[ Bengia Ajum ]
CHANGLANG, 30 Apr: The Changlang district administration has initiated a unique ‘school readiness programme’ (SRP) with the aim of improving the learning capacity of the children, besides improving their performance in various examinations.
The district figures among one of the 10 low-performing districts of India, and its Class 10 pass percentage stands at a dismal 36 percent.
As per a survey, more than 50 percent of the students of Class 5 – particularly the students of government-run schools in the district – could not solve basic mathematics, or write proper sentences. In view of this, the district administration has decided to use the summer vacation to implement the SRP with the help of volunteers.
“During summer vacation, children usually remain free and there is a paucity of enabling environments at home. Very seldom, parents guide and teach their children during vacation, mainly owing to them being illiterate or unavailable at home because of their occupational commitment, be it agriculture, business, or government service. Because of this, children usually unlearn what they have learnt in the past. This is where the SRP comes in,” said Deputy Commissioner Sunny K Singh, under whose guidance the programme is being run.
The DC said that the idea behind the SRP is to “provide a learning continuity to the children without giving them complete break during vacation by engaging them through activity-based learning modules conducted by village-level volunteers.”
“The learning activities are being conducted either in primary schools in the villages or at the homes of the volunteers. The SRP is a 45-day programme, and it intends to improve the basic foundation of children,” he said.
Some of the activity-based learning modules are based on making children learn the concept of counting using local items like rocks; running and hugging; sight word activity; peer to peer learning; and outdoor activity-based learning.
The volunteers are mostly college students hailing from various villages of the district. “These college students come to their villages during the vacation period. They spare three hours daily from their schedule and teach under the SPR. It also helps them boost their confidence and acquire teaching skills. At the same time, it gives them a sense of fulfillment that they are contributing to rescue their small brothers and sisters from the web of illiteracy,” the DC said.
The volunteers will be provided with certificates by the district administration.
Further, two NGOs – India Foundation for Educational Transformation, and Pratham – are working as partners in the SRP initiative. For the villages where college students are not available, the DA has roped in unemployed but motivated youths to be volunteers.
The school readiness programme is just a three-hour programme. It is totally flexible, and children are engaged in activity-based learning. It does not affect their vacation schedule much, and the children continue to enjoy the vacation with their families. The SRP is helping the district administration in identifying the areas where it can work to improve the learning capacity of children.
“During this 45-day programme, we will be able to identify how children, even after attending schools for four to five years, are not able to read, write and perform basic numeracy. Based on our findings, the district administration and the whole education team of the district can introspect and make improvements wherever required,” the DC added.
