Seva Mandir Rural Education Program Udaipur/Rajsamand, Rajasthan

1. Seva MandirRural Education ProgramUdaipur/Rajsamand, Rajasthan Project Update and Proposal Review

2. 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

3. Seva Mandir Education Program • SevaMandir Education Program has its roots in LokJumbish movement • LokJumbish - 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 LokJumbish 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

4. SevaMandir Education Program [2] • Activity Centers (SahayogKendras) • 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

5. SevaMandir Education Program [3] • Jan ShikshanNiliyams or Village Libraries • Community powered, often mobile, libraries in villages to bring education and general awareness to doorstep … • UurjaGhar – Youth Resource Centers • Targeted intervention focused at rural youth of age 14-25 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

6. SevaMandir Project Summary • AfE-SV primary education intervention programs in the entire Badgaon block • Operating 20 ShikshaKendras 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 2010-2011 budget numbers) • 2010-2011 Annual Report:http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_2011.pdf

7. SevaMandir – Progress Update 2010-2011Shiksha Kendra • 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

8. SevaMandir – Progress Update 2010-2011Shiksha Kendra [2] Graduating to government schools from SK Performance of students in last three evaluations (year/year progress)

9. SevaMandir – Progress Update 2010-2011Activity 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 SahayogKendras were started in collaboration with AfE-SV and Government schools in 2008-2009 • Activity Centers are housed within government schools and run by SevaMandir 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 2010-2011, only 4 activity centers were functional; in June 2011 fifth activity center was opened in Maruwas Upper Primary School • TwoSevaMandir SK also operate in two hamlets of this village, and 100 students in this UPS are from SevaMandir SK Centers!

10. SevaMandir – Progress Update 2010-2011Activity Centers • 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

11. Seva Mandir – Progress Update 2009-2010Activity 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.” -MangiLalGandharva, Selu teacher (6th, 7th, and 8th grade science)

12. SevaMandir – Progress Update 2010-2011Seasonal 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 SevaMandir, and various learning tools • Flash cards, ganit mala (a fixed string of 100 beads to help children count), wooden sticks, story/picture books etc.

13. SevaMandir – Progress Update 2010-2011Seasonal Residential Learning Schools Evaluation Results of Children from learning camps

14. 2010-2011 ProposalProposal Overview • Continue Education Program in Badgaon with following components: • 20 ShikshaKendras/NFE Centers • 5 Sahayod Kendra/Activity Centers • Support 25 tribal children to attend Three Seasonal Residential School Program

15. 2010-2011 ProposalProposed Budget

16. 2010-2011 ProposalProposed Budget – Shiksha Kendra Budget estimate of running a Shiksha Kendra

17. 2010-2011 ProposalProposed Budget – Activity Centers Budget estimate of running an Activity Center

18. 2010-2011 ProposalProposed Budget – Seasonal residential School Budget estimate of 25 children attending Seasonal Residential Schools

19. 2010-2011 ProposalOpinions/Discussion • 2010-2011 Proposal discussion summary with Seva Mandir is here http://www.ashanet.org/projects-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!

20. 2010-2011 ProposalOpinions/Discussion [2] • Seasonal Residential Schools are being operated by SevaMandir 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 SevaMandir to focus on expanding activity center into primary schools instead of operating ShikshaKendras, where applicable • Ongoing discussions with SevaMandir on impact of notification of RTE in the state and effective status if NFE/ShikshaKendra under RTE