The Good Sight March, 2023

Volume 4 / Issue 6

www.thegoodsight.org

She The Power: Solidaridad enables women to drive agrosupply chains pg-6

Powerful & Purposeful Pedagogy: Transforming literacy education through ALfA pg-18

Solidaridad has been leveraging digital technology to collectivize women in the dairy sector.

The good sight | 1

Let’s celebrate their work

The Good Sight

Asit Srivastava Arnav Sinha Deputy Editor Udisha Srivastava Creative Head Priyanka S Marketing Head Nimesh Lal Photo Editor AbhiShek Basu Team TGS

The importance of social sector organizations in promoting a sustainable and equitable future cannot be overstated. These organizations are driven by a passion to improve the lives of those in need and to address the most pressing challenges facing our society. In this issue of The Good Sight, we have covered a few such organizations that are contributing to the greater good.

Editor’s Note

Editor

Dear Reader,

One of the most significant contributions of social sector organizations is their ability to innovate and find new solutions to complex problems. These organizations often operate in resource-constrained environments and are forced to be creative in finding ways to maximize their impact. They are also able to experiment with new approaches and learn from their successes and failures, which can lead to more effective and sustainable solutions in the long term. Another key strength of social sector organizations is their ability to mobilize communities and bring people together around a common cause. By working closely with local communities, these organizations are able to understand the unique challenges and opportunities facing each community and develop solutions that are tailored to their specific needs. As readers of The Good Sight, we should all be proud to support and celebrate the work of social sector organizations. Whether you are a donor, volunteer, or simply a supporter, your contributions make a real difference in the lives of those in need and in creating a better world for all. Let us take a moment to appreciate and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of these organizations and the positive impact they are making in our world. Happy reading! Editors

Asit Srivastava Arnav Sinha 2 | The good sight

The good sight | 3

Let’s celebrate their work

The Good Sight

Asit Srivastava Arnav Sinha Deputy Editor Udisha Srivastava Creative Head Priyanka S Marketing Head Nimesh Lal Photo Editor AbhiShek Basu Team TGS

The importance of social sector organizations in promoting a sustainable and equitable future cannot be overstated. These organizations are driven by a passion to improve the lives of those in need and to address the most pressing challenges facing our society. In this issue of The Good Sight, we have covered a few such organizations that are contributing to the greater good.

Editor’s Note

Editor

Dear Reader,

One of the most significant contributions of social sector organizations is their ability to innovate and find new solutions to complex problems. These organizations often operate in resource-constrained environments and are forced to be creative in finding ways to maximize their impact. They are also able to experiment with new approaches and learn from their successes and failures, which can lead to more effective and sustainable solutions in the long term. Another key strength of social sector organizations is their ability to mobilize communities and bring people together around a common cause. By working closely with local communities, these organizations are able to understand the unique challenges and opportunities facing each community and develop solutions that are tailored to their specific needs. As readers of The Good Sight, we should all be proud to support and celebrate the work of social sector organizations. Whether you are a donor, volunteer, or simply a supporter, your contributions make a real difference in the lives of those in need and in creating a better world for all. Let us take a moment to appreciate and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of these organizations and the positive impact they are making in our world. Happy reading! Editors

Asit Srivastava Arnav Sinha 2 | The good sight

The good sight | 3

INSIDE 4 | The good sight

Women farmers steering transformation in agro-supply chains

Toilets for a healthy tomorrow

32 60

6

Foundational literacy takes centre stage at SERI summit

Aim to strengthen

Bridging the gap

Education my right

10 38

A Barefoot journey to lifelong learning

By the numbers

Margin to Mainstream

18 50

Changing India one Wash at a time

28

Village Folk Turn on the Tap

42 70

12 Beyond 10% to 10X: The radical transformation of education

64

Let’s reimagine social change as young India!

74

Khichdi for livelihood

56 The good sight | 5

INSIDE 4 | The good sight

Women farmers steering transformation in agro-supply chains

Toilets for a healthy tomorrow

32 60

6

Foundational literacy takes centre stage at SERI summit

Aim to strengthen

Bridging the gap

Education my right

10 38

A Barefoot journey to lifelong learning

By the numbers

Margin to Mainstream

18 50

Changing India one Wash at a time

28

Village Folk Turn on the Tap

42 70

12 Beyond 10% to 10X: The radical transformation of education

64

Let’s reimagine social change as young India!

74

Khichdi for livelihood

56 The good sight | 5

Women farmers steering transformation in agro-supply chains Solidaridad has been on a mission mode to ‘feminize supply chains’, whereby women are encouraged to become a part of the formal supply chains and market economy

Formed under the guidance of Solidaridad and MPSRLM, Rakshika Mahila Kisan Producer Company is working with 300 soy farmers of Gunaga village in Bhopal.

In Bangladesh, for instance, Solidaridad has been leveraging digital technology to collectivize women in the dairy sector. The increased usage of technology has resulted in more women using digital tools to access information on better management of farming activities. Coupled with training on financial literacy, women farmers are entering the formal supply chain.

Technology collectivizing women dairy farmers in Bangladesh Tapoti, a traditional dairy farmer in Bangladesh, says: “I never knew the use of mobile could help me accelerate my dairy business. Seeing the success of fellow women dairy farmers using mobile phones, I decided to purchase a mobile phone for myself. I received urgent services related to disease management

for my cattle, which was beyond my imagination. I can use my mobile phone comfortably and get necessary information related to dairy farming by just giving a call to the hotline number.” Tapoti is among the many dairy farmers in Bangladesh who are registered with the Milk Collection Centre (MCC) via the i2i app which provides seamless access to good dairy practices and tracks milk collection to the MCC along with the disbursal of payments. This has ensured women’s empowerment through increased income-generating opportunities, which in turn has resulted in greater participation and engagement of women in community-based organizations (CBOs). Further, it has helped women farmers become entrepreneurs. “I am proud to say that I am now a successful dairy entrepreneur. This was possible

because of the support I received on model dairy farming practices over phone,” she says.

Women-led enterprises making a mark in India “We want at least 1,000 women to join our FPO,” says Sapna Rai, Executive Director of Rakshika Mahila Kisan Producer Company. This FPO or farmer producer organization is working with 300 soy farmers of Gunaga village in Bhopal district, Madhya Pradesh, India. The company was formed on 15 February 2021 under the guidance of Solidaridad and Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MPSRLM). All the 300 women farmers have contributed towards the FPO corpus and are its members too. As the first step, Solidaridad provided extensive training to

Devli Bai, one of the promoters of, Rakshika Mahila Kisan Producer Company, got an opportunity to digitally interact with the Prime Minister and share her story of empowerment.

