International Workshop on

Innovative Efforts for

Universal Quality Education

10 July 2014

‘Improving the relevance of Teaching and Learning to the Learners and their Contexts’

OASiS – A Social Innovation Lab • Identify gaps and long pending issues in society. • Research on why these gaps still exist – causes. • Research forgotten customs and rituals related to

the issue. • Study solutions and approaches by others. • Compile their best practices and failures. • Use out-of-box thinking techniques to design a

simple, innovative, practical solution for the issue • Pilot the solution, through the stakeholders. • Use learning to develop the solution into Model. • Share the model with others for Replication.

MODELS OF OASiS • CESS - Consumption and Expense based Social Security System,

with no taxes, cuts or savings. Implemented in 2 states, planned in 3 more.

• NIRAMAYA - A National Health Insurance mechanism for People with Disabilities, implemented by National Trust (GoI) since 2008.

• THE MUSEUM SCHOOL – for Urban slum Children – In Bhopal since 2005, in Bangalore since 2012, in Delhi and Mumbai since 2010.

• SIL - Social Innovation Labs in Universities. Implemented in Canada, soon in Singapore and Indian Universities and Institutes.

• SWANS - Youth development through Social Volunteering – 900 Volunteers nationally.

• SCALE - Social Credit system giving Advantage for Learning and Employment. Adopted by a State Govt. in their Youth Policy, and by other Volunteer Groups in the country.

• GRAMODAYA – A School of Rural Development for Rural Children, with local employment. Being piloted by Collaborators in 3 states.

Children of the same world

But Two different Environments

RURAL URBAN

TWO QUESTIONS

• SMOKE GOES UP

• PLANTS HAVE BRAINS

OASiS – A Social Innovations Lab

• Education of Underserved children: GAPS

– URBAN : Quantity but no Quality

• Lack of Infrastructure

• Lack of Resources and Teaching Aids

• Lack of well trained Teachers

• Knowledge follows Literacy

– RURAL : Content not relevant to Context

• Poor understanding of concepts

• No employability after schooling

• Knowledge gained – no help to existing Livelihood or to improve their living environment.

RURAL - The PROBLEM • Indian School education - designed to develop

aspirations and careers for urban professions, like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, etc.

• This education is forced upon rural students as well. So they too develop urban aspirations, leading to migration at different levels.

• On one hand urban professions are getting stagnated with overflowing human resources, from both urban and rural areas.

• On the other hand rural development is lagging behind, because of lack of trained human resources.

• Because rural development education is being given to urban students in B-Schools like IRMA, TISS, etc.

THE QUESTIONS • If rural development lacks trained human

resources, why aren’t there enough schools to teach rural development?

• If rural children have such high potential, that they can take up urban professions, why can’t they be trained on rural development?

• If rural students get enough local employment by studying rural development, would they still dropout of school?

THE IDEA - GRAMODAYA

• A rural school that teaches rural development.

• To Std 8th and 10th pass rural students.

• All aspects of rural development in 1st year.

• Specialization in any 2 areas in 2nd year.

• 6 month internship with an NGO / Govt body.

• 70% on-field, 30% classroom teaching.

• Certification from National Open School, National Open University and Gramodaya.

GRAMODAYA Pass Outs

• Can become freelancers, providing their specialized services to Panchayats for implementing NREGA and other programmes.

• Can get employed by Govt welfare programs and NGOs working for rural populations.

• Can pursue further studies in a stream of their choice in B-Schools and other Universities.

• Can start GRAMODAYA Schools in deeper rural pockets for more children.

IMPLEMENTATION • Being Piloted in 3 states

Andhra Pradesh Anantpur District

Madhya Pradesh Seoni District

West Bengal Bankura District

FINANCIAL STRATEGY

• At the Pilot stage, the model is being implemented through funds and awards.

• After 2 years, when the first batch is placed, an educational loan mechanism will be started through philanthropy or a revolving fund.

• Once established, education loans will be tried out with Banks and other Financial institutions

• Govt welfare programmes and NGOs share the on-field learning costs.

Do You Need

A COMMERCIAL BREAK ?

URBAN – The PROBLEM

• All big cities have huge slum populations, that have many non-school-going children and dropouts.

• Quality of Education for them – Huge Concern

• Little infrastructure not sparking quest for learning

• Almost NO Teaching Aids

• Less Teachers for more classes, with no motivation to teach or upgrade themselves.

• No employment after schooling.

The OPPORTUNITY

• Every big city has lots of Museums, that are subject focused and house different levels of knowledge, a beautiful learning environment

• The exhibits of Museums are powerful tools to facilitate conceptual understanding.

• Every big city has lots of Colleges offering B.Ed courses (that produce teachers), but little Practice Teaching.

• Every big city has enough out-of-school slum children, not interested in the rote-learning, fear failure, and have no employment after schooling.

THE MUSEUM SCHOOL • Based on the belief that nature is the best teacher, and

exposure provokes inquisitiveness and learning.

• Collaborated with 5 Museums of Bhopal, to create a new environment of Learning and development.

• Curriculum designed to provide wholistic education, starting from behavioral changes ,academics, physical, adolescence education and finally ending with vocational skills and entrepreneurship.

• Exhibits of Museums – used as teaching aids.

• Collaborated with B.Ed Colleges for conducting practice teaching classes for B.Ed students.

• Educated girls recruited from the same slums, and trained in literacy teaching techniques, to become Literacy Teachers.

LEARNING • The initial days might be only a picnic for children, but soon their

inquisitiveness provokes them to start asking What, Why and How – the first step to Learning

• The Museum exhibits helps them to understand every concept practically and very easily.

• Children ask very interesting questions to the Museum staff and B.Ed students, at times challenging their existing knowledge.

• Even without literacy, children absorb knowledge; proving existing notions wrong that knowledge follows literacy.

• The world of alphabets and numbers introduced by our innovative approaches, helps the children express their knowledge gained through it, and impress others.

• The fast change in their personality and newly found confidence, gets them appreciation from community, and back into school.

THE MUSEUM

SCHOOL

BEFORE

AFTER

Replication in other Cities

• The Museum School model has been running in Bhopal for past 9 years.

• Bangalore has replicated the same model, collaborating with 2 Museums.

• Delhi has replicated it in a weekend mode, collaborating with 1 Museum.

• Mumbai has replicated it in a weekend mode, collaborating with 1 Museum.

• Mysore will also soon have The Museum School.

Next steps • To train these children in different

vocations so that when they move out of this school, they are independent enough to earn their livelihood from these vocations.

• To get them admission in institutes offering professional courses, after they complete their 10th and 12th.

• Share learning with regular schools, so that they can adopt this model, for better learning through practical experience.

• To take this model to more and more cities, so that underprivileged students get quality education in every part of the country.

OBJECTIVE of our APPROACHES

• Both GRAMODAYA and THE MUSEUM SCHOOL focus on:

– Give choices in learning and wider opportunities.

– Teach content related to their environment.

– Make education improve employability.

– Make every space a Learning space – move beyond four walls and a blackboard.

– Groom children to absorb and learn from everything and everyone around them.

Have we Answered these ?

• Do low-income students need a different pedagogy? Are active pedagogies appropriate for these students?

• Is national curriculum, well adapted to the needs of low income communities?

• Does our program move away from OR support mainstream education?

• How do we reach out-of-school children? • How are low-income students integrated into

mixed socio-economic schools? How are diverse socio-economic schools created?

Pradeep Ghosh (Ashoka Fellow)

Email: oasisorg.india@gmail.com

Tel: 0-9893274407, 0755-4274407

Web: www.oasisorg.notlong.com