Avehi Abacus Project 1990-2017: Promoting Interactive Education Through Stories and Games

AVEHI ABACUS PROJECT 1990-2017

AVEHI AVEHI- -ABACUS PROJECT ABACUS PROJECT Avehi public Charitable trust founded in 1981. AVEHI- Audio Visual Education. The Avehi-ABACUS project (AAP) was initiated in 1990 in Mumbai, to strengthen education in primary schools by promoting interactive discussions through stories and games. They focus on a parallel curriculum promoting values of equality, justice, gender parity, secularism, environmental sustainability. Asha is affiliated with Avehi since 1999 and Asha Seattle from 2000

TEAM TEAM Core team members include well known educationist and artists Simantini Dhuru -- Director of the project Deepa Balsavar, Deepa Hari, Nandini Purandare, Noella de Souza, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sandhya Gandhi-Vakil and Vasudha Ambiye About 65 qualified observers and field co-coordinators Help coordinate classes, workshops, provide support to teachers and feedback to core team

AAP Initiatives AAP Initiatives Sangati (children) Manthan (teachers) Saath Saath (children)

Sangati Sangati Designed for 5th to 7thclass students. Used in 946 MCGM schools and has reached more than 10,000 teachers and 2 and half lakh children since last thirteen years. Also implemented in a few well-known private schools that engage in innovation across the country. Key impacts a. Enhance Life Skill Quality Education in Schools. b. Enhance general academic performance by making learning enjoyable. c. Enables teachers to refresh their teaching skills, self-growth & personality development. d. Supplemental course material with audio-visual material focused on social subjects integrating the learning in school with learning beyond the school boundaries. e. Builds valuable skills: critical thinking, listening, analyzing, independent decision making, harmony and diversity.

Sangati: Topics Covered Sangati: Topics Covered I. Myself, my body, our Needs I am unique and yet share something with every human being. Explores understanding of the potentials & limitations of the human body Regardless of all differences human beings have the same needs II. Our earth and the web of life Provides the resources that make it possible for us to fulfill our needs The web of life: all life has evolved as a complex, interlinked and continuing process III. How societies developed Will help understand our own lives better (supplements history well) IV. The way we live today Continuing changes in technology and different social, economic, political and cultural institutions which influence how we live today (captures gender discrimination, economic inequalities, communalism, media influence) V. Understanding change which characterizes our relationships, with all forms of life and the environment. It is only by understanding these changes and their impact that we can learn to deal with them and create the kind of lives and society we want VI. Preparing for our future Exploring alternatives for ourselves as well as our society and earth

Sangati: Rollout History Sangati: Rollout History Phase 1: (June 1991 to March 1996) Mahalaxmi municipal school -- 35 children (same group from Std. III to Std. VII) Phase 2 (June 1996 to March 2001) 25 municipal schools 6962 children (Std. III to Std. VII) 35 NFE centers with children age group between 8 & 13 2 private schools (Std. III to Std. VII) Phase 3 (June 2001 to March 2005) 180 municipal schools in 2 municipal wards in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, English, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu schools covering 42,000 children (Std. V to Std. VII) 120 Zilla Parishad schools in Yawatmal and Chandrapur districts 27,924 children 50 NFE centers Several private schools Phase 4 (June 2006 to 2016) All 905 municipal schools of Mumbai Supporting one batch through three years instead of 3 batches at same time due to financial constraints Phase 5 (June 2016 to 2018) Supporting two batch and plan to cover all three batches in parallel from next year

Impact Impact Municipal Upper Primary Schools in Mumbai Municipal Secondary Schools in Mumbai Thane Aashram School in Thane district Mumba i Zone No. of schools No. of classes No. of Children No. of Secondary Schools No. of classes No of Children No. of schools and Classes No. of Children 5 Blocks in Shahapur Project 6436 I 202 298 35 43 819 36 1800 13227 II 333 512 13 25 834 10896 III 323 534 4 6 75 858 1344 30559 52 74 1728 36 1800 Grand Total

Current Achievements Current Achievements Parallel implementation of Sangati across three class will happen in next two years New batch of Class V will also be exposed to Sangati while the current batch enters Class VI During the academic year 2015-16 Sangati program was implemented in 1344 classes from 858 upper primary schools in 8 languages 52 secondary schools reaching 74 classes A total of 1456 classes from 946 schools Implementation in Ashram Schools (residential schools for tribal children managed by the Integrated Tribal Development Department) of Thane district. 36 Aashram schools, 36 teachers and 1800 children in a tribal belt in spread over Shahapur, Murbad, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Ambernath blocks Awareness workshops with high Government officials to educate them and communicate about the program Started Sangati Programme in 19 Special schools ( Mainly for Special needs children- physically as well as mentally) run by Mumbai Municipal Cooperation. Teachers reported that due to Sangati students have started to express their opinions, ideas, feelings without hesitation.

