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SUPPORTING EDUCATION FOR RURAL CHILDREN 
A MID YEAR PROGRESS REPORT 
February – July 2009 
SUPPORTED BY 
ASHA for Education 
SubmittedBy:
SevaMandir, OldFatehpura,Udaipur–313001,Rajasthan(India).
Ph:0294-2450960/2451041;Fax:0294-2450947
E-Mail:edu@sevamandir.org;info@sevamandir.org
Website:www.sevamandir.org

SUPPORTING EDUCATION FOR RURAL CHILDREN 
A MID YEAR PROGRESS REPORT 
February – July 2009 
SUPPORTED BY 
ASHA for Education 
SubmittedBy:
SevaMandirOldFatehpura,Udaipur–313001,Rajasthan(India).
Ph:0294-2450960/2451041;Fax:0294-2450947E-Mail:edu@sevamandir.org;info@sevamandir.orgWebsite:www.sevamandir.org


Contents 

BACKGROUND 
 
Section 1 SHIKSHA KENDRA

1.0 Brief Description 
 
2.0 Capacity Building Of Teachers 
 
2.1 Instructor Meetings 
 
2.2 Language skills enhancement 
 
2.3 Certification Course 
 
3.0 Community Participation 
 
3.1Shiksha Shulk ( Fees)

3.2 Parent-Teacher meetings 
 
3.3 Role of GVCs 
 
3.4 Infrastructure and Repair 

4.0 Events 
 
5.0 Miscellaneous 
 
5.1 Resource Material 
 
6.0 Some Impacts 
 
6.1 Evaluations 
 
6.2 Graduating to Government Schools 
 
7.0 Research Projects 
 
7.1 Camera Project 
 
8.0 Conclusion 12 
Annexure I Shiksha Kendra in Badgaon Block
Annexure II Certification Course – Level I 
Annexure III Case Studies


Section 2 Seasonal Residential School

1.0 Introduction  

2.0 Population Covered 

3.0 Selection of Children 

4.0 Teachers Selection and Training 

5.0 The Venue 

6.0 Children’s learning Process 

6.1 Resource Centre 

6.2 Other Activities 

6.3 Exposure Visits 

7.0 Health Issues 

8.0 Results 

9.0 Closing ceremony 

10.0 Volunteers and Visitors 

11.0 Challenges and Learnings
Annexure I Success Stories 
Annexure II A Glimpse of Life at The School

Section 3 Activity Centre 

1.0 Background 

2.0 Brief Description 

3.0 Selection and capacity building of Teachers 

4.0 Community Participation 

5.0 Events 

6.0 Challenges 

7.0 Some Impacts 


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Mid Year Progress Report by Seva Mandir 


SUPPORTING EDUCATION FOR RURAL CHILDREN 
IN BADGAON BLOCK OF UDAIPUR DISTRICT 
A MID YEAR PROGRESS REPORT 

By SEVA MANDIR 
1st February 2009 – 31st July, 2009 

Supported by ASHA for education 

BACKGROUND 

The Education programme of Seva Mandir endeavours towards ensuring education for outof-
school children and empowers communities to demand and collaborate with the 
government to secure better education for their children. In five blocks of Udaipur district, 
the programme helps the village communities run the following activities: 

• Shiksha Kendras (SK) formerly called Non-formal education centres 
• Action research projects 
• Seasonal residential learning schools/ camps 
• Jan Shikshan Niliyams / village libraries (JSN) 
• Youth resource centres (YRC) 
• Activity Centres in Government Schools 
Badgaon is one of the six blocks in which Seva Mandir works. Badgaon block, like the rest of 
Udaipur district, faces hurdles in accessing quality education for the children. The condition 
of schooling in tribal areas is often one of severe neglect, with high rates of teacher 
absenteeism, poor pedagogical methods, lack of required materials, and inadequate 
infrastructure. At the same time, parents (and communities in general) are not able to put 
pressure on the government to address such issues. Thus poverty and the lack of quality 
education imparted in government schools reduce the likelihood of a child going to school. 
Badgaon block is also close to the Udaipur City and therefore there is a high incidence of 
children migrating daily to the city for work. Hence providing a meaningful education in this 
context is important not only for the value of education but also because it will prevent the 
child from migrating at such an early age. 

The SK programme in Badgaon block was being supported by ASHA from 1st October, 2007 for one year. 
From February, 2009 ASHA is supporting the major educational interventions in this block, which 
are the Shiksha Kendras, seasonal residential schools/camps and the activity centres. 

A brief progress on the three initiatives is given in subsequent three sections for the period 
February to July 2009. 


Section 1 


SHIKSHA KENDRA 

A report on SKs is given below. (For the sake of having a comprehensive progress review, in 
certain sections, some data from past 12 months is also included). 

1.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
Seva Mandir helps village communities run Shiksha Kendras (SKs), (formerly called Non-
formal education centres ) to ensure quality education to out of school children of tribal and 
marginalised communities. These SKs also act as sites of providing experience of quality 
education to communities. The SKs are often single instructor schools offering education to 
out-of-school children up to class 3. All instructors (called Anudeshak) are local and none of 
them have had any prior formal training in teaching children. The average academic 
qualification of a teacher is class 8th. Even though the instructors have not had much 
academic training, due to Seva Mandir’s investment in their capacity building, the students of 
the SKs generally outperform the children of the other government and private schools. 

Against a target of 20 centers a total of 24 centres are running currently in 21 villages with 
the support from Seva Mandir and ASHA. The total enrollment is of 632 students (287 girls 
and 365 boys). 

No. of SKs 					Enrolment 
Feb July Closed New 	Instructor 		April 09 
09  09           	Total Female 		Boys 	Girls 	Total 
23  24   0      1       25    3 		365     287     652 

The details of the SKs operational in Badgaon are given in Annexure I. 

The students in the SKs are from tribal communities. Almost all children are from very 
impoverished backgrounds, and their families were living on marginal incomes. But it is 
worth noting that in few villages like Challi, Malaria, Ushan and Loshinghdhana , even 
students of the so called “upper caste “ are attending the SK along with the tribals. This not 
only speaks about the quality of the SK but also implies that Seva Mandir has able to bring 
down the social differences and promote cohesion. 

2.0 CAPACITY BUILDING OF TEACHERS 
Since most of our teachers have studied only uptil 8th or 9th class, trainings are conducted 
regularly to enhance their capacity. Capacity building has been a critical area of engagement 
for Seva Mandir as on one hand it serves the purpose of better teaching – learning for 
children and on the other also serves as a tool of motivation for the teacher. The details of 
different trainings conducted in the reporting period are give below: 

2.1 Instructor Meetings 
As in each in each block, Badagaon block has atleast 2 meetings planned in every 
quarter. Accordingly in this reporting period Badgaon block had 5 meetings in the 
reporting period. In these meetings, the instructors have the opportunity to interact 
with the block level programme coordinators, share their concerns, finding solutions 
jointly, discuss new directions for action, and review various skills required for 
running the centers. 

2.2 Language skills enhancement (English Language Teaching) 
In view of the demand for including English as one of the subjects taught in the SK, 
English language teaching (ELT) was initiated on a pilot basis in October 2007. A 
follow up and second round of training was held in August, 2008. Nine instructors 
from Badgaon were selected and attended each of these two trainings. These 
workshops dealt with different aspects of ELT like grammar, sentence construction, 
reading and comprehension and writing, games, etc. The attempt in both the 
workshops was to train the Instructors through simple and basic activities like poems, 
games, commands, etc and also on different ways to impart English teaching to their 
students. 

Since these training follow ups are being regularly conducted in each instructor 
meeting. Some of the trained instructors have been made leaders for taking the ELT 
forward. They (along with the education block incharge) are facilitating follow-up to 
the other instructors during the instructor meetings. Visits and observations have 
shown that children across the SKs are enthusiastic about learning English. The 
children are very happy about learning English and even the instructors are taking 
up this challenge with interest. 

2.3 Certification Course 
Background: The SK Certification Course is being done in collaboration with Vidya 
Bhawan [1] and continues to be an integral part of the capacity building efforts of the 
Education Programme for the instructors of SK centres. The certificate course started 
in 2003 with the objective of helping the instructors transact their classrooms better 
so that the children's learning levels also improve. Instructor’s knowledge about 
children learning, their own reading writing and articulation skills, along with their 
ability to deal with mathematics proved major hurdle in improving the quality of 
children's learning in the SK Centers. Knowing how to teach a subject involves the 
process of knowing how knowledge is constructed and how knowledge is constructed 
in a given domain of knowledge viz maths, language science and social science. The 
instructors faced problems in both their own knowledge and then transacting it with 
the children. While the annual trainings helped them in overcoming these limitations it 
was not enough especially as instructors had no support system back in their villages 
to help them continue with the process of learning triggered in the trainings. The 
need for setting up a mechanism that could make possible a continuous dialogue and 
interaction with the instructors on academic issues was provided through the 
certification course. The certificate course aimed at offering a continuous process of 
dialogue with instructors in a manner that they found, interesting, challenging, 
meaningful for their own learning, and meaningful for the children of their classroom. 
Level-1 and 2 of the course aimed to aid instructor directly in the classroom teaching 
while level-3 is pitched in integrating classroom teaching with the larger issues of 
development and education. Internally in the organization, certification course helped 
in building a team in both Seva Mandir and Vidya Bhawan capable of working with 
'parateachers' and 'paraworkers' on their capacity. 

[1] Vidya Bhawan is a consortium of educational institutions with special expertise in elementary education. 


Current Status: In Badgaon the SK Certification has 17 teachers in level I, and 8 in 
level II. Instructors who are new, have joined level 1 of the course. Assignments in 
language mathematics and classroom learning process are given through 
worksheets to the instructors. After which, tutorials are held in the block to help the 
teachers with their assignments. The tutorials are clubbed along with the bi monthly 
teachers meeting at the block. All the instructors regularly submitted their 
assignments and attended the tutorial classes. Worksheets helped concretize 
discussion in the tutorials. 

The focus of the certification course in the last few months was on the consolidation 
of instructors learning, for both levels of the courses (I & II), and its link with the 
classroom process. Discussions on pedagogical as well as epistemic issues in 
teaching of maths and language as a part of classroom processes were held with all 
the sixty-three instructors enrolled in the level-I of the course. 
The detail level wise information is given below 

Level-1 

The focus of February 2009 tutorials was language, mostly using 'story' as a context 
and text for teaching language in the classroom. The story selected for the course 
had strong connection with instructor’s own context. This brought out the importance 
of building context for any piece of a given text for creating relevance for the learner. 

Through such stories, the instructors experienced and challenged their common 
sense in understanding of how to look at a story and how to teach using story as a 
text. The pedagogy followed in the sessions helped instructors revisit their own 
experience of story listening and learning language through stories. It helped them 
build their understanding on how to use a story for teaching and learning language. 
In the next tutorial similar exercise on story continued where Prem Chandra’s story 
was taken time. 

In yet another language exercise instructors solved cross words. It is hoped that the 
activities which instructors themselves enjoy have greater chance of being used by 
them for teaching; crossword exercise was one such example. 

