Annual report 2011-12-cover

Centre For Learning ResourcesAnnual Report

2011-12

Centre For Learning Resources8 Deccan College Road, Yerawada, Pune - 411006

E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.clrindia.net

Annual Report 2011-12

1 Director's Message

3 About CLR

Background

Goals

Main Activities

4 Early Childhood Care And Education

8 Elementary Education

10 Yuva English

12 Other Professional Activities

14 Funding / Acknowledgements

CONTENTS

Annual Report 2011-12 1

This is a very unusual Annual Report in the life of The Society for Educational

Improvement and Innovation and Centre For Learning Resources.

For the first time in the Centre's life, this report has not been crafted by Zakiya

Kurrien carefully, lovingly and with an exacting attention to detail. For the first

time, it has not had the enthusiastic, boundless energy of John Kurrien poured

into it.

Zakiya and John took retirement from the Centre on March 31, 2012. They

remain Directors Emeriti and John have recently taken over as Co-Chairpersons

of the Governing Council. Their insights into the challenges of educating the vast

majority of Indian children meaningfully remain invaluable resources for all of

us who work at the Centre.

Zakiya and John started their journey to improve education in India over 27

years ago. It was not fashionable, and certainly not financially viable, then to

make the quality of education the poor received the centre of one's concern.

And they stayed with it tenaciously over the next quarter of a century, despite

challenges and obstacles. In the process, they made a name for themselves and

for Centre For Learning Resources as a premier source of insights for improving

learning quality in government schools. All of us who have chosen to carry on

that task today benefit from that single-minded devotion of theirs.

We wish Zakiya and John a continuing journey of meaning and fulfilment as they

adjust to a different rhythm, still of their own making.

Chittaranjan Kaul

DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

BACKGROUND

The Centre For Learning Resources (CLR) was established in Pune in 1984. It is a non-profit

educational institution of The Society For Educational Improvement And Innovation which is

registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, the Bombay Public Trust Act of 1950 and the

Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 1976.

The CLR acts as a technical support organisation to NGOs working at the grassroots level, and to

government and private schools. Its main activities are as follows:

GOALS

MAIN ACTIVITIES

The expansion of elementary education and early childhood education in India has often not been

matched by a similar concern for the quality of teaching and learning. This has resulted in dreary

and unstimulating classrooms, millions of elementary school dropouts and unacceptably low levels

of learning in our classrooms. Moreover, the significance of the first three years in early child

development is also not sufficiently understood. The main goal of the CLR is to improve the quality of

early childhood care and development and elementary education that the vast majority of rural and

urban children receive in our country.

Inservice training of elementary school teachers, instructors in alternative education centres and support classes, and

balwadi/anganwadi workers in early childhood education (ECE) programmes.

Inservice training of teacher trainers and supervisory

personnel for early childhood and elementary

education.

Training of personnel in early childhood

development programmes which target caregivers of children in the birth to 3

years age group.

Development of training materials.

Development of instructional materials in various curricular

areas, with an emphasis on functional literacy and

numeracy, including audio-visual materials for

environmental education, language development, and

English as a second language.

Consultancy in curriculum development, educational project

design, academic and other research inputs to schools, NGOs and

government agencies, funding organisations and international

bodies.


Advocacy - including exhibitions for public

awareness

ABOUT CLR


EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

A creative learning session in progress at an anganwadi centre in ICDS Dharni

Participants at a supervisors' training

STRENGTHENING THE PRE SCHOOL (ECE) COMPONENT IN ICDS ANGANWADIS OF DHARNI

BLOCK, AMRAVATI DISTRICT

This ongoing action research project focuses

on capacity building at all levels of the

Integrated Child Development Services

(ICDS) in Dharni Block to implement good

quality early childhood education for the

predominantly tribal pre-schoolers' in the

area, and to demonstrate decentralized

strategies for this purpose that can be

replicable within ICDS in other parts of the

country.

Initiation of Phase Two

In the year 2011-2012, this project was

extended to another 72 anganwadis beyond the existing 19 that were selected as Observation

Centers.

All 91 anganwadi workers were provided continuous, intensive on-site training and mentoring

support through field visits by CLR's Dharni-based staff. This was over and above the support from

their supervisors through monthly circle level training programmes. The circle level trainings are

now reaching all 215 anganwadis in Dharni.

We also initiated the training of anganwadi

helpers to enhance their participation in the

day-to-day ECE programme.

A Block Resource Team (BRT) which includes

CLR's field team and nine ICDS supervisors

provides training and mentoring support to

the anganwadi workers. It has also initiated

the process of building awareness among the

communities about the importance of ECE

and the actual involvement of the community

to sustain the work in the anganwadis.


