Annual report 2013-14 - Centre For Learning Resources · Goth Baat, Parivar Ke Saath” with...

CentreForLearningResourcesAnnualReport

2013-14

Centre For Learning Resources8 Deccan College Road, Yerawada, Pune - 411006

E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.clrindia.org

1 Director's Message

3 About CLR

Background

Goals

Main Activities

4 Early Childhood Care And Education

16 Elementary Education

22 Community Engagement

24 Advocacy

25 Other Professional Activities

27 Funding / Acknowledgments

AnnualReport2013-14

CONTENTS

Government is by far the largest provider of education in India. Between 50% and 80% of

children depend on government schools for their entire education. The figure is much larger for

the poorest and the most disadvantaged segments of our population, for whom government

schools remain the only affordable way of getting a conventional education.

The government is also the sole regulator of the education system, and its powers of regulation

have become far more codified and pervasive after the passage of the RTE Act. At the higher

education level, there are autonomous bodies such as UGC and AICTE for such regulation, but

primary and secondary education is regulated departmentally.

The poor quality of education in India's schools has generated some comment in recent years

but, by and large, it has not been at the centre of attention it deserves. The RTE Act reinforced

the trend by devoting so little space to quality that it requires considerable effort to find the

relevant mentions tucked away in Sec 29. And surveys like ASER, which have for years

highlighted the distressingly low levels of educational proficiency among India's children, now

seem to only provoke yawns among the educational establishment.

It is time to ask whether the dual hats that the education departments around the country wear, as

dominant provider of education as well as its regulator, are serving the nation. When a provider is

its own regulator, efficiencies are likely to be low, quality compromised, innovation undervalued,

competition stifled, and cronyism fostered. In India's case, this is not just a reasonable

supposition; we have empirical evidence that it is so. The yawns are no surprise; they are the

inevitable response of a provider that has no external regulator to answer to.

The public has responded by voting with their feet. Enrolment in government schools has

declined continuously over the last several years. However, in the absence of a high quality

regulator, the alternatives available to most children are almost equally pathetic – the large

majority of private schools do little better on quality measures. The public can express a vote of

no-confidence; they can't replace a professional regulator who has the ability to conceptualise,

demand and guide.

Unfortunately, UGC and AICTE provide little comfort that the presence of an external regulator

in education makes a positive difference. However, they were both installed at a time when the

quality concerns hadn't become as pressing; their organisational structures and philosophy reflect

the priorities of the times. They have failed to change from there, but there is no reason why an

institution created to respond to today's challenges should be similarly ineffective.

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

1AnnualReport2013-14

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE


Telecommunication sector provides an instructive example. For the first few years of mobile

telephony, DOT was entrusted with regulation of the sector. Short-sighted self-interest led to a

spate of litigation and, for a while, the sector came to a stand-still. The government showed

great sagacity in installing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which has shown

an exemplary grasp of key issues and a deep concern for public interest. Today, India has among

the lowest telephone rates in the world and a service that reaches some of the remotest parts of

the country.

We already have regulation of the education sector. Now let us have regulation that serves. It is

time for institutionalising independent education regulators.

Chittaranjan Kaul

BACKGROUND

The Centre For Learning Resources (CLR) was established in Pune in 1984. It is a non-profit educational

institution of The Society For Educational Improvement And Innovation which is registered under the

Societies Registration Act of 1860, the Bombay Public Trust Act of 1950 and the Foreign Contribution

Regulation Act of 1976.

GOALS

The expansion of elementary education and early childhood education in India has often not been

matched by a similar concern for the quality of teaching and learning. This has resulted in dreary and

unstimulating classrooms, millions of elementary school dropouts and unacceptably low levels of

learning in our classrooms. Moreover, the significance of the first three years in early child development

is also not sufficiently understood. The main goal of the CLR is to improve the quality of early childhood

care and development and elementary education that the vast majority of rural and urban children

receive in our country.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

CLR supports government institutions (and other NGOs and private schools) in strengthening their

academic capacity, and in developing institutional mechanisms for effective delivery of their programs.

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ABOUT CLR

Capacity building of elementary school teachers, instructors in alternative education centres and support classes, and

balwadi/anganwadi workers in early childhood education (ECE) programmes.

Capacity building of teacher trainers and supervisory

personnel for early childhood and

elementary education.

Training of personnel in early childhood

development programmes which target caregivers of children in the birth to 3

years age group.

Development of training materials.

Development of instructional materials in various curricular areas,

with an emphasis on functional literacy and numeracy, including

audio-visual materials for environmental education, language development, and English as a second

language.

Consultancy in curriculum development, educational project

design, academic and other research inputs to schools, NGOs and government agencies, funding

organisations and international bodies.

Advocacy - ECCD, ECE, Elementary Education, RTE

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SAJAG-A CAREGIVER EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PROMOTING HOLISTIC

HOME BASED CHILD CARE IN RAJNANDGAON BLOCK, CHATTISGARH

In January 2012, CLR initiated a pilot program called Sajag which aims to educate rural caregivers on

ways to strengthen home-based holistic care (health, nutrition and psychosocial development) of

children up to three years of age. Sajag, which is being implemented across 164 villages of

Rajnangdgaon block, is a joint effort of the Dept of Health, State Literacy Mission Authority

(SLMA) and Dept of Women and Child Welfare Development (WCD) with CLR as the technical

resource agency and UNICEF and European Union as financial parnters. The government

departments deployed 33 Master Trainers (MT) who trained over 650 Village Communicators (VC)

through a cascade to conduct home visits for educating parents on caregiving. CLR conducts ToTs

and provides supportive supervision to MTs and VCs on a on a sample basis.