In another tutorial instructors discussed problems they had faced in solving their 
worksheets. Nature, purpose and use of activities as a classroom processes was 
also discussed in the same tutorials. In the discussion that followed focus was on 
why an activity qualifies as an activity while the other forms of interaction may not 
qualify as an activity. Some examples on activities were analyzed to elaborate the 
point. 

Level-2 

In the level-2 tutorials the piece of text under-discussion was a famous play by Bhism 
Shahani, 'Kabira Khara Bazar Me'. It gave the instructors exposure to different type 
of narration in the first place. The playwright uses poetry in the drama to express 
different sentiments. Since the text was abstract, instructors found it difficult to 
respond to the questions. 
Along with language, maths worksheets were also discussed in the tutorials. The 
topics were decimal and its related algorithm. An article on children's learning was 
also given to enable the build instructors sense on how children learn and how 
mistakes in learning are indicators of learning. 

A Review : Over last two years, due to the certification course, the instructors have 
gained confidence in their capacity to learn. There is increase in the average marks
of the instructors compared to the baseline across all the subjects. The average 
score in language is 82% compared to 70% in the baseline. The average score in 
maths is up by almost 20% compared to baseline. Growing confidence of instructors 
towards their learning is also seen in the 50% decline of blank worksheets submitted 
by instructors as a part of their assignment. There is a change in the quality of 
questions asked by instructors in the tutorials. Compared to tutorials in the beginning 
of the certification course instructors now have more questions on the nature of 
mathematics. The question pattern has changed from more general to academic. Yet 
there are constraints on contents of number sense, theory of mathematization, 
abstract nature of mathematical proof etc. Hence the focus of discussion is now 
shifting from discussing mechanical process of solving mathematical questions and 
arriving at answers to a more conceptual understanding of maths. Now it is possible 
to talk to instructors on the number position system, cardinal and nominal values of 
number, the mathematical theory of fraction or negative number, the process of 
induction and deduction in mathematics etc. Accordingly worksheets have been 
made more difficult with more questions on abstraction. 

In language, too there is an improvement in the instructors’ ability to deal with 
different narration and style in language. Their stories linguistically are more enriched 
in terms of use of sentence structure, use of phrases and use of mechanisms of 
language. There is improvement in the use of connectors. Now instructors 
understand texts with compound sentences more easily. There is improvement in 
their cloze text score in the worksheets. The focus of language question is shifting 
from grammar to making an effort to analyze the texts more fully. 

The struggle now in the certification course is how the instructor's learning translate 
in the classroom. The course has been a little weak on collecting evidence on this 
and we need to understand this better to actually appreciate the impact of the course. 
Along with this, preparation is on to launch the next and final level of the course. 

A detailed report for Level I of the certification course is given in Annexure I. 

Written Assessment 

A written test was taken in Jan 2009 for the instructors who have been attending the 
certification course level 1 for the past one -two years. The results of which are in 
the table. 

Level 1: Results 

No. of 		No. of instructor 	No. of instructor 	No. of instructors 
instructors 	who left during the 	who appeared in 	who cleared the 
enrolled	course 			exam 			exam 
16 		8 			8 			6 

All those instructors who get 65% or more in Maths and Hindi and score 55% in 
building understanding regarding how children learn will clear level-1. 

The written exam for level-2 is scheduled in August 09 

3.0 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION 
Community participation and ownership, a central component of Seva Mandir’s vision, are 
also a critical part of the SK programme. This is not only because Seva Mandir strives to 
translate these principles into norms within its philosophy of constructive work but also 
because parents and communities at large play a very important role in the well-being of 
their children. It is for this reason that Seva Mandir works in a more systematic and 
comprehensive manner to involve communities in the functioning of SKs and to deepen their 
understanding on quality education. Thus to encourage partnership with the parents and 
community, and bring a sense of accountability both from the teacher and the community 
side, various initiatives were taken, some of which are described below. 

3.1 Shiksha Shulk ( Fees) 
One method of involving parents in the educational system is to increase their stake in 
their child's education. It is with this purpose, a monthly fee of Rs.5 per month per 
child, known as Shiksha Shulk, is collected from parents. In many cases, the Shiksha 
Shulk is waived off completely if more than one child per family is attending the SK or 
if the family is economically constrained to pay. 

Against an expected amount Rs. 36,960 for SKs, Shiksha Shulk of Rs. 15,647 were 
collected from July, 08 to April 09. The Shiksha Shulk collected was about 42 % of 
the expected amount. The collection percentage is about the same as the previous 
year and ways to improve the collection of fees are being discussed at various levels. 

Table 4 : Shiksha Shulk Collection Details 

Block		Expected Shulk (Rs)		Actual Shulk (Rs.) 
Badagaon 	36960 				15647 

The fees collected was deposited in a common village fund and was used under the 
supervision of the Village Development Committee. The utilization of the fees has 
been done in different manner after consulting with the parents and children. 
Depending on the children’s and parents needs, the fees has been spent for different 
purposes like buying uniforms, shoes, sports material, maintenance of the SK, or 
whatever the students and parents decide. 

To understand the reasons behind low collection of fees, a short study was recently 
conducted across 26 SKs in all the five blocks. It revealed that fees is being collected 
in different ways in different centres : in some places while it is collected annually 
(i.e. Rs.60 at the beginning of the session), while in some places it is collected 
quarterly, half annually, bi–monthly or even monthly. The study shows that collection 
of fees was better where it was collected annually and not in instalments. Collection 
of fees also improved with increased participation in parents meetings, a stronger 
village committee and where the instructor had a good rapport with the parents and 
reminded them for the payment. The findings show that only a small percentage of 
parents are unable to pay the fees due to financial constraints. Based on these 
findings, it is now proposed to moot the idea to the village committees to collect the 
fees annually at the beginning of the session and not in instalments over the year. In 
this manner, if there are sufficient funds collected in the beginning of the session , its 
utilisation can also happen sooner and not after the year is over, as it usually 
happens now. 

3.2 Parent-Teacher meetings 
As an effort to further deepen the relationship between the SKs and the parents of 
the children attending the SKs, Parent-Teacher meetings were organized in all SKs. 
Earlier the meetings were held every month, but now they are being held once in 
three months. To make the meetings more interesting, the instructors are now 
highlighting the achievements and progress of the children. In some places the 
children have put up a cultural programme, or reading out stories, etc to show the 
parents what they are learning in the centre. The meetings enabled the parents to 
get acquainted with the progress their child had made and gave the teacher and 
parents an occasion to have a dialogue. A lot of issues got discussed and resolved 
through such forums. Topics discussed included Shiksha Shulk, enrolment and 
attendance of children, hygiene, teaching pattern, parent’s role, etc. 


3.3 Role of GVCs ( Village Committee) 
In the recent past the village development committees have been entrusted with the 
responsibility of making monthly stipend payments to all grass-root level workers. 
This has been done to ensure the accountability of the grass root level workers 
towards the village and not only towards the organization. This is working well in 
most of the villages. Through trainings, the capacity of the village committee to 
monitor and support different initiatives is being enhanced. As a result in many 
places the committees are conducting surprise visits to the centres, checking the 
cleanliness and other facilities, attendance of the instructors and the children and 
penalizing the instructor if he is absent without due reason, etc. The committees are 
also encourage to look at other aspects of the center vis-à-vis the behaviour of the 
instructor towards the children, what and how the instructor is facilitating in the class, 
etc. In Selu village, the GVC is bearing the rent expenses of the SK. 


3.4 Infrastructure and Repair 
In four SKs -Vadanga, Raya, Dholi Ghati and Dulawaton Ka Guda, repair work of the 
centres was carried out with the help of the village committees. In Vadanga 
community hall (where the NFE classes are held), a new black board was made 
along with work of painting and varnishing the room. In Dholi Ghati, repair of floor 
was undertaken, while in Dulawaton Ka Guda, repair work of floor, installation of a 
door and a window was undertaken. 

In Raya, a community hall has been constructed, where space will be given to the SK 
for running the classes. For this construction work, while Seva Mandir gave material 
and technical advise, the villagers contributed their labour and the panchayat 
contributed 50 bags of cement. The village committee took up the entire 
responsibility for the construction from the beginning to the start. 

Apart from this, to ensure proper light in 5 SKs which did not have adequate light, 
small fiber glass sheets have been installed in these SKs roofs along with the tiles. 
These sheets are transparent and allow natural light to enter the rooms enabling the 
children to study with ease. 

All the above work has been done primarily with the support of ASHA. In Raya, as 
nature of work required extra funds, additional financial support was also taken from 
another funder. 


4.0 EVENTS 
Republic Day (26th January) was celebrated in most SK centers. The day was 
observed by hoisting the national flag and doing a cultural programme. The village 
committee and other members of village also participated in the celebration. 
Celebrating national festivals collectively serve varied purposes. They provide 
children a break from their routine life and interaction with others. The children get an 
opportunity to take part in many creative activities, thereby furthering their cognitive 
and other skills. It also gives them an opportunity to develop and showcase their 
cultural talent. For the village, it was an opportunity to get together and strengthen 
their solidarity. Most importantly, it encourages and inspires people to enroll their 
wards and regularly send them to SK. 

Pravesh Utsav2 (Admission day) : The traditional pravesh utsav was also 
celebrated in many SK’s in July 09. The purpose is to encourage the out of school 
children to get enrolled in SK. Students of SK organized rally in each hamlet. The 
new students were welcomed with jaggery, tilak and they were also tied laccha. 
Most interesting thing was that their parents also showed active interest. 

At the moment data is available for 14 SKs and reveal that as a result of the Pravesh 
Utsav , 34 children (18 boys and 16 girls) have enrolled in these 14 SKs. 


5 MISCELLANEOUS 

5.1 Resource Material 
In an attempt to give the children a wide variety of text, the existing libraries in the 
SKs have been provided with more books. Around 30 titles were from Bharat Gyan 
Vigyan Samiti and 15 titles from Katha were selected and procured. Both these are 
NGOs which publish very good books for children. The books selected are in simple 
and interesting language (most are in Hindi while some are in simple English, while 
few are bi-lingual), with lots of illustrations which appeal to the readers. 

The children are enjoying reading the new and interesting books, and in some places 
the older children are also taking the books home to read. The instructors are also 
using the books for story telling sessions, role plays and other language related 
exercises. 

Since April daily newspapers are being supplied to 15 SKs. The use of newspaper 
has been discussed with in the previous annual instructor training. Children and 
teacher are both reading the newspaper and discussing the events reported in paper. 
It is difficult to get newspaper delivery in remote places, thus only 15 centres are 
being able to avail this. 


6 SOME IMPACTS 

6.1 Evaluations 
In 2008 – 09, two evaluations of the students were conducted : half yearly 
examination in Nov-Dec ‘08 and yearly evaluation in March -May (09). 

2 Pravesh Utsav or Admission Day has been traditionally celebrated in Seva Mandir SKs at the onset of the new 
academic session in the month of July each year. The aim is to encourage out of school children to get enrolled 
in SK. 