W

omen form the backbone of agriculture in Asia. A large proportion of their time goes into working in fields and rearing cattle. Even after active involvement in agriculture, women are not able to participate in the formal market as supply chains are male-dominated and not much has been done to create an enabling environment for women to participate. As a result, women are devoid of financial benefits generated through the sale of agro commodities. To change the social normative, Solidaridad has been on a mission mode to ‘feminize supply chains’, whereby women are encouraged to become a part of the formal supply chains and market economy.

6 | The good sight

The good sight | 7

Women farmers steering transformation in agro-supply chains Solidaridad has been on a mission mode to ‘feminize supply chains’, whereby women are encouraged to become a part of the formal supply chains and market economy

Formed under the guidance of Solidaridad and MPSRLM, Rakshika Mahila Kisan Producer Company is working with 300 soy farmers of Gunaga village in Bhopal.

In Bangladesh, for instance, Solidaridad has been leveraging digital technology to collectivize women in the dairy sector. The increased usage of technology has resulted in more women using digital tools to access information on better management of farming activities. Coupled with training on financial literacy, women farmers are entering the formal supply chain.

Technology collectivizing women dairy farmers in Bangladesh Tapoti, a traditional dairy farmer in Bangladesh, says: “I never knew the use of mobile could help me accelerate my dairy business. Seeing the success of fellow women dairy farmers using mobile phones, I decided to purchase a mobile phone for myself. I received urgent services related to disease management

for my cattle, which was beyond my imagination. I can use my mobile phone comfortably and get necessary information related to dairy farming by just giving a call to the hotline number.” Tapoti is among the many dairy farmers in Bangladesh who are registered with the Milk Collection Centre (MCC) via the i2i app which provides seamless access to good dairy practices and tracks milk collection to the MCC along with the disbursal of payments. This has ensured women’s empowerment through increased income-generating opportunities, which in turn has resulted in greater participation and engagement of women in community-based organizations (CBOs). Further, it has helped women farmers become entrepreneurs. “I am proud to say that I am now a successful dairy entrepreneur. This was possible

because of the support I received on model dairy farming practices over phone,” she says.

Women-led enterprises making a mark in India “We want at least 1,000 women to join our FPO,” says Sapna Rai, Executive Director of Rakshika Mahila Kisan Producer Company. This FPO or farmer producer organization is working with 300 soy farmers of Gunaga village in Bhopal district, Madhya Pradesh, India. The company was formed on 15 February 2021 under the guidance of Solidaridad and Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (MPSRLM). All the 300 women farmers have contributed towards the FPO corpus and are its members too. As the first step, Solidaridad provided extensive training to

Devli Bai, one of the promoters of, Rakshika Mahila Kisan Producer Company, got an opportunity to digitally interact with the Prime Minister and share her story of empowerment.

W

omen form the backbone of agriculture in Asia. A large proportion of their time goes into working in fields and rearing cattle. Even after active involvement in agriculture, women are not able to participate in the formal market as supply chains are male-dominated and not much has been done to create an enabling environment for women to participate. As a result, women are devoid of financial benefits generated through the sale of agro commodities. To change the social normative, Solidaridad has been on a mission mode to ‘feminize supply chains’, whereby women are encouraged to become a part of the formal supply chains and market economy.

6 | The good sight

The good sight | 7

Tapoti is among the many dairy farmers in Bangladesh who are reaping the benefits of the i2i app.

farmers in the area to cultivate soy (the geography is suitable for the crop) and carried out awareness campaigns about its nutritional benefits. Encouraged by the income from the soy cultivation, Sapna sensed an opportunity to aim higher. She along with some other women farmers in the village formed a group to market their produce better. Solidaridad and its knowledge partners told them about the nutritional benefits of tofu and trained them on producing it from dried soy. Sapna and team grabbed the opportunity. Now the FPO has set up a semi-automatic plant to produce tofu at a mass scale. “We are also raising awareness on how tofu is infused with proteins and is a great source of food for those suffering from protein deficiency, especially children,” she says. While the major buyers are the local markets, the FPO is planning to expand its supply to schools, hotels, and hospitals. A proud moment for the company came last year when one of its promoters and a soy farmer, Devli Bai, got an opportunity to digitally interact with the Prime Minister and share her story of empowerment.

Breaking the glass ceiling Recognition for women in agriculture is slow and hard to come by. But organized as collectives, farmers such as Sapna and Tapoti are changing the game by gradually carving a space for women in the agro-supply chain by understanding marketspace and commodity businesses. There is a plethora of economic arguments in favour of feminized supply chains. One, women-led supply chain is less susceptible to disruption since women are not prone to shift their market base. Second, women-led agriculture has the potential to fight poverty’s nefarious effects. Third, women are better sustainability managers because they are known to be more sensitive to the environment and the benefits of natural farming. And lastly, food sufficiency is bound to increase in a world where women, who are natural nurturers, are at the helm. Sapna is now thinking of diversifying the FPO after deliberations with her colleagues. “It is necessary for us to identify consumer needs and then create businesses since many women have different interests and strengths.” 8 | The good sight

The good sight | 9

Tapoti is among the many dairy farmers in Bangladesh who are reaping the benefits of the i2i app.

farmers in the area to cultivate soy (the geography is suitable for the crop) and carried out awareness campaigns about its nutritional benefits. Encouraged by the income from the soy cultivation, Sapna sensed an opportunity to aim higher. She along with some other women farmers in the village formed a group to market their produce better. Solidaridad and its knowledge partners told them about the nutritional benefits of tofu and trained them on producing it from dried soy. Sapna and team grabbed the opportunity. Now the FPO has set up a semi-automatic plant to produce tofu at a mass scale. “We are also raising awareness on how tofu is infused with proteins and is a great source of food for those suffering from protein deficiency, especially children,” she says. While the major buyers are the local markets, the FPO is planning to expand its supply to schools, hotels, and hospitals. A proud moment for the company came last year when one of its promoters and a soy farmer, Devli Bai, got an opportunity to digitally interact with the Prime Minister and share her story of empowerment.