In January 2013, Sajag was extended by another year. During

this year, we further simplified our content, materials and

training methodology so that they could survive the

complexities of a large cascade based training process. As a

part of this endeavor, we developed a booklet and a wall

calendar titled “Chakmak Mein Aag” with desirable

contextualized caregiving messages and a corresponding

photograph depicting each message visually. This booklet

has helped the VCs communicate the message more clearly

and accurately and has therefore helped parents comprehend

the messages better.

There is substantial evidence of positive change amongst caregivers

and children who have participated in the Sajag program. Several

malnourished children have improved in their nutritional status

(weight); some have moved up from severe to moderate

malnourishment or normal levels. Some mothers mentioned that the

older children now engaged more with their younger siblings and

this helped in building a stronger bond between them. In some

families, it was also observed that fathers now took more interest in

the upbringing of children.

Home-visit for demonstrating toy makingEARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

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“I like looking at the photographs in

this book. (Chakmak Mein Aag).

First when VC didi would tell me

about breast feeding, I would feel shy

but now when I feed my baby, I

smile, look at my baby's eyes and

caress her rather than chatting with

other women and not paying

attention to my little one”

Hema, Caregiver, Somni Village

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A picture from 'Chakmak Mein Aag'

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This story of adoption of Sajag messages is

presented in a 14 minute film titled

“Rajnandgaon mein Sajag”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqm-

Qts-NOk). Also, in order to be able to

conduct a wider assessment of the impact of

parenting education efforts like Sajag on

children's development outcomes, we

developed a screening tool based on

international literature and field testing. This

tool helps plot a child's developmental status across four domains: physical; hearing language and

cognition; social, emotional and self-help; vision and fine motor. It can be used to screen children

from birth to six years of age. This scale will be validated based on data collected from 600 children.

The results of Sajag have sparked considerable

interest within UNICEF and other CLR partners

in Chhattisgarh towards the importance of stpsychosocial development of children. On 1

March, 2014, the Honorable Chief Minister of

Chattisgarh, Dr Raman Singh inaugurated

'Chakmak Mein Aag' at a Volunteers Meet. 10,000

copies of the same are being distributed to

caregivers in Rajnandgaon.

Several senior officials from UNICEF have visited

the project. These include Ms Yoka Brandt, Deputy

Executive Director, New York Head Quarter;

Ms Carrie Auer, Chief of Field Services and

Ms Urmila Sarkar- Education Specialist, India.

The project concluded in April 2014. An end-line

Survey was conducted on 154 parents of 20 villages

in Rajnandgaon Block assesssing changes in

caregiving practices through interviews. The analysis

of the data is in process. Carrie Auer- Country Representative, UNICEF meets Caregivers.

Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh inaugurates “Chakmak Mein Aag Calendars”

Child Development Scale Testing

EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

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Mitanins understanding Brain Development in Children with the help of an activity

INTEGRATION OF PSYCHO-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN IN

TRAINING OF 70,000 COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ACROSS CHHATTISGARH

The State Health Resource Centre, Chhattisgarh

(SHRC) and CLR have partnered since June 2013

for a thirty month project to promote the

integrated health of children under age three. For

nearly two decades, SHRC has been running a

program for enhancing the awareness of

communities on health and nutritional issues

through intensive home visits conducted by nearly

70,000 Community Health Workers (Mitanins).

Pre-natal, neonatal, infant and early childhood

nutrition and health is a central component of the

home-visits, given the high level of malnutrition

prevalent in Chhattisgarh. This program was the original inspiration behind the ASHA program that

has been adopted country wide.

SHRC asked CLR to help them to incorporate

messages on psychosocial stimulation as a part of

the parent and community education work carried

out by the Mitanins. Financially supported by

UNICEF, CLR designed the material and conducted

trainings. As a part of the cascade-training, 40

District Coordinators (DCs) were trained by CLR

directly, who then trained over 300 Block

Coordinators (BCs). BCs then conducted training

for nearly 3000 Mitanin Trainers (MTs) who

ultimately trained the Mitanins.


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Mitanin training using “Laika Ke Goth Baat, Parivar Ke Saath”

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“The inclusion of messages of psychosocial development has made my approach more holistic thereby generating interest in the caregivers during my visits”

– A Mitanin

To facilitate easy communication of messages, CLR developed a

visual handbook for the Mitanins, which had photographs of

caregivers from Chhattisgarh, depicting various stimulation

messages, with a brief description for each. SHRC found the visual

characteristic of the handbook appealing, and also modified its own

annual handbook by incorporating various health and nutritional

related photographs. Finally a common handbook called “Laika Ke

Goth Baat, Parivar Ke Saath” with integrated messages of health,

nutrition and psychosocial stimulation was produced and distributed

to all the Mitanins, which they could use as a guide during their

home visits. CLR monitored trainings and the home visits.

