Sikshana’s first solo walk

An year ago Sikshana got a chance to work with the government schools in one of the most backward taluks in Karnataka called Kalghatgi near Hubli. Thanks to the initial welcome by Deshpande foundation which funded 20 schools and the Yahoo Employee foundation which gave us another 40 schools resulting in a good sample size in the taluk to pilot out the program.

Based on the feedback of the Anekal experiment (http://sikshana.blogspot.com/2010/04/experiment-at-anekal.html) we decided that this is a good chance to take the replication a notch up. Up to this point most of the schools around Bangalore had a good dose of ESR and with myself and Subbu in spurts. The improvement in schools were at some level directly attributed to such interactions. So when we started the program in Kalghatgi there was a deliberate attempt to keep the upper management out and run the program with the mentors leading the charge. So one of our best mentors Sharanappa was moved from Anekal to Kalghatgi and he was given 3 new hires as mentors and was asked to go and run with it.

The initial baseline tests conducted in these 60 schools came out much worse than expected. In the ASER assessment it was below the state average, in the APF testing the scores were far below the minimum 65%, the number of A grade students were just a handful, the student attendance was a major concern and Sikshana did not receive a warm welcome in the schools at first go.

With these challenges in mind a plan was put in place and with the backing of the department administration, the mentors started work in the schools by directly working with the children motivating them to study and provided them with basic needs like writing sheets, diaries, etc.  When para-teachers were provided to schools with teacher shortage, spot prize and other Sikshana activities which directly help the teachers were introduced the schools started responding positively to the intervention. By November things were seemingly on track when we suddenly hit what appeared to be a disaster. A well meaning official in the department got his hands on the very poor baseline data that we had generated and decided to shake up the low performing schools with a threat. That did not go well with the schools and this led them to blame Siskhana for all the trouble and I got the first SOS from our mentors. That turned out to be the only one for the year and both me and ESR did not have to make more than a couple of visits to schools.

By the end of the year the mentors reported a sea change in the attitude of the teachers and children towards their school and Sikshana. Such feeling was justified by the year end numbers from the ASER and APF based assessment.

ASER assessment results :

Class	No. of students	Kannada reading skill				2 Digit Division Skill
		July 2010		March 2011		July 2010		March 2011
4	1343	593	44%	1076	80%	80	6%	853	63%
4	Karnataka Rural Average				29%				10%
4	India Rural Average				38%				22%
7	1247	745	60%	1044	84%	341	27%	898	78%
7	Karnataka Rural Average				65%				42%
7	India Rural Average				76%				57%

APF Assessment Results : (click image below to see detail)

Writing Speed Improvement : (click image below to see detail)

I feel that this is one giant step for Sikshana where the baby has taken the first step without adults holding hands. The core concepts of Sikshana has reached the schools via the mentors and dare I say successfully.  The schools in turn are going the extra mile to deliver results to satisfy themselves and mentors locally. The same 60 schools for the 2011-12 year will not have a Sikshana mentor but a member of the community whom we call 'community mentor' who will be running the show, which in my opinion will be next big step towards an exit.