Seva Mandir Rural Education Program Udaipur/Rajsamand, Rajasthan Project Update and Proposal Review

Background: Seva Mandir Founded in 1968 with an extensive education promoting 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 education program in Badgaon block since 2007

Seva Mandir Education Program Seva Mandir Education Program has its roots in Lok Jumbish movement Lok Jumbish - education for all - movement started in 1989 aimed at ensuring education for all in the state of Rajasthan through community mobilization with three primary objectives Universal Primary Education Universal retention of children up-to 14 years, and Improvement in quality of education to enable essential levels of learning Shiksha Kendra (NFE Centers) for promotion of primary education Non-Formal-Education centers in villages across Udaipur/Rajsamand district to bring literacy to first generation learners with community partnership Evolved directly out of Lok Jumbish movement Seasonal Residential Learning Schools for tribal children Full-time Immersive, seasonal residential school evolved out of extensive research in tribal and migratory regions of southern Rajasthan

Seva Mandir Education Program [2] Activity Centers (Sahayog Kendras) Capacity building initiative with the government schools Support Center to improve learning and introduce activity based learning Improve attendance, retention, and comprehension amongst children attending government schools Improving overall quality of education and in-part community trust in the government schools Action Research Project with MIT-PAL Measure, and in part develop, intrinsic motivation of teachers Reduce teacher absenteeism through use of camera and other intervention techniques Make children and parents participate in improving quality of education in school

Seva Mandir Education Program [3] Jan Shikshan Niliyams or Village Libraries Community powered, often mobile, libraries in villages to bring education and general awareness to doorstep … Uurja Ghar – Youth Resource Centers Targeted intervention focused at rural youth of age to who are losing their affinity with the village Equipping the youth to meet the challenges of the changing world Forum for constructive recreation as well as building and acquiring useful skills and knowledge

Seva Mandir Project Summary AfE-SV primary education intervention programs in the entire Badgaon block Operating 20 Shiksha Kendras in Badgaon block Initiating/Operating 5 Activity Centers in Government schools Supporting at least 25 tribal children from Badgaon for seasonal residential learning camps We reach a total of 1352 children through this project ( average expenditure of $28/child by budget numbers) Annual Report: new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_2011.pdf new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_2011.pdf

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Shiksha Kendra zone # of Shiksha Kendra/NFE CenterEnrollment Jul ‘10Jun‘11InstructorsJun ‘11 Delwara Bagdunda Dhar Godach Kadiya total260 boys273 girls533 total 188 NFE Centers/Shiksha Kendra in 5 blocks of Udaipur with total enrollment of 5694 children. Badgaon block has 22 centers with enrollment of 533 children

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Shiksha Kendra [2] Class 1Class 2Class 3Class 4Class 5Class 6Total Boys Girls Total (19%) Graduating to government schools from SK Level 0Level 1Level 2Level 3 Half Yearly Dec ‘ Yearly April ‘ Yearly Jun ‘ Performance of students in last three evaluations (year/year progress)

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Activity Centers ASER 2010 reveals that only 5.7% of children in grade-II (age 7) can read and comprehend text and it trends to 87% by class VIII. Similar results were found for learning numeracy Activity Centers or Sahayog Kendras were started in collaboration with AfE-SV and Government schools in Activity Centers are housed within government schools and run by Seva Mandir teachers Primary objective is to enable activity based learning by providing various opportunities and exposures to learning and rapid understanding of math and language comprehension Till , only 4 activity centers were functional; in June 2011 fifth activity center was opened in Maruwas Upper Primary School Two Seva Mandir SK also operate in two hamlets of this village, and 100 students in this UPS are from Seva Mandir SK Centers!

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Activity Centers Village/ZoneClasses in School Teachers# of children in July ’11 (boys/girls) June ’10July ‘11 Negria/Delwara1 st - 5 th 3482 (46/36) Ushaan/Ghorach1 st - 8 th (87/58) Selu/Kadiya1 st - 8 th 7 (1 para teacher) 6165 (117/48) Undithal/Bagdunda1 st - 10 th 4 (1 para teacher) 3 (1 para teacher) 181 (112/69) Maruwas/Kadiya1 st - 8 th 3 (2 para teachers) 5 (2 para teachers) 221 (129/92) 794 (total) Reaches 794 children in five Upper Primary and middle schools Has improved evaluation success rate by 70% in language, and 72% in math skills Marked improvement in attendance, over 90%, and retention rates