Mid Year Progress Report by Seva Mandir 


In the half yearly examination (Nov -Dec ‘08), a total of 422 students participated. 
Level wise distribution is given below: 

(a) level 03: 40 students 
(b) level 1: 210 students 
(c) level 2: 113 students 
(d) level 3: 59 students. 

In the yearly examination (April ‘09), a total of 414 students participated. Level wise 
distribution is given below: 

(a) level 0: 35 students 
(b) level 1: 202 students 
(c) level 2: 106 students 
(d) level 3: 71 students. 


A total of 296 common children appeared in both the exams. The progress of 
common childen over the two evaluations is : 

			Level0 	Level1 	Level2 	Level3 	Total 
Half Yearly exam 
Dec 08 			23 	150 	87 	36 	296 
Yearly evaluation 
April 09 		16 	136 	89 	55 	296 

The table above reflects the progress of the children in the period between Dec 08 to 
April 09 and it does seem that the progress in the initial levels is quite fast. 


6.2 GRADUATING TO GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS 
Students from SKs are encouraged to enroll in the 
government school once they have had the initial 
foundation of reading, writing and mathematical 
abilities. Most of the admissions were in class 5, 
but in few cases there were also admission in other 
classes. In July 2008, a total of 63 children from the 
SKs got enrolled in government schools. For the current year – July 2009 data is 
available for 14 NFEs. From these 14 NFEs, 51 students ( 26 boys and 25 girls) have 
got enrolled further in government school. Data from the rest of the NFEs is awaited. 

Enrollment in Schools 
in July 2008			Girls 	Boys 	Total 
				21 	42 	63
 

Recently, some students who have passed out of the SKs in the past few years was 
done (case studies in Annexure III). While some have dropped out of school, few are 
continuing with schooling despite all odds. 


3 To identify the progress of a child we have categorized four levels of their learning from 0 to 4. The levels are 
roughly equivalent to government classes. Level 0 is when a child enters the NFE and can barely read or write. 
Level 1 is where s/he can read write small words and do simple counting, identify some numbers. When a child 
can start reading writing and understanding simple texts , in Mathematics can do basic counting and simple 
operations like addition and subtraction with small numbers, she is placed in Level 2. At level 3 a child can 
read ,write and understand texts in language and in Mathematics understands concepts of multiplication, 
division, etc. 


7.0 Research Projects 

7.1 Camera Project 
Seva Mandir had started an action research in August 2003 to address the issue of 
absenteeism across the SK centers. This was done using tamper proof cameras, 
through which the teachers had to get photographs taken, showing themselves and all 
the students at the beginning and at the end of each school day. Teachers either 
received a bonus or paid a fine depending on the number of ‘valid days’ above or below 
a specified number of ‘valid days’. A valid day was defined as a day where the opening 
and closing photographs were separated by at least five hours and where the number of 
children in both photographs was at least eight. The research done in a randomized 
treatment control design showed a significant reduction in absenteeism across the 
treatment centers and also an improvement in children’s learning levels. After the 
research, Seva Mandir has continued with using cameras at 5 SK centers in Badgaon 
block. 

Due to these encouraging results, a decision has been taken to have cameras in all the 
the SK centres of 5 blocks. Due to spiraling cost of living in the recent year, it has also 
been decided to increase the base salary of the instrctors to Rs.2000 per month ( from 
the current salary of Rs.1400). In May 2009, pilot of digital cameras ( earlier manual 
cameras were used) was done in all the centres of Badagon block and from 1st July 
2009, the use of digital camera and the new salary structure have come in effect at all 24 
SKs. 

8.0 Conclusion 
In the past few months we have been deliberating the difficult questions of what is the future 
of the SKs and how long do we propose to have such centres? Such questions have 
encouraged us to relook at out strategy of working in the field and also initiate new 
interventions. With the help of ASHA we have initiated activity centres with government 
school, where we are taking our learning from the SKs to directly work with the government 
system. Also we are clear that while SK centres address the immediate needs of children 
who do not have access to quality education, we certainly do not see them as permanent 
replacements or parallel to Government schools. The SK prepare children to link them to 
government schools and do so in such a manner that the children's retention is improved. 
Each year more than 700 children join government schools as a direct result of SK in all 5 
blocks. More importantly they help in strenghteneing the retention of children in government 
schools. The learning afforded in the SKs develops their basic literacy and academic skills, 
enabling them to grasp better and even study on their own. In a recent study done, 84 % 
students who had passed from SK were found to be still in schools even after 3 years. 
These kinds of retention rates are certainly far ahead of normal retention rates in 
government schools. 

Capturing the full impact of the SKs merely through statistical data does not do full justice to 
the intervention. Our experience shows that conversations around education and pedagogy 
are changing on the field. More and more the people are now comparing and questioning the 
education quality that is imparted in government schools and are also taking up informed 
community action to change the situation. Simple issues like getting adequate teachers in 
the government school through approaching the panchayat or even doing demonstrations on 
the national highway have been resorted to in the past in our work area. These have been 
as a consequence of communities experiencing and thus demanding for quality education. 

The other impact is that the SK is helping in break the traditional culture of tolerating low 
quality or say even absenteeism. In many places, the village committees are now 
questioning if an instructor is absent without due reason from the center and resorting to his 
wage cut. This is a big transformation for a community which until a some time ago shielded 
undue absence of a instructor from Seva Mandir. Breaking and resetting of norms is not 
possible around a poor intervention and it is only robust interventions like SK which can 
facilitate creation of norms. 

The programme has also created a cadre of very hardworking and motivated teachers, some 
of whom have become respected agents of change in their own communities. The other 
positive impact of SK is the changing role of the instructors, who are not only limiting 
themselves to teaching the SK but are in ways becoming "trustees" of the children of their 
community. Many instructors are taking extra efforts to get their students enrolled in 
mainstream schools after they pass out of SKs, or raising other issues on status of education 
in the village and taking a front lead in finding solutions to the same. 

The headway that the SK programme had made is not without challenges. Turnover of staff 
members and teachers is a major challenge. When old and experienced members leave due 
to other lucrative offers or personal reasons, some institutional memory is also lost with them 
and the process of orienting and training new members has to be done again. Also with 
younger members, it is difficult for them to engage and persist with one effort for a long 
duration and they want something new and challenging every time. To satisfy this desire is 
sometimes not possible. 

Annexure I 

SKs in Badgaon Block 

No.	Zone		Village/Hamlet		Name of teacher		Educational qualification 
									of teacher 
1. 	Kadiya 		Gariyon Ka Gura 	Nangaram 		7th 
2. 	Kadiya 		Gariyon Ka Gura 	Amar Singh 		8th 
3. 	Kadiya 		Selu 			Ramesh 			8th 
4 	Kadiya 		Maruwas 		Lalu Ram 		8th 
5 	Kadiya 		Waghelo Ka Guda 	Nanalal 		8th 
6 	Kadiya 		Dulawaton Ka Gura 	Kishan Lal 		12th 
7 	Kadiya 		Lohinghdhana 		Ms.Premlata 		8th 
8 	Kadiya 		Maruwas Bhilwara 	Partha Ram 		8th 
9 	Delwara 	Varwaliya 		Rodi Lal, Mohan Lala 	B.A., 9th resp. 
10 	Delwara 	Raya 			Chagan Lal 		7th 
11 	Delwara 	Karawadi 		LaxmiLal 		9th 
12 	Delwara 	Naya Kheda 		Nanu Ram 		 
13 	Delwara 	Phooti Nadi(New Centre) Ukar Lal 		8th 
14 	Dhar 		Magri Phala 		Bhanwar Lal 		9th 
15 	Dhar 		Badanga 		Noji Ram 		8th 
16 	Ghodach 	Ushan 			Ms.Kesar 		B.A. 
17 	Bagdunda 	Dholi Ghati 		Pema Ram 		9th 
18 	Bagdunda 	Sagavera 		Prabhu Lal 		10th 
19 	Bagdunda 	Malaria Khurd 		Bhanwar Lal 		8th 
20 	Bagdunda 	Badundia 		Laxmi lal 		11th 
21 	Bagdunda 	Challi Bhilwara 	Tej Singh 		 
22 	Bagdunda 	Patiya 			Prabhu Lal 		10th 
23 	Bagdunda 	Patiya 			Doltram 		8th 
24 	Bagdunda 	Vendia Bhata 		Shambhu Lal 		 

Annexure II 

Certification Course -Level I 

Level 1 (third round 4) of the certification course started in all the blocks of Seva Mandir in 
March, 2007 with 16 instructors from the Badgaon block and ended with 8 instructors in 
Dec., 08. 

Under Level I a total of 31 worksheets have been given to the instructors. This includes 12 
worksheets on language, 12 on maths and 7 on learning processes of children. Details on 
worksheets given are as below 


Set of 		Subject 	No. of 		Name of worksheet 
Worksheets 			Worksheets 

A		Language 	3		I-Article “Pashiyon ki kaarigari” (Birds as 
						craftsmen) 
						II – Story “ Chitrakaar” (Artists) 
						III – “ Kyon kyon chori” (The girl who asked 
						ques)
 
 
		Maths 		3 		I – Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division 
						II – Place value ( tens, hundreds..) 
						III -Problem solving 

		CLP 		2 		I – Errors by children (Addition and subtraction) 
						II -Errors by children (Place value tens, 
						hundreds.)

 
B		Language 	3 		I -" Nirmala, Saap aur Sayal" ( a story) 
						II -" Mujhe mat roko" ( " Do not stop me) 
						III -" Abbu Khan ki Bakri ( A story) 
						
		Maths 		3 		I -Problem solving 
						II -Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division 
						III – Shapes
 
		CLP 		1* 		I -The need to tell stories 

C		Language 	3		I -"Bholuram Ka jeev" (a story) 
						II -Making stories 
						III -" Gilhari ka ghar" ( a story) 

		Maths 		3		I -Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division 
						II -Understanding Addition & subtraction 
						III – Problem Solving 

		CLP 		2 		I -Errors by children (Multiplication and 
						Division) 
						II -Tell me how many ( a game) 

D 		Language 	3 		I -Close passage 
						II -Essay writing 
						III -Diary 

		Maths 		3 		I -Problem solving 
						II -Multiplication 
						III -Division 

		CLP 		2		I -Errors by children (Place value ) 
						II -What is an activity? 