Breaking the glass ceiling Recognition for women in agriculture is slow and hard to come by. But organized as collectives, farmers such as Sapna and Tapoti are changing the game by gradually carving a space for women in the agro-supply chain by understanding marketspace and commodity businesses. There is a plethora of economic arguments in favour of feminized supply chains. One, women-led supply chain is less susceptible to disruption since women are not prone to shift their market base. Second, women-led agriculture has the potential to fight poverty’s nefarious effects. Third, women are better sustainability managers because they are known to be more sensitive to the environment and the benefits of natural farming. And lastly, food sufficiency is bound to increase in a world where women, who are natural nurturers, are at the helm. Sapna is now thinking of diversifying the FPO after deliberations with her colleagues. “It is necessary for us to identify consumer needs and then create businesses since many women have different interests and strengths.” 8 | The good sight

The good sight | 9

The two-day event witnessed eminent experts engaging in a wide range of panel discussions.

Foundational literacy takes centre stage at SERI summit SERI is a broad and large-scale early-grade reading program to enhance reading outcomes among children in government-run primary schools in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. 10 | The good sight

The summit brought together education experts, policymakers, and other important stakeholders under one roof.

T

o assess critical elements of foundational literacy, understand systemic requirements to sustain literacy gains at scale, and comprehend how the Scaling-up Early Reading Intervention (SERI) project could act as a reference for literacy understanding and instruction across multilingual scenarios, Room to Read India, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and RTI International organized a two-day national summit in the capital. Room to Read India, with the support of USAID, has been running the SERI project since 2015. It is a broad and large-scale early-grade reading program to enhance reading outcomes among children in government-run primary schools across the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Access to quality childhood education is a basic right for all children. To fast-track the process of achieving universal foundational literacy and numeracy, the Government of India launched the ambitious NIPUN Bharat Mission in 2021. Incorporating the theme “Foundational Literacy at Scale Learnings from SERI”, the summit served as a strategic platform for sharing experiences, learnings, challenges, and achievements from the SERI initiative. The summit brought together education experts, policymakers, and other important stakeholders under one roof.

The recently launched second edition of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Report by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) was presented during the summit. The Report decodes the role of language in education and focuses on the fundamental concepts of FLN; it also highlights specific FLN challenges encountered in a multilingual environment. The report is expected to act as a vital benchmark for states and union territories to assess their progress towards achieving universal foundational learning by 2026-27. A presentation of the report was made by Dr. Amit Kapoor, Founder, Institute for Competitiveness. “Building on our commitment to foundational learning, the SERI summit created an exemplary platform for experts and stakeholders to convey valuable insights and collaborate towards accomplishing universal foundational literacy and numeracy. SERI, which initially began in four Indian states, namely Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, has now grown to include Telangana and Rajasthan. It has reached over 900,000 children in more than

2600 primary schools, creating a powerful impact through improving reading outcomes among early-grade children. The summit is an important step in our mission of strengthening gender equality and primary education’’ said Sourav Banerjee, Country Director, Room to Read India. “At USAID, we have always recognized the role of Education, which is foundational to societies, and one of the highest-return development investments that countries can make. Since 2015, USAID has been supporting our partner, Room to Read India, to implement an effective model for improving reading outcomes among primary-grade children. SERI is an innovative approach for scaling NGO-led interventions through the government system.” said Mark Tegenfeldt, Director, General Development Office, USAID/India. USAID has been a long-standing development partner of Room to Read and has supported them in designing evidence-based solutions to enhance educational outcomes across the country. The two-day event also witnessed eminent experts engaging in a wide range of panel discussions.

The good sight | 11

The two-day event witnessed eminent experts engaging in a wide range of panel discussions.

Foundational literacy takes centre stage at SERI summit SERI is a broad and large-scale early-grade reading program to enhance reading outcomes among children in government-run primary schools in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. 10 | The good sight

The summit brought together education experts, policymakers, and other important stakeholders under one roof.

T

o assess critical elements of foundational literacy, understand systemic requirements to sustain literacy gains at scale, and comprehend how the Scaling-up Early Reading Intervention (SERI) project could act as a reference for literacy understanding and instruction across multilingual scenarios, Room to Read India, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and RTI International organized a two-day national summit in the capital. Room to Read India, with the support of USAID, has been running the SERI project since 2015. It is a broad and large-scale early-grade reading program to enhance reading outcomes among children in government-run primary schools across the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Access to quality childhood education is a basic right for all children. To fast-track the process of achieving universal foundational literacy and numeracy, the Government of India launched the ambitious NIPUN Bharat Mission in 2021. Incorporating the theme “Foundational Literacy at Scale Learnings from SERI”, the summit served as a strategic platform for sharing experiences, learnings, challenges, and achievements from the SERI initiative. The summit brought together education experts, policymakers, and other important stakeholders under one roof.

The recently launched second edition of the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Report by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) was presented during the summit. The Report decodes the role of language in education and focuses on the fundamental concepts of FLN; it also highlights specific FLN challenges encountered in a multilingual environment. The report is expected to act as a vital benchmark for states and union territories to assess their progress towards achieving universal foundational learning by 2026-27. A presentation of the report was made by Dr. Amit Kapoor, Founder, Institute for Competitiveness. “Building on our commitment to foundational learning, the SERI summit created an exemplary platform for experts and stakeholders to convey valuable insights and collaborate towards accomplishing universal foundational literacy and numeracy. SERI, which initially began in four Indian states, namely Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, has now grown to include Telangana and Rajasthan. It has reached over 900,000 children in more than

2600 primary schools, creating a powerful impact through improving reading outcomes among early-grade children. The summit is an important step in our mission of strengthening gender equality and primary education’’ said Sourav Banerjee, Country Director, Room to Read India. “At USAID, we have always recognized the role of Education, which is foundational to societies, and one of the highest-return development investments that countries can make. Since 2015, USAID has been supporting our partner, Room to Read India, to implement an effective model for improving reading outcomes among primary-grade children. SERI is an innovative approach for scaling NGO-led interventions through the government system.” said Mark Tegenfeldt, Director, General Development Office, USAID/India. USAID has been a long-standing development partner of Room to Read and has supported them in designing evidence-based solutions to enhance educational outcomes across the country. The two-day event also witnessed eminent experts engaging in a wide range of panel discussions.

The good sight | 11

Learning at a Night School underway.

electrify them. If you thought this was unusual, this is just one of the multiple uncommon but highly effective educational innovations at Social Work and Research Centre, Tilonia’s Barefoot College located in the heart of rural Rajasthan, 110 kilometres from Jaipur. In the past half-century, it has stood for bringing together technology, communication, education and handicrafts for the betterment of the rural communities rooted in traditional wisdom and practiced through Gandhian values. The college, right from the beginning, has been putting into practice all the values of modern education: breaking silos between subjects, experimental and hand-on learning and most important of all –learning for change and impact.