Initial observations of home visits indicate that Mitanins have found

the content very useful in their home visits with caregivers, and the visual representations have

helped them convey the messages with greater ease and effectiveness. These observations are also

being used to study the clarity of the messages as passed down the cascade training structure and

utility of the visual representations of the care messages in the handbook. Our observations will help

design the next round of content and training.

In the meantime, our observations have also indicated that the

message of interaction with the child for language development

needs to be contextualized in tribal settings where language

learning approaches need to be studied and understood better by

CLR. For that purpose, we will undertake a small scale

exploratory study in some of the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh.


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STRENGTHENING THE INTEGRATED CARE OF CHILDREN below three years

THROUGH FULWARIS (Community run Day Care Centres)

This thirty-month project aims to design a scalable and

contextually suitable model for a day-care centre

(fulwari) managed by tribal mothers, which provides

integrated care (health, nutrition and psychosocial

development) to children up to three years. The State

Health Resource Centre (SHRC), Chhattisgarh, initiated

the Fulwari program as a pilot in the district of Sarguja

in Northern Chhattisgarh. 54.6% of the population of

the district is tribal. The district has the highest Post-

Neonatal Mortality rate and Under 5 Mortality rate in

Chhatisgarh. The fulwari was initially introduced as a nutrition center under the banner of the Zila

Panchayat's Sarguja Suposhan Abhiyan which aims at battling the widespread malnutrition amongst

young children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. SHRC later extended the objectives of this

program from being a nutritional center to providing integrated care to the children and entered a

partnership with CLR, under the financial support of UNICEF, for achieving this objective.

Based on a pilot across 50 fulwaris, CLR's mandate includes,

i) evolving a contextualized and realistic integrated

care routine of about six to eight hours to be

carried out by tribal mothers;

ii) developing materials which will aid the mothers

in the implementation of the routine;

iii) designing a capacity building process for the

SHRC cascade so that the program can be

scaled to the whole district and eventually the

whole state.

The 50 pilot fulwaris span across 4 representative blocks of Surguja district – Ambikapur, Lundra,

Mainpath and Udaipur.


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Volunteer mother feeding children in fulwari

Toys made by participants in the toy making training

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Initially, CLR conducted a baseline study and a needs

and context analysis which examined the existing

developmental status of children, the quality of care in

the fulwari and the nature of the physical environment

of the fulwaris. We used an interactive screening tool to

assess developmental milestones of 20% of the children

from pilot fulwaris on physical development; vision and

fine motor development; hearing, language and

cognition; and, social, emotional and self-help skills.

The nature of care and the physical environment of all

the 50 pilot fulwaris were studied using an observation tool, which was inspired from the Infant

Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS).

The first design and implementation cycle focused on

the 'importance of play in the fulwaris' along with

'toy making using locally available resources'.

Discussion pictures for the training were designed

using photographs taken at the day care centres of

Tara Mobile Creches who generously gave us easy

access to their programme.

CLR developed two instructional videos to

help the SHRC team learn toy making and further train

caregivers. Toy making ideas have been received well

and many caregivers have adapted suggested ideas to

make innovative toys from local material. The focus in

implementation is to make toy making and play an

integral and ongoing process at the fulwari.

Children who do not have toys at home look at the

Fulwari toys and ask for them at home which

motivates the mothers to make them for the

children.

– A Block Coordinator from Mainpath


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Children playing with local toys made in the fulwari

Children stay at the fulwari because of the

attraction of the toys at the fulwari. Mothers are

more carefree because the children are engaged in

play. They play with each other and are learning to

talk.

- Block Coordinators, Batauli

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STRENGTHENING THE PRE SCHOOL COMPONENT IN THE ICDS ANGANWADIS

OF DHARNI BLOCK, AMRAVATI DISTRICT.

CLR has worked with 250 ICDS anganwadis in Dharni block

for the last five years with the aim of bringing about sustainable

good quality Early Childhood Education. This project

combines several strategies towards achieving its objectives: a)

developing model anganwadi centres called Observation

Anganwadis (OA) through intensive CLR involvement to

demonstrate good ECE practices, b) building capacities across

the system targetting anganwadi workers (AWW's), supervisors,

anganwadi and middle level training centres (AWTC and

MLTC) in good ECE, c) helping supervisors build capacities of

AWW incrementally, through periodic training at the

decentralized level of the beat, d) fostering a peer coaching

model of capacity building, where well-trained AWW's help others learn how to deliver good ECE

and e) engaging the community in supporting the AWC.

An important element of scaling the capacity-building has involved supporting the diffusion of good

ECE practice from OA's to continguous anganwadis (CA's) through extensive supervisor involvement

and then to the remaining anganwadis (RA's) through circle-level trainings conducted mostly by

supervisors.

This year, we introduced two important scaling mechanisms which have helped spread the practice of

good ECE. First, a formal structured telephone calling programme was put in place to help AWW's

maintain contact with CLR staff and resolve difficulties being

experienced. Second, a number of RA's were assigned to selected

OA and CA AWW's who were trained to act as peer coaches called

Shikshan Sakhis.

In circle-level trainings this year, AWW's learnt how to facilitate

emergent literacy and numeracy and new Korku and Marathi songs

for children. They also learnt how to conduct, communicate and

facilitate home visits and corner meetings, to gather community

support and make the parents understand the significance of early

cognitive stimulation provided at the Centres. A book 'Maitri

parisarachi Gamat Shiknayachi' was supplied to AWWs to introduce


AnnualReport2013-14

Language development activity in the anganwadi

Marathi language and to conduct contextually appropriate activities.