The instructors are given the worksheets to take home and are required to fill them and get 
them back in the next tutorial. During the tutorial class, the worksheets are discussed in 
details. Various activities, games, question papers in Maths, language and CLP are also 
conducted to deepen the understanding of the different aspects. In language exercises have 

4 The pilot of Level I was done in 2004 and the first round of Level I was implemented in 2005. 
ranged from working on stories, proverbs and free written expression. The instructors are 
regularly given a variety of text which they are required to read, comprehend and answer 
questions related to it. In maths lesson plans include addition, Subtraction, Multiplication & 
Division & unit, tens & hundreds. They also emphasize solving & making of word problem 
involving the basic mathematical operations. ( refer box) 

A tutorial in progress 

1. DESCRIPTIVE WRITING: In one tutorial, pictures were given to the instructors and they were asked to 
write its description in groups. They were required to write only what was happening in the picture and not 
make up any story. All the description were then read aloud in the group. All the descriptions had unique 
aspects of the picture. While some had written about the visible facts of the picture; like houses, trees and 
girls, some had included the details of the material of which the objects in the picture were made of, like-
hut is made of grass and mud, pulley of the well is made of wood, etc. One description had inferences 
from what was immediately visible like-it is a morning scene as many women can be scene near the well , 
etc. After this all instructors were asked to find some more unique aspect of the picture. The responses 
that came after this were much more detailed which shows that the instructors understood this activity and 
how descriptions could be written. 
2. STORY TELLING SESSION: The session began with a brief discussion on different ways of introducing 
stories to the children. Instructors came up with different ways: 
. 
Role playing 
. 
Asking questions about the different things in the story to check what knowledge children have 
about the characters in the story. 
. 
Giving a background of the story first. 
A story was then narrated to them and the tutor paid a great attention towards voice modulation while 
reading the story. Next, tutor discussed the story with the instructors to check for the comprehension. The 
instructors understood the gist of the story and shared their opinions about the story. Then, the focus of 
the discussion went on to the expressions and voice modulation used in the story. Instructors, initially, 
could not make out that voice modulation can have impact on the way a sentence is being said. An activity 
was done with them to demonstrate the difference : a sentence was given to them to read aloud with 
different emotions. This gave them a better idea of how expressions while reading or speaking can have 
impact. This activity was done for 2-3 times with different sentences and gradually instructors were able to 
make out the difference and also identify the expression used. Instructors were introduced to question 
mark and exclamation mark and some sentences were done with them on the board to distinguish 
between the two marks. 
Then, the instructors were divided into groups and each group was asked to make a story and narrate it in 
the class. Different groups made different stories and introduced and narrated them in various ways. Then, 
a discussion on important elements of a story was done and the group came out with the following points 
. 
Stories must be narrated with expressions and emotions. 
. 
Stories can be introduced using role-play method. 
. 
Stories can be introduced by giving some background information. 
. 
Stories can have a moral 
. 
Stories must be interesting and fun filled. 
. 
There must be an order in the story. 
The instructors showed a great amount of enthusiasm and excitement in telling the stories and doing 
activities. They were also curious to know about the exclamation marks. By the end of the story telling 
session, the instructors came to know about the importance of expressions and voice modulation in a 
story. The instructors could also identify good and bad points in the stories presented by the other groups. 


Annexure III 

Case Studies 

Below are a few case studies on students who have studied in the SKs in the past. 

CASE STUDY 1 Raushan Lal 

Raushan Lal belongs to the village called Garion ka Guda-2, is known as one of the most 
backward village in Badgaon block. This village is spread on undulated lands, with no sign of 
water. Main occupation of the villagers is rearing cattle. Other than that, they do wage labour 
in Udaipur city, albeit they rarely get work for more than 20 days in a month. The socioeconomic 
condition of the villagers is not favourable, which impel them not to think beyond 
their livelihood options. That is why, most of the children in the village do not have proper 
educational opportunities as they have to help in their family occupation and sometimes they 
stay in home to take care of their younger siblings. 

Raushan Lal is one of the victims of these circumstances. His father, Nanalalji, an 
uneducated man, did wage labour for making ends meet of his family consisting of 10 
members, including his mother, younger brother’s family, and his family. Raushan lal, being 
the eldest son, had to take care of his younger siblings and sometimes he also has to join in 
rearing the cattles, as it is his family occupation. However, his father was very eager to send 
his only son to school. To fulfil this wish, after sometime, he joined a private firm, as a driver. 
In the mean time, Seva Mandir opened its Non Formal Education centre in Gariyon ka Guda. 
Nanalal himself visited the centre and got impressed by the pedagogy; the instructor was 
following to make the children understand. The NFE instructor ensured him that the future of 
his son would be in safe hands. Raushan Lal was enrolled in the NFE centre of Seva Mandir 
in July 2003. He studied there for 2 years. Thereafter, he got admission in local government 
school in class 5th, which, is almost 5 kilometres away from the village. He studied hard but 
could not cope up with the curriculum, which included English, and social studies. He failed 
in English in class 6th and he had to repeat that year. Although, he did not fail to attempt 
once again. Someone had said that, unfavourable circumstances are a building block of 
strong determination and self-confidence. He, by the suggestion of NFE instructor, joined a 
tuition centre in Baghela Ka Guda, in the evening. Now, he is in class 7th and still he is 
attending tuition classes so that his English can be improved. 

The determination level of this boy is worth praising when he confidently recites a paragraph 
of an English book without any hesitation. He said that because of the NFE centre his Hindi 
and Maths subjects were upto the mark but he was a bit slow in grasping English in the 
school that makes him sometimes down in the class. Now, he is doing well in school and no 
one is making fun of him. 

CASE STUDY 2 Motilal Gameti 

Aloof from the muddled crowd of Delwara National Highway, Barwalia seems to be like 
heaven. The 6 kilometre long, zigzag metalled road ends with the Barwalia Non Formal 
Education Centre (NFE) of Seva Mandir. This centre lies on the outskirts of the village. The 
main site of the village consists of Rajput households, and these are segregated from the 
tribal households, being situated almost 1 km away from them. This NFE centre has the 
highest number of students enrolled in the whole NFE programme of Badgaon block. The 
instructors of Barwalia NFE, Mohan Lal and Rodilal, are instructing two groups of students to 
write the correct words associated with the picture depicted. 

Outside the centre, there is a boy, almost 15 years old, playing with some flashcards. We 
came to know that he was a tribal boy, earlier a student of this NFE and currently enrolled at 

Mid Year Progress Report by Seva Mandir 
the local government school in class 7th. His purpose for visiting the NFE in Barvalia was to 
seek some help from the instructor while his school was having a vacation. His name is 
Motilal Gameti. He was one of the brightest students of the NFE centre, and he is still doing 
well in his school. It is very surprising to know that this boy got married a few days back. His 
father Jayram Gameti does wage labour in a textile mill. His mother is a member of Gram 
Vikas Committee. (A village level community based organisation for leading some 
development intervention in the village). Motilal has two brothers and two sisters. Both of the 
sisters are married now. In addition, he was married recently, so as to time his wedding 
along with his cousin’s wedding. When asked about the early marriage of the child, his 
parents defended themselves that they do not have enough money to arrange a separate 
marriage ceremony for their son, as they recently settled their loans taken for their 
daughter’s marriage. However, his mother assured that they would not bring his bride into 
their home until he is 18. 

When Motilal was asked about the marriage, he gave no reply and simply looked away. He 
evaded the question, saying that, “I want to continue my study upto 10th level. After that, if 
possible I want to do some vocational course so that if I will not be able to get a job, I can do 
something in that area. I want to do something different from everyone else in the 
community.” The education received from the NFE centre has thus instilled the confidence in 
him to look beyond his small world. His father also asserted that he would spend anything for 
his kids, so that they can get their life on track. He said that all the hardship that he is 
suffering, is all for their family, so that they can get a better life. 

The NFE centre has provided a platform for Motilal, giving him confidence to do something in 
his life that can contribute to himself, his family, and society. It has also encouraged his 
parents to give him support, as is apparent from their gesture of confidence in their sons. 

CASE STUDY 3 Meghraj Gameti 

Meghraj Gameti has been cherishing a dream of becoming a teacher since he was very 
young. The reason behind choosing teaching as a profession than any other profession is 
perfectly backed by his understanding of this world. He replied, “Education is both the means 
as well as the end to a better life. It empowers an individual to earn his/her livelihood. It 
increases one's awareness about his surroundings and his society, in this process evolves a 
better citizen.” The answer to the question itself explains his hold of nerve on the society that 
has been lagging behind in many issues. However, it is very surprising, to get such an 
answer from somebody who is not more than 13 years. Although, the story behind, this 
unconventional mind is moving and extraordinary. 

Meghraj Gameti belongs to Selu village of Badgaon. His mother died when he was one year 
old, and his father got married with another woman from which, his father has three children 
(one boy and two girls). From childhood, Meghraj has seen disparity in the family as his 
stepmother did not take care of him. He was always dependent upon his other relatives who 
lived in the same village. By the suggestion of Meghraj friend’s family, his father sent him to 
the NFE centre, which has been running in the village since 1998. According to them, the 
quality of education imparted in the NFE of Selu was quite good. Meghraj was enrolled in the 
NFE in July 2004. When he joined the centre, he felt like he got a new goal to achieve in his 
life. He was so much impressed by the pedagogy the teacher was following because of 
which it was very easier for him to grasp most of the things. Apart from all this, the 
environment in the centre was friendly and without any fear. Because of this, he spent most 
of the time in the centre, and tried to learn more and more. According to the NFE instructor, 
Durgalal Gameti, “Meghraj Gameti is one of the best students I have ever taught. He used to 
come here whenever he wished and I am always ready to help him out.” Durgalal adds that, 
“He is sincere and loving boy. God, show him the right path to fulfill his dreams”. He passed 
out of the centre in July 2007, and was enrolled in the local government school in class 5th . 
He is one the topper in his school. He was on his dream run as no one could stop him. 
However, all of a sudden, his father’s body was found in a well in the village. He was 
murdered because of some rivalry or election issues recently. The case is under trial, but 
because of this, his dream of becoming a teacher is almost shattered. As his father is no 
more alive, his stepmother shifted to her father’s home with her children. He is now living 
with his relatives and for some days, he was almost gloomy as he could not be able to find 
the way out of this situation. However, the courage, for getting out of this unfavorable 
situation or we can say for fulfilling his dreams is worth praising. 

For seeking some help in this unfavourable condition, he met the NFE instructor, Durgalal, 
and explained the entire situation as he wanted to continue his studies and no one is going 
to help him for the long run. And after knowing Meghraj strong desire to continue his studies, 
Durgalal, the instructor, suggested him to prepare for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya entrance 
exams, in which if he will get entrance he will be able to get free education upto 12th class, 
which will really be proof blessings for him. 

Non Formal Education programme of Seva Mandir has enlightened several minds, which 
had been lost and helped Meghraj to find out his aim of life and made him poised to take 
rational decision at this time of crisis. 

CASE STUDY 4 Kesar Kumari 

Dhar village is situated in southern part of Badgaon Block. This village is mainly Gameti 
dominated village. Although, 10% of the household consist of Brahmin and Rajput family. 
Seva Mandir’s NFE has been imparting education to the children of this village since 2003. 
So far, 32 students have passed out of this NFE centre. Amongst these, most of them are 
not regular in studies now. Kesar Kumari, 13, is one such example, who left her studies to 
assist her family. 

She was enrolled in the NFE centre in 2003. For almost 2 years, she toiled hard and learnt 
many things in this short span. She passed out of the centre in 2005-06 batches then after 
with the help of Dhar NFE instructor she got admission in fifth class. According to her 
instructor, she attended the center regularly and was sincere in her studies. However, after 
passing out from fifth class in Government school, she left her studies. When asked about 
the reasons for leaving her studies (especially when she was doing well in the school), she 
hesitantly told about her family. 

