Mother Tongue As a Medium of Instruction

SSA- TC Fund- Technical Services Agency

MULTILINUAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME OF ORISSA – AN EVALUATION STUDY

Lata Pandey, NCERT, New DelhiLata Pandey, NCERT, New [email protected]@gmail.com


Mother Tongue As a Medium of Instruction

International Evidence

• Children who are proficient in their mother tongue can adapt to other languages as well.(Thomas and Collier)

• Children perform better when they are taught in their mother tongue and through familiar examples.(Baker,2001 and Heugh,2003)


National Evidence

• National Curriculum Framework-2005 :The language teaching needs to be multilingual not only in terms of number of languages offered to children but also in terms of evolving strategies that would use the multilingual classroom as a resource. It is advantageous to have home language /mother tongue of children as the medium of learning in schools.



National Evidence

•Right to Education Act-2009,emphasises that the language of instruction should be the mother tongue as far as possible

•Articles21A,29(1),46 and 350 of the constitution of India has also emphasized the benefits of imparting instruction in the mother tongue.



Multi Lingual Education (MLE) Programme, Orissa

MLE Programme initiated to teach tribal children in their first language in the early grades /classes and gradually moves forward to include other languages such as Oriya (as second language) and English (as third language)


MLE GOALS

• Ensure equity and quality education to tribal children.• Improve student learning through use of mother tongue in early

classes.• Develop reading and writing skills to acquire knowledge and

information through mother tongue.• Introduce state and national languages at early stages to main

stream the tribal children in state wide education system.• Develop respect for their language and culture.• Empower tribal children to develop self-respect .


Objectives of the Study

1. To understand the MLE implementation in the state of Orissa.

2. To identify specific MLE strategies that facilitated or impeded achievement of MLE Goals.

3. To ascertain impact of MLE programme , especially on learning achievement of the students.

4. To assess the extent of achievement of the other objectives of MLE and if there are other unplanned outcomes of the programme.


Design of Study• Evaluation Framework

• Evaluation question• Indicators• Data Source• Methods & Instrument

• The notational of MLE evaluation design is as follows

NR X O1--------------------------------------------------

NR O1• Mixed methods approach based on

Quantitative and Qualitative approach


Evaluation Questions

1. Is MLE implemented as intended? If not, why not?

2. To what extent the intended objectives of MLE have been realized?

3. What are the unintended outcomes attributable to the programme?

SSA- TC Fund- Technical Services AgencySSA- TC Fund- Technical Services Agency

Sampling


Data Collection Instruments/ ToolsInstruments/ Tools Respondents

Questionnaire Teachers (364)

Children Record and Interview Schedule

Students (1757)

School Record Schedule Schools (200)

Interview schedules Head masters(200),Teacher s (364),CRCCs/BRCCs (57)SPD/ SSA/ Direction SCERT/ State Coordinator(18)

Parents/Community Members/ VEC (534)

Classroom Observation Schedule Classes (396)

Rating scale for analysis of textbook Subject Experts(64)

Checklist for Teacher Training Manual

Subject Experts(64)

Achievement Test (Language) Students (Oral-1827) (Written-1753)

Achievement Test (Mathematics Subject)- Oral and Written

Students (Oral-1710)(Written-1750)

FGD Community (193)

Field Notes Field Investigators/ Supervisors (70)


Key Findings-Evaluation Question 1: Is Multilingual Education programme implemented as

intended? If not, why not?

Components:1. Curriculum and Material Development2. Teacher Training3. Community Participation4. Monitoring and Evaluation5. Awareness about MLE6. School Facilities7. Teacher Practices


Evaluation Question 1:Is Multilingual Education programme implemented as intended? If not, why not?

1. Curriculum and Material Development

• A large number of children (73-100%) except from the Bonda tribe took part in the development of TLMs

• Community members took part in the development of material. Participation ranged from 100% in Kisan and Koya to 10% in Santhali language

• More than 60% of teachers reported that material were relevant to the curriculum

• A large number of responses from teachers confirmed their satisfaction with the quality of material


Evaluation Question 1: Is Multilingual Education programme implemented as intended? If not, why not?


•Most of the teachers (100%) were involved in the development of material in most of the languages except in Bonda (80%)•Subject experts (2), tribal coordinators (8)and teacher educators (52)gave following comments with respect to the materials: – Textbooks were developed in accordance with MLE

objectives– Quality of reading materials, illustrations, binding and

texture of paper was satisfactory– The content of the textbooks was age appropriate and

contextual to tribal culture




•Textbooks were made available in nearly all schools except in Oram speaking areas (50%) •TLMs were found to be available in most of the schools except in Bonda (40%) and Oram (40%) speaking schools•Majority of teachers (91%) reported that they had received training manuals during the training programme• 80% of teachers and students were involved in the development of supplementary reading material



2. Teacher Training

•Majority of teachers felt that the content of training modules addressed their needs•Majority of teachers were satisfied with the interaction with the resource persons.•Regarding the usefulness of training in terms of conceptual understanding and usefulness for classroom transactions 28% teachers were of the opinion that the training was ‘not useful’ and 45% felt that it was less useful.• 50% teachers considered the duration of training was adequate


3. Community Participation

•Community members were involved in material development and setting up of cultural museums •54% community members took interest in classroom transactions•61% Headmasters reported that Community members provided support •Less community participation was found in Santhali language schools•Other issues discussed-attendance of students and teachers, availability of textbooks, and the use of TLM



44. Monitoring and Evaluation. Monitoring and Evaluation Head teachers monitored implementing of MLE by

discussing the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction and its impact on language learning with students, teachers, meeting with VEC members , monitoring classroom activities, planning and preparation of lesson plans by teachers



