Seva Mandir Rural Education Program in Udaipur-Rajsamand, Rajasthan: Project Review 2011

Seva Mandir Rural Education Program Udaipur/Rajsamand, Rajasthan 2011 Project Update and Review

Background: Seva Mandir Founded in 1968 with an extensive education program 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 the education program in Badgaon block since 2007

Seva Mandir Education Program Seva Mandir Education Program includes: Shiksha Kendra (NFE) for primary education [till grade-III] Seasonal Residential Learning Camps for tribal children Activity Centers in government middle/upper-primary schools Action Research Project (with MIT-PAC) Jan Shikshan Niliyams or Village Libraries (with ICCO) Uurja Ghar Youth Resource Centers (unfunded) 2009-2010 Annual Report http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_converted.docx

Seva Mandir & Asha for Education AfE-SV started working with Seva Mandir in 2007 supporting Shiksha Kendras in Badgaon block The program was expanded in 2009 to collaboratively develop intervention for formally working with the government schools with following components, and supporting all education components in Badgaon 2010-2011 Project scope is: Supporting up-to 23 Shiksha Kendra in Badgaom block Running up-to 5 Activity Centers in Government schools Supporting up-to 25 tribal children from Badgaon for learning camp 2010-2011 mid year progress report http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/2010-2011_mid_year_prgress_report.pdf 2009-2010 Annual Report http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_converted.docx

Current State and Progress Shiksha Kendra [1] Against a target of 23 centers a total of 21 centers are running in 5 zones The total enrollment is 560 students (260 girls and 300 boys). # of Shiksha Kendra (NFE) Enrollments Mar 2010 Dec 2010 Closed New Instructors April 2010 March 2010 total females total boys girls total 23 21 5 2 22 3 582 300 260 560 zone Total Apr 2010 Enrolled govt. school Dropped out New enrollment Current status Delwara 116 15 2 14 113 Bagdunda 185 41 27 84 201 Dhar 52 18 0 11 45 Ghadoch 35 3 0 10 42 Kadiya 228 20 70 21 159 Total 616 97 99 140 560

Current State and Progress Shiksha Kendra [2] [Closed SK/NFE Centers] Gariyon ka Gura, (Kadiya) 10 of 22 attending children graduated and attending government school, and remaining attending either government primary or a nearby SK Selu village irregular teacher attendance, 20+ children are now attending the government school where AfE-SV/SM activity center is also operating and helping bridge the students into the schools! Vendia Bhata, Patiya Odiya ki Jhad (Bagdunda), and Dhar SK - closed due to irregular attendance and lack of suitable instructors Khokhariyon ka Bhilwara SK - closed due to lack of attendance of children and PTO/village community meetings failing to bring children to SK. Further community interventions are in progress [new SK/NFE Centers] Akhriya Neda hamlet in Majam village opened in Sep 2010 in response to on- paper primary school in the village, and after negotiations failed between Panchayat, Sarpanch, and BEO office. 44 Children are attending SK, partly run by the community Dungerakhera opened at request of village community, children had to cross a river which is impossible to cross for children when running.

Current State and Progress Shiksha Kendra [3] Mid Year Evaluations through standardized test, conducted in December 2010 Following numbers are from 363 participants/18 Shiksha Kendras only block Level-0 Level 1 Level - 2 Level - 3 Total Badgaon 173 127 30 33 363 Government School Enrollments: A total of 97 children (35 girls, and 62 boys) are attending governments schools now after attending Shiksha Kendras Class-I Class-II Class-III Class-IV Class-V Class-VI Total 17 16 12 13 13 26 97

Current State and Progress Activity Centers [1] AfE-SV and SM joint intervention to improve the functioning and quality of government school education Aims to improve the reading/writing, and math skills amongst the children attending govt. middle schools Focus is now on the class-III-class-V children who are amongst the most vulnerable due to employability age pressure and confrontation with the external examinations mixed with poor reading/writing skills Village/Zone Classes # of teachers in schools # of children Aug 2010 March 2010 August 2010 Negadia/Delwara 1-5 3 (incl. HM) 3 81 (38 girls, 43 boys) Selu/Kadiya 1-8 3 (incl. HM) 5 130 (44 girls, 86 boys) Peepad/Kadiya 1-8 7 (incl. HM) 6 133 (37 girls, 98 boys) Undithal/Bagdunda 1-10 1 (HM) + 1 Para teacher 4 174 (69 girls, 105 boys)

Current State and Progress Activity Centers [2] Mid-year baseline indicates 30-40% improvement in overall learning (reading/writing, and math skills) Attendance has improved and has been steadily increasing since the intervention started in the government schools Selu (Kadiya) - all classes have regularly set time for activity centers per week and has consistent attendances across all classes Negadia (Delwara) 4 hours assigned to class V, 5 hours to class-I and II, and 6 hours distributed between class-III and IV every week Learning Aid and Material is moving into regular classes from the Activity Classrooms! HM and teachers provide a lot of support and work together in all 4 centers Ushan Center, despite repeated efforts, has not been able to function, and has been subsequently closed down [for now] HM and teachers did not provide support