Kesar has four sisters and no brothers. Her father is a wage laborer. Daily, he leaves the 
village early in the morning in search of job, to Udaipur. He is only able to get a job for 20 
days. The rest of the time, he remains in the village and drinks Mahua (local liquor). Her 
mother is not able to work properly as she has a stomach problem. Being the eldest child, it 
was necessary for Kesar to drop her studies and support her family. Kesar’s selflessness is 
evident in the binding promise she took from her parents: all her sisters would continue their 
studies up to eighth standard. Her personal wish is for her sisters to become educated up to 10th 
class; however, this is not available because of the poor provision of higher-level 
government schooling in the community. She is also aware of the financial problems 
suffered by her family, and their inability to fund studying beyond that. She feels helpless, as 
she has had to drop her studies because she cannot get any other family member to support 
her. 

Within the village community, it is a standard practice for girls to marry early. When asked 
about the prospect of marriage she shyly told that her father was insisting for marriage but 
she refused. She realizes that her family will suffer financial hardship if required to support
expenses involved in marriage, and therefore she does not want to generate problems for 
her relatives. She has also attended a Seva Mandir health camp, so she is aware of the fact 
that girls should not marry at an early age. She is also hesitant to marry because if she 
marries then one of her sister must drop out from studies – she wants her sisters to have the 
educational opportunities that she was unable to exploit personally. It is her hope that she 
can resist against all the socio-economic, cultural customs, even when they are so wholly 
beyond her comprehension. Kesar’s confidence in rejecting early marriage is an evident 
example of her audacity to stand up against the hostility of the society. 

CASE STUDY 5 Kaluram 

Every day hundreds of starry eyed poor people from villages of India, oblivious of the perils 
that they may have to face in city of their dreams, land up in big cities along with their 
families in search of greener pastures. Majority of them however end up doing menial jobs 
ranging from daily wage labour to domestic servant to selling newspapers on the pavements. 
Some unfortunate ones even end up begging on the streets. Paucity of money due to lack of 
suitable employment then forces these poor people to push their children into work where 
these innocent little ones end up being sexually exploited, employed in brothels, hotels and 
domestic work. Many run away and find a life on the streets. Approximately 17 million 
children in India are employed as child labour as a result. Some courageous ones however 
have it in them to swim against the tide and change the course of their destiny. Kaluram is 
one such child who was eking out a meager existence by washing and cleaning in lieu of 
food and stay and some money to add upto his family’s income. 

Kaluram is a native of Barwalia village of Udaipur district of Rajasthan. This village is mainly 
inhabited by tribal communities many of whom migrate for wage labour to supplement their 
earning from farming. Most of the villagers go to Sukher, (marble mills) for wage labour, 
which is almost 28 kilometers away from the village. Kaluram’s father does wage labour to 
run his family. One of Kaluram’s brothers had migrated to Surat in 2004 to do some odd jobs 
and earn some money for his family. In the mean time, Kaluram was enrolled in Non Formal 
Education centre of Barwalia village, which is run by Seva Mandir. 

As Kaluram had a keen interest in studies, his parents after a lot of persuasion by his son, 
sent him to Barwalia NFE centre. Initially, he was not able to grasp most of the things in the 
NFE centre. However, after a lot of guidance by his instructor, he gradually started learning 
and enjoying it. After 2 years of hard work at the NFE, he got entrance in the local 
government school in class 4th. But, he failed in English and his parents decided that he 
would not go to school anymore. The NFE instructors convinced his parents to send him to 
school once more. However, his parents were not too sure about Kaluram continuing his 
studies especially with present economic needs at home. Soon Kaluram was taken to Surat 
alongwith his uncle. He worked at a hotel there but could not cope with the work and 
environment. Kaluram has now returned to the village and his future plans are not too clear 
now. But whatever the future holds for him, it seems that the learning he had at the NFE is 
probably his only schooling learning. 

CASE STUDY 6 Yugalchand Gameti 

Yugalchand Gameti of Barwalia village seems to be a living example of determination, 
courage, and confidence. In 2003, he joined NFE in Barwalia village. According to the 
instructors of NFE Barwalia, during the period of 2 years only, he learnt many things due to 
his dedication and hard work towards studies. He got admission in government school in 
July 2005 in class 5th. Now, he is a student of class 7th and counted amongst the brilliant 
students of the school. 

His father, Ambalal Gameti, and his grand father are the two men behind the community 
mobilization in opening up of NFE centre in Barwalia. It is exemplary that he taught his only 
daughter upto class 9th when there was no school available in the village. Ambalal works in a 
textile mill around 24 kilometres away from home. Other than that, he also owns a grocery 
shop in the village. Yugalchand’s mother runs this shop with the help of her two sons and 
one daughter. Being the eldest son, Yugalchand has to go to Delwara, which is around six 
kilometres away from the village, to buy fresh vegetables daily. After coming back from 
Delwara, he goes to school at 10 O’clock and come back at four from school. In between 
four to six--he does all his work left of school and some work related to home. At seven in 
the evening, he goes for tuition for two hours in the Youth Resource Centres ( this space is 
shared by the NFE and YRC). This tuition centre is also run by Seva Mandir, in which 
students of class 6th upto class 10th, come. Yugalchand is currently pursuing his education in 
Government School of Barwalia. He wants to continue his education upto 12th. However, he 
has a dream of becoming a teacher, as he appreciates this job. 
Level of eagerness to know about the institutions that can provide this opportunity to him, is 
quite commendable, as it shows his confidence and ambitious flee to fly out of his world. 

CASE STUDY 6 Chena Ram 

Chena Ram, a 13-year-old boy, wrapped in a blanket, taking his goats to the field, and 
making some weird noise, does not seem to be a sensible and smart boy at first sight. 
Nevertheless while talking to him he seems to be much older than his age. Anyone would be 
impressed by his realistic ambitions and his sense of responsibility – both for himself and for 
his family. He lives in Chhali Bhilwada village with his family, which consists of nine 
members. Chhali Bhilwada is a small hamlet of about 55 households of Gameti community 
people. It is all spread on a hillock and has a majestic look with small houses and fields filled 
with yellow mustard. 

Chena Ram is currently pursuing his studies in class 7th from a local government school, 
which is almost three kilometres away from his home. He is one of the top students of his 
school. However, a few years ago, he could not think of getting admission to a government 
school, as no one from his family – even from his village – had had any educational 
opportunity before. As on the one hand, they are not aware of educational merits, and on the 
other hand, they have the excuse that the local government school is so far from their home 
that they cannot send their children there. Most of the people in the village do wage labour in 
nearby cities and their children rear cattle. That is the only routine that they have been 
following for decades. Therefore, it has been a difficult path for Seva Mandir to open a Non 
Formal Education centre in this village. Tej Singh, the instructor of NFE, describes, “It was 
very difficult for me in its early phase as the parents were not convinced that their children 
should be educated. They were treating this as losing their one helping hand in running their 
family.” However, after a lot of convincing by the NFE instructor, Chena Ram’s father sent 
him to the NFE centre. He enrolled in the NFE in July 2003; he studied there for almost 2 
years. The different style of pedagogy and friendly environment motivated Chena Ram a lot. 
In July 2005, he was admitted to class 5th in government school. 

Chena Ram’s father, Jota Ram Gameti does wage labour in a nearby town to sustain his 
nine family members. One of his sons has migrated to Surat for a job opportunity, but he 
does not provide any financial help to his family. Chena Ram is his youngest son and after 
him, he has four daughters. Jota Ram’s effort to ensure that Chena Ram continues his 
studies is truly admirable; the family has seven children on an income of below 2500 rupees, 
with no land. Anyone can see his fatherly pride apparent in his eyes when he exhibits Chena 
Ram’s progress report of class VIth, in which he stood 2nd in the class of 40 students. It is 
clear that Jota Ram appreciates the kick-start opportunity given to Chena through the
education within the NFE centre. It is his ambition that Chena should continue studying and 
he often prays to God in the hope that Chena will have a successful career. 
Chena Ram also wants to continue his studies upto 12th and following, so that he can assist 
his big family. His effort to do well in his studies complements his father’s dream, which is 
commendable. 

CASE STUDY 7 Daluram Dharmaji 

Daluram Dharmaji, native of Barwalia village in Udaipur district of Rajasthan, had never been 
to the school as he belongs to extremely poor family and his parents needed him at home to 
take care of their cattle. Sometimes, he worked at the small plot of land with his parents. His 
father, Aashuji, does wage labour to run a family of six members consisting of three 
daughters, and a son, in a meagre monthly income. In 2003, Seva Mandir helped the village 
to start a Non Formal Education centre. The school enabled Daluram and many others like 
him to attend school. 

Mohanlal and Rodilal, the NFE instructors of Barwalia, remembers first meeting with 
Daluram, when on the way to his agricultural field, he, out of curiosity, peeped into the 
centre. He was staring inquisitively at the colourful pieces of papers from which the children 
of NFE were trying to identify something. In the meantime, Daluram murmured something, 
which made all the children burst into laughter. However, after acknowledging the presence 
of Daluram in the class, the instructors pacified all of them and encouraged Daluram to 
speak up without any hesitation. Then he shyly replied “Ghoda” (horse). Both the instructors 
were impressed by his interest and diligence. They saw in Daluram, potential of a capable 
student who should join the centre and could learn something in his leisure time. However, it 
was difficult to convince his parents as they could not afford to loose his wages, but with 
time, they agreed that he should enrol in the NFE centre. In December 2003, he was 
enrolled in the Barwalia NFE centre. At first, he had difficulty in adjusting with the school life 
and coping with the curriculum, but because of good guidance, support, and friendly 
environment of the centre, in 2 years, he passed out of the centre with flying colours. He was 
then enrolled in the local government school in class 5th. Daluram, one of the best students 
among all his classmates, has made his uneducated parents proud, for whom this progress 
of their son was unthinkable. 

CASE STUDY 8 Dalchand Dharmaji 

Chhali Bhilwada village of Udaipur district, Rajasthan is predominantly a tribal village. Most 
of the population in the village is illiterate. And for addressing the educational needs of the 
most excluded children of the tribal community between the age group of 6 to14 years, Seva 
Mandir opened its Non formal Education Centre in Chhali Bhilwada village in 1999. In the 
starting days, it was difficult to run this in the village, as no one is aware of the merits of 
education. However, because of different development intervention of Seva Mandir in the 
village, for empowerment of the community, people gradually accepted NFE programme, in 
which they have to pay nominal fee, which has been used for buying materials for the 
enrolled children itself. 

13 years old, Dalchand Dharmaji is one such beneficiary whose desire for studying in school 
is fulfilled because of this NFE centre, which gave him a kick-start to find his own way and 
instill confidence into him and because of which, now, he is nurturing one new dream of 
becoming a “hawaldar”. He belongs to an extremely poor family and his father goes for 
wage labour. On the one hand, there was a little enabling environment a home for Dalchand 
to study and on the other hand the only school in the village is almost 3 kilometers away. But 
with encouragement and motivation from the NFE teacher, Dalchand enrolled at the Chhali 
NFE centre. With time Dalchand not only adjusted to the NFE curriculum but also motivated 
his younger brothers and sisters to enroll in NFE. In 2005, he got admission in the local 
government school in class 5th . He is one of the top students in his school. He claimed, “ I 
got 3rd position in my class, Chena Ram got 1st position. I have just missed 1st position by 3 
marks. For getting first position I will try harder, as I have just missed this time, but I will 
definitely make it next time.” The way by which he delivered this is not only full with 
aggression but also definitely full of resilience and confidence, which symbolizes his sincerity 
towards study and willingness to do something in his life which was definitely inculcated by 
the NFE instructor, whom showed him the way to a new world of hope and desire. 

