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| Read Andhra Pradesh – Half yearly Report- April –Sep 09 |
| Objectives of APAL: |
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| LANGUAGE: |
- Popularizing the methods among children.
- Children to observe, listen, read and write with concentration.
- Every child in Std 1 & 2 should identify the letters, words and read a simple
sentence.
- Every child in STD 3-5 should read paragraphs and story fluently.
- Every child should speak fluently and write correctly.
MATHS:
- I & II STD child should identify up to 100 numbers with place value.
- STD 3-5 children should Identify numbers till 100000 (lakh) with expansion and Place values.
- STD 3-5 child should do four fundamental operations and fractions in Mathematics.
ENGLISH:
- Letter recognition with sounds
- To learn mixed and blend letters
- To converse in simple sentences
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| Coverage: |
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Read India Coverage |
Hewlett Districts |
PUSA DISTRICTS |
Districts covered |
12 |
10 |
2 |
Mandals reached |
83(52 under MEP and 31 under DRC dist) |
75 |
8 |
Villages/schools reached |
2677 |
2385 |
292 |
Children reached |
53511 |
47413 |
6138 |
Volunteers mobilized |
3330 |
3018 |
312 |
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| Background : |
Read India with APAL goals was implemented in 12 districts of the state from April to September. Out of 12 districts, DRC is located in Guntur district with complete coverage of the district. (Encl 1. DRC report) The state SSA is also implementing its own program, Learning Excellence Program. SSA program looks very much similar to Pratham APAL program. Pratham submitted a proposal for partnership program on MEP in 11 districts at the state SSA office; however SSA did not come forward. Pratham in AP is currently working with a few schools at the mandal level where ever supported by respective Education officer. This year also in the absence of a state-wide collaboration, APAL has been implemented in Andhra Pradesh through a volunteer-based approach.
April to September 2009-10, the program was divided into two phases – The first Phase lasted from April to June and the second Phase from July to September. In the first phase major focus was on capacity building of the entire Read India Team, which includes DRC faculty, Regional Coordinators, District and Mandal Coordinators and piloting APAL methods. In the second phase the complete focus was on Implementation of the program. By the end of second phase APAL methodology was rolled out to all the focused mandals in 12 districts. |
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| Partnerships : |
In the absence of a state-wide collaboration, Read Andhra Pradesh was implemented through a volunteer-based approach. However partnerships were made at the Mandal level to run classes in school where the Mandal Education Officers of SSA and Head teachers gave permission to Pratham team to implement the program.
Read AP’s volunteers have been mobilized from several government departments like the ICDS, youth clubs, self help groups and also from the existing para teacher cadre of the primary school system (known as Vidya volunteers).
Pratham has also developed a strong partnership with Woman Child Development Department (coordinating department for ICDS) in Karimnagar. Anganwadi workers of ICDS are undergoing CAMAL course and will be taking classes in the villages on APAL methods.
Pratham AP has maintained a steady partnership with Panchayati Raj institutions at village level by conducting village level meetings and participating in Gramsabhas. Team is collecting letters from Sarpanches also.
Pratham team also took out rallies and conducted children melas to propagate APAL methods in the village besides running classes. In this regard, team involved Mahila Mandals and DWACRA (Self Help) Groups. |
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| Team |
The team includes a state head who is supported by 3 Regional Heads. This team is responsible for all coordination with the government, creation of materials, logistics, accounts, and monitoring.
In addition to this team, there are 22 District coordinators, 44 Mandal coordinators and 144 Cluster Coordinators in MEP program. One Mandal Coordinator is responsible of one mandal with responsibilities of mobilization of volunteers, coordinating with different departments, organizing meetings and training volunteers. Cluster Coordinator is responsible of 10 villages. She/he runs a class in her own village and coordinates 10 village volunteers. |
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| Volunteers |
Besides the volunteers mentioned above, several of the volunteers are local village youth or housewives recruited with the help of the Panchayats. All the volunteers were given two day training on material usage at the mandal (sub district- area smaller than a block) level before they started the classes. After training these volunteers gathered about 20 children and on the basis of their learning levels started a daily class with them. |
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| Implementation: |
- Trainings:
In the month of April 8th to 15th the first phase on APAL training was imparted to district and mandal coordinators. Subsequently the team started Pilot classes. Entire team was put in 2 divisions of one district each where the team conducted classes for the children during day time and reviewed the day’s program. They did house hold survey of village based on ASER sampling and covered children of entire village.
Regional Coordinators attended the master trainer’s training program given by National team at Nadiad and Pune.
The second phase of APAL was imparted to the District and Mandal coordinators by the regional team in the month of June (15th to 23rd). The team 66 was divided into two and trainings were given at two locations (Hyderabad and Bapatla).
- Mobilization
Mobilization of volunteers started as soon the team completed their training. And also the team selected one school each in their respective mandals to teach 6th std based on APAL methods. The team was instructed to run a class in the school during day time for std 6th for 3 hours and monitor the classes of volunteers in the villages during evening hours.
The regional and district coordinators visited the villages to identify and mobilize volunteers. Trainings of volunteers were conducted at mandal levels. The district and mandal coordinators gave training to village volunteers at mandal level. TLM was distributed to all the volunteers. Subsequently classes were taken up by the volunteers in their villages.
In addition to the mobilization, training and teacher learning activities conducted in this period, the Pratham state and regional team participated in several other activities. The staff also visited the gramsabhas to conduct awareness meetings with them. In Nijamabad, Karimnagar, Guntur, Prakasam and Krishna, the teams visited the gram sabhas, ICDS and SSA meetings to provide orientation on Read India goals and methodologies to the officials.
Read India classes following the APAL technique were continued in all the villages by the volunteers and schools by the mandal coordinators (6th std).
- Materials
A kit provided to a volunteer includes 58 story cards, number charts, barakhari chart, currency notes, straws and rubber bands for Maths and manuals. The materials developed by Read AP are appreciated by all the stake holders at all levels as they are very good quality. Materials were distributed to village volunteers. However instructions were given to the team to collect small amount of money from the volunteers for the kit.
- Monitoring
Regional, district and Mandal teams monitored classes at regular intervals. The team plans their schedule at the beginning of each month and based on this plan visit the different villages. During visits they observe the teaching method, usage of teaching learning material, children’s participation in the learning process, etc. They also assess the reading level of a few children in each class and compare notes with the volunteer, who separately makes his or her own assessment of each child.
- E. Assessment:
Mandal Excellence Program (MEP)’s baseline data was collected based on sample given by SUNAI (ASER Center).
Focused mandals (4 per district) list from 12 districts was sent to SUNAI. A sample of 6 schools from each focused mandal was chosen SUNAI based on the list. Assessment of total 25 schools/district was completed by end September. (Encl 2 : Baseline data for two dist)
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| Highlights |
- Pratham has implemented Read Andhra Pradesh (AP) through a volunteer-based program during this period.
- Across government schools, there is an increased focus on learning.
- Though there is no formal partnership between Pratham and SSA, it is evident that PRATHAM-AP played a major role on learning improvement programs that are visible in schools.
- English taught in APAL class is an attraction for the children and showing good demand for the same.
- Entered into a partnership with local Society in DRC (Guntur) district where the society gave 30200sqft land to Prtham to run DRC activities.
- ICDS in Karimnagar sent Anganwadi Workers to enroll in CaMAL course which is of 4 months duration.
- Graduates, private school teachers and existing volunteers also enrolled into CaMAL course in several Read India Districts.
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