Trainings were also conducted for 4 batches of Helpers across 6

circles. These trainings were designed to train helpers on how to

sing songs and narrate stories to children, how to gather the

children, planning preparation and distribution of food, making

dolls, puzzles and lacing frames and conducting free play in AWC.

By involving the helper in ECE transactions, not only has the

quality of ECE in the anganwadis improved, it has also provided a

major motivational boost to the helper. It also means that

anganwadis can still run

effectively during the occasional absence of the AWW.

A residential training was conducted for the BRTs. The

sessions included brainstorming on strategies to sustain and

improve ECE quality in the AWW's and diffuse intervention

to cover the beat in the old beats, evaluation of the ECE

programme by supervisors through a mapping exercise,

supervisors role in diffusing ECE intervention and improving

their skills, involvement of helpers as co trainers and how to

mentor and grade each ECE.

The graphs below provide some idea of the nature of impact this project has yielded, and the

differences in anganwadis which received intensive follow up support along with training (OAs, CAs)

and those which received only training (RAs).

Improvement in Early Literacy and Maths Readiness of Children



Helpers participating in a training

ACDPO during the BRT training

OBSERVTION–CUM-LAB CENTRES TO DEMONSTRATE EFFECTIVE ECE IN

MULSHI BLOCK

Community intervention

CLR has developed 11 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) in Mulashi Taluka, in Pune district with the aim

of developing model sites for ICDS and other NGOs functionaries undergoing training on ECE.

The centres are also intended to serve as natural and continuous labs for designing and piloting of

further ECE materials and processes.

In the year 2013-14, CLR piloted various strategies for engaging parents of the anganwadi children

and community in the running of the anganwadis. Through group meetings, parents were educated

about the importance of ECE and their potential role in the functioning of the anganwadi. Parents

responded enthusiastically and have started participating in the following ways,

Ÿ Supporting the Anganwadi worker in mural painting activity.

Ÿ Cooking food in the absence of helper

Ÿ Providing stationary for creative activities

conducted in ECE.

Ÿ In one of the AWCs, each parent stitches a

cotton bag for their child's art work which

generated a creative activity session in the AWC.

Ÿ Supporting children in home-work activities for

emergent literacy like observing things in their fields, identifying objects with different

shapes, identifying colors around and association of first sound with objects in the house etc.

Involvement of the community at large

One of the goals of the project has also been to involve the community at large and raise the

awareness about ECE. In addition to eliciting the involvement of parents, awareness towards ECE

was also generated through an exhibition on Early Childhood Care and Development Practises. The

exhibition was held in Nandgaon on the occasion of Health day and was visited by the Sarpanch,

health functionaries and the villagers. CLR lab AWWs volunteered for the exhibition and explained

the parental messages. AWWs were encouraged to seek construction of toilets in the Anganwadis.



Material made by parents of anganwadi children

Ongoing capacity building of ICDS functionaries:

As part of ongoing capacity building efforts of

ICDS, several discussions and joint visits were

conducted with the Child Development Program

Officer (CDPO). The CDPO has been briefed

about the ECE program and developmentally

appropriate classrooms. Joint visits with ICDS

supervisors were also conducted to improve their

skills in working with children. CLR lab AWWs

participated in an ICDS block level event where they displayed Teaching Learning materials used by

them and explained the purpose to the other AWWs in the block.

CLR also supported ICDS supervisors from Kolvan beat by providing them with a design for

training their AWWs. CLR also conducted a few sessions addressing the aspect of ECE in their

bimonthly meetings.

Developing skills of AWWs:

To equip the AWWs with useful skills. trainings were

organized on topics such as creative classroom

activities, voice modulation in storytelling and about

emergent literacy. Students from SNDT college

visited the program and demonstrated usage of

theme-based approach in one of the AWCs. In

addition, AWWs were encouraged to evaluate their

own work by means of a check list, following which

detailed discussions were held individually with each

AWW & AWH.

Visits from various NGOs

The lab AWCs received visits from members and representatives of Azim Premji Foundation,

Hyderabad; Vikramsheela, West Bengal; Door Step School, Pune; SRTT, Yadgir; Gyanprakash

Foundation, Pune; Jana Swastha Sanghatana, Chattisgarh; Dr Thomas Reeves from the University of

Georgia and Community Development Foundation, Yadgir .



CDPO interacting with children

Helper conducting an activity

FULWARI BASELINE STUDIES WITH GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH

Fulwari Baseline Study in Sarguja District, Chhattisgarh

In March 2013, SHRC requested CLR to conduct a baseline study for their Fulwari Project. The aim

of the study was to determine a baseline of the nutritional status of children under three years in the

district and the nature of nutritional, health and psychosocial care practices. In addition, the study

also examined access and usage of health and nutrition services by pregnant and lactating women.

Data was collected on 1698 children and 690 caregivers.

The study concluded that malnutrition was significant and pervasive in Sarguja. The study also

suggested that the awareness of beneficial health and nutritional practices was fairly high but not

universal. While vaccination and supplementary nutrition practices seemed well-adopted, the

adoption of other practices was weaker and suggested the need for attention to a behaviour change

effort. Relatively little attention is paid by parents to stimulating the psychosocial capacities of

children; awareness of the value of complex talk, versatile toys and self-reliant activities needs to be

enhanced through appropriate parenting education.The study was appreciated for its methodological

rigour and statistical analysis.

