Ravi Aluganti Fellowship - Site Visit Report

- Srinivas Akula

 

Introduction

Ravi Aluganti is an Asha fellow[1]  being supported by Asha Seattle since 2001.

Main objectives of his fellowship are:

1.      Improve the quality of education in government schools in Madanapalle mandal of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. He is currently working with 15 government schools. He uses innovative teaching aids and focuses to improve the multi-grade teaching in government schools by training motivated teachers.

2.      He initiated the Mobile library project in 2003 to inculcate reading habits among children. It currently has close to 2500 books (mostly in Telugu) and is a very popular program among the children.

3.      Research/develop learning material in various areas of primary education and develop a resource center for teacher training. He conducts teacher workshops and training sessions by visiting other organizations who are interested in his teaching techniques.

The main focus of my visit (November 22-23, 2004) was to get familiarized with Ravi's work, his teaching methods and to also discuss the future direction of our partnership. The following report presents the details of my trip and the discussions I had with Ravi.

Visit to Primary School at Mittapalli (Nov 22, Evening)

This is a primary school with two teachers and two classrooms. One of the teachers and many students were absent that day as it was a local holiday. I noticed the happiness on the faces of the children at the sight of the mobile library van. By the time we had helped unload the trunk full of books from the van, the children had already eagerly started making arrangements. 

Ravi started the session by collecting the books that had been loaned out to the children during the previous visit (Rudra[2], library resource person, generally does this while Ravi is working with kids in parallel but he was busy making some teaching aids for the upcoming “learning net” conference and hence was not able to accompany us this time). We then started taking out books so that children can select the books they would like to take home. It was just too hard to control the over-eager bunch of kids from doing that in an organized way but we somehow managed to do that. Ravi maintains a register to track the book lending records and only the children who have returned the previously-issued books get the new books. He sometimes asks the children to share the story they have just read with other children which helps him gauge if the child has actually read the book and also encourages other children. But this does not happen consistently due to shortage of time.

It was now time for some fun activity that Ravi had planned for children of classes IV and V (though no one actually wanted to leave). Ravi showed them how to do string painting where the children (who sat around him) were watching carefully and waiting for their turn to do the same. We handed a sheet of paper to everyone and asked them to do the painting using the string. While the kids were enjoying the shapes they were generating so easily, Ravi was trying to introduce the concept of symmetry using the paintings. Once everyone was done with the paintings, they started putting them on the walls of the classroom (all the activities that kids do will go on the walls of their classroom).

Visit to Upper Primary School at Gajulavaripalli (Nov 23, Morning)

In the morning, we visited an upper primary school at Gajulavaripalli. We were accompanied by Captain Gopinath[3] to help us with mobile library work.

The school functions from classes I to VII and is housed in two rooms. It has a lot of open space and Ravi chose to conduct his session in the open (below a tree) as it was a nice sunny day. While Mr. Gopinath and I were working on collecting/issuing books, Ravi was getting ready to start his session with class VII children. He had planned for a couple of activity based learning sessions to teach the importance of the food chain and the life cycle of a butterfly.

I have always heard about Ravi's teaching skills and couldn't have missed this chance of seeing it in real. Leaving Gopinath alone to deal with library work, I shifted my attention to the teaching session. Ravi makes most of his lessons very interesting by associating it with a practical activity and this was no exception. Ravi started by giving a brief lecture about the various stages in the lifecycle of a butterfly, associated physical forms and also regarding the food chain (can’t understand the relationship between these two very different issues). Then he handed out a specially cut paper that either had different stages of the lifecycle drawn on them or the food chain. The children were asked to paint the different figures. Then Ravi made a toy out of the paper cutting that the children could rotate with their fingers. They can than see different stages of the lifecycle or a particular stage in a food chain. I found these learning aids very fascinating and was tempted to keep a copy for myself.

All that was used in this activity was a sheet of paper and few sketch pens but the teaching method was way more effective then the traditional one. Children took home the models they have created along with the knowledge.

We had to rush from the place as we had to visit another school in the afternoon and we were also planning to make a stop at Kasiraopeta Primary School for collecting/issuing books.

Visit to Primary School at Chilakavaripalli (Nov 23, Evening)

After we finished our lunch (Raagi muddha which is a local favorite), we headed towards Chilakavaripalli Primary School.

This school operates in two rooms and functions from class I to class V. This school has couple of teachers (including Head Master). We started with library work as in other schools but the children were not that open as they were controlled (in a harsh way) by the Head Master, in the name of discipline.

Once we were done with the library work, we started the activity of Spray painting. Again all that was needed for this activity is a toothbrush, few colors, a paper and a pair of scissors. Although every kid wanted to do this in their own way, they were again being directed the way Head Master thought was right. Nonetheless, the children enjoyed it, as it was a great relief from their actual routine.

We then placed our paintings in the classroom and gathered students for a group photograph using Ravi's digital camera (his new toy) and the fact that you can see the photograph instantly amused them even further. It was nearly time for them to leave and we ended our day too.

Observations during my visit

  • Activities that Ravi had done with children during his visits were on display in class rooms in every school I have visited during my trip. This gives a sense of pride and achievement to the kids which is quite obvious from the speed they rush to display what they do after each session.
  • All the teaching aids and fun activities that Ravi uses/does are very cost-effective. So children can take the models (like the food chain toy) they make.    
  • Lack of library resource person who can interact with kids. Hence with the current program we are not able to conduct some activities (like reading stories to kids, discussing the books that children have read) consistently to gauge the effectiveness of this program.
  • Though Ravi’s visit does bring the change to the mundane schedule of the children, it is not enough to bring any long-term change because of lack of continuity and follow-up. Ravi can visit at the most two schools per day and most of the time is spent on commute. He just gets time to do one activity and is not able to provide individual attention to these children. Since his visit spans for an hour or two, he spends all the time with the children and thus not able to effectively train the teachers. This is worsened with the inherent problem of the government teachers not being motivated. Also since he is working with 15 schools, he is not able to visit more than once each week.  