A Barefoot journey to lifelong learning - Shefali Martins

Accessible quality education rooted in indigenous wisdom is the mantra for transformation at Tilonia’s Barefoot College 12 | The good sight

Early Literacy & Schooling

A

n engineering class is underway. The 45 students are grandmothers from 10 different countries. None of them have formally studied science. In fact, most of them are semi-literate. Dressed in a ghaghra odhni, their rural instructor Magan Kanwar doesn’t speak any of their languages or even English. But, their communication is perfect as she instructs them on assembling circuits for solar lamps. This group of women, after a six-month training, will return to their respective villages and

In 1975, the institution began with evening literacy classes for 15-35-year-olds. As the student body expanded across villages, so did the number of Night Schools. Community-run village education committees (VEC) appointed local teachers provided with a uniform training on basic subjects, civil and constitutional rights. Learning in these schools is integrated in the pupils’ lives. They learn math through the number of animals they take for grazing and science through the concepts they see around them. Local and relevant environment issues are added to the teaching alongside agriculture and animal husbandry because most of them

tend cattle. Though the journey is barefoot, the approach is modern and updated. 2014 onwards, when it was seen that digital growth is imperative to education, Barefoot College equipped the schools with technology and thus began Solar Digital Night Schools. These Night Schools across 10 states have impacted 80000+ working children.

Shiksha Niketan As far back as 1988, Shiksha Niketan, a primary school for low-income, marginalised children, practised methods we often associate with modern pedagogy: experiential learning, learning from one’s immediate environment, project-based learning and STEAM. “The mother of a child does at least 20 experiments in Science every day. She does it without realising this is Science. The same concept is there in the book, but is unfamiliar territory for the child. We connect the students to the subject through examples of routine activities around them. The focus is on developing the curiosity of the child,” shares Durga Singh, a founder teacher of Shiksha Niketan. So, while the teacher covers the government curriculum, the educational experience is based on real-time learning. Each department of Tilonia is a chapter at the school. The communication team simplifies a concept through puppets and the carpentry department becomes a lesson in geometry. Functional props, origami and visitors at Tilonia expand the The good sight | 13

Learning at a Night School underway.

electrify them. If you thought this was unusual, this is just one of the multiple uncommon but highly effective educational innovations at Social Work and Research Centre, Tilonia’s Barefoot College located in the heart of rural Rajasthan, 110 kilometres from Jaipur. In the past half-century, it has stood for bringing together technology, communication, education and handicrafts for the betterment of the rural communities rooted in traditional wisdom and practiced through Gandhian values. The college, right from the beginning, has been putting into practice all the values of modern education: breaking silos between subjects, experimental and hand-on learning and most important of all –learning for change and impact.

A Barefoot journey to lifelong learning - Shefali Martins

Accessible quality education rooted in indigenous wisdom is the mantra for transformation at Tilonia’s Barefoot College 12 | The good sight

Early Literacy & Schooling

A

n engineering class is underway. The 45 students are grandmothers from 10 different countries. None of them have formally studied science. In fact, most of them are semi-literate. Dressed in a ghaghra odhni, their rural instructor Magan Kanwar doesn’t speak any of their languages or even English. But, their communication is perfect as she instructs them on assembling circuits for solar lamps. This group of women, after a six-month training, will return to their respective villages and

In 1975, the institution began with evening literacy classes for 15-35-year-olds. As the student body expanded across villages, so did the number of Night Schools. Community-run village education committees (VEC) appointed local teachers provided with a uniform training on basic subjects, civil and constitutional rights. Learning in these schools is integrated in the pupils’ lives. They learn math through the number of animals they take for grazing and science through the concepts they see around them. Local and relevant environment issues are added to the teaching alongside agriculture and animal husbandry because most of them

tend cattle. Though the journey is barefoot, the approach is modern and updated. 2014 onwards, when it was seen that digital growth is imperative to education, Barefoot College equipped the schools with technology and thus began Solar Digital Night Schools. These Night Schools across 10 states have impacted 80000+ working children.

Shiksha Niketan As far back as 1988, Shiksha Niketan, a primary school for low-income, marginalised children, practised methods we often associate with modern pedagogy: experiential learning, learning from one’s immediate environment, project-based learning and STEAM. “The mother of a child does at least 20 experiments in Science every day. She does it without realising this is Science. The same concept is there in the book, but is unfamiliar territory for the child. We connect the students to the subject through examples of routine activities around them. The focus is on developing the curiosity of the child,” shares Durga Singh, a founder teacher of Shiksha Niketan. So, while the teacher covers the government curriculum, the educational experience is based on real-time learning. Each department of Tilonia is a chapter at the school. The communication team simplifies a concept through puppets and the carpentry department becomes a lesson in geometry. Functional props, origami and visitors at Tilonia expand the The good sight | 13

perspective of the learners. “The alumni of Shiksha Niketan are in various government and other high-paying jobs across different levels. But, there is a greater sense of pride when our alumni are recognised as good citizens Office bearers of Bal Sansad.

of their villages, helping others grow along with themselves,” says Singh.

Bridging the Gap Even Shiksha Niketan cannot meet the needs of 10-year-old

Anshu who moves with his nomadic sheep herder parents. Like him, there is an entire section of children of Nomadic communities that cannot pursue education as their families constantly move for work. A six-

month programme to address this gap was started in 2007 in the form of a residential Bridge School at Singla, 25 kilometres from Tilonia. The programme, now 10-month-long, covers the entire syllabus till Class V for children between 8 and 12

years who never went to school. Students from five districts come to this school where a greater preference is given to the enrolment of girls. Besides attending regular classes and extra work in the evenings, the students learn grooming and care. They play games and work with the volunteers to explore concepts in their academics through the simple, practical model that Tilonia creates. At the end of the course, the students take the Class V exam via Shiksha Niketan and can then pursue their further education.