Fulwari Baseline Study across Chhattisgarh

CLR was once again invited to conduct the state-wide baseline study of current nutritional status,

health practices and child care practices. Data was collected from 2007 caregivers and 7900 children.

The study concluded in March 2014 and the data is currently being analysed.



ECCE CURRICULUM FOR CHHATTISGARH STATE

In 2013, the national government adopted an Early Childhood Education (ECCE) Policy and a

National ECCE Curriculum Framework for guiding the design and implementation of early

childhood care and education programs across the country. All states were required to develop their

own ECCE curriculum and materials. Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) and

UNICEF, Chhattisgarh invited CLR to help draft the curriculum. After an exploratory study

intended to examine the existing status of ECCE in ICDS anganwadis, prior efforts at strengthening

ECE, and including suggestions from local stakeholders, CLR proposed a draft curriculum paper

which was presented at a state level Task Force meeting and at a consultation in Indore hosted by

National Institute for Public Cooperation and Community Development (NIPCCD). The following

components were addressed in the paper,

Ÿ Theoretical background on ECE

Ÿ Background on WCD and ICDS efforts

Ÿ Key considerations for contextualizing ECE theory into a relevant curriculum for

Chhattisgarh

Ÿ Key domains and indicators for ECCD (birth to 3 year old children) and ECE (3 to 6 year

old children)

Ÿ Sample Time Table and Activity Sheets

Ÿ Operationalization guidelines, including how to develop materials, systemic capacity-building

and evaluation.

The draft was well received with suggestions for minor modifications. CLR has since been invited to

help DWCD operationalize the curriculum into materials, activities and time-table for the

anganwadis.



ENGLISH RESOURCE CENTRE (ERC) FOR PUNE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

SCHOOLS

CLR has been working with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) education authorities on setting

up and sustaining a Resource Centre for English within their system. In this context, to reach out to

approximately 275 schools, CLR,

Ÿ developed and conducted recurrent in-service training programs and workshops to

strengthen teachers' own knowledge of English and classroom teaching methods.

Ÿ introduced teaching-learning materials supplementary to the state textbooks in Classes 3-6, to

improve listening, speaking and reading skills and to a lesser extent, independent writing.

Ÿ monitored and evaluated the activities through an intensively supported mentoring team from

within the school system. As a result of this a significant level of academic achievement

among children and teacher improvement was demonstrated, especially in the mentored

schools.

In 2014 we evaluated the impact of the program on the English language reading and writing

competencies of students of grades 3,4 and 5 and found substantial improvements as compared to

the baseline. The graphs below indicate the learning gains of grades 3 and 4.

Enhancing English language skills of teachers

Appropriate professional development of teachers is important in order to achieve sustainable

learning quality amongst students. Towards this, we designed and piloted a 6 day workshop aimed at

helping teachers,

Ÿ enhance their own English language skills

Ÿ develop learner-centered approaches to teach English as a second language to students

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION


17

We trained 230 teachers through the workshop in

April 2013. The course named 'The English

Teacher' for English teachers of Class 1 and 2

received an overwhelming response and positive

feedback from the teachers. We also offered

continued support to teachers who volunteered

for it to enable them to sustain the newly acquired

skills. Since, frequent face to face support was not feasible

owing to their teaching commitment, CLR piloted a tele-help program with 10 teachers designed to

provide ongoing support for improving teachers English language skills and English teaching skills.

In the 20 minute tele-help program conducted twice a month for each teacher, the teachers got a

chance to practice speaking English through a series of practical, guided and structured activities.

over the medium of a phone. It also encouraged teachers to enhance appropriate use of English as

classroom language.

By the end of six months, we received a lot of positive feedback from teachers about the tele-help.

Pre- and post-test comparisons indicated that majority of the teachers had graduated by one level in

their speaking and reading skills according to the Common European Framework of Reference for

Language Learning (CEFR). We hope to convert the

learnings from the intensive tele-help program

into a blended program involving face to face

workshops, self- study and shortened tele-calls, so

as to reduce the cost incurred through the

intensive phone calls, and improve the scalability.

I experienced the process of thinking about the problems

at hand and finding answers for them myself. This gave

me a sense of belief in my own capability.

- A Teacher about the Tele-help Programme


AnnualReport2013-14

This program differed from the regular English speaking courses not just on the basis of the duration but also in terms of relevance to our lives. We were asked to speak on topics which are relevant to our school environment, our own situational needs for e.g. classroom instructions.

- A Teacher about the Tele-help Programme

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IMPLEMENTATION OF “WE LEARN ENGLISH” RADIO PROGRAMME IN

AHMEDNAGAR

CLR and the District administration, Ahmednagar, implemented the 'We Learn English' (WLE)

programme throughout the 3,662 schools of the district in the academic year 2013-14. The

programme was delivered in Class 4 of the schools through an Akashvani broadcast thrice a week.

The programme had a “Phone-in” feature, which enabled teachers to call and share their opinion,

feedback and queries with a CLR mentor. These calls were edited into 15 minute lessons to be broadcast

once a month to guide teachers across all schools and inspire students

and parents. Parents and teachers have reported through this feature

that their children are speaking more English now.

