I
visited Suvidya in early September and met with Dr.Gananath. He is the think tank behind the Math kits
and also showed me some of the Place Value Kit items that they had already
developed. Summary of our discussions on Suvidya is attached below.
1. Maths Lab: This was done with the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bangalore. This was originally conceived as a joint
venture between Suvidya and the planetarium with the maths lab being operated
as part of the planetarium by Suvidya.
This was later discontinued due to staff limitations and the objective
to have an independent identity. Now,
the lab is being operated by the planetarium. This was fully funded by the
planetarium.
2. Maths corner at the Belgaum Science Center: Suvidya developed this for
the center and was fully funded by the Karnataka Rajya Vigyan Parishad.
3 and 5. Maths Lab in School Science Centers: These were a total of
114 maths labs developed under KRVP for
high school children. The first phase
was 17 labs (Project No.3) and the second phase was 97 labs (Project
No.5). There has been no formal
feedback on how much these labs are being used. Based on informal interactions with the teachers in other forums,
Suvidya believes that about 30% of these are being used. When KRVP wanted a third phase with another
220 labs, Suvidya declined to do the project for want of feedback. Both these phases were fully funded by the
Government of karnataka (KRVP).
6. Maths lab in science centers: These were similar projects like those in Belgaum
Science Center and fully funded by KRVP and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
7. Establishment of Math Centers: This was a project funded by DPEP for
establishment of math centers in the rural centers in Belgaum, Raichur, Mandya
and Kolar. There was 380 centres in these districts that hat covered on an average
of 40 schools. This project was carried
out from 1989-99 and Suvidya estimates that usage of these math centers has
been 30-40%.
8. Production and trial of Self-learning low cost Geometry kits (high
school):
This project was developed for NCST, GOI for obtaining feedback on the geometry
kits. 800 geometry kits were developed
and the feedback has been good.
9 and 10. Training of teachers: Two training programs were conducted, one by the
National Education Group (South Zone)
for teachers in Karnataka and the other by Plan Internartional with Urmul Trust
in Rajasthan.
Due to Suvidya’s record in
developing math and science labs, there has been a good response to Suvidya’s
training workshops. In fact, schools ask
Suvidya to conduct training workshops.
In some cases, especially in the 117 math labs, sponsored by KRVP,
Suvidya had to spoonfeed teachers, i.e., relate the teaching aids to specific
chapters in the book. However, this is not something that Suvidya would like to
continue. The workshops comprise
teachers and trainers. Each workshop is
expected to have a participation of around 40-50 teachers and trainers.
When teachers/ trainers
attend the workshops, the kits are given away to them for use.
It is difficult to sell to
the government schools under the Rs 500/- scheme. The bureaucratic machinery is difficult to get by.
Sometimes, it is more difficult to sell to private schools because they tend to negotiate and bargain. Suvidya has been able to sell geometry kits at Rs 50/- to private schools.
Most of the items in the kit
can be produced by locally available materials and can be made by the
teachers. The kit that will be
developed by Suvidya will be made from expensive durable materials. The items
in the kit can be duplicated using locally available inexpensive materials.
The consultancy fee is for work on the accompanying manual, translation, etc. There will be no subject modifications made by the consultant to the kit itself.
Other projects with
Suvidya
· With Plan International to extend the math lab to other schools in a Raichur and adjacent districts
· Development of a teachers’ network with AIF grant
Sriranjani Ranganathan
Asha-DE/ Princeton
September 2001