: Both the coordinator of a study centre and the tutors need to build a

friendly relationship with the learners. A learner should have confidence in the

facilitator/tutor

3. Group counseling: Group counseling, he felt is an important step in explaining the

system and the concept of PCP. Projecting a global picture of the programme reinforce

the concept of flexibility of the system. The learner should gain confidence at first

meeting and should be made aware of all the salient features of the open distance

education.

4. Individual counseling: Keeping in view the fact that everyone does not speak up infront

of audience; it is important to give individual time to some of the learners. Inform them

about how it’s an alternative system of education and is not inferior in any way.

Approach of individual counseling should be more psychological as they are adolescents.

Going through a period of strain and stress. A good teacher should be like a magnet and

students like iron fillings. Also try and make information plan and collect information

about their respective families.

5. Interview with parents: He emphasized on the importance of seeking the support of

parents. He said that the parents could be invited in batches. He cautioned not to make a

group according to learner’s profile and advised to call a mixed batch and address their

issues.

He concluded all the above points as INPUTS which in turn give us the OUTPUTS like

mobilization and popularization. He also added that tutors need to play a more active role in

material development. They should go through the material and compare it with other boards and

suggest changes accordingly.

Then a discussion on what is ODL? What is a PCP? initiated by Ms. Asheema Singh. All the

participants were asked to write on VIPP cards on the adolescence concerns and problems of

learners. These were the categories unde4r falling five heads on the flip chart-

• Academic

• Growing Up

• Substance Abuse

• Health Concerns

• Any Other

8 individuals were selected to share consolidated data

from the flip chart. Almost all the critical issues related to

adolescence were brought out in their answers and were

then discussed. The suggested views were summarized and

discussed in detail by Ms. Singh. Issues of adolescence

education were critically analyzed. The approaches and

strategies of the implementation of adolescence education

programme (AEP) and the roles and responsibilities of

NIOS and resources personnel for attaining these objectives

were discussed.

Then an introduction to life skills was initiated through a movie Ek Mulakat AEP ke Saath

followed by a discussion on how adolescents’ issues and concerns can be resolved by

adolescents themselves by using various life skills.The role of life skills in personality

development of young adults was also discussed. This session provided an opportunity to train

the tutors to the use of audio/ video programmes as a teaching learning tool.

Discussion was carried out on 10 core Life skills and how they can bring about a change in the

learner’s personalities. Many critical questions were raised by the participants and were resolved

through mutual discussions. Questions like how can life skills can be communicated to the

learners? How can gender bias be addressed? What are gender roles? The session was concluded

on the importance of decision making as important skills for learners. It was mutually conducted

and there is a need to empower young people to make the right decisions rather than control

them.

The second half of the day a workshop on understanding the participatory transaction methods

was administered with the tutors to develop an understanding regarding the need to use these

methods in PCP sessions and use of audio-video materials during the PCP and teaching learning

process with learners.

12th

December, 2011

The day was devoted to the various issues related to growing up

and ARSH issues under “Kishor Kishorio ki baatein”. The

programme was conducted by Dr. Chayanika Mishra,

Gynecologist and Programme Officer ARSH at Kalinga Institute

of Social Sciences. This initiative was taken for providing to the

learners an opportunity for expressing and understanding these

issues. Dr. Mishra conducted the

workshop in a participatory mode through group activities

and an interactive presentation. The learners actively

participated in the session. Important and critical issues were

discussed and pointed out by participating adolescent

learners.

Using the question bank technique at the end of the session their doubts and

quarries were cleared by Dr. Mishra. All the learners took active interest in

this activity.

13th

December, 2011

“Mitra Safar” had a resounding closing with the organization of a

cultural programme. The success of the Mitra – The Adolescent

Friendly Centre lies in the fact that it managed to bring a large number

of learners from vastly different backgrounds to come together and

prepare a cultural fest. Space and time was made available to the

learners. With the able assistance of SEOs AEP the task of organizing the

Valedictory session was handed over to the learners. This served as a final

showcase of the personality change brought about in the learners by

the programmes held in Mitra. Cultural activities like Saraswati

Vandana, Sambhalpuri dance and group songs were performed by the

learners.

Dr. S.K.Tripathi, Regional Director IGNOU, Chief Guest of the

Valedictory Programme addressed the learners. He congratulated all of them for showing their

talents. He informed them about the special features of open and distance education. He also

talked about vertical mobility through enrolment in IGNOU. Most of the resource persons like

Mr. Sanyasi Bahera, State Coordinator of National Trust for Disabled (NTD), Dr. D.N.

Routray, Mr. Binay Sarkar and Dr. Binodini Patra joined in the

celebrations.

The highlight of the programme was the prizes distribution to the

learners viz.

• Prize for “Best MITRA of the year” was given to Mr. Satish

Kumar Lenka for his maximum and committed participation in various activities at

Mitra since its establishment. He had attended 7 programmes in year 2011. Mr. Lenka

Expressed his gratitude towards the Mitra and also promised to continue with the same

pace of interaction with Mitra in future too.

• Ms. Jyoti Kumar was given “Mitra Motivator of the year”. She brought 10 different

learners with her for the various programmes she attended.

• Mr. Nishant Panda, Abinash Das, Bhuddheswar Dehuri,

Mr. Nikhil Agrawal and Ms. Madhuri Bahera was awarded

with maximum participation certificates in Mitra Safar.

• The prize for Mitra Study Centre of the year was

awarded to Tiny Tot’s Corner High School,

Bhubaneswar. Mr. Laxmidhar Nayak tutor of Tiny

Tots has been an active member since the Tutor

Training Programme he along with his learners has

participated in participated in 4 programmes during the year

2011 and 2 programmes during the year 2010.

• The participation certificates for Creative Writing Clinic

were distributed to 13 learners.

The week long celebration of Mitra Safar ended with the song titled “Hum Honge Kamyab Ek

Din” by the experts and participants jointly.

Asheema Singh

Project Coordinator (AEP)