A monitoring system where Cluster Resource Coordinators

observed classrooms and sent SMS about the quality of

implementation was set up this year. While the SMS reporting

system has yet to stabilize, an early success of the system was to

reveal that nearly 35% schools out of the 3,662 schools did not

receive the Akashvani signal owing to terrain issues. This had not

been identified as an issue at the beginning of the programme.

Therefore, CDs containing the same material were supplied to these

schools.

A baseline study of children's English

language proficiency was carried out

among children of Classes 4, 5 and 6 in

85 randomly selected schools in July, 2013.

Four hundred and forty four children of

Class 4 were administered a standard

questionnaire designed to assess listening

comprehension and speaking skills. To

assess the effectiveness of the

programme, an end-line study using the

same instrument was administered to 270

randomly selected Class 4 children across the district, who were the audience of

the 2013-14 WLE.


AnnualReport2013-14

Training tool for SMS baseddata captured

“I once went for inspection to a school and I asked the

students to tell me the names of some fruits in English. They

gave answers like Apple, Coconut, and pineapple. Their

teacher shared that the students' vocabulary is increasing as

they now listen to the English Programme. Therefore right

from the beginning I have been positive about the

programme because at least now students are able to speak

small sentences on their family and School.”

Shri. Khodke, Cluster coordinator, Ahmednagar

The results of the baseline and end-line study suggest that WLE has helped children engage more

willingly with the language and their ability to comprehend and speak has improved markedly.

The more complex skills of speaking in whole sentences and accurately, have showed a marked

improvement.

However, the circumstances in which the target children study English as a second language are

highly challenging. Reaching desired levels of proficiency will require sustained exposure over a

substantial period of time. WLE's Level 2 and Level 3 courses are designed to provide this follow-up.


19

“ The main strength of the course was that its English language curriculum is appropriate for rural students, emphasizing

relevant structures, presenting correct pronunciation and providing ample opportunity to not only to speak in English,

but also to revise newly learnt vocabulary and usage.

Students who participated have developed confidence in speaking English. They look for any opportunity to demonstrate

their language ability!"

Arvind Kumar, ex-director, National Book Trust form Nainital district of Uttarakhand

AnnualReport2013-14


20

IMPLEMENTATION OF 'WE LEARN ENGLISH' RADIO PROGRAM IN PUNE

ZILLA PARISHAD SCHOOLS

For the fourth consecutive year, CLR in partnership with the Pune Zilla Parishad implemented the

Interactive Radio Instruction Program to improve the listening and speaking skills of the Class 4, 5

and 6 students across 825 upper primary Zilla Parishad schools in 13 Talukas of Pune district. Level

1 of the 'We Learn English' Radio Program was in the fourth year of its broadcast, Level 2 has been

aired for three years, and the broadcast of Level 3 was in its second year.

The Pune district administration continues to actively support the implementation of the program.

This year, the CEO, Mr. Anil Kavade expressed his support through a message broadcast on radio

encouraging teachers to improve the quality of English by utilizing the CLR program and the “Phone

in” helpline. This helpline was introduced by CLR this year for teachers to call in for assistance from

CLR regarding the implementation of the Radio Program. The “Phone-in” help line was open for 2

hours every Friday. CLR received more than 100 calls every week.

These calls and their responses were then edited into a 15 minute broadcast that was aired once at the

end of every month. This broadcast usually also included a message by an officer of the Education

Department of the Zilla Parishad motivating teachers to implement the Quality Education

Development campaign which includes the Radio Program. To enthuse teachers and students further,

a quiz was conducted during the broadcast based on the lessons aired that month and prizes were

announced for the lucky winners. This quiz received a very enthusiastic response from all schools.

The program implementation will continue into the fifth academic year in 2014-15.

AnnualReport2013-14


21

DEVELOPING GRADED SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS

This year, CLR completed the development of its Graded Storybook Series in English by publishing

Set C, the third level in the series. While Set A and B consist of 12 separate titles each, Set C, which

is for older readers, is a compilation of 10 selections – fiction and non-fiction – in a single volume

entitled 'Stories to Enjoy'. The series has been recommended by the CBSE Board.

Students in regional medium schools acquire basic reading skills in English at an older age than those

whose medium of instruction is English. Hence existing storybooks available in the market at their

reading skill level do not reflect their interests, as these are written for younger English-speaking

children. CLR's graded storybooks address the problem of this mismatch through grading of

sentence structures and vocabulary, together with lively, age-appropriate content. They are also

relevant for learners in out-of-school support classes for school-going children, and for slow learners

in English medium schools.

Centre For Learning Resources

Stories to Enjoy

Graded Reading

Set C

Set A

Set B

Set C

AnnualReport2013-14

COMMUNITY SCHOOL COLLABORATION

The importance of school-community collaboration towards achieving sustainable developmental and

educational outcomes of children has been emphasized extensively, including in the RTE Act. However,

there are few exemplary programs that demonstrate how the collaboration can be developed between

government schools and parents/communities. CLR embarked upon a pilot initiative to develop

effective strategies for catalyzing collaboration within four urban areas in Pune city.

