Sikshana is a child-centric program, aimed at evolving a sustainable and replicable model for the Public Education System (PES) and believes in a decentralized approach.
85% of children in India study in government schools. These children are from poor socio-economic background. Although the government schools have made investment in infrastructure and human resources, the children do not get the necessary benefits. Sikshana recognizes the fact that each school has its own unique problems and these cannot be addressed through a template solution. Sikshana’s solution focuses on strengthening the system by involving the stakeholders in Public Education System and providing/using the right resources to improve the education system. Today, Sikshana's impact can be seen in over 1000 schools in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, reaching out 1.5 lakh children in government schools.

Problem

85% of children in India study in government schools. These children are from poor socio-economic background. Although the government schools have made investment in infrastructure and human resources, the children do not get the necessary benefits. Sikshana recognizes the fact that each school has its own unique problems and these cannot be addressed through a template solution. There have been many voluntary sector initiatives working towards improvement of public schools but only a few sought to address systemic issues whereby a sustainable and replicable model can be evolved. Sikshana seeks to address this vital gap and, in the process, has emerged as one the leading initiatives of its type in the country. Operating within this ambit, the program has been able to achieve significant enhancements in the learning levels in the class room at a typical cost of less than Rs 500 per annum per child. This is against on an average of Rs 10,000 plus being spent by most States on every child studying in these schools. We believe that there is a need to bring out a simple yet sustainable solution to address this problem. Through our program we have been able to reach out to more than 1.5 lakh children.

Solution

Sikshana’s solution focuses on strengthening the system by involving the stakeholders in Public Education System and providing/using the right resources to improve the education system. We strive to give access to quality education to the child through: 1. Need based technology: Provide need based technology which evokes interest in children, in turn leading to increased strength of the schools. The technology we provide is helpful to the teachers and mentors in their work and is easy to use. 2. Collaborative approaches: Working in partnership with the government ensures successful and efficient implementation of the project. 3. Sustainable use of resources: By using locally available resources, like school’s existing manpower, local youth and women, it is easier to implement the project as it is time and energy saving and improves quality of teaching and management of the schools.

Example

Sikshana model works on three basic principles: Being 1. Collaborative 2. Sustainable 3. Child centric Pradeep is a nine year old boy, studying in 4th std in Government Higher Primary School, located in Tothalli in Kanakapura taluk. Unlike his classmates, he was not very active in his class. He neither interacted with his friends nor his teachers. He hardly participated in the class activities. The teachers were of the opinion that this boy will never improve and was impossible to change his attitude. The Community mentor from Sikshana took up the task of finding a solution for this problem. After repeated interaction by the mentor with the boy, there was drastic change in his attitude towards learning. The mentor’s inspirational talk had helped him show interest in his studies. He is now able to read and write Kannada and learn mathematics like his peers. A spot prize was given away to the boy to encourage him in learning. Spot prizes, access to library books, providing writing sheets, dairies and dictionaries have proved to be effective tools in encouraging a child to do well in academics. Similarly, providing mentors, para-teachers and community resource persons have made a big difference in the schools as well as in the children. We believe that every child has the ability to learn and every Government school have latent capabilities. Our intervention has proved it.Improvement can be brought out with change in mind set and not merely monetary aid. Our students are a witness to it. Empowerment of stakeholders and community is the key to successful intervention. Active Parent and teacher committees are a witness to this. Providing right tools at the right time and at the right place has proved to be beneficial to the students and schools. The learning levels of Primary school children has drastically improved. The average pass percentage of students in 10th standard Board exams has improved with our intervention.

Marketplace

Our peers and competitors are the people/groups who dump ideas/technology without a vision.We believe that we can improve and provide a sustainable solution only when we work with the communities, government and other stake holders. We look at cohesive approach rather than providing a unilateral solution. Dumping ideas and solutions without understanding the core problem pose to be a challenge and hinderance to our work from our competitors and peers.