CASE STUDY 9 Sohani Kumari 

Sohani Kumari, 14, is a married girl now and proudly calls herself independent. She feels 
extremely proud when she can sign instead of putting thumb impression. She belongs to the 
tribal village of Challi Bhilwara, where most of the population are illiterate. Their main 
occupation is goat rearing and some of the better off families have some agriculture lands. 
Due to scarcity of rainwater, sustainable income is not ensured in majority of the 
households. 

Sohani is the only child of her parents, as her mother died when she was 4 years old. Her 
father, Puraji, brought her up and did not marry again. According to him “I want Sohani to 
grow up without facing any problem. I thought if I will marry to another woman, it would 
create problem for her.” Tej Singh, the instructor of the NFE in the village , gladly remembers 
the day when he first met Sohani who warily, with her goats crossed him. Moreover, the 
instructor was not able to stop himself by seeing an innocent 7-year-old girl from inviting her 
to the NFE. When she shyly nodded in yes, the instructor met her father and confirmed with 
him that she will be enrolled in the NFE centre of Chhali Bhilwara. She was enrolled in the 
NFE in 2003. She was one of the brightest students of his centre. Puraji said She did all the 
household chores early in the morning so that she would be able to go to school on time. 
Occasionally she would not be able to turn on time. However, the instructor was lenient 
enough to allow her in the centre. She studied in the centre for almost 4 years, because of 
her father, who did not want to send her to Government school. As Puraji says “the 
education standard of NFE is much better than that of Government school, that’s why I want 
my daughter to study here only.” She left the NFE centre in July 2007 and was married in 
December 2007. When Puraji, her father, was asked about the early marriage of his only 
child, he responded very desolately that he got a little house and no land and earns his 
livelihood as a wage labour. Whenever he would not be able to get any job outside, he stays 
in home penniless. In this condition, he cannot imagine his daughter get married in grand 
manner to a “good” boy. Therefore, when one of his family members was getting married, he 
planned to marry his daughter in which he had to bear a little contribution in the marriage 
expenses. 

Sohani is now living in his in-laws house in Badgunda and her husband does artistic work in 
Surat district of Gujarat. She is planning to attend some tailoring classes, so that she can 
add up in his family’s income and on the other hand, she do not have to sit idle. 



Seasonal Residential Learning School SECTION 2 

Background 

The purpose of the proposal submitted by Seva Mandir and approved by ASHA for 
Education, was to enable out of school children “to be able to read and write independently 
and with comprehension”. This was proposed to be done by organizing seasonal residential 
learning schools/ camps of two months duration each. Three such camps were proposed to 
be held between the period April, 2009 to March, 2010. The target population was out of 
school children, from villages, which are characterized by remoteness from urban centers, 
poverty and largely inhabited by tribals. Atleast 25 such children were to be reached out 
through these camps. Each child was to be encouraged to attend all three camps. This is 
because our experience has been that on an average, a child needs to attend three camps 
to attain literacy skills. After the completion of the camps, wherever possible, the children will 
be encouraged to enroll in a regular school and continue their studies. 

The two main subjects taught in the camp would be language (Hindi) and Mathematics. For 
overall development of the child, sessions on health, hygiene, environment, art, games, 
outdoor sports, etc would also be an integral part of the camp. 

PROGRESS REPORT 

1.0 Introduction 
As per the proposal, the first seasonal school of the year 2009-2010 was held from 5th May 
to 30th June. 38 children from Badgaon block successfully completed this seasonal school. 
The purpose of seasonal residential learning school is to enable out of school children “to be 
able to read and write independently and with comprehension”. 
The two main subjects taught in the school were language (Hindi) and Mathematics. For 
overall development of the children, sessions on health, hygiene, environment, art, games, 
outdoor sports, etc were also an integral part. 


2.0 Population Covered: 
In first seasonal school a total of 38 children (24 girls and 14 boys) from 2 villages of 
Badgaon blocks work area completed the school. ( In all there were 196 children from 5 
blocks in the seasonal school). 

The target population for these seasonal schools is out-of-school children, from villages, 
which are characterized by remoteness from urban centers, poverty and largely inhabited by 
tribal. All the participating children were from very impoverished backgrounds, and their 
families are living on marginal incomes. Many of these children have either never been to 
school or dropped out at a very early stage due to several reasons. Some of them migrate 
from the villages for work and hence were not able to attend regular school. In this seasonal 
school, out of these 38 children, 12 had never been to school while 26 children had either 
gone to school for some period of time and then dropped out early, or are enrolled in school 
but not attending it regularly. 

3.0 Selection of Children 
The planning for the seasonal school began well in advance with identification of children 
who are out of school due to various reasons by doing surveys and discussions in the 
villages. After probing and intensive discussions with the community, parents and children, 
we identified the children who were out of school or were irregular. 

Identifying out of school children is also not simple as almost all the children in a village are 
enrolled in a school irrespective of their actual attendance. We have also come across few 
children who attend school, yet hide this fact and attend the seasonal camp. One of the 
reasons is that the seasonal camps have shown good impact on children’s learning level in 
a short duration. Parents are keen that their children get this opportunity which they can not 
while in government school. 

After identifying the children, our field workers met and convinced the parents for sending 
their children to the learning seasonal school. This in itself is a long process, and gets 
difficult especially when it comes to getting them to send their girl child or a child who is 
working is away for two months for residential seasonal schools. Even after long 
discussions, many a times the parents agree at first, but back out on the day the seasonal 
school actually begins. However, Seva Mandir's long association with these villages and the 
history of having done such schools in the past enables us to tide over the concerns of the 
parents and the communities. 

4.0 Teachers Selection and Training 
Teachers’ selection and training is a crucial aspect of the seasonal school. Before the 
beginning of the seasonal school, teachers were selected through a written test that tested in 
basic abilities in Hindi, Mathematics, reasoning and attitudes. After selection, the teachers 
underwent a training on what and how to teach in the seasonal school. The five days teacher 
training was divided in two major sessi, Hindi and Mathematics. In addition to this, sessions 
were also organised to sensitize them towards the other psycho-social needs of children. 

Preference was given to women candidates and candidates from rural background during 
selection of teachers. Many young people from rural and humble backgrounds came forward 
to teach in the school. In this seasonal school, in all we had 22 teachers, where only 3 were 
from the city and the rest were from the rural areas of Seva Mandir work area. We also had 
6 female teachers. For the children of Badgaon block, 3 teachers were dedicated. 

For most teachers this was their first work experience. Our experience shows that after 
getting trained with in the school (which provides both theoretical and on-the-job training), 
many of them get confidence and move on to secure other jobs, either in Seva Mandir or in 
other organizations. 

5.0 The Venue 
The seasonal school was fully residential for both the children and the teachers. As in the 
past, the first seasonal school of this year was organised at Vidya Bhavan’s Krishi Vigyan 
Kendra (KVK) Campus, situated in Badgaon, Udaipur. The campus in many ways proves to 
be ideal for the children's school. The place has a lot of open space with greenery and 
allows for children to play and explore. The place was also equipped with all basic 
amenities, making it comfortable for the children for the two months of their stay. 

6.0 Children’s Learning Process 
In the beginning of school, the children were assessed on their existing Learning level and 
formed into groups of 8 -12 children, with each group being assigned to one teacher. The 
classrooms in the school were structured to allow for children to work (individually and in 
groups) on their own, there are spaces and exercises, which allow them to read, write, speak 
and reason on their own. The children are also encouraged a lot to speak and ask questions. 

For example, Hindi lessons, instead of alphabets, were started with the help of small stories, 
so that children understand that, what they speak and hear can also be expressed in the 
written form. Stories were used because full texts have more meaning for the children rather 
than just words or alphabets. Therefore, they are able to establish a relationship between the 
written word and its meaning. This also fuels a childs curiosity to understand the written text 
and be able to read and understand on their own. 

The teaching materials and aids used are those, which 
are meaningful and interesting to the child. A lot of care 
and energy went into preparing the learning materials 
for the children. We selected storybooks, which are in 
good and simple Hindi, had attractive illustrations and 
suited children of different ages and learning levels. In 
mathematics, exercises were designed which allow 
children to understand the concepts of numbers and 
the functions possible with them instead of just learning 
the algorithms. There were lots of other play materials 
like snakes and ladder, dices, flash cards that helped 
the children understand and learn. A library was set up 
for the use of both teachers and children. Posters of poems that were printed by Seva 
Mandir in the past were also put up in each class. 

During the course of the school, the children did plenty of work in terms of drawing, writing, 
craft, etc. The work done by the children was displayed on the walls of the classroom and 
was changed every week. Thus every week there was something new on the walls for the 
children to read. It also created a good learning ambience in the school and made the 
children happy and proud to see their work on display. It was ensured that everybody’s work 
is displayed and not only the best ones. 

6.1 Resource Centre 
A resource centre was set-up in the seasonal school for the benefit of both children and 
teachers. This was equipped with indoor learning games, lots of play material, toys and a 
computer. The walls were colourful and decorated with paintings and drawings of the 
children. All this made the resource center one of the most attractive rooms to the children. A 
weekly schedule was drawn, enabling each class to spend a few hours in the center each 
week. Children engrossed themselves in books, games and some also picked up basic skills 
in computer. Sessions on time, eclipses, simple science experiments, etc were also 
conducted in the center. 

6.2 Other Activities 
To ensure overall development of the children, various activities were organized along with 
studies. Sessions on health, hygiene, environment 
and art were organised on a weekly basis. In the 
daily schedule of seasonal schools, evening 
sessions were assigned for outdoor sports and 
cultural activities. Children played “Kho-kho”, 
“Kabbadi” (popular local games), Cricket and many 
other games every evening. The teachers also 
participated equally in the games and the cultural 
activities at night. Some special activities were 
organised on most Sundays, like sports day, magic 
or puppet show, documentary screening, craft 
workshops, etc. On 21st of June, a workshop on 
Block printing and Bandhni making (tie and dye) 
was organised for the children. Children 

Children learning tie and dye craft enthusiastically made colourful designs with these techniques. 

6.2 Exposure Visits:. 
The children also got the opportunity to go on a picnic on 13th June, where they visited Gulab 
Bagh in Udaipur. Gulab Bagh is a famous garden with a zoo, having many attractions for 
children. The children spent the day in Gulab Bagh playing and visiting the zoo. It was a 
good outing for the teachers also. Along with picnic and enjoyment, the trip was also useful 
to children to understand various aspects of nature and environment. Later that evening the 
children visited the Rajiv Gandhi Park, which is beside the beautiful lake Fatehsagar lake 
and is an example of contemporary architecture with lots of play area and equipments for 
children. 

