Kasturba “School in a Box”

Kasturba“School in a Box” Project Champion: G. Jadwani Project Liasons: N. Chawla A. Chawla S. Sridharan ASHA-AZ Project Meeting March 12, 2005

Background • Kasturba Vanvasi Ashram in Niwali was established in 1953. Ashram was created by Kantaben Tyagi for education of tribal children and women. • Poor children in low-income tribal areas are lacking a good education. • Goal: Bring educational standard for tribal children education on par with other schools of Madhya Pradesh. • 750 girls in 6-15 year old age group will be targeted.

Project Objectives • Project seeks to introduce “school in a box” kits prepared by Krishnamurthi Foundation of India (KFI). • Kits contain several educational items for groups of children, grades 1-5. • Kits are being used in KFI schools in Rishi valley and Varanasi with great success. • The goal of this project is to introduce these kits at the Kasturba Vanvasi Ashram in Niwali and other tribal areas in Madhya Pradesh. • Introduction of KFI kits will contribute to enhancement of standard of education, hopefully on par with other schools in the state

School in the Box Concept • Kits used are 3D learning aids • Large collection of illustrated learning cards • Teachers’ Manual • Materials are used to introduce concepts in a lucid, comprehensive, and graded manner - Ladder of Learning • Several place-holders are in place for activities to be filled in by teachers

Sequence to achieving milestones Introductory Reinforcement Evaluation Remedial Enrichment activities Milestones in Class 1 Math Learning Activities (one unit) Student learns numbers from 1 to 5 Student learns simple operations with those numbers. Milestones ascend from the first lesson in Math 1 to the final lesson. Student begins a new Ladder for Math 2. Each card has a symbol for the type of learning activity. Rabbit - story cards that strengthen association of sounds with letters. Elephant - reinforce reading and writing skills. Dog - provide evaluation materials. Each card also carries a number to represent the level of its learning material. Yellow card marked Elephant 3 represents third step of writing for Class 4 School in a Box – how does it work?

Mechanism for Achieving Project Goals ASHA Funds Purchase kits Purchase kits • Teachers sent to • KFI Varanasi/Rishi valley • for training • Teachers return to schools • and use kits in class

Background on Project Champion • Mr. G. Jadwani is a retired engineer, actively involved with the Krishnamurthi Foundation. He has worked on other projects for providing education to underprivileged children. Mr. Jadwani lives in Indore.

Site Visit – December 2004

Proposed Budget Travel to Varanasi / Rishi Valley Rs. 1500 Stay and training in KFI School Rs. 1500 Cost of each kit Rs. 1500 Total Rs. 4500 One-time funding request 50 teachers x Rs. 4500 = Rs. 225,000 (~$ 5,100) (1 teacher/ 15 students, 5 teachers trained per month) 5 teachers/month x 15 students = 75 students/month or 750 students/year

Kasturba “School in a Box”