Seva Mandir

Rural Education ProgramUdaipur/Rajsamand, Rajasthan

2011 Project Update and Review

Background: Seva Mandir

Founded in 1968 with an extensive education program for promoting primary education since 1991

The work of the organization spans over 626 villages, around 70,000 households, distributed across five blocks – Badgaon, Kotra, Girva, Kherwara, and Jhadol

Key strategic organizational objectives:

To create and strengthen institutions for development

To enhance people’s capabilities for self-development

To create sustainable improvements in the livelihoods base

AfE-SV supports the education program in Badgaon block since 2007

Seva Mandir Education Program Seva Mandir Education Program includes:

Shiksha Kendra (NFE) for primary education [till grade-III] Seasonal Residential Learning Camps for tribal children Activity Centers in government middle/upper-primary schools Action Research Project (with MIT-PAC) Jan Shikshan Niliyams or Village Libraries (with ICCO) Uurja Ghar – Youth Resource Centers (unfunded)

2009-2010 Annual Reporthttp

://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_converted.docx

Seva Mandir & Asha for Education … AfE-SV started working with Seva Mandir in 2007 supporting

Shiksha Kendras in Badgaon block

The program was expanded in 2009 to collaboratively develop intervention for formally working with the government schools with following components, and supporting all education components in Badgaon

2010-2011 Project scope is: Supporting up-to 23 Shiksha Kendra in Badgaom block Running up-to 5 Activity Centers in Government schools Supporting up-to 25 tribal children from Badgaon for learning camp

2010-2011 mid year progress reporthttp://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/2010-2011_mid_year_prgress_report.pdf

2009-2010 Annual Reporthttp://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_converted.docx

Current State and ProgressShiksha Kendra [1] Against a target of 23 centers a total of 21 centers are

running in 5 zones The total enrollment is 560 students (260 girls and 300

boys).# of Shiksha Kendra (NFE) Enrollments

Mar 2010

Dec 2010

Closed New Instructors April 2010

March 2010

total females

total boys girls total

23 21 5 2 22 3 582 300 260 560

zone Total Apr 2010

Enrolled govt. school

Dropped out New enrollment

Current status

Delwara 116 15 2 14 113

Bagdunda 185 41 27 84 201

Dhar 52 18 0 11 45

Ghadoch 35 3 0 10 42

Kadiya 228 20 70 21 159

Total 616 97 99 140 560

Current State and ProgressShiksha Kendra [2][Closed SK/NFE Centers] Gariyon ka Gura, (Kadiya) – 10 of 22 attending children graduated

and attending government school, and remaining attending either government primary or a nearby SK

Selu village – irregular teacher attendance, 20+ children are now

attending the government school where AfE-SV/SM activity center is also operating and helping bridge the students into the schools!

Vendia Bhata, Patiya Odiya ki Jhad (Bagdunda), and Dhar SK - closed due to irregular attendance and lack of suitable instructors

Khokhariyon ka Bhilwara SK - closed due to lack of attendance of children and PTO/village community meetings failing to bring children to SK. Further community interventions are in progress

[new SK/NFE Centers] Akhriya Neda hamlet in Majam village – opened in Sep 2010 in response to

‘on-paper’ primary school in the village, and after negotiations failed between Panchayat, Sarpanch, and BEO office. 44 Children are attending SK, partly run by the community

Dungerakhera –opened at request of village community, children had to cross a river which is impossible to cross for children when running.

Current State and ProgressShiksha Kendra [3] Mid Year Evaluations through standardized test, conducted

in December 2010 Following numbers are from 363 participants/18 Shiksha Kendras only

block Level-0 Level – 1

Level - 2 Level - 3 Total

Badgaon 173 127 30 33 363

Class-I Class-II Class-III

Class-IV Class-V Class-VI Total

17 16 12 13 13 26 97

Government School Enrollments: A total of 97 children (35 girls, and 62 boys) are

attending governments schools now after attending Shiksha Kendras

Current State and ProgressActivity Centers [1] AfE-SV and SM joint intervention to improve the functioning

and quality of government school education Aims to improve the reading/writing, and math skills amongst the

children attending govt. middle schools Focus is now on the class-III-class-V children who are amongst the most

vulnerable due to employability age pressure and confrontation with the external examinations mixed with poor reading/writing skills

Village/Zone Classes # of teachers in schools # of children Aug 2010

March 2010 August 2010

Negadia/Delwara 1-5 3 (incl. HM) 3 81 (38 girls, 43 boys)

Selu/Kadiya 1-8 3 (incl. HM) 5 130 (44 girls, 86 boys)

Peepad/Kadiya 1-8 7 (incl. HM) 6 133 (37 girls, 98 boys)

Undithal/Bagdunda 1-10 1 (HM) + 1 Para teacher

4 174 (69 girls, 105 boys)

Current State and ProgressActivity Centers [2] Mid-year baseline indicates 30-40% improvement in overall

learning (reading/writing, and math skills) Attendance has improved and has been steadily increasing

since the intervention started in the government schools

Selu (Kadiya) - all classes have regularly set time for activity centers per week and has consistent attendances across all classes

Negadia (Delwara) – 4 hours assigned to class V, 5 hours to class-I and II, and 6 hours distributed between class-III and IV every week

Learning Aid and Material is moving into regular classes from the Activity Classrooms!