7.0 Health Issues 
As health is not a primary concern for the parents of these children, many of them had skin 
infections and other pre -existing illness when they come to the seasonal school. Weekly 
health checkups and daily medical aid was an important component of the seasonal school. 
We were fortunate to get help from a reputed pediatrician for weekly visiting the school and 
doing health-check-ups for the children and also providing invaluable medical advice from 
time to time. As it was also one of the hottest summers recorded in Udaipur in past 5 years 
many children initially got heat stroke. Lots of care, medication, proper nutrition and advise 
from pediatrician this was controlled. Nutritious and balanced meals and snacks, keeping in 
mind the local tastes and the weather were provided to reduce anemia and general 
weakness. A lot of time was also spent on hygiene of the children and cleanliness of the 
premises and good habits were all incorporated in the routine of the children. By the end of 
the seasonal school, there was a visible difference in the children's appearance and their 
certain habits of hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness. 

8.0 Results 
For evaluation, along with regular classroom observations, a mid term test was conducted in 
seasonal school, to get a gauge the progress of children. Based on the feedback of these 
tests, groups were re-arranged as per the results and changes made in the teaching 
techniques accordingly. 
An end-test evaluation of children was also conducted to assess the children’s progress. The 
results are given in table below. 

Evaluation Results of Children 

		Total children 		Level 0 	Level 1[5] 	Level 2 
School 1 	38 			13 		10 		15 

All the 38 children from Badgaon undertook the examination. These children could barely 
read or write at the beginning of the school but by the end 10 children could read small 
words and do basic counting and simple mathematical operations. While 15 children started 
reading and writing independently in Hindi. Furthermore, in mathematics they could perform 
operations like addition, subtraction and multiplication and division. This is a big 
achievement, for the children, that in such short duration, they are able to do some reading, 

[5] To identify the progress of a child we have different levels of their learning. When a child can barely read and 
write anything, she is at Level 0. When a child can read and write small words in language and in Mathematics 
can do basic counting and simple operations like addition and subtraction with small numbers, she is placed in 
Level 1. When a child progresses and can read and write small text in language and in Mathematics can further 
also do operations like multiplication, division, etc she is placed in Level 2. 
writing and counting. It is remarkable especially given the fact that most of them would have 
never seen a book or held a pencil before coming to the school. 

9.0 Closing Ceremony 
At the end of this school, a closing ceremony was held on 29th June 2009, which offered the 
children an opportunity to show their talents to others. Many children enthusiastically 
performed different cultural programmes, which ranged from songs and dances to drama. 

The occasion culminated with children 
receiving certificates of participation and 
colourful bags and stationary pouches, which 
had been donated generously by some 
visitors. Some of the parents and village 
leaders were also invited on the closing day. 
This gave them a chance to see what their 
children have done in the school and also 
builds their confidence in Seva Mandir’s 
endeavor for educating their child. Enthused 
and impressed, many of them said that on 
returning they would now enroll their children 
in school. 

Children performing a play during the closing 
ceremony 


10.0 Volunteers and Visitors 
It is also an enriching experience for people to spend some time with the children and see 
them enjoying study, Many people showed interest in visiting and spending time in the 
seasonal school. We had many volunteers to participate and visitors to bless the children at 
the seasonal school. 

Two full time volunteers were present for the entire duration of the school. These volunteers 
were given responsibility for helping the school management team in maintaining proper 
health and hygiene throughout the school, also helped the classrooms session whenever 
was needed. 

Udaipur chapter of Wokhardt Pharmaceuticals Corporate Social Responsibility wing under 
their initiative SHIKSHA for supporting primary education in India, visited the Children at
seasonal school on  21st June, 2009. Four reputed Doctors of the city of Udaipur were 
present on the occasion accompanied by the locally placed employees of Wokhardt.The 
guest were warmly welcomed by the children of the school. A small cultural function was 
organised by the school family in which children performed folk songs, dance, and a drama 
on the issue of child labour and also shared their experiences of the school. Wokhardt team 
distributed stationary to the children on that day. 

Mr. Bajrang Singh, the Additional Commissioner of Udaipur also visited the school on 24th 
June 09. Being a Government official, he valued the efforts Seva Mandir has taken to run 
such good education initiatives. Mr. Kishor and Mr Umashankar from Azim Premji 
Foundation, Banglore were also visited the school on the 20th of June. As a subject expert 
they appreciated Seva Mandir’s efforts and also impressed by the motivation and the 
patience of the teachers in the School. 
The children and the team of Education Unit Seva Mandir was fortunate enough to have Mr. 
Cyrus Ardlan from Barclays Capital London U. K at the school on the 28 June. Mr Vijay Tata 
from the World Bank also visited the seasonal school. 


11.0 Challenges and Learning 
The journey during the seasonal school had its many ups and downs. The seasonal school 
brought its new challenges and with it its own new learnings. Managing so many children for 
two months in itself, is a big challenge which kept the team on-toes day and night. As 
mentioned above, most of the children who came to school were from very poor family 
hence several of them were very weak, malnourished and vulnerable to illness. 

One of the biggest drawbacks of this school was the uneven profile of the children. Also a 
few of the children who came were too small, i.e. below 6 years and thus managing and 
teaching them it proves to be difficult. 

Annexure I 

Success Stories 

Case Study 1 : Radha – age 10 years 

Radha is a 10 years old girl from the village Rooptalai in Badgaon block. When she was very 
young, her father died of long illness while her mother died of snakebite few years back. She 
has four elder sisters who moved out of village after getting married. At present she lives in a 
big family with her uncle and grandmother. Though her grandmother is very loving and 
caring, she has to work a lot for the family. She is involved in household chores intensively. 
She brings water and fire wood, washes cloths for the whole family and also cooks food 
when her grandmother is not well. 

Radha had been to school till class one when her mother was alive. After her mother’s death 
she had to leave school but She still has a great desire to study. It is partly because of this 
that she is an active student of the seasonal school. When she joined the school she was 
even afraid of taking pencil in her hand. During the school she learned the numbers to 10, 
simple addition and subtraction, Hindi words and alphabets. She loves the teachers and 
other students. 

She wants to come back in the next seasonal school. While going back, She said to her 
teacher that she would try to work on all activities, which she learned here. 

Case Study 2 : Mangla ji -a teacher in Seasonal School 

Mangla ji has a lot of patience with the kids. Always with a smile, she speaks with a warmth 
that visibly affects the children. She stands in front of the blackboard quizzing the students, 
gently correcting them when wrong and encouraging them when right. She presents 
questions with a humble confidence allowing the appropriate time for a response, never 
rushing the children. 

A year back Mangla ji was forced to look for work due to some family problems. She 
discovered the teaching position within the School through her friends. She leaves behind 
two daughters enrolled in school in order to work in the School. They come to visit her in the 
school but the separation is still very difficult for her. Since teaching the children in the 
school, she has come to respect her own two daughters more and "feels much closer to 
them". She has learned patience and tries better to understand them, not simply assuming 
herself to be in the right. Commenting on the separation she said “I was forced to leave the 
two at home, but these 196 children have become like my own” and it shows. At home, she 
sews and makes clothes for some extra income. She takes this skill to the school, mending 
the kids clothing. She is the teacher who can always be seen looking after the children 
during play, keeping a motherly eye on them. She teaches a class of all girls, joining in on 
their singing and dancing and helps them make colourful drawings during their free time. 

Her understanding with the children gives them an education and friendship that is not easy 
to find. 

Case Study 3: Shankar ji -a teacher in Seasonal School 

Shankar ji comes from a farming family in Badgaon block and has completed the 12th 
standard with the goal of becoming a teacher, tutoring younger students during the last few 
years of his schooling. 

This is the eleventh time he has taught within the school having started in May of 2005. He 
first came to the school motivated by the fact that 85 kids from his village would be attending 
it. Since working in the school, he has gained enough confidence to volunteer in a local 
school in his village, helping the two teachers there. He has also discussed with those 
teachers the different pedagogical methods he learned in Seva Mandir’s training courses. He 
says that instead of the teachers dictating to silent students who are then forced to do 
repetitive assignments on their own, the schools focus is on helping the students individually 
as well as in a group. The teachers require them to think critically and also discuss their 
opinions. When asked what he had gained from the school he replied “what I have learned 
here I didn’t learn in the whole 12 years at school”. He went on to say that he had also 
developed the self-confidence to speak to strangers and people not of his background. The 
school has also given him the desire to continue his education and pursue a Bachelors of 
Arts degree, something which he hadn’t considered before. 

He does not teach within the school for want of money as he comes from a wealthy farming 
family earning Rs. 22,000 on coriander alone during the monsoon season. It is his love for 
teaching that keeps bringing him back to the school. As one sits within his class one can 
gleefully watch him teach with zest, his background and deep interest bringing him close to 
the children. 

Annexure II 

A glimpse of life at the Children’s learning school – by Ian Forber-Pratt ( A volunteer) 

My name is Ian Forber-Pratt and I am a new volunteer at Seva Mandir. I am currently 
pursuing my Masters in Social Work (MSW) in the United States. Since the focus of my 
studies is child welfare, I asked Seva Mandir if I could visit their schools and camps that 
work with rural populations. 

After three visits to Seva Mandir’s children’s learning school, which is located 5 km from 
where I am staying, I can’t get enough of the school, I visit as often as possible. It is a 
seasonal residential camp (school) that gives children an education that expands far beyond 
academic material. Because the seasonal school is close to Seva Mandir’s guest house, I 
am able to drop by often (three times this past week) to say hi to the children and get a feel 
for the atmosphere. 

After many interactions at the seasonal school, I am starting to understand what it is all 
about. 

The seasonal school changes children’s lives. Rural conditions place a high demand on 
children to work, offer few chances for healthy peer interactions and often do not promote 
the importance of education. The camp has a big mission: to give the children 2 months of 
learning that instills hope and value in their lives. 

I discovered that at seasonal school, the 196 children learn to reason, comprehend, 
positively interact with peers, and creatively engage in problem solving while also being 
exposed to reading, writing and mathematics. I joined classrooms as they reviewed 
flashcards, learned basic math, danced together and enjoyed being children. 

As I spoke to teachers, they told me that often the children arrive so malnourished that their 
physical problems do not allow them to embrace the environment at camp when they first 

arrive. By their third or fourth week of active nurturing through 
compassionate interactions with teachers, balanced nutrition and the 
new positive environment, the children are noticeably more energetic 
and happy. They like interacting with volunteers, playing games and 
using new learning tools that they have never imagined – like flash 
cards, small group interaction, physical exercise, drawing and painting. 

When I spoke to Manju (right), a 12-year-old girl, one of her first 
comments was how good the food was. This comment was repeated 
over and over as I spoke with more children. The camp focuses on all 
aspects of the children’s wellbeing. Nutrition is an important part. 

Popping my head into classroom after classroom, I was overwhelmed by the joy I felt. As I 
spoke with teachers they universally agreed that their goal is to arm the children with tools to 
feel empowered. During lunch, naptime, and evening arts activities teachers focus the 
children on foundational principles like social interaction, community and support. These are 
things that many children have never known. Shockingly, I found, these are things that 
many teachers have never been exposed to either. 

