Asha Wide Initiatives on Education & Related issues

1. Asha Wide Initiatives on Education & Related issues November 2010

2. Background • As volunteers at AfE we all know and have always been discussing the issues like poor enrollment rates in schools, high drop out rates, child labor, below par learning levels of kids, sustainability of Asha projects etc. • There are focus groups in Asha that have been working different with ideas that try to address these issues through innovative methodologies. • The ideas that have been discussed by these focus groups would be of interest to all the chapters. • The general funds proposal facilitated 20% of each years disbursal amount be available to large scale, innovative projects that have an impact on all the chapters across the organization • Given that the proposals from these focus groups are at a stage where they can be considered by the General funds committee for potential funding, it behooves all the chapters to discuss these proposals to see how they might participate and benefit from the proposals.

3. Asha wide Initiatives • NREGA Focus Group • Emerged out of the discussion in the Self-Sustainability Focus Group • Several studies / reports have pointed out that lack of livelihood in villages is the primary reason for high drop out rates in schools. • This group pursues the ways and means to promote NREGA as a tool to generate the basic livelihood for rural communities and consequently improve the school enrollment & retention rates and reduce malnutrition among children. • Quality-Ed Focus Group • This is a Focus group aimed at understanding and promoting the quality of education aspects in Asha’s projects • Understanding the “Quality” aspect in education begins with realizing the fact that there is more to quality than just getting good marks in exams. • This group aims to articulate the various aspects of quality and conceptualize measures that promote quality.

4. National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) Focus Group • NREGA is a legislation in India that provides a legal guarantee for 100 Days of employment every year to all the members of a household who are willing to do unskilled manual work. • This is a legislation through which government tries to ensure that the rural house holds have atleast one fall back option for a revenue source to feed the family. • This Act aims at alleviating hunger deaths, stemming mass migrations to urban areas, improving the basic rural infrastructure etc. • NREGA is designed as a demand driven program (ie. Employment *should* be given if one asks for it.) unlike other previous schemes where employment is given at the discretion of the government. • NREGA is marked by many other interesting paradigm shifts in its design. • Fixing of minimum wages at Rs 100/day for both men and women. • Payments only through direct deposits into post office or bank accounts • Complete ban on contractors / middlemen and mechanized equipment in work • Payment of unemployment allowances when work is not provided • Making social audits an integral part of the NREGA framework etc.

5. As cutting edge as NREGA is, why isn’t it working • NREGA is a demand driven program which means employment will be provided *IF* a citizen asks for it. Hence its effectiveness depends on whether the unemployed individuals come forward to seek employment. • Lack of awareness about the rules and regulations of NREGA is the biggest impediment. • This has made NREGA like any other govt scheme that is fraught with corruption Why is success of NREGA important for AfE and What can we do • Various pilot studies have shown that in areas where NREGA is being successfully implemented the school dropout rates have been reduced by 90% and risk of child malnutrition was reduced substantially • What can Asha chapters do • Promote NGOs that work towards an effective implementation of NREGA. • Provide training to NGOs that are willing to step forward and participate in its implementation • Take measures to increase the awareness about NREGA within Asha’s projects and other partner NGOs.

6. NREGA Focus Group: What’s in it for your chapter • You should seriously consider getting involved in NREGA if • Your chapter has a project where school drop out rate is a problem • The economic scenario in your project area is so bad that it is negatively impacting education • Your aim is to create economic self sustainability in your project • The NREGA Focus group’s proposal to the General funds facilitates any Asha partner or other NGOs to receive free training on NREGA. The cost of training will be covered by the proposal. • The proposal also funds NREGA coordinators (/fellows) who can coordinate an effective implementation of NREGA in their areas and also help other smaller NGOs in coordination with their efforts • After the training, your project partner will also become a part of the local and regional NGO network that will collectively demand for proper implementation of NREGA and other govt schemes. • Chapters can check with their project partners to see if they might be interested in receiving the training • For more information: http://wiki.ashanet.org/display/projects/NREGA+Home

7. QED Focus Group and the Quality Initiative: Background What is the true meaning of Education? What does “Quality” mean in the context of Education? When evaluating projects in Asha, we often tend to look at the marks students get in their exams as a measure of how the students and in turn the project is performing Is getting good marks same as good academics? Is good academics same as good education? Education is a multi faceted concept that involves an all-round holistic development of a child If so then, how do you characterize the holistic development and how do you measure an improvement in it? Quality of Education (QEd) is a Focus group that tries to explore the answers to the questions above For more information: http://wiki.ashanet.org/display/projects/QED FAQ: http://wiki.ashanet.org/display/projects/FAQ+Quality+of+Education+Grant Interested volunteers can also join the yahoo mailing list: “asha-qed”

8. QED Focus Group and the Quality Initiative: Background (Contd) The group has been in existence for about two years now Two Documents have been developed through the collaborative discussions over this period. Dimensions of School Quality Document explores the different dimensions that influence quality in an educational setup Learning (Scholastic), Learning (Non-Scholastic), Society, Parents, Teachers, Learner/Student, School Management/Leadership, Relationships, Self-awareness of the school about its aims and Objectives http://data.ashanet.org/files/Projects/QED/Dimensions_of_Quality_-_Draft.doc Quality of Education Framework Questionnaire contains a comprehensive set of questions to understand how the school is addressing these dimensions http://data.ashanet.org/files/Projects/QED/QED_Framework.doc QED group submitted a proposal to support quality of education related initiatives from up to 25 Asha projects using General Funds (details in next slide) http://data.ashanet.org/files/Projects/QED/QED_Proposal_for_GeneralFunds2.ppt

9. QED Focus Group: What’s in it for your chapter An important step in improving the quality of asha's projects is to trigger the introspection about the term quality and what it means in both Asha volunteers as well as their project partners To facilitate this process QEd group has proposed implementing a grant program where by each chapter can propose a quality initiative from any one of its projects The grant would be for $2400 spread over a two year time period. The quality initiative should identify a specific initiative that will show a perceivable improvement in the academic performance and an overall improvement in the education level of kids. The intent is that the chapter and the project stewards will work closely with the project partners during the development of the initiatives through which they will gain an understanding of the quality issues themselves. Project partners are free to propose what ever they think will improve the quality of education received by their students.