Children’s Parliament There is no rulebook in the ever-evolving lab of Barefoot experiments. However, if there is one book that the Barefoot College lives by, it is the Constitution of India. From slates to iPads, this educational journey has kept up with contexts. So, with the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act in 1994, a new model was created to explain basic constitutional framework to the children. In classic Barefoot style, it was learnt by doing. A ward was made of 10-12 students and they elected one member representative. The wad representatives together formed a bal sansad. This parliament chose its Prime Minister through an election that had proper canvassing and election symbols. Secret ballots were maintained. The PM chose a cabinet and assigned roles. They participated in the various meetings of the organisation and gave recommendations to the 14 | The good sight

programme coordinators. This went a long way in developing an independent leadership among children. The children who grew up with this learning went on to mobilise people to get water supply lines to their village, agitate for removal of alcohol thekas and even contest polls. Devika, as the PM of her sansad, also went to Sweden to receive an award where she met the Queen and they exchanged notes as heads of institutions!

Energy & Environment The vocational trainings at Tilonia channelize the energy within besides working with the energy in the environment. It is not just about skill but identitybuilding and empowerment. From making the campus selfsufficient in energy requirements back in 1996 to the renowned Solar Mamas programme that teaches components, colour coding and circuits of solar home-lighting systems to women from non-electrified villages, this transfer of solar energy to the rural community has a threelayered impact. It sustains the villagers’ need for electricity at reasonable costs through the most vulnerable section, the women. It lights up perspectives – a significant takeaway of education across all areas. Thirdly, it saves millions of litres of kerosene from being used as an energy alternative, hence addressing the big sustainability question much before sustainability became a popular word across academic corridors. The nearest pucca road to the villages of these women is about two hours away, but The good sight | 15

perspective of the learners. “The alumni of Shiksha Niketan are in various government and other high-paying jobs across different levels. But, there is a greater sense of pride when our alumni are recognised as good citizens Office bearers of Bal Sansad.

of their villages, helping others grow along with themselves,” says Singh.

Bridging the Gap Even Shiksha Niketan cannot meet the needs of 10-year-old

Anshu who moves with his nomadic sheep herder parents. Like him, there is an entire section of children of Nomadic communities that cannot pursue education as their families constantly move for work. A six-

month programme to address this gap was started in 2007 in the form of a residential Bridge School at Singla, 25 kilometres from Tilonia. The programme, now 10-month-long, covers the entire syllabus till Class V for children between 8 and 12

years who never went to school. Students from five districts come to this school where a greater preference is given to the enrolment of girls. Besides attending regular classes and extra work in the evenings, the students learn grooming and care. They play games and work with the volunteers to explore concepts in their academics through the simple, practical model that Tilonia creates. At the end of the course, the students take the Class V exam via Shiksha Niketan and can then pursue their further education.

Children’s Parliament There is no rulebook in the ever-evolving lab of Barefoot experiments. However, if there is one book that the Barefoot College lives by, it is the Constitution of India. From slates to iPads, this educational journey has kept up with contexts. So, with the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act in 1994, a new model was created to explain basic constitutional framework to the children. In classic Barefoot style, it was learnt by doing. A ward was made of 10-12 students and they elected one member representative. The wad representatives together formed a bal sansad. This parliament chose its Prime Minister through an election that had proper canvassing and election symbols. Secret ballots were maintained. The PM chose a cabinet and assigned roles. They participated in the various meetings of the organisation and gave recommendations to the 14 | The good sight

programme coordinators. This went a long way in developing an independent leadership among children. The children who grew up with this learning went on to mobilise people to get water supply lines to their village, agitate for removal of alcohol thekas and even contest polls. Devika, as the PM of her sansad, also went to Sweden to receive an award where she met the Queen and they exchanged notes as heads of institutions!

Energy & Environment The vocational trainings at Tilonia channelize the energy within besides working with the energy in the environment. It is not just about skill but identitybuilding and empowerment. From making the campus selfsufficient in energy requirements back in 1996 to the renowned Solar Mamas programme that teaches components, colour coding and circuits of solar home-lighting systems to women from non-electrified villages, this transfer of solar energy to the rural community has a threelayered impact. It sustains the villagers’ need for electricity at reasonable costs through the most vulnerable section, the women. It lights up perspectives – a significant takeaway of education across all areas. Thirdly, it saves millions of litres of kerosene from being used as an energy alternative, hence addressing the big sustainability question much before sustainability became a popular word across academic corridors. The nearest pucca road to the villages of these women is about two hours away, but The good sight | 15

when they are ready to go back, they seem to have time-travelled a lightyear ahead! Besides the equipment and the know-how, the Solar Mamas take back with them a newly-discovered identity. “When the trainees come in, they barely have a voice within their families. When they go back, they not only electrify their villages but also train other women through rural electronic workshops. Nobody goes back with them to help them with the setup. We just send the equipment,” explains Kamlesh Singh Bhist from the solar department.

Interactive Education Tilonia is an ever-evolving lab of educational experiments. While the various educational models have shown that true learning is not dependent on a formal degree, even programmes not directly related to education are largely educational. Perhaps the most endearing of all its inspiring innovations are its puppets and their wide role in educational awareness. At the Barefoot College, string puppets evolved into more practical glove and rod puppets besides life-sized and giant puppets. Made of scarp cloth and paper, the puppets are contemporary characters identifiable by the villagers. When they give out information about a programme or a government scheme, they both engage and simplify the concepts, creating wide-spread awareness. Traditional folk instruments and songs are part of the performance. This delightful, digital fatigue-free audio-visual medium has been 16 | The good sight

working for, with the villages for the past 40 years. The puppets are the mascots of Tilonia, exemplifying what the institution and the Gandhian philosophy it embodies stand for – that indigenous knowledge, skills and wisdom should be applied to villages and that simple yet sophisticated technology wellunderstood by the locals should be used to improve their lives. The puppets go by relatable names to be one with the villagers. As Chetan Kaki and Dhanno Bua, they propagate equality and fight for women’s rights. The much-revered puppet, Jokhim Chacha, the bard of Tilonia, is 365 years old because one should learn every day of the year! “The puppets also contribute to the schools run by Tilonia. We engage the students in a conversation about various facets of learning. The puppet makes them curious through a peculiar style of talking based on the character speaking to them. The puppets often act as the first line of information for the villagers. We tell them about a scheme/programme/event in our interactive style and that they could approach the anganwadi workers or the school master for more details,” shares Ramnivas from the communications team. In the past four decades, the team has performed interactive shows in 3,000 villages changing mindsets, gently but firmly. All educational spaces in Barefoot College manage a delicate balance – they are formal enough to fit in, yet informal enough to stand out. The core concept applied across all departments is using an

A Solar Mama training in progress.

