Improving the government schooling system

Government Schools

• Vast reach: has reached most regions

• 80% of children only have access to govt. schools

• Billions of rupees have been pumped in since Independence

• Several good schemes ….

• Low cost and quality schooling is a governments duty

Why have they failed?

• Obvious problems: social gap between teachers and students, poor infrastructure, unimaginative curriculum etc. etc. etc.

• Not so obvious: lack of local control, poor training of teachers, irrelevant curriculum, lack of middle and high schools

• Is a govt. school by definition bad? Kendriya Vidyalayas are good counter examples, so are IITs!

What can we do?

• Micro level improvements: – govt. schemes suffer from the problems of any large

scheme

• Making local community groups work better• Lobbying for improvements• Is a unique time to do this – several state govts

have initiatives to facilitate NGO intervention

Improving govt. schools is the most efficient way to achieve UPE!

Case Study

• Asha Viveka Yojane: supported by Asha-MIT and Madison

• Adopted 72 govt. schools in Chamarajanagar district (Karnataka govt’s adopt-a-school scheme

• 7 social workers, each working with 10-12 schools• Improvements at a micro-level: what is necessary at

each school

One reasons for failure of large govt. schemes is poor followup. Our yojane provides that.

Some activities

• Teacher training: Science, Maths, English, Geography, value education

• Strengthening the SDMC committees: their rights, their duties

• Community participation in schools: example, whitewashing the school

• Books from Infosys foundation• Sports meets, science competitions, environmental

awareness programs

• Financial support: $5500/year (72 schools, ~250 children each)

Some results

• Mr. Jayadev (coord) on the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan committee (will disperse Rs. 62 crores in the next 7 years)

• In general Mr. Jayadev respected by local govt. officials

• Teachers *love* it

• Training programs follow up and answer queries

We need help!!

• Document schemes from state governments (newspapers, word-of-mouth, IAS officers)

• Get government publications and books for distribution in our projects (these are heavily subsidized)

New project: TEA Trust

• Working with Asha-Chennai

• Improving govt. schools near Chengalpattu– Infrastructure improvements– Addition of teachers (currently 1-2 teachers

for 100+ students)– Training for teachers