Impact

The anganwadi centers reported increased retention of children, improved services and a positive

attitudinal shift among the ICDS staff towards their roles and responsibilities. The Middle Level

Training Centres (MLTC) instructors at Nagpur reported that the CEO of Nagpur was impressed with

the Observation anganwadi initiated as part of the project at Nagpur.

Selection of CLR's Dharni Project for the National Research Studies on Best Practices in ECE.

A case study on CLR's project in ICDS-Dharni is being undertaken by Centre for Early Childhood

Education and Development (CECED), Delhi, as part of their National Research Studies on best

practices in ECE.

CLR has developed 11 ICDS anganwadi

centres in the Mulshi Block, Pune District,

with the aim of developing model

observation sites for other ICDS and NGO

functionaries undergoing training in early

childhood education (ECE). The centres are

also intended to serve as natural and

continuous labs for the designing and

piloting of further ECE materials and

processes. The training and mentoring of

anganwadi workers and their helpers was

continued this year. In a positive move, the

ICDS supervisor of Kalvan Beat, Mulshi

Block, took initiative and distributed CLR's

ECE kits to all the anganwadis under her supervision. She also conducted an introductory training

session along with CLR field staff.

Observation Visits

The Observation Centres were visited by various professionals and institutions this year, including

the following:

- The Child Development Officer and his team from Maharashtra State Council of Educational

Research and Training (MSCERT).

- Staff of Project SCOPE (Strengthening Communities for Universal Pre- School Education) an

initiative of Forbes Marshall, Pune, who are working in the urban project of the ICDS at

Kasarwadi.

- Education Consultant to UNICEF – Maharashtra.

OBSERVATION- CUM- LAB CENTRES TO DEMONSTRATE EFFECTIVE ECE IN MULSHI BLOCK

Learning through free-play method, Mulshi

Sites for Developing Training Materials

As good ECE practices are implemented in these lab anganwadis, they provided appropriate sites for

developing audio-visual training materials. Three training videos were developed this year on the

following topics: Emergent Literacy, Early Mathematics, and Role of Helpers in anganwadis.

Reaching the Community

Several parent meetings were organized wherein the importance of ECE and issues related to the

upbringing of young children were addressed. It is encouraging to note the support being extended

by parents towards the ICDS activities. Another noticeable change is that the anganwadi workers

realize the significance of home visits and are undertaking them.

Yadgir District, North Karnataka

CLR provided technical support for ECE interventions being implemented within ICDS by Kalike

Samruddhi Upakram and Community Development Foundation (CDR) in Yadgir district, Karnataka.

We developed Baseline and School Readiness Tools for the ICDS at Yadgir, Karnataka. This was

followed with the first training of Master Trainers for their ECE programme. The Kannada edition of

the teacher's handbook accompanying the CLR Early Learning Kit has been revised and is under

publication.

Forbes Marshall, Pune

CLR is providing technical support to the Forbes Marshall CSR Initiative called 'Strengthening

Communities for Universal Pre- School Education' (SCOPE) which is being implemented in 27

anganwadi centres in the ICDS Block of Pimpri Chinchwad.

CLR supports this initiative with the provision of ECE Kit's, conducting trainings for anganwadi

helpers and setting up monitoring systems within the programme.

During the year, CLR had an introductory meeting with a NGO 'Swadhar', which is going to be the

future implementing local partner for Forbes Marshall for this initiative. The objective of this

meeting was to acquaint them with the processes and best practices followed at the anganwadi

centres in Dharni.

It has been encouraging to note that the initiative is reporting commendable improvements in the

learning abilities of children covered under it and a considerable increase in community involvement

in the initiative.

BUILDING CAPACITIES WITHIN NGO-CORPORATES-GOVERNMENT PARTENRSHIPS FOR EARLY

CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: NORTH KARNATAKA AND URBAN PUNE.



A CAREGIVER EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR PROMOTING HOLISTIC HOME-BASED CHILD

CARE IN RAJNANDGAON BLOCK, CHATTISGARH

A programme for providing integrated messages for health, nutrition and psychosocial development

up to caregivers of birth-3 year old children (and pregnant women) was launched in 164 villages of

Rajnandgaon Block of Chhattisgarh. This programme brings together workers from Health, WCD

departments and State Literacy Mission Authority. The intention is to promote convergence of

objectives and actions relating to this age group among these Government Departments.

32 Master Trainers and over 600 Village Communicators have been enrolled for this project. CLR is

training the Master Trainers and helping them train the village communicators for reaching the

caregivers. CLR's curriculum and education package for caregivers for birth to 3 years age group is

being used in the intervention.


ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN REGIONAL MEDIUM SCHOOLS

English Resource Centre (ERC)

Orientation of teachers and provision

of grade specific materials to students.