Manthan Manthan Training course designed for teachers enrolled for the Diploma in Teacher Education (DTEd) Two year foundation course with 50 sessions First pilot was conducted during 1998 and 2000 with 200 students Due to overwhelming response, Manthan was been granted permission by the Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research and Training for implementing the program in Panvel District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) and 10 other affiliated colleges Awareness workshops organized for principals and teacher educators which has helped with implementation of the program No of Blocks No of trainee teachers District D.ed colleges Thane 4 14 538 Raigad 4 6 77 Grand Total 8 20 615

Saath Saath Saath Saath Saath Saath course focuses on gender equality in schools It is currently available in English medium schools under the Archdiocesan Board of education, Mumbai AAP proposes to translate it in Hindi for wider use both in school set up and in community set up Problems raised because of Gender Discrimination and other basti level issues are being addressed because of Saath Saath programme.

Outreach of Saath Saath Programme 2015-17 Name of the Partner NGOs Mahila Jan Adhikaar Samiti (2015-16) Alwar Mewat Institute of Education and Development (AMIED) (2016- 17) Siddharth Nagar , Andheri by Avehi Abacus Project (2016- 17) Sahajani Shiksha Kendra (2015-17) Numbers of Community base centers 19 62 11 1 Numbers of adolescent and women's 600 1790 275 25 Adolescent Girls- boys Adolescent Girls 2855 women's Adolescent Girls Adolescent Girls- boys Numbers of schools 5 60 1 Numbers of Students 530 (std 5-8) 1000 35 Grand Total of participants 1130 5645 310 25

AAP AAP- - a success story a success story AAP has been playing the role of a resource organisation for WIPRO s Earthian initiative s Continuous Engagement Programme along with the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) where elements of Sangati and Manthan have been used to develop and strengthen components of Education for Sustainable Development. Sangati and Manthan progress and achievements have motivated various organizations to seek help of Ms. Simantini Dhuru, project Director of Avehi to help revise their curriculum based on Avehi s ideologies. The organizations include TISS (Mumbai), MSCERT (Mumbai),State teachers training board (Mumbai). The organisation has been actively involved in working for Right to equal quality education for all and has connected with other likeminded civil society groups and eminent educationist to build State and National level forums. The Member Secretary of the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), a central curriculum formulating and approving body for Pre-service Teacher Education had asked AAP to submit the entire two year course curriculum, which was presented and is waiting for approval.

Funding Status & Budget Funding Status & Budget Sources of Revenue (Income) ASHA FOR EDUCATION Donors Contribution Expected (We funded this amount in August 2017) 7,260,000.00 AID IN CHICAGO Expected 450,000.00 AMMADA TRUST Expected 125,000.00 HILTON FUND FOR SISTERS Expected 1,500,000.00 AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE Expected 2,500,000.00 NEA INDIA Expected 200,000.00 12,035,000.00 Sangati Outreach: No of Schools: 950, No. of teachers :2300 Manthan Outreach: No of Colleges: 20 No of teacher educators: 20 No. of trainee teachers : 600 No of Students: 56000

Expense Head No of Units Time Cost per Unit Total Grant Total Rs Rs Rs Budget 2017-18 A Salary Management and Support Staff Director Chief Project Coordinator Production Coordinator Trainer, Writer & Researcher Accountant Accounts Assistant i ii iii iv v vi 1 1 1 3 1 1 12 12 12 12 12 12 40000 45000 22000 20000 31700 6500 480000 540000 264000 720000 380400 78000 vii Office Administrator cum Computer Operator 1 12 10000 120000 viii ix Office Assistant Helper 2 1 12 12 15000 2600 360000 31200 2973600 B 1 i ii Programme Cost of Sangati Salary for programme team Field Coordinators ( 7) Field Representatives ( 45) 4 days Workshops with Teachers in Aashram in Thane 7 45 12 12 25000 11000 2100000 5940000 8040000 2 36 4 200 28800 28800 3 Production of 2 Sangati Kits and other material i Visual Aids 175 2 2500 875000 ii Manuals in Marathi, Hindi and English 175 2 300 105000 iii Children's Material in 8 languages 56000 2 25 2800000 iv Packaging (Bags ) 175 2 175 61250 v Travel for kit distribution to schools 950 2 100 190000 vi Certificates and book mark for teachers 2300 2 20 92000 4123250 Travel for field Support & Monitoring of Sangati Programme 4 i Travel: Municipal School in Mumbai 52 12 1000 624000 ii Travel: Aashram Schools in Thane 2 12 1000 24000 648000