CLR was invited to present these ideas to a team of 25 schools principals of the PMC School Board. We

identified six school principals who seemed to be open to exploring this concept, and chose to locate the

pilot with their schools and the communities they serve.

We aim to foster this collaboration by supporting parents and communities to develop greater

confidence and skills in participating in the education of their children, and by supporting schools to play

a constructive and inviting role in eliciting this participation. The table below provides an overview of

our strategy.

Objectives CLR's interventions with school (through one on one meetings, and during school-parent gatherings)

CLR's intervention with Parent/Community (through home and community meetings, and school-parent gatherings)

Effective parenting at home, Ÿ spending time together,Ÿ disciplineŸ cleanliness and hygiene,Ÿ communication,Ÿ participation in studiesŸ effective participation at

school for specific child related issues

Ÿ parent-teacher meetings

Strengthen the capacity of school principals and teachers to constructively suggest specific practical strategies.

Strengthen capacity of schools to conduct constructive meetings such as, elicit greater parent interaction in meetings, have a problem-solving rather than moralizing approach, etc

Strengthen parents' capacities to adopt effective parenting strategies through home and community based counselling.

Strengthen parent capacities to articulate their issues at the meeting, and take responsibility for issues that are raised at the meeting.

Effective participation at school for generic school related issuesŸ school environment

improvement Ÿ cultural eventsŸ SMC/Committees

Strengthen school capacities to articulate a simple and actionable plan for eliciting parent involvement in school level processes, communicate the plan clearly, and monitor the progress of the plan closely

Strengthen parental confidence and skills in participating in the school processes.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT


Effective participation at school for specific child related issues Ÿ parent-teacher meetings

Strengthen capacity of schools to

conduct constructive meetings such

as, elicit greater parent interaction in

meetings, have a problem solving

rather than moralizing approach,

etc

Strengthen parent capacities to

articulate their issues at the

meeting, and take responsibility for

issues that are raised at the meeting.

With this broad approach, we started by conducting a needs and context analysis study that would

help us identify concerns specific to each school and its corresponding community in order to help

build a common agenda between them. We interviewed parents on their existing understanding and

practices of parenting, their current participation in the school, expectations from the school and

suggestions on their role in the envisaged collaboration with the school. Similarly, the heads of the

schools attached with these communities were also interviewed on their understanding of teacher's

role, school's responsibility towards children, teacher's attitude and understanding of children's

background, the school's specific approach and understanding towards parents' role in the school,

and how the school would like to facilitate this collaboration.

The study has helped us articulate:

- Common areas of interest and needs where parents and schools could come together. For

instance, several schools expressed the need for support in distribution of the mid-day meals,

and at the same time parents raised concern around the poor distribution of mid-day meals.

- Individual issues expressed by each party which could be addressed through collaborative

efforts. Likewise, parents raised the question of poor classroom quality in many

communities, and some schools raised the issue of children's regularity and cleanliness.

- Identification of specific grades for each school for piloting this process. For example, some

school opted to trial this process with Classes 1 and 2 , while others with Classes 3 and 4.

Going forward, our immediate future steps will involve,

- Discussing the results of the study with each school.

- Having the school nominate one or two people (preferably the principal, and the teacher of

the specific grade identified for the pilot in that school) who will be dedicated to this process

- Mapping an agenda and deliverables for each school on the basis of the study.

- Preparing communities for the collaboration through home visits and community meetings

- Initiating school-parent contact, especially in the form of monthly meetings.


COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

ADVOCACY FOR PROMOTING AWARENESS OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION

(RTE) ACT

CLR continues to engage in promoting awareness of the RTE Act and its implementation. This

engagement has focused on contributing to the RTE activities of ARC (Action For the Rights of the

Child). CLR is an active member of ARC, which is a Pune-based network of NGOs and individuals

involved in the promotion of children's rights.

On behalf of ARC and in cooperation with its members, CLR has been primarily responsible for

developing an RTE website that offers easy and systematic access in both Marathi and English to the

provisions of the RTE Act, with particular reference to its implementation in Pune city and

Maharashtra . Since it was formally inaugurated in October 2012, the main achievements of the

website are as follows:

- A considerable amount of content has been uploaded in all 5 subsections of the website,

including videos developed by a CLR-led team, on the 25% Reservation provision. It has also

provided links to not only the Act and Rules at the national and state levels, but also links,

and in many cases introductions, to important RTE-related reports, articles and existing

videos.

- Through this website, CLR has significantly contributed to ARC's advocacy activities by

promoting RTE awareness amongst ARC members, and in turn concretely helping them to

promote awareness amongst community members. For example, the RTE flipchart

developed by ARC in Marathi for community-awareness is based on the material provided in

the website.

- The website has not only contributed to the visibility of ARC in Pune, but also to its work

with the Pune municipal education authorities. We have answered many queries from the

general public regarding the implementation of RTE, especially in connection with the

implementation of the 25% Reservation provision, giving ARC a state and and national-level

presence.

- An independent analysis of RTE websites in India has clearly indicated some important and

unique features of our website, comparing it favourably with RTE websites developed by

others . We continue to feature among the top in Google searches, which speaks for its reach

and accessibility.

- A significant achievement has been the partnering with 2 NGOs to create bilingual RTE

websites similar in both content and design, for Tamil Nadu and Odisha. This partnership

reflects the success of our efforts to engage with RTE in other states.