Around 300 teachers per grade were

oriented to grade specific student

materials and transaction of the

course in the classrooms. Around

11,000 students per grade from 230

regional medium schools were

provided with learning materials

and taught the course. The grade

specific courses that were conducted

included - Grade 3: Let's Read & Write English (R&W), Grade 4: Let's Read & Write English, We Learn

English (WLE) and Grade 5: We Learn English.

'Enhance Your English' Course

This 19 day course to improve the basic English language skills of teachers was conducted in 3

batches for approximately 75 teachers.

Constitution of Teacher Mentors Team (TM's)

A key aspect of our approach for institutionalizing the English Resource Centre, in Pune Municipal

Corporation(PMC) schools, is the constitution of a Teacher Mentors (TM's) team. The Teacher

Mentors are selected, trained and they have the responsibility for mentoring and supporting

assigned school teachers through on-site visits. Over time, they are expected to form the core of an

English language resource group for PMC School Board. The mentor development programme aims

at enabling them to do the following:

· Develop English language familiarity and confidence to converse, read and write in English.

· Develop an understanding of children's foreign language learning processes and devise

contextually appropriate interventions for improving classroom transactions.

· Learn motivationally appropriate ways of assisting teachers to improve their classroom

effectiveness.

The impact of the mentoring programme was apparent in the post-test results conducted with

students from classes 3, 4 and 5. Under this study, 298 students from mentored schools and 1012

students from non mentored schools were covered. While all schools showed significant

improvement from base-line results, the performance in mentored schools was noticeably higher

and was especially apparent in the much higher scores on the more complex skills.

CLR Staff with Teacher Mentors Team


As a move towards institutionalizing the ERC, the School Board allocated a physical space for the

same within the premises of a PMC school. The ERC was inaugurated by the School Board

chairperson Ms. Sangita Tiwari, in the presence of other school board members, teacher mentors

and CLR staff.

Radio Programme

CLR's interactive bilingual radio programme “Aamhi Ingraji Shikto”/We learn English, designed to

improve the English speaking skills of students studying in government regional medium schools,

continued to run successfully in over 800 Pune Zilla Parishad Schools.

The CLR is developing a “Graded Reading Series” for students learning English as a second or third

language in regional medium schools. The books in this series feature fictional and non-fictional

reading materials that can also be read at earlier levels by students in English medium schools. They

contain graded language structures and controlled vocabulary, combined with age-appropriate,

enjoyable content. The first level of this series was published this year, consisting of 12 titles.

“The CLR books are easy to read, offer many activities, helps understand letter sound association

easily, helps learn simple to complex concepts smoothly and has helped children a lot to learn

English on their own. The teacher mentors have been very helpful in providing understanding on

vowel pronunciation, spellings, etc”

Vijaya Karale, Teacher, PMC School No 134 (B).

DEVELOPING GRADED READING MATERIALS IN ENGLISH

Fig. : The Post-Test results of Class 3 students reflecting the impact of the Mentoring Programme

(Class 4 and 5 students demonstrated similar improvement)


YUVA ENGLISH

The Yuva English (YE) course is designed

especially for young people who have

completed Class 10 from regional medium

schools and have limited English skills.

Nearly 1495 students took the course during

the year with over 26 non-profit

organizations participating.

A formal assessment of over 1000 learners

revealed significant improvements in all

English language skills. Students, instructors

and non-profit heads, all reported that the

students displayed a significantly higher level of confidence while using the language.

During the year, we also improved our pre- and post-test instruments and developed an instructor

selection tool for use by participating organizations. We also produced a training DVD meant for use

by instructors to ensure that the key teaching points remain fresh in their minds.

We conducted a Yuva course for 8 visually impaired students from Jagruti School. The course

provided valuable learnings for modifications necessary in the course for this segment.

The success of this pilot, positions Yuva for a larger distribution. A number of different segments,

including ITI's, D.Ed colleges, engineering colleges and commercial organizations have been

identified for the purpose.

Average percentage score Pre-Test Post-Test

YE Learners from Jagruti School for visually impaired girls with CLR staff


To highlight the effectiveness and

widen the reach of the Yuva

Programme, a promotional DVD,

featuring the experiences of the

learners across various cities and the

subsequent impact on their English

language skills was prepared.

It has been proposed to have one

Instructors Training Programme

every month, so that the course

reaches out to many learners. For this

CLR has drawn out the calendar for the

YE-ITP till Dec. 2012.

“In this course there is more

emphasis on encouraging

the learners to talk. In

earlier courses that I have

taught only I would talk and

learners would be sitting

passively."

Instructor at JSS, an NGO

in Mumbai

A Yuva English Course in progress

Yuva English Course Learning kit


OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Ms Anjali Gokhale, Dr. Harini Raval and Ms Vidya Ghughari were invited for the Core group meeting

on the revision of MIS in ICDS under the Rajmata Jijau Mission by the Department of Women and

Child Department in December 2011.