integrated approach through the understanding of and partnership with the community. As it marks 50 years of this journey, the institution has exemplified across all possible spaces how anything is possible – whether it is elderly women doing

accounts on computer systems or community-driven waste management systems. Learning isn’t dependent on age and one’s life experience counts as a valued qualification. The sky is the limit, but the journey is always barefoot! As development coordinator Ramkaran rightly puts it, “We are

a community-based organisation. There is no outsider here. The locals are working for locals. The application of practical knowledge is the base of all our endeavours. Our non-negotiable values of equality, simplicity, decentralisation, collective decision-making, community

participation, responsibility, honesty, transparency and accountability are deeply integrated in all our work.” Shefali is an independent writer from Ajmer, Rajasthan. Share your feedback on features@ charkha.org The good sight | 17

when they are ready to go back, they seem to have time-travelled a lightyear ahead! Besides the equipment and the know-how, the Solar Mamas take back with them a newly-discovered identity. “When the trainees come in, they barely have a voice within their families. When they go back, they not only electrify their villages but also train other women through rural electronic workshops. Nobody goes back with them to help them with the setup. We just send the equipment,” explains Kamlesh Singh Bhist from the solar department.

Interactive Education Tilonia is an ever-evolving lab of educational experiments. While the various educational models have shown that true learning is not dependent on a formal degree, even programmes not directly related to education are largely educational. Perhaps the most endearing of all its inspiring innovations are its puppets and their wide role in educational awareness. At the Barefoot College, string puppets evolved into more practical glove and rod puppets besides life-sized and giant puppets. Made of scarp cloth and paper, the puppets are contemporary characters identifiable by the villagers. When they give out information about a programme or a government scheme, they both engage and simplify the concepts, creating wide-spread awareness. Traditional folk instruments and songs are part of the performance. This delightful, digital fatigue-free audio-visual medium has been 16 | The good sight

working for, with the villages for the past 40 years. The puppets are the mascots of Tilonia, exemplifying what the institution and the Gandhian philosophy it embodies stand for – that indigenous knowledge, skills and wisdom should be applied to villages and that simple yet sophisticated technology wellunderstood by the locals should be used to improve their lives. The puppets go by relatable names to be one with the villagers. As Chetan Kaki and Dhanno Bua, they propagate equality and fight for women’s rights. The much-revered puppet, Jokhim Chacha, the bard of Tilonia, is 365 years old because one should learn every day of the year! “The puppets also contribute to the schools run by Tilonia. We engage the students in a conversation about various facets of learning. The puppet makes them curious through a peculiar style of talking based on the character speaking to them. The puppets often act as the first line of information for the villagers. We tell them about a scheme/programme/event in our interactive style and that they could approach the anganwadi workers or the school master for more details,” shares Ramnivas from the communications team. In the past four decades, the team has performed interactive shows in 3,000 villages changing mindsets, gently but firmly. All educational spaces in Barefoot College manage a delicate balance – they are formal enough to fit in, yet informal enough to stand out. The core concept applied across all departments is using an

A Solar Mama training in progress.

integrated approach through the understanding of and partnership with the community. As it marks 50 years of this journey, the institution has exemplified across all possible spaces how anything is possible – whether it is elderly women doing

accounts on computer systems or community-driven waste management systems. Learning isn’t dependent on age and one’s life experience counts as a valued qualification. The sky is the limit, but the journey is always barefoot! As development coordinator Ramkaran rightly puts it, “We are

a community-based organisation. There is no outsider here. The locals are working for locals. The application of practical knowledge is the base of all our endeavours. Our non-negotiable values of equality, simplicity, decentralisation, collective decision-making, community

participation, responsibility, honesty, transparency and accountability are deeply integrated in all our work.” Shefali is an independent writer from Ajmer, Rajasthan. Share your feedback on features@ charkha.org The good sight | 17

A

fter the pandemic, some 70% of the children in the Low- and MiddleIncome Countries do not have the skill to read. The problem was not much better before the Pandemic. UNICEF estimates some 57% of the 10-year-olds could not read in 2019. These children need the skill to read now, not in 5 years from now, nor by 2030 as per the targets of SDG4.

We require a significant 10-fold transformation instead of merely a 10% gradual improvement to achieve the goal of providing every child not only with the ability to read but also with all the other skills that constitute Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

Beyond 10% to 10X:

The radical transformation of education 18 | The good sight

Recent developments indicate that the teachers are working hard. They are being monitored and supported more than ever before. They are also getting more training now than in the past. Teachers and the children also have access to more elaborate workbooks, storybooks, and printrich materials than they ever had. Children are coming to school, as indicated by the high enrollment rates, but unfortunately, they are not learning the foundational skills fast enough to close the literacy gap. We need to ask ourselves:

Why after five years of schooling, more than half of the children in Grade 5 cannot read? Could outdated methods of teaching and rote transactional processes be responsible for holding back our children’s ability to read? There are reading wars between two predominant approaches to teaching how to read - whole language and phonics - with strong proponents of both. However, neither of these

approaches seem fast enough to reach universal literacy quickly, or we would have had a more literate world already. NIPUN Bharat Mission or India’s National Initiative for Proficiency in reading with Understanding and Numeracy, has set ambitious goals, to achieve universal Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in India by 2026/27. A simple projection of the present growth rates in literacy will clearly show it is impossible to attain the FLN goals by 2026/27, or even by 2030, unless we opt for a vastly more transformative pedagogy. Our historical growth rates have been less impressive. Incremental change is not enough to close the literacy gap quickly enough. We require a significant 10-fold transformation instead of merely a 10% gradual improvement to achieve the goal of providing every child not only with the ability to read but also with all the other skills that constitute Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. Furthermore, it is imperative to provide every child with a superior education that surpasses Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. We must also strive towards achieving more ambitious objectives, such as fostering global citizenship, enhancing mental and socioemotional strength, and nurturing a passion for climate activism in every child. But how can we achieve all of this when so many children lack even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills? The answer is simple: we need a broader and

bolder education system that addresses multiple goals at once. As we move forward into the future, there is a growing need for a paradigm shift in education. A radical new education needs to provide the foundational literacy and numeracy skills 10 times faster than traditional methods while also addressing other important aspects of a quality education. This is where we need to closely examine the work of DEVI Sansthan on creating a transformative education that delivers on a broader and bolder education as above. In 2014, Dr. Sunita Gandhi, who returned to India after 26 years abroad after a PhD in Physics and ten years as Economist with The World Bank and whose family runs the world’s largest school, started researching whether learners of any age, child or adult, could learn to read a newspaper in just one month with only 20 minutes of learning time per day, without knowing a single letter at the beginning. As a result of this research, the Global Dream Toolkits were created, alongside a campaign to promote literacy among adults and out-of-school children. The study indicated that student volunteers aged 10 years and older could utilize the toolkit to teach an individual the ability to read in a mere thirty days during the summer break. This challenge was taken up by about 500,000 student volunteers from various schools across India between 2014 and 2019. The availability of the Global Dream Toolkit in 13 Indian

The good sight | 19

A

fter the pandemic, some 70% of the children in the Low- and MiddleIncome Countries do not have the skill to read. The problem was not much better before the Pandemic. UNICEF estimates some 57% of the 10-year-olds could not read in 2019. These children need the skill to read now, not in 5 years from now, nor by 2030 as per the targets of SDG4.