Monitoring and Evaluation (Contd…)Monitoring and Evaluation (Contd…) Head teachers revealed that teachers faced

some difficulties in preparing lesson plans for big (32%) and small books (27%)

Almost all teachers of Juanga, Koya, Kuvi, Bonda, Munda reported that infrastructure facilities were monitored in their schools. But very few teachers from Saura, Kuvi, Santhali and Oram teachers had the same opinion

Almost all teachers reported about monitoring the various records of the schools


Monitoring and Evaluation(contd…)Monitoring and Evaluation(contd…) The level of monitoring and support

provided by CRCCs and BRCCs varied from district to district

Head teachers indicated that they needed more academic support (75%)

Schools were visited by higher authorities and other agencies (81%)

Schools received feedback and guidance from them


5. Awareness about MLE5. Awareness about MLE

Majority of stakeholders were well aware of MLE programme and its objectives

Teachers were not aware of certain issues State level senior officers were well aware

of the policies as to how to address the needs of children in linguistic minorities



6. School Facilities6. School Facilities Basic facilities (e.g.) drinking water, urinals/ toilets

and electricity are lacking in some schools Availability of infrastructure and academic support

facilities varies between schools Plenty of variations between language groups

were found in terms of availability of academic support facilities such as learning corners, wall hangings, libraries and play magazines

School boundaries, playgrounds and ramps were also lacking in many schools



7.Teacher Practices

Strategies Adopted•Activity Based Teaching•Teaching systematically from simple to abstract concepts.•Using Big and Small books.•Learning through the use of mother tongue.•Using children’s experiences.•Language of instruction is mother tongue.•Majority of the student reported that they received praise from teachers.



Evaluation Question 2: To what extenthave the intended objectives of the Multilingual Education programme been realized?

1. Enhancing learning of tribal children2. Increase in enrolment of tribal children3. Enhancing self respect of tribal children



1. Achievement in Languages

• MLE had a positive impact on student achievement in language and mathematics in most tribal languages

• Oral, written and total tests were found significant for seven tribal languages, namely, Saura, Kui, Juanga, Munda, Santhali, Kisan and Oram

• Significant effects were noticed for Bonda and Koya languages on written tests and total language scores. However, the impact was non significant with respect to oral tests in these two languages


1. Achievement in Mathematics

• Significant differences were found between MLE and non-MLE oral and written mathematic test scores in most of the language areas

• No significant differences found in Bonda for total (oral and written) tests and for Koya in oral mathematics



1. Stakeholders' Perception regarding Learning Achievement of Tribal Children

• Development of self-respect and self-confidence among children

• Development of literacy skills (listening, reading and writing)• Use of mother tongue• Children’s interaction with peers• Achievement of accurate knowledge, conceptual

understanding. • Ability to easily switch over from the use of mother tongue to

Oriya and vice-verse



2. Enrolment and Retention of Tribal Children

•Retention rate increased in all 10 tribal language groups

•BRCCs/ CRCCs stated that there was an increase in retention after the introduction of MLE, but this varied according to language groups



3. Enhancing Children’s Self Respect

•Majority of the teachers (87%) said that MLE activities helped students to enhance their self respect •95% teachers believed that teaching through mother tongue was helpful in enhancing students’ self esteems•Almost all children (98%) said that they were praised by their teachers for their correct responses



Evaluation Question 3: What are the unintended outcomes attributable to the

programme?

1.Positive Unintended Outcomes(i)Improvement in relationships among teachers and students,(ii)Increased motivation and eagerness among students

2. Negative Unintended Outcomes(i)Decreased retention for children from other castes,(ii)Preference for the Oriya language over the mother tongue.


RecommendationsRecommendations Differences among Languages Variability demonstrated among the 10

languages included in the MLE program in terms of both its implementation and the outcomes need to be investigated and addressed

MLE MaterialsCultural inputs need to be insured in all

kinds of TLMs for MLE classesMaterial should be available to the children

at appropriate time


Recommendations (Contd…)Recommendations (Contd…)

Teacher TrainingEnsured timely availability of the training

materials and in adequate quantitiesDuration of training needs to be increased Issue of equitable quality education should be

addressed significantly during training programme

Planning and development of lesson plan and classroom management topics should be included in the training programme


Recommendations (Contd…)Recommendations (Contd…) Teacher Training (Contd…)Follow up of the training programme for

effective teaching StaffMLE teachers need to be appointedRecruitment of teachers from local

communityEnhancement in salaryFormation of management committee


Recommendations (Contd…)Recommendations (Contd…) Community ParticipationMore community participation in material

development and in school activitiesDevelopment of a systematic monitoring

systemEstablishment of monitoring in all the offices

of the state/ district/ BRCCs and CRCCs Monitoring and supervision should be more

frequent


Recommendations (Contd…)Recommendations (Contd…)NCERT should provide resources, more academic

and professional supportInvolvement of teachers in action research on

various aspects of MLE Discussion on findings with the monitoring team

in monthly resource day meetings Monitoring and Supervision (Contd.)Increase monitoring and supervision of the MLE

programme in all areas Systematically monitor and supervise offices of

state / district / BRCC and CRCCMonitoring and follow-up activities to be

continuous and ongoing


Recommendations (Contd…)Recommendations (Contd…) Infrastructure and academic support facilities Improvements in basic infrastructure facilitiesAll the MLE schools should be provided with

adequate resources and academic support facilities

Unintended OutcomesAttention should be paid to children from

other castes to restrict their drop outMore attention and support to be given to

children with special needs


Limitations of the StudyLimitations of the Study Absence of clearly defined and operationalized

objectives Absence of baseline data Difficulty in data collection from Naxal infected

areas such as Malkangiri Language related problems lead to questions

being misunderstood Interviews were not recorded Non translation of field notes and interviews in

English

Mother Tongue As a Medium of Instruction

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