CLR is participating in a UNICEF funded nationwide study on 'Best Practices in Early Childhood

Education in India', undertaken by Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED),

Ambedkar University, New Delhi. On behalf of CLR, Ms Anjali Gokhale and Dr Harini Raval are

conducting a case study of anganwadis in Patan district, Gujarat.

Ms Vidya Ghugari participated in a training on ECCD, organized by NEG-FIRE in order to develop a

web based MIS on ECCD and RTE in November 2011.

Ms Rajashree Pande and Mr Moiz Raja Shaikh represented CLR at an International Conference on

Assessing and Evaluating the English Language Education, Teaching and Learning, in Hyderabad, in

March 2012.

Dr. Harini Raval participated in a workshop organized by UNICEF and Maharashtra SCERT for

consultations on conducting a base-line study on ECE activities in Maharashtra ICDS.

Three Academic Papers by Dr. Harini Raval were authored and published in prominent journals.

- 'Institutionalizing planning, enactment and reflections of daily lessons through appropriate

organizational restructuring' in the Asia-Pacific Educational Researcher.

- 'Contextual factors that foster or inhibit para-teacher professional development : the case of an

Indian, non-governmental organization' in the International Journal of Training and

Development.

- A paper on 'Understanding the design research process : The evaluation of professional

development programme in Indian slums' was accepted and presented by her co-authors at a

paper presentation at the AERA Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Chittaranjan Kaul participated in the following:

§ Invited to be the Coordinator of a State Resource Group for English, by Maharashtra

Prathmik Shikshan Parishad (MPSP).

§ Delivered a talk on 'The Decade Ahead for Education in India', at the Harvard India

Conference, 2012


Dr. John Kurrien participated in the following:

§ A RTE Conference in Jaipur organized by the Rajasthan RTE Consortium, in June 2011, where

he gave a presentation entitled: “The Rajasthan Education Scenario: A RTE Perspective”.

§ A Consultation on The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and Law”

organized by 'Save The Children' in consultation with Centre For Learning Resources at the

ILS Law College, Pune in June 2011, where he helped conceptualize and moderate the

Consultation along with Ashok Agarwal, a Lawyer and an Activist.

Dr. John Kurrien and Chittaranjan Kaul participated in the following:

§ Meetings relating to the framing of Maharashtra State Rules for the RTE Act. Our efforts led

to the incorporation of rules for periodic assessment of student outcomes.

§ A National Conference on 'Children, Schooling and Crisis—What Recent Research Reveals' in

Delhi organized by NEG-Fire, October 2011.

Ms. Zakiya Kurrien was invited as a resource person at the Consultation on training for Programmes

in Early Child Care and Development organized by Mobile Crèches in New Delhi in March 2012,

wherein she presented the CLR's training approaches and content related to Care giver, Education

and Early Child Education.

Dr John Kurrien, Ms. Zakiya Kurrien and Chittaranjan Kaul attended two meetings, convened by the

Maharashtra Prathmik Shikshan Parishad (MPSP), related to the proposed State Resource Group on

English, held in Mumbai and Pune in 2011.

Dr. Susan McKenney of University of Twente, Netherlands, and Open University of Amsterdam

visited CLR under an ICSSR-NWO grant for discussions on initiating an academic partnership

between CLR and the two institutions.

CLR was invited as a member of the Publisher Action Group- Ensuring quality books (Pag-e) formed

by a group of eminent publishers of children's books deeply commited to quality publishing and

business ethics and publishing in all Indian languages.


Funding

Acknowledgments

The CLR gratefully acknowledges the grant received from Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust for the Early

Childhood Education projects in Dharni Block of Amravati District and Yadgir District. We also thank

New Education Group, Foundation for Innovation and Research in Education (NEG-FIRE) for co-

funding the project in Dharni Block.

We are grateful to the Jamsetji Tata Trust and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation for supporting the

activities related to the English Resource Centre in the PMC schools.

We are grateful to Tech Mahindra Foundation for funding the development and piloting of the

English language course entitled “Yuva English”.

We thank The Karuna Trust, UK, for funding the development of video training materials in Early

Childhood Education.

We gratefully acknowledge the guidance and cooperation of the members of our Governing Council.

The members are:

Mr. Ardeshir Dubash Mr. Milon Nag

Dr. John Kurrien Mr. Gautam Patel

Ms. Zakiya Kurrien Dr. Farrokh Wadia

Ms. Ingrid Mendonca Dr. Statira Wadia

FUNDING / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Centre For Learning ResourcesAnnual Report

2011-12

Centre For Learning Resources8 Deccan College Road, Yerawada, Pune - 411006

E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.clrindia.net

Documents

Annual report 2011-12-cover