Project Brief: Hippocampus Reading Foundation - Learning Center is a self sustaining, after-school rural supplemental education centers
Project Type: Non-Formal Educational Centers (description)
Primary Focus: to go to formal school (description)

Secondary Focus: remedial education

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact:
St. Louis

Status: CLOSED - COMPLETED
Project Steward: Anjana Mohan
Co-Steward: Pradeep Jayaraman
Project Partner(s): Lily Paul
Project Address: Hippocampus Reading Foundation - Learning Center
227, 6th Cross, ST bed area
Koramangala (Behind Maharaja Hotel)
Bangalore, Karnataka 560034
Tel: 961-112-8163
Stewarding Chapter: St. Louis

SUMMARY:
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Asha supports the one-time investment in self-sustaining supplemental education centers in rural areas across North-West and North-Central Karnataka. These centers focus on Early Childhood Education (Pre-K, LKG & UKG).

HLC's goal is to open more and more such centers across rural India. As of mid 2015, HLC has 243 total centers and looking to open 30-50 more by the end of 2015.

Donors please note the attractive features of this project:
- One-time investments that goes a long way, with a
- Huge impact on each village potentially forever

The village center that YOU can help fund and set-up
- will become the community hub of activity and family engagement.
- Up to 40 children will be impacted every single year for the rest of their lives, and
- will impact a wide network of their families and their entire village.
- The woman teacher will be catapulted into an empowered, connective and leadership role in her community, and become
- a role model for children, peers, women AND men.


ASHA ENGAGEMENT & FUNDING
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Asha St. Louis chose to focus on the KG centers in order to support early childhood learning to make lifelong learners who are appropriately prepared to succeed in formal schools. The KG group has proven to be a successful program with stable demand levels.

Asha funds the one-time set-up costs for each Early Childhood (PreKG / KG) center, which includes infrastructure, bags, uniforms, worksheets and curriculum materials, electric fittings, lights, mats, chalkboard etc.

As of 2014, Asha St. Louis included the cost of the 1st year of scholarship when funding a new center, as well as consider supporting the ongoing costs of scholarships each year for centers that were funded by the chapter.

Asha Stanford focused on HLC's innovative approach to curriculum and achieving learning objectives, specifically for the Middle School (PEC) group. Asha Stanford's “innovation” project funding helped the PEC program evolve its teaching and learning strategies and materials.

Investors like Asha provide the opportunity for work in “B” & “C” villages (Rural with 2,500 to 5,000 pop., Sub-office, 1 bank, 1 postal office), and also provide the incubation of ideas, ability to take risks, try things out and pave the way for larger investors when the concepts have matured adequately and ready for a scaling effort.


CHILDREN:
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Children (of local agricultural workers, landowners or daily wage laborers) who are currently enrolled in Government (or other schools) enroll in the HLC programs to receive resources that supplements and transcends the learning they get at their formal schools. Some of the KG children are too young to have formal education alternatives yet, and the HLC program is an early childhood readiness towards formal education.


TEACHERS:
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Women teachers provide supplementary education to 25 to 40 children per center. These supplementary education sessions run 3 hours outside of school hours 5-7 days of the week.

Local women are empowered as teachers, after a rigorous interview and seminar process. They are further trained to follow a creative curriculum and are provided ongoing support and materials by HRF / Hippocampus (the parent organization).

This selection & training program for teachers and the administration of the centers is funded separately. Furthermore, the administrative cost of the parent organization is also funded independently by ADB / Unitus / Acumen. See OTHER FUNDING under Additional Information).


ADMINISTRATION / OPERATIONS:
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Centers are organized geographically into "clusters", and local "Cluster Managers" manage and train the teachers, as well as administrate the centers and oversee its operations. The Cluster Managers (trainers and administrators) are part of the parent organization HRF, and are not paid through the Asha St. Louis funds.

Asha funds the one-time set-up costs for infrastructure and materials (see ASHA ENGAGEMENT & FUNDING)

Once the center opens, each child will pay a registration fee (Rs 500 for individual materials and a Hippocampus bag), as well as monthly fees (Rs 60 to Rs 120) each which forms the basis of the teacher's salary, and is the main way in which the Center sustains itself. About 10% of children per center (3 to 4) typically require scholarships to pay for their tuition.


IMPACT:
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Hippocampus has already had a tremendous and direct impact on over 9,000 students and has trained and employed 300 local women over 250 villages in rural Karnataka since inception.

Enrolling in school after UKG is mandatory with an apparent compliance of 98%.Thus 98% of children are enrolling in school (1st std).

Impact metrics are divided broadly into Operations / Center performance & Child Learning:

Operations / Center performance are being measured through
- Assessing teacher training
- Statistics of teacher selections
- Engagement of children through their consistency in fee payment
- Overall center performance
- Consistency in the maintenance & rental of the facilities
- Relationship of the teacher with the community / parents

Child Learning is currently being measured through:
- Learning levels of children through monthly assessments of learning outcomes
- 1 or 2 times a year surprise assessment test to compare to monthly assessments

Both types of metrics are using electronic tools that provide immediate feedback and the capability of immediate action. Child learning can be recorded by teachers and is automatically converted into a grade based on a weighted scale.

HLC is Putting together a more structured way to measure impact. Proof of impact is almost obvious given the context.

New initiative to perform a study with Gray-Matters-India (evaluation expert) & CIF (Childrens Investment Fund), Vardhanam (School Financing) to create a robust evaluation framework