Notable accomplishments of the fellowship over the past three years

  • It has definitely improved the interest and enthusiasm among the children towards education due to his innovative teaching methods and arts/crafts sessions that he organizes with children. This is quite evident in the excitement that each of Ravi’s visits generate in these children. Mobile library is a great addition to this program (Details below).
  • He has worked with close to 20 teachers during this time and few teachers had shown interest in his methods and are still using it. Some are totally indifferent and others are interested in his way of teaching but don't put any effort to pursue them.
    • An important point that should be mentioned here is that there are some teachers who have moved out of Ravi's working area but are still using activity-based teaching methods.
      • Manjulamma (Transferred to Vayalpadu mandal)
      • Bharati (Transferred to Reddivaripalli UP school in the same mandal - Madanapalle)
      • Abrahim (Transferred to Basinikonda UP school in the same mandal - Madanapalle)
    • Teachers who are still in Ravi's working area and actively follow up on his teaching methods are :
      • Gurrappa (Kasiraopeta)
      • Guru Murti (Chinnayana Cheruvupalli).
  • There is 100% enrolment of kids from the neighboring three villages and till date, barring the migrated families, no drop-outs have been reported. 

Update on Mobile library project

 This project was a great success and has created a lot of enthusiasm amongst the children. Some of the key achievements in 2004 (first year):

·         It caters to 20 government schools (5 schools other than 15 that Ravi is working with). Ravi has also identified private schools in this area that might benefit from this project. He has already started working with one of these private schools (CTM high school).

  • Mobile library covers two schools a day. Library person (driver as well) collects the previously loaned out books and issues new books to the students while Ravi carries on with his planned activities.
  • 400+ titles added to the library so far (most of the books are in Telugu but there are few books in Urdu to cater to some Urdu medium schools and few books in English).

·         He has added microscope to the library to do some small experiments (looking at an insect etc).

Feedback given to Ravi during my visit

  • It is difficult for Rudra to communicate with children as he doesn't know Telugu. We need to look for a local person who can interact with children. Also this person needs to monitor the effectiveness of the program, encourage children and not just issue/collect books.
  • Discussed regarding the alternative strategy due the problems associated with current strategy.

 Discussion with Ravi on our future direction

Challenges with the current strategy

  • Lack of sufficient interactions with children:
    • Usually there is 10-15 day gap before Ravi can re-visit any given school since he can visit at the most two schools a day (He totally covers 15 schools in this area and multiple classes within each school).
    • There is no easy way to interact with children during holidays (summer holidays and other long vacations during an active term). 
  • Teacher transfers:
    • In the current framework, there are regular transfers of the government teachers (either the teachers themselves want to shift to a better place or the government itself transfers at regular intervals as it thinks that teachers become lax if they stay in a place for too long).
    • It takes time to build rapport with teachers and this becomes difficult due to the frequent transfers.
    • When they get transferred, some teachers take away the teaching material that was given for the school.
  • Teacher Motivation:
    • Especially some old teachers are very indifferent to the new ideas (because of job security and teacher unions).
    • Few teachers realize the value in activity-based learning but do not put any effort to do it themselves. Hence there is no guarantee that teachers will continue the activities that I introduced to children. Few lessons are learnt through activity but most of the lessons are still taught the routine way.
  • Problems associated with current infrastructure:
    • Ravi’s visit has to be aligned with restrictive school hours. Also, it sometimes clashes with regular school activities (like exams).
    • Change of governments/policies.

How will the new proposed program help solve the problems identified above?

  • Ravi will identify and train local youth (one in each village) who will work with the government school in their respective villages. They will be called Animators and their role will be to:
    • Teach children for half a day (post-lunch) using innovative teaching methods.
    • After school the animators will engage children with various activities.
      • First hour will be for games and play.
      • Second hour will be for doing some activities based on their lessons.
      • Last hour will be for doing home works and/or reading library books.  
  • Advantages of this approach:
    • Animators are less likely to move out of village.
    • They can work with children after school hours and even during holidays.
    • Since each animator will deal only with one school, they will have daily interaction with children.
  • Ravi will still continue to visit 1-2 schools per day (to monitor the progress and do any onsite training) and will also have training sessions with all the animators on Saturdays.
  • Going forward, Ravi is planning to start a school as well. This will also serve as a resource center for the 15 satellite schools that we are currently working with.

 



[1] Asha’s fellowship program supports individuals of the highest quality and unquestionable dedication. Support is given to those whose work in time will have a large positive impact by creating an institution or a methodology. Fellowships are reviewed after the potential fellow has been nominated by a nominator actively working in India. The area of support is typically of current importance with potential to make large social impact to reduce poverty and injustice in the life of the underprivileged of India. The area of support includes (but not limited to) education, income generation, women's empowerment, integrated rural or slum development, addressing dominant social concerns like child labor, bonded labor and other areas.

[2] Rudra is a resource person from Kuvempu Trust. He is getting trained by Ravi in making teaching aids and is also doing the job as mobile library resource person during his stay with Ravi.

[3] Gopinath is a retired captain who volunteers his time with MORE (Movement for Rural Emancipation) and helps Ravi with mobile library work when needed. Ravi uses MORE premises for storing the books.