We require a significant 10-fold transformation instead of merely a 10% gradual improvement to achieve the goal of providing every child not only with the ability to read but also with all the other skills that constitute Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

Beyond 10% to 10X:

The radical transformation of education 18 | The good sight

Recent developments indicate that the teachers are working hard. They are being monitored and supported more than ever before. They are also getting more training now than in the past. Teachers and the children also have access to more elaborate workbooks, storybooks, and printrich materials than they ever had. Children are coming to school, as indicated by the high enrollment rates, but unfortunately, they are not learning the foundational skills fast enough to close the literacy gap. We need to ask ourselves:

Why after five years of schooling, more than half of the children in Grade 5 cannot read? Could outdated methods of teaching and rote transactional processes be responsible for holding back our children’s ability to read? There are reading wars between two predominant approaches to teaching how to read - whole language and phonics - with strong proponents of both. However, neither of these

approaches seem fast enough to reach universal literacy quickly, or we would have had a more literate world already. NIPUN Bharat Mission or India’s National Initiative for Proficiency in reading with Understanding and Numeracy, has set ambitious goals, to achieve universal Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in India by 2026/27. A simple projection of the present growth rates in literacy will clearly show it is impossible to attain the FLN goals by 2026/27, or even by 2030, unless we opt for a vastly more transformative pedagogy. Our historical growth rates have been less impressive. Incremental change is not enough to close the literacy gap quickly enough. We require a significant 10-fold transformation instead of merely a 10% gradual improvement to achieve the goal of providing every child not only with the ability to read but also with all the other skills that constitute Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. Furthermore, it is imperative to provide every child with a superior education that surpasses Foundational Literacy and Numeracy. We must also strive towards achieving more ambitious objectives, such as fostering global citizenship, enhancing mental and socioemotional strength, and nurturing a passion for climate activism in every child. But how can we achieve all of this when so many children lack even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills? The answer is simple: we need a broader and

bolder education system that addresses multiple goals at once. As we move forward into the future, there is a growing need for a paradigm shift in education. A radical new education needs to provide the foundational literacy and numeracy skills 10 times faster than traditional methods while also addressing other important aspects of a quality education. This is where we need to closely examine the work of DEVI Sansthan on creating a transformative education that delivers on a broader and bolder education as above. In 2014, Dr. Sunita Gandhi, who returned to India after 26 years abroad after a PhD in Physics and ten years as Economist with The World Bank and whose family runs the world’s largest school, started researching whether learners of any age, child or adult, could learn to read a newspaper in just one month with only 20 minutes of learning time per day, without knowing a single letter at the beginning. As a result of this research, the Global Dream Toolkits were created, alongside a campaign to promote literacy among adults and out-of-school children. The study indicated that student volunteers aged 10 years and older could utilize the toolkit to teach an individual the ability to read in a mere thirty days during the summer break. This challenge was taken up by about 500,000 student volunteers from various schools across India between 2014 and 2019. The availability of the Global Dream Toolkit in 13 Indian

The good sight | 19

languages enabled this feat. In the post-Covid era, the SBI Foundation-supported Literacy Now App has enlisted 40,000 volunteers in 2022, with many more expected to join in 2023. After dedicating eight years to researching and fine-tuning the initial approach, Dr. Gandhi developed ALfA (Accelerating Learning for All) pedagogy and program for schools in 2022. This novel program enables students to learn the foundational skills ten times faster than traditional methods. Additionally, this comprehensive and forwardthinking education instills skills for world citizenship, climate consciousness, and socio-emotional well-being of children. ALfA empowers five-to-seven-year-olds to read the difficult language of the newspapers within a mere 45 school days. Within another 45 days, children complete their textbooks and workbooks for the year with greater ease and a better understanding of the material. They simultaneously gain greater reading fluency skills.

“If 90 days could make the world literate, would you not do it?” Many may find a 45 to 90-day literacy and numeracy too good to be true, but a recent study conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education has validated ALfA’s success. The study, which is chronicled in chapters 8 and 10 of the book “Rebuilding Resilient Education Systems After the COVID-19 Pandemic” published on Amazon in March 2023 by Prof. Fernando

20 | The good sight

Reimers, et al., confirms the effectiveness of the ALfA program. In 2022, the Education Secretary of the Ministry of Education recommended introducing the ALfA pedagogy in two underperforming districts in India. Since then, the program has gained traction and is now being adopted by multiple states in India and at the national level in the Maldives.

By enabling children to learn at a rate 10 times faster than conventional methods, the ALfA pedagogy has proven its efficacy, and gained traction in numerous implementations of varying sizes globally. By introducing this revolutionary pedagogy, children can acquire not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also become world citizens with essential life skills.

ALfA: Paving the Way for Every Child’s Success ALfA utilizes a reverse methodology that leverages cognitive mind connections and pair-led work to make learning both accelerated and enjoyable. Unlike traditional methods used worldwide, the teaching of the alphabet letters is not required. This alone results in saving one to two years of learning time, depending on the language. Instead, children utilize their own cognitive mind connections to decode and blend sounds from known pictures, allowing them to read words instantly.

Revolutionizing Education: How ALfA Pedagogy is Transforming Learning The ALfA booklets are structured to facilitate pair-based learning, and the Literacy/Numeracy learning goals are arranged into modules that feature images and straightforward prompts that outline the tasks children need to accomplish. It’s comparable to teachers acting as galvanizers, winding up a toy, and then watching as their students learn and progress independently. In this way, children learn more through their own efforts, and mistakes are considered to be an essential aspect of the learning process. Once the class is galvanized into action, both time on task and deeper engagement require teachers to step back and observe, instead of circulating around the classroom to assist students.