ADVOCACY

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

25

Chittaranjan Kaul was invited to be a member of PMC School Board Advisory Council, a newly-formed body to advise School Board on matters relating to educational quality, effective monitoring and school leadership.

His participation in other activities included,

Ÿ Conducting a series of workshops on supervision and leadership for PMC School Board officers at various levels.

Ÿ Facilitating a series of workshops for school teachers and school leaders organised by Mindfulness in Education Movement.

Ÿ Conducting a workshop for IAS officers from around the country organised by Tata Management Training Centre on “Sources of Power”.

Dr. John Kurrien gave the following presentations this year :

Ÿ “Strategic CSR Funding for Education : A Quality of Learning Initiative” at the InspireEd conference organized by Teach for India(TFI).

Ÿ As the key speaker at the Pragati 2013 Conference organised by Vibha in Bangalore, he gave a presentation on “The RTE Act : Context and Concerns”.

Ÿ At the request of UNICEF, he formulated a first draft of a manual on the 25% Reservation provision of the RTE Act. This manual has been designed to help parents, schools and education officials to understand and implement this provision.

He is a member of the following bodies:

1. Advisory Committee on Monitoring of Child Rights to Education instituted by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)

2. Advisory Committee of the Department of Educational Policy Studies, National University of Educational Planning and Administration. He has also reviewed research proposals of the faculty members of this department.

3. National Advisory Committee of the RTE Forum

He continues to head the team responsible for ARC's bilingual RTE website

Ms. Zakiya Kurrien gave the following presentations this year :

Ÿ “Building Capacity for Strengthening 'Reading with Meaning' in the Early Years”, at the National Conference on Early Learning : Status and the Way Forward, organised by Centre For Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED) in New Delhi.

Ÿ “ Children Learn To Read By Reading : The Need for Classroom Libraries in Our Elementary Schools”, at the World Book Fair Panel Discussion organised jointly by Publishers Action Group (PAG-E) and National Centre For Children's Literature (NCCL), New Delhi.

AnnualReport2013-14

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

26

She participated in the following :

Ÿ Seminar on 'Education for Social Change: Multidisciplinary Perspectives', organised by M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Ÿ Workshop organised by the Pune Chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), focusing on 'Implications of the New Companies Act 2013 with regard to Corporate Social Responsibility'. She was a panellist representing the NGO sector.

Ÿ Research Consultation held in New Delhi on the longitudinal study being undertaken by CECED and ASER Centre, entitled 'Impact of Early Childhood Education-India'.

Ÿ National Seminar on 'Teachers' Role in Meeting Educational Equity Targets' organised by CARE-India in New Delhi. She chaired the session on 'Teacher training models for addressing issues of equity'.

She formulated the section on holistic provisions related to children in the birth-6 years age group of Maharashtra Sate Policy for Children 2013.

She undertook a Review of the Policy Brief on 'Multilingualism in ECE classrooms: Challenges and Possibilities', published by CECED.

Ms. Kurrien continues to serve as a member of the Advisory Committee of CECED, New Delhi, and of the Alliance for the Right to Early Child Development.

Dr Harini Raval published an article : Raval H, Mckenney S, & Pieters J. (2014). Remedial teaching in Indian under-resourced communities: Professional development of para-teachers. International Journal of Educational Development.

Dr Harini Raval gave an online guest lecture 'Design : Lessons from Practice' at an M.Sc. Course on Design Research in Educational Settings at University of Twente.

All the Program Managers from CLR partcipated in an online course on Design Based Research by CELSTEC, Dutch Open Universtiy. Thereafter, they participated in a workshop at CLR, facilitated by Dr. Thomas Reeves, Professor Emeritus of Learning, Design and Technology from The University of Georgia, on Design Research & Application of Design Principles on the various projects running in CLR. .

AnnualReport2013-14

FUNDING

We gratefully acknowledge the funding support we have received from our several partners:

Ÿ Jamsetji Tata Trust PMC-ERC Project

Ÿ Michael and Susan Dell Foundation PMC-ERC Project

Ÿ Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust Dharni Project

Ÿ NEG-FIRE Dharni Project

Ÿ Pune Municipal Corporation PMC-ERC Project

Ÿ UNICEF Sajag Rajnandgaon Project

Mitanin Chhattisgarh Project

Fulwari Surguja Project

ECCE Curriculum Chhattisgarh Project

Fulwari Baseline Survey in Sarguja and Chhattisgarh

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the guidance and cooperation of the following members of our

Governing Council :

Mr. Ardeshir Dubash

Mr. Chittaranjan Kaul

Mr. Denzil Saldanha

Dr. Farrokh Wadia

Mr. Gautam Patel

Ms. Ingrid Mendonca

Dr. John Kurrien

Mr. Milon Nag

Ms. Nayantara Sabawala

Ms. Rati Forbes

Dr. Statira Wadia

Ms. Zakiya Kurrien

We are delighted that Mr. Gautam Patel took up the position of Honorable Judge of Bombay High

Court. Unfortunately, it meant that he had to resign from our Governing Council. We will cherish the

support and guidance he provided over many years.

FUNDING / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT


CentreForLearningResourcesAnnualReport

2013-14

Centre For Learning Resources8 Deccan College Road, Yerawada, Pune - 411006

E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.clrindia.org

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