Current State and Progress Seasonal Residential Learning Schools [1] Seasonal school/camp of two month duration thrice a year targeting first generation learners from remotest tribal areas AfE-SV supports two such camps with 25 children from Badgaon Primary objective is to make most vulnerable children literate with Hindi and Math, and encouraging them to attend schools to continue their learning (either SK or Government Schools) Seasonal School # of children who completed (from Badgaon) Girls Boys I May 5 2010 June 30, 2010 27 13 14 II Nov 20, 2010 Jan 8, 2011 27 19 8 Tribal children from Malariya, Mada, and Dang villages attended the schools These tribal children migrate to northern Gujarat to work in the fields, and this is the only known intervention in the region that directly targets this vulnerable population

Current State and Progress Seasonal Residential Learning Schools [2] AfE-SV started working with Seva Mandir in 2007 supporting Shiksha Kendras in Badgaon block The program was expanded in 2009 to collaboratively develop intervention for formally working with the government schools with following components, and supporting all education components in Badgaon 2010-2011 Project scope is: Supporting up-to 23 Shiksha Kendra in Badgaom block Running up-to 5 Activity Centers in Government schools Supporting up-to 25 tribal children from Badgaon for learning camp 2010-2011 mid year progress report http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/2010-2011_mid_year_prgress_report.pdf 2009-2010 Annual Report http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/annual_report_2010_converted.docx

Discussion & Key Issues [1] Very Good overall performance of all components Activity Center intervention is working well, however, the closure of the Ushan center is disappointing. More active engagement with the BEO and Education Dept. is on-going Activity Center model must be replicated to other zones, and blocks to improve the government infrastructure Shiksha Kendra/NFE Centers are starting to move in capacity building of government primary schools as well. Started a dialogue on RTE and its effects on overall education program SM hosted a RTE workshop and discussion, and have been evaluating the Rajasthan RTE draft Engaging more formally on Seva Mandir s position and in particular NFE Centers in light of RTE Para Teachers in government schools

Discussion & Key Issues [2] Seva Mandir 2010-2011 Cycle is from July-June, due to logistical delays, AfE-SV approved and sent funds for 2010-2011 cycle in September 2010 Seva Mandir is completing the Annual Cycle and compiling the annual report for 2010-2011 cycle Recommendation is to match the project cycle with the funding cycle when possible to reduce churn In 2010-2011 cycle, there are some un-spent buffer from what was approved during the budget approval cycle This money that was sanctioned and spent by Seva Mandir that AfE-SV will now effectively send to as second installment The agreement (after a lot of discussions) with Seva Mandir is to effectively reduce the amount for second installment and match what was actually spent (with caveats)

Discussion & Key Issues [2] Activity Center: Rs. 125,000 unspent (Due to closure of Ushan Activity Center and re-use of material across other running Activity Centers) Seasonal Residential Schools: Rs. 35,000 (Due to cost savings by working closely with Vidya Bhavan Society for running seasonal schools at discounted price) We can revise the second installment to match the actual expenditure The second installment is effectively $17,278.00 against an earlier expected $20914.00, with effective drop of $3,636

Discussion & Key Issues [2] Activity Center: Rs. 125,000 unspent (Due to closure of Ushan Activity Center and re-use of material across other running Activity Centers) Seasonal Residential Schools: Rs. 35,000 (Due to cost savings by working closely with Vidya Bhavan Society for running seasonal schools at discounted price) We can revise the second installment to match the actual expenditure The second installment is effectively $17,278.00 against an earlier expected $20914.00, with effective drop of $3,636 The effective budget adjustment (for second installment purposes) is: Budget Item Approved Budget New Budget after adjusting savings by Seva Mandir Shiksha Kendra $14,793/(Rs.650,900) No-Change Activity Center $12,160 (Rs.535,000) Rs. 125000 $9318/(Rs. 410,000) Seasonal Schools $12,650 (Rs.556,550) Rs. 35,000 $11,853/(Rs. 521,550) Coordinator Salary $2,133 (Rs. 96,000) No-Change Total $41,736 $38,100.00

Appendix - I Approved budget for 2010-2011 Budget Item Originally Proposed by SM Revised Budget and Approved by AfE-SV $23,680 (Rs.1,041,900) $14,793/(Rs.650,900) Shiksha Kendra $12,160 (Rs.535,000) $12,160 (Rs.535,000) Activity Center $18,970 (Rs.834,825) $12,650 (Rs.556,550) Seasonal Schools $2,133 (Rs. 96,000) $2,133 (Rs. 96,000) Coordinator Salary Total $55,825 $41,736

Appendix - I Approved Budget Shiksha Kendra Budget estimate of running a Shiksha Kendra Budget Item Details Amount in INR Teacher Stipend 12 x 2,150 25,800 Study Material 25 x 300 75,00 Infrastructure (repairs, maintenance) Evaluation/Exams 2,500 2 x 500 1,000 Instructor Meetings 8 x 250 2,000 Instructor Training 2 x 1,500 3,000 Certification Course 3,500 Total 28, 300

Appendix - I Approved Budget Seasonal residential School Budget estimate of 25 children attending Seasonal Residential Schools Budget Item Details Amount in INR Boarding & Lodging 25 (children) + 3 (teacher) x Rs 150 x 55 days 25 x 250 231,000 Study Material 6,250 Medicines & Toiletries 25 x 150 3,750 Uniform 25 x 160 4,000 Teacher Stipend 3 x 55 days x Rs 135 22,275 Total 1,07,000

Appendix - II Evaluation Criteria 2010-2011 Evaluation Document: http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/AfE_project_evaluation_checklist_2010-2011.doc 2009-2010 Evaluation Document: http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/876/AfE_evaluation_2009-10_complete.doc

Questions?