Advocacy & Networking (Networking Meeting with Partners & Donors) C i Field Coordinator 1 12 25000 300000 Local travelling exp. for Advocacy & Networking ii 1 12 1000 12000 vi Meeting with Partners 3 1 5000 15000 327000 Programme Cost of Manthan programme D 1 Field Coordinator 1 12 25000 300000 300000 Planning and Review Meeting with all the Principals (Material, tea, food etc..) 2 30 1 400 12000 12000 2 days Workshop with Teacher Educators 3 30 2 400 24000 24000 Monitoring visits : Travel for field Support & Monitoring of Manthan 4 1 12 4000 48000 48000 5 Material Printing and Distribution Printing of booklet of Learning Material for Students (trainee teacher) i 600 1 160 96000 Transportation charges for distribution of teaching learning material to DIET and DEd Colleges ii 10000 106000

E Capacity Building workshop for staff Capacity Building workshop 1 65 6 200 78000 78000 2 2 days Annual Review 65 2 500 65000 65000 F Administration Expenses i Rent & Maintenance 1 12 20000 240000 ii Communication 1 12 6500 78000 iii Stationery 1 12 3500 42000 v Staff Welfare Expenses 1 12 14000 168000 vi Local travel for other staffs 6 12 800 57600 Documentation and Printing Costs( Brochures, letter head Annual-program report and others formats etc) vii 1 1 40000 40000 viii 1 1 50000 50000 Offices Audit Fees ix 1 1 20000 20000 Website Maintaince Costs x 10000 10000 Laptop and IT Systems Maintenance Furniture and Other Office Maintenance Expenses xi 10000 10000 715600 Grant Total 17489250 17489250

One time budget request 2017- 2018 Media Material cost - 10,45,000 INR Staff training cost 5,40,000 INR Other costs- 56,00,000 INR Total amount requested 71,85,000 INR

1.Expense for storing and distributing media material 1.Expense for storing and distributing media material Expense Item Description No of Units Time Cost per Unit Grand Total 950 schools including BMC and Ashram will have one Trunk per school. It will be delivered in schools in June 2018. Per trunk will cost for Rs. 1000/- approx. It will ensure better storage of all Sangati kits and guard against damage & loss. 950 1 1000 Steel Trunk per school - Trunk to be supplied to 950 Schools for storage of Sangati material ( Size : 35" x 23" x 16.5") 9,50,000 950 1 100 95,000 Travel for trunk distribution to schools It will be delivered to 950 schools of BMC and Ashram.

2.Staff training and development cost 2.Staff training and development cost Expense Item Description No of Units Time Cost per Unit Grand Total Capacity Building workshop for staff 2 workshops for year ( Includes Breakfast, Lunch and Resource Person) 2 days Workshop will held on December 2017 and April 2018 for approx. 60 persons. We can invite resource persons/experts to interact with our team. 1 2 15000 30000 Exposure Visits for staff to visit different organizations to understand their work 1 6 85000 510000 There will be exposure visits to different innovative organizations in October/November ( Diwali Holidays) and May/June ( Summer Holidays). Group of 8 to 10 representatives will visit to understand their work and share our work. It will help to make new connections and gives confidence to our team to build leadership qualities, feeding back to our work. This also includes 2 days Annual review for the team.

Organizations to be visit for exposure is as follows: 1. Anand Niketan - Wardha 2. Aksharnandan - Pune 3. Muskaan - Bhopal 4. Punarchit - Chamarajanagar, Karnataka 5. Jeevan Schools - Narmada Valley 6. Digantar - Jaipur

3.Other expenses 3.Other expenses Expense Item Description No of Units Time Cost per Unit Grand Total Institutional fees for External Impact Analysis 1 1 600000 6,00,000 External Impact evaluation will be done in March/April for the Sangati Project and Manthan Project. Corpus Fund kept for the existence of the organisation 1 1 5000000 50,00,000 This will help us again some stability incase of sudden crisis. The interest earned will also help in meeting unexpected expenses.

Site Visit Site Visit Rohit visited AVEHI in late July 2016 and provided a positive feedback

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