The organization has established three model schools (Uday Pathshala) with objectives of setting standards for education. These education centers are owned by the community. It is expected that once a certain quality is provided and observed and perceived by the community it will demand a similar level of quality from the other educational facilities in the area, especially government facilities. It is expected that with this understanding people will generate political pressure for improvement in government schools. In the case of private schools it will perhaps be easier as they would then be expected to provide that quality in order to stay in business.
These schools will also create models of alternative ownership of schools, which till date are known to be owned either by government or private entrepreneurs. In most of India, the community finds itself stuck between two bad options - a school that does not work and a school that is not accountable. Any community if it has and feels the ownership will be concerned about the quality of the school and the education that it is providing. It is expected that over time seeing the benefit in having community schools, the government would be able to convert some of its schools into community owned and managed schools. The success of this project is not just in making the schools that are set up run effectively but in bringing a change in the way the other schools in the area operate.
The government has been trying to improve the education system of the state for long. Their first priority was in ensuring reach to education by any means and which they did by setting up rather sub-standard schools. This led to a crisis of quality, which the government is still not in a position to address. There is an assumption that improved quality implies better infrastructure.
Gramin Shiksha Kendra aims to address this issue of quality squarely and provide an option that is easily adaptable and implement-able in the government school sphere. The first element is in developing a truly community led and owned school. A school where the community has a major say in deciding what is taught and where the children do not get alienated from the rural area as a result of education.
In 2003, Gramin Shiksha Kendra finally set up the Uday approach through which it will bring in the much-needed relevance to education for the rural communities.
Mission Statement:
Gramin Shiksha Kendra (GSK) will over a ten-year period set up three high quality learning-centres and schools in the Sawai Madhopur and Khandar blocks of Sawai Madhopur district. This will help communities see and learn what quality in education actually means. In addition, through a community outreach program, GSK encourages them to demand better quality of education from the existing governmental school system and the private sector. Uday will also design, develop and implement a curriculum and evolve a pedagogy which makes education more relevant to people?s lives in the rural areas and gives them the information necessary to take informed decisions and make informed choices about their livelihoods and their future.
Location:
All the schools run by Gramin Shiksha Kendra have been set up in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. The 2 schools supported by Asha are located in the villages of Jaganpura and Bodal, both of which are about 15km from the Sawai Madhopur city and close to the Ranthambore wildlife sanctuary. The area is a major tourist attraction because of the scenic wildlife sanctuary housing tigers and the myriad medieval forts in the Sawai Madhopur district.
Demographics:
People of these villages are predominantly tribal. In Jaganpura, Meenas form most of the community and Bodal has a concentration of Gujjars. Both were recently designated as Scheduled Tribes (ST) by the Rajasthan State government. The main occupations of people in these 2 villages are subsistence farming, animal husbandry and daily wage labor.
Quality of Education:
Gramin Shiksha Kendra provides the highest quality of education in the Uday Pathshala schools. Learning is extremely child-centric, and children have a lot of freedom in the subjects, methods and ways they learn. Extra-academic activities like environmental studies, pottery, theater, sports etc, form a major part of the child s day at the school.
The schools are also in the forefront of progressive pedagogies. Gramin Shiksha Kendra develops its own curriculum and syllabus. Extensive teacher training and periodic workshops are key to maintaining the quality of teachers and to keep improving the school performance.
All learning happens through activities done in small groups at the primary level. Children progress towards becoming self-learners when they reach the secondary levels in a few years. Teachers evaluate the progress of every child every day and plan the activities for each child for the next day.