The teachers at the camp are qualified to be there. They are well trained and all pass a test 
before they are selected for teaching at the camp. They receive extensive training to teach 
kids using a different pedagogy from what they themselves were taught in schools. This new 
style of teaching is very fulfilling for them as well. They also benefit from camp because they 
can interact with their peers as intellectual equals. 

Naresh Kumas Pargi is a 24 year old teacher from Kotda block (an area composed of many 
villages) is one of the most remote and impoverished areas in Rajasthan. 
In his village, he feels isolated from peers, healthy interactions and 
opportunity. This camp is an opportunity for Naresh. He is able to grow 
and learn along with the children. He can leave the isolation of his village 
and enrich his life by helping children understand the importance of 
education. 

Before I left camp one afternoon I ran into Manju again. She had a sour 
look on her face and I found out that she misses home but loves camp. 
Her spirit inspired me. From her facial expression it is clear that she has 
had a tough life, but during these moments at camp, there are glimpses of joy. 



Activity Centre 

Section 3 

1.0 BACKGROUND 
The condition of schooling in tribal areas in SM work area is often one of severe neglect, 
with high rates of teacher absenteeism, inadequate and overburdened teachers, poor 
pedagogical methods, lack of required materials, and inadequate infrastructure. Most of the 
children in government schools in the in villages of Badgaon are from literacy impoverished 
backgrounds and face a lot of difficulty in the school. Coupled with a poorly performing state 
schooling system, the children who attend schools are unable to learn anything even after 
attending school for 4 – 5 years. That is why the push out rate among children is very high 
after class 5. The children, who somehow manage to go beyond class 5, get stuck in class 8 
or class 10 when they have to take external examinations. They either struggle through the 
grades without gaining much or drop out of the schools with a sense of failure and 
frustration. 

Another concern that we face is that while the children in our Shiksha Kendras have access 
to quality education, once they pass out and enroll in government schools, they (like the 
other children in the school) are confronted with poor quality of education. Therefore a dire 
need was felt to address the issue of quality in the government schools. 

In view of the above considerations Activity centers ( named as Shayog Kendras) have been 
started in collaboration with government schools and the village communities, with support 
from ASHA for Education from February 2009. 

The goals of the Activity Centres are: 

. 
Enable the students to have meaningful and joyful education. 
. 
Increase attendance and decrease drop out from the school. 
. 
Improve academic performance. 
We hope to achieve the above through the following: 

• 
Reinforcing the content of the syllabus by providing books, materials, science kits 
etc. 
• 
Organizing extra support classes during after-school hours for teaching and helping 
the students. 
• 
Providing students with material for craft work to develop aesthetic sense and 
opportunities of working with their hands. 
• 
Provide a platform for students, teachers, parents and the community to learn and 
discover together. 
After school hours the centers will also provide the additional facility of tuitions to some 
students who are weak in certain subjects. To begin with, we propose to provide tuitions for 
students of 5 – 7 classes, and eventually go up to higher classes. 

Since the Activity centers are a new intervention of the organization, we ourselves are 
learning and growing, thus the above goals and methods of achieving them will also evolve 
with time. 

2.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
After several rounds of discussion and deliberations, SM team shortlisted schools in the 
work area where students were facing problems either due to lack of teaching staff, poor 
quality of education imparted, etc. Talks and discussions were held with village level 
committees explaining them the concept of activity centres and seeking their support in 
approaching the school together in getting permission to set up the centres. Most of the 
teachers and head teachers welcomed the intervention, but categorically stated that they 
would allow the intervention only if they had consent from the Block or District level 
education officers. Getting this permission was difficult and tedious, as the 5 centres lie in 
different jurisdictions and it meant that we had to approach three – four different officers. 
Convincing them to give the consent was a difficult task. Perhaps one reason for their 
apprehension is that allowing external agencies in the government system may expose them 
in poor light. As of date we are awaiting written approval from one officer, despite several 
reminders and visits in his office. 

The consents received so far include a number of conditions: that the activity centres will not 
effect the teaching happening in the classes, that tuition centres will not run during school 
hours, that no fees of any kind will be taken from the children and there would be no political 
activities at the centers. 

After the selection and training of facilitators the activity centres started in March 2009 on the 
basis as described in 1.0. 

The villages where the centres have started are: 

	Village/zone	    Classes in the 	No. of teachers 	No. of children
			    government		in the gov’t 		enrolled in the
			    school 		School in July		school in July
 
1 	Negria/Delwara	    1st – 5th Class 	3 teachers 		90
						(including head teacher)  
2 	Ushan/Ghodach	    1st – 8th class 	6 teachers 		125
						(including head teacher)  
3 	Selu/Kadiya	    1st – 8th class 	3 teachers 		100
						(including head teacher)  
4 	Undithal/Bagdunda   1st – 10th class 	1 teacher 		200
						(is the head teacher)  
5 	Peepad/Kadiya	    1st – 8th Class 	5 teachers 		131
						(including head teacher)  

Additional comments: 

• 
In each school, there is poor student to teacher ratio, with Undithal school being the 
worst. In Undithal, there were 2 para (support) teachers until April, but they have 
been removed. Their reappointment is awaited. 
• 
In Negria, the centre has been started in a primary school because this school for a 
long time had shortage of staff. Of the 3 teachers one was on maternity leave till 
May leaving only 1 teacher and 1 head mistress. The village community has been 
requesting SM to make an intervention in this regard for a long time. This school is 
8th 

situated inside the village, while the middle school (5 – class) is located outside 
the village on the main road. The village committee requested that the centre be 
situated in this school as it will not only benefit the junior students, but also when the 
elder students return home, they can benefit from the tuitions. Another middle school 
is located in the opposite direction. In the coming months, we are planning that the 
centre not only caters to the students of the primary school, but also two schools 
nearby. 

• 
In Selu, one of the facilitators selected at the activity centre is the instructor (Durga 
Lala) of the Shiksha Kendra (SK), which is also located around half a kilometer from 
the school. SM has been running an informal activity centre here for the past months, 
which ran for a few hours after school. With ASHA’s support, this has firmed up and 
the SK instructor is now fully employed in the activity centre, while a new person has 
been kept in the SK. Durga lal was a competent instructor in the SK in the past and 
many children attended his SK despite the presence of the school nearby. It will be 
interesting to see whether in the coming time if Durga Lal and his co facilitator are 
able to bring about improvements in the government school such that all children 
from the SK are also attracted to the school. Similarly, we hope to see improvements 
in the Ushan government school, such that children from the Ushan SK are attracted 
to the government school. 

After discussions with the school staff, a time table for the centres is being made to 
systematize students visits to the activity centre. The centres are running in two capacities. 
During school hours, the centre is an activity centre, where students of the school come and 
participate in different activities. After the school closes, the centre is turned into a tuition 
centre for another 2 – 3 hours. Here in each centre about 20 – 25 students of class 5 – 8, 
who are weak in certain subjects come for tuitions. In some places, children who are from 
other schools are also attending the tuitions. The centres will also run tuition classes on 
Sundays in lieu of which they will observe a holiday on Monday. 

To aid the running of the centres and conducting of different activities, various types of 
resource material have been identified and have been given or are being procured for the 
centres. 

3.0 SELECTION AND CAPACITY BUILDING OF TEACHERS 
Selection of facilitators for the activity centres was crucial task. In month of February, this 
post was advertised in respective and nearby villages/zones. Candidates who were at least 
graduates were invited. Unfortunately, as some of the villages are in interior, we were not 
able to get find any people who are even graduates. Thus people who had passed at least 12th 
class were asked to appear. The selection was done on basis of a written exam (which 
tested their knowledge of Hindi, the English language and basic science) and personal 
interviews. It was found that irrespective of whether the person is 12th class or graduate or 
even post graduate, there was not great difference in their understanding of concepts. 

10 people were selected, and asked to attend a one week training in mid February. Only 8 
people turned up for the training. The one week training covered basic concepts of the Hindi 
language. Math facilitatation is a big challenge as they themselves have been used to one 
way of teaching – learning and class room interactions. 

5 facilitators also attended another day training from 6 – 15 April conducted by Vidya 
Bhawan. This training which covered concepts of the Hindi and English languages, 
mathematics, activities, games, story telling sessions, art and craft activities etc. 

The facilitators also joined the 5 day training of teachers at the end of April conducted for the 
teachers of the seasonal residential learning school (conducted in May – June). Since during 
these months the schools were closed for summer holidays and the attendance of the 
children was not very high in the activity centres, the facilitators also spent 15 days in 
rotation teaching at the seasonal school. This gave them hands on teaching experience 
under supervision and guidance of experienced SM team. 

A variety of efforts are made to enhance the effectiveness of the centers, apart from these 
trainings meetings being held at regular intervals. Apart from the routine of exchanging 
reports, progress, the meetings help to plan schedule and activities in the crucial initial 
stages of the intervention and give direction and support to the facilitators. The meetings reendorse 
the discussions held at the trainings. 

4.0 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION 
There has been active community participation in the activity centres since the very 
beginning. The community has been active in getting consent from the government school in 
allowing the centres to be set up. The village community is also responsible for monitoring of 
the centres and payment of the stipend to the facilitators. 

The facilitators, in turn, are attending the village meetings and reporting on the activities of 
the centre, progress of children, etc. 

5.0 EVENTS 
In the July meeting, the facilitators were made aware of the solar eclipse that was to occur 
on 22 July, 2009. The facilitators displayed apprehension and superstition regarding the 
same. They were made aware about the science of the eclipse and were asked to explain 
the same to the children. Special solar filter glasses were also obtained and distributed so 
that at least some children could break the superstitions attached to the eclipse and view it. 
Unfortunately heavy rains and cloud cover prevented people in this region from viewing the 
eclipse. 

6.0 CHALLENGES 
Being a relatively new work for the organization, setting up and running activity centres has 
brought about some anticipated and some unanticipated challenges. The foremost challenge 
has been of finding space and permission in the schools. The reluctance of the seniors and 
their delay in giving written permissions has been a big challenge. As mentioned above, we 
still have not received written approval from one officer Undithal centre, despite several 
reminders and visits in his office. The poor teacher student in the school has been a 
blessing, as due to this the head teacher has allowed our facilitators in the school. 

But poor student teacher ratio also has a flip side. Due to shortage of staff in school, the 
head teachers are pressurizing our facilitators to play the role of substitute teachers and 
teach the curriculum as is usually taught in the school and not take up activities as planned 
by us. For this we are negotiating with each individual school to provide the facilitators slots 
in the school time table time for better co-ordination. 

7.0 SOME IMPACTS 
Though it is too early to look for impacts of the programme, some small indicators have 
emerged. For example some students of class 6 and 7 of Selu school have started coming 
regularly. In different centres, students are finding story telling sessions, games, poetry, etc 
and also the different way the facilitators are approaching the subjects. 

To gauge the deeper impact of the programme, a baseline of childrens academic proficiency 
in the Hindi language and mathematics is being carried out in all the 5 centres. This will help 
us assess the impact of the intervention in a better way.