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Activity Centers [2] “The Activity Center is good for students because it helps them in their thinking process, is entertaining for them, and improves their thinking and speaking skills. The materials are accessible for students, easy to comprehend. It improves the younger students’ learning and speaking ability and the ability to identify objects. Those students also are more well- behaved in class. Another beneficial aspect of the AC is that it is more hands-on: the teacher sits with the students, and the teacher has a lot of time with students. He thinks that involving the younger students are very important, and the AC does this.” -Mangi Lal Gandharva, Selu teacher (6th, 7th, and 8th grade science)

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Seasonal Residential Learning Schools 34 Children (22 girls, and 12 boys) attended two residential learning camps from four villages – Mada, Mararia, Dang, and Undithal AfE-SV funds only 25 children Immersive, activity oriented learning model involving a variety of tools and methods for first time learners Residential Schools conducted at Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta rural training center, Kaya village Minimum of 6 hours/day devoted to classroom learning Math ad Hindi are taught with supplemental assistance of workbooks developed by Seva Mandir, and various learning tools Flash cards, ganit mala (a fixed string of 100 beads to help children count), wooden sticks, story/picture books etc.

Seva Mandir – Progress Update Seasonal Residential Learning Schools Seasonal School# completedGirlsBoys School 1 5 th Nov ‘10 – 5 th Jan ‘ School 2 20 th Jan – 25 th Feb ‘ TotalLevel 0Level 1Level 2 School School Evaluation Results of Children from learning camps

Proposal Proposal Overview Continue Education Program in Badgaon with following components: 20 Shiksha Kendras/NFE Centers 5 Sahayod Kendra/Activity Centers Support 25 tribal children to attend Three Seasonal Residential School Program

Proposal Proposed Budget Budget ItemAmount (INR)Amount 49) Shiksha Kendra28,300 x 20 = 5,66,00011,550 Activity Center1,07,000 x 5 = 5,35,00010,918 Seasonal Schools11,131 x 2 x 25 = 5,56,55011,131 Coordinator Salary96,0001,959 TotalRs. 1,753,550$35,786

Proposal Proposed Budget – Shiksha Kendra Budget ItemDetailsAmount in INR Teacher Stipend2150 x 1225,800 Study Material25 x 3007,500 Infrastructure (repairs, maintenance) 2,500 Evaluation/Exams2 x 5001,000 Instructor Meetings8 x 2502,000 Instructor Training2 x 1,5003,000 Certification Course3,500 Total28,300 Budget estimate of running a Shiksha Kendra

Proposal Proposed Budget – Activity Centers Budget ItemDetailsAmount in INR Teacher Stipend2 x 12 x 3,50084,000 Study Material10,000 Infrastructure2,000 Teacher Training10,000 Children Events1,000 Total1,07,000 Budget estimate of running an Activity Center

Proposal Proposed Budget – Seasonal residential School Budget ItemDetailsAmount in INR Boarding & Lodging25 (children) + 3 (teacher) x Rs 150 x 55 days 231,000 Study Material25 x 2506,250 Medicines & Toiletries25 x 1503,750 Uniform25 x 1604,000 Teacher Stipend3 x 55 days x Rs 13522,275 Teacher Training6,000 Travel25 x 2005,000 Total2,78,275 Budget estimate of 25 children attending Seasonal Residential Schools

Proposal Opinions/Discussion Proposal discussion summary with Seva Mandir is here new/documents/876/sevamandir_2010_proposal_discussion.docx new/documents/876/sevamandir_2010_proposal_discussion.docx Shiksha Kendras have proven to be a very strong tool to promote primary education in the region, and is central to the education program The number of children who graduate to regular schools and continue their education has steadily increased year over year Activity Centers are a strategic initiative that was started with AfE support, and perfectly complement the Shiksha Kendra (primary school) component It is recommended to open activity centers in primary schools to drive attendance and improve the quality of education in conjunction to running Shiksha Kendras, especially in places where primary schools are running in reasonable proximity Current Activity Centers are operated in upper primary and middle schools and serve as a capacity building instrument, similar methodology can be possibly extended to primary schools. Learning from 5 activity centers is helping us to establish working relationship with the government schools, but, primary schools are a difficult nut to crack!

Proposal Opinions/Discussion [2] Seasonal Residential Schools are being operated by Seva Mandir for almost a decade and caters to most marginalized children who are otherwise forced into manual labor in mines or fields Seasonal schools show a fairly decent turnaround rate in terms of continued attendance, but primarily strive to make such children literate, and is in general difficult to quantify its impact It is advised for Seva Mandir to focus on expanding activity center into primary schools instead of operating Shiksha Kendras, where applicable Ongoing discussions with Seva Mandir on impact of notification of RTE in the state and effective status if NFE/Shiksha Kendra under RTE