HM and teachers provide a lot of support and work together in all 4 centers

Ushan Center, despite repeated efforts, has not been able to function, and has been subsequently closed down [for now]

HM and teachers did not provide support …

Current State and ProgressSeasonal Residential Learning Schools [1] Seasonal school/camp of two month duration thrice a year

targeting first generation learners from remotest tribal areas

AfE-SV supports two such camps with 25 children from Badgaon

Primary objective is to make most vulnerable children literate with Hindi and Math, and encouraging them to attend schools to continue their learning (either SK or Government Schools)

Seasonal School # of children who completed (from Badgaon)

Girls Boys

I – May 5 2010 –June 30, 2010

27 13 14

II – Nov 20, 2010 – Jan 8, 2011

27 19 8

Tribal children from Malariya, Mada, and Dang villages attended the schools

These tribal children migrate to northern Gujarat to work in the fields, and this is the only known intervention in the region that directly targets this vulnerable population

Current State and ProgressSeasonal Residential Learning Schools [2] AfE-SV started working with Seva Mandir in 2007 supporting

Shiksha Kendras in Badgaon block

The program was expanded in 2009 to collaboratively develop intervention for formally working with the government schools with following components, and supporting all education components in Badgaon

2010-2011 Project scope is: Supporting up-to 23 Shiksha Kendra in Badgaom block Running up-to 5 Activity Centers in Government schools Supporting up-to 25 tribal children from Badgaon for learning camp

2010-2011 mid year progress reporthttp://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/2010-2011_mid_year_prgress_report.pdf

2009-2010 Annual Reporthttp://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_converted.docx

Discussion & Key Issues [1] Very Good overall performance of all components Activity Center intervention is working well, however, the

closure of the Ushan center is disappointing. More active engagement with the BEO and Education Dept. is on-going

Activity Center model must be replicated to other zones, and blocks to improve the government infrastructure

Shiksha Kendra/NFE Centers are starting to move in capacity building of government primary schools as well.

Started a dialogue on RTE and its effects on overall education program SM hosted a RTE workshop and discussion, and have been evaluating

the Rajasthan RTE draft Engaging more formally on Seva Mandir’s position and in particular

NFE Centers in light of RTE Para Teachers in government schools

Discussion & Key Issues [2] Seva Mandir 2010-2011 Cycle is from July-June, due to

logistical delays, AfE-SV approved and sent funds for 2010-2011 cycle in September 2010

Seva Mandir is completing the Annual Cycle and compiling the annual report for 2010-2011 cycle Recommendation is to match the project cycle with the

funding cycle when possible to reduce churn

In 2010-2011 cycle, there are some un-spent buffer from what was approved during the budget approval cycle This money that was sanctioned and spent by Seva

Mandir that AfE-SV will now effectively send to as second installment

The agreement (after a lot of discussions) with Seva Mandir is to effectively reduce the amount for second installment and match what was actually spent (with caveats) …

Discussion & Key Issues [2] Activity Center: Rs. 125,000 unspent (Due to closure of Ushan Activity

Center and re-use of material across other running Activity Centers) Seasonal Residential Schools: Rs. 35,000 (Due to cost savings by working

closely with Vidya Bhavan Society for running seasonal schools at discounted price)

We can revise the second installment to match the actual expenditure

The second installment is effectively $17,278.00 against an earlier expected $20914.00, with effective drop of $3,636

Discussion & Key Issues [2] Activity Center: Rs. 125,000 unspent (Due to closure of Ushan Activity

Center and re-use of material across other running Activity Centers) Seasonal Residential Schools: Rs. 35,000 (Due to cost savings by working

closely with Vidya Bhavan Society for running seasonal schools at discounted price)

We can revise the second installment to match the actual expenditure

The second installment is effectively $17,278.00 against an earlier expected $20914.00, with effective drop of $3,636

The effective budget adjustment (for second installment purposes) is:

Budget Item Approved Budget New Budget after adjusting savings by Seva Mandir

Shiksha Kendra $14,793/(Rs.650,900) No-Change

Activity Center $12,160 (Rs.535,000) – Rs. 125000

$9318/(Rs. 410,000)

Seasonal Schools $12,650 (Rs.556,550) – Rs. 35,000

$11,853/(Rs. 521,550)

Coordinator Salary $2,133 (Rs. 96,000) No-Change

Total $41,736 $38,100.00

Appendix - IApproved budget for 2010-2011

Budget Item Originally Proposed by SM

Revised Budget and Approved by AfE-SV

Shiksha Kendra $23,680 (Rs.1,041,900) $14,793/(Rs.650,900)

Activity Center $12,160 (Rs.535,000) $12,160 (Rs.535,000)

Seasonal Schools $18,970 (Rs.834,825) $12,650 (Rs.556,550)

Coordinator Salary

$2,133 (Rs. 96,000) $2,133 (Rs. 96,000)

Total $55,825 $41,736

Appendix - I

Approved Budget – Shiksha Kendra

Budget Item Details Amount in INR

Teacher Stipend 12 x 2,150 25,800

Study Material 25 x 300 75,00

Infrastructure(repairs, maintenance)

2,500

Evaluation/Exams 2 x 500 1,000

Instructor Meetings 8 x 250 2,000

Instructor Training 2 x 1,500 3,000

Certification Course 3,500

Total 28, 300

Budget estimate of running a Shiksha Kendra

Appendix - IApproved Budget – Seasonal residential School

Budget Item Details Amount in INR

Boarding & Lodging 25 (children) + 3 (teacher) x Rs 150 x 55 days

231,000

Study Material 25 x 250 6,250

Medicines & Toiletries 25 x 150 3,750

Uniform 25 x 160 4,000

Teacher Stipend 3 x 55 days x Rs 135 22,275

Total 1,07,000

Budget estimate of 25 children attending Seasonal Residential Schools

Appendix - IIEvaluation Criteria

2010-2011 Evaluation Document:http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/AfE_project_evaluation_checklist_2010-2011.doc

2009-2010 Evaluation Document:http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/AfE_evaluation_2009-10_complete.doc

Questions?