Once children can read words, the next set of goals are focused on achieving reading fluency, which is strongly linked to better reading comprehension and vocabulary development. In an astounding feat, children can read about 400 words within the initial ten to fifteen days, without requiring any knowledge of the letters first. Children as young as five to seven learn to read complete storybooks and their own textbooks within 45 school days. This is an extraordinary accomplishment. The teacher’s role is to motivate, stimulate, and inspire children to become active participants in their own learning process. Consequently, ALfA is not just a child-centric teaching pedagogy; it is a “child-led” learning approach. Throughout the learning process, the teacher demonstrates how children can learn in pairs by utilizing the provided ALfA modules and prompts, which serve as triggers for pair-based learning. Teachers initially role-play these prompts within their classrooms. As a result, both teachers and students become exceptionally imaginative in implementing ALfA prompts, leading to a more engaging and enjoyable learning experience.

isolated letters, allowing children to learn all the vowels and consonants of the language in just five pages. With this cognitive process, children can derive words on their own and read nearly 400 Hindi words and short stories without matras within the first ten days. By utilizing this approach, ALfA promotes self-directed learning and builds children’s confidence in their ability to learn language skills quickly. As the children progress, they advance to the second stage of

their reading, which involves words with matras across the next 12 pages. Here, the teacher once again employs a role-play to elaborate on how to read the words with matras using a knownto-unknown process. By practicing new words and reading complete sentences and short passages across the following six pages, including a newspaper article, the children can not only read their own storybooks and textbooks, but they can also challenge themselves to read the complex language found in newspapers.

Numeracy Redefined: A Novel Way to Grasp Complex Concepts with Ease Transforming Literacy Education in a Multitude of Languages The ALfA program teaches Hindi, among other languages, using a paired-learning approach that employs a known-to-unknown process. This approach involves making words from known pictures rather than memorizing

Rather than relying on counting on their fingers, or writing on paper, children learning numeracy first utilize concrete objects such as ice-cream sticks, matchsticks, or other available counters from the environment to solve numerical problems, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Seated in pairs, the teacher first

explains and demonstrates the concept, after which one child creates questions for their partner to solve using the concrete objects. They then switch roles, making mathematics more engaging and tangible. This hands-on, experiential learning approach is then coupled with written expression, culminating in children creating story sums

The good sight | 21

languages enabled this feat. In the post-Covid era, the SBI Foundation-supported Literacy Now App has enlisted 40,000 volunteers in 2022, with many more expected to join in 2023. After dedicating eight years to researching and fine-tuning the initial approach, Dr. Gandhi developed ALfA (Accelerating Learning for All) pedagogy and program for schools in 2022. This novel program enables students to learn the foundational skills ten times faster than traditional methods. Additionally, this comprehensive and forwardthinking education instills skills for world citizenship, climate consciousness, and socio-emotional well-being of children. ALfA empowers five-to-seven-year-olds to read the difficult language of the newspapers within a mere 45 school days. Within another 45 days, children complete their textbooks and workbooks for the year with greater ease and a better understanding of the material. They simultaneously gain greater reading fluency skills.

“If 90 days could make the world literate, would you not do it?” Many may find a 45 to 90-day literacy and numeracy too good to be true, but a recent study conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education has validated ALfA’s success. The study, which is chronicled in chapters 8 and 10 of the book “Rebuilding Resilient Education Systems After the COVID-19 Pandemic” published on Amazon in March 2023 by Prof. Fernando

20 | The good sight

Reimers, et al., confirms the effectiveness of the ALfA program. In 2022, the Education Secretary of the Ministry of Education recommended introducing the ALfA pedagogy in two underperforming districts in India. Since then, the program has gained traction and is now being adopted by multiple states in India and at the national level in the Maldives.

By enabling children to learn at a rate 10 times faster than conventional methods, the ALfA pedagogy has proven its efficacy, and gained traction in numerous implementations of varying sizes globally. By introducing this revolutionary pedagogy, children can acquire not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also become world citizens with essential life skills.

ALfA: Paving the Way for Every Child’s Success ALfA utilizes a reverse methodology that leverages cognitive mind connections and pair-led work to make learning both accelerated and enjoyable. Unlike traditional methods used worldwide, the teaching of the alphabet letters is not required. This alone results in saving one to two years of learning time, depending on the language. Instead, children utilize their own cognitive mind connections to decode and blend sounds from known pictures, allowing them to read words instantly.

Revolutionizing Education: How ALfA Pedagogy is Transforming Learning The ALfA booklets are structured to facilitate pair-based learning, and the Literacy/Numeracy learning goals are arranged into modules that feature images and straightforward prompts that outline the tasks children need to accomplish. It’s comparable to teachers acting as galvanizers, winding up a toy, and then watching as their students learn and progress independently. In this way, children learn more through their own efforts, and mistakes are considered to be an essential aspect of the learning process. Once the class is galvanized into action, both time on task and deeper engagement require teachers to step back and observe, instead of circulating around the classroom to assist students.

Once children can read words, the next set of goals are focused on achieving reading fluency, which is strongly linked to better reading comprehension and vocabulary development. In an astounding feat, children can read about 400 words within the initial ten to fifteen days, without requiring any knowledge of the letters first. Children as young as five to seven learn to read complete storybooks and their own textbooks within 45 school days. This is an extraordinary accomplishment. The teacher’s role is to motivate, stimulate, and inspire children to become active participants in their own learning process. Consequently, ALfA is not just a child-centric teaching pedagogy; it is a “child-led” learning approach. Throughout the learning process, the teacher demonstrates how children can learn in pairs by utilizing the provided ALfA modules and prompts, which serve as triggers for pair-based learning. Teachers initially role-play these prompts within their classrooms. As a result, both teachers and students become exceptionally imaginative in implementing ALfA prompts, leading to a more engaging and enjoyable learning experience.

isolated letters, allowing children to learn all the vowels and consonants of the language in just five pages. With this cognitive process, children can derive words on their own and read nearly 400 Hindi words and short stories without matras within the first ten days. By utilizing this approach, ALfA promotes self-directed learning and builds children’s confidence in their ability to learn language skills quickly. As the children progress, they advance to the second stage of

their reading, which involves words with matras across the next 12 pages. Here, the teacher once again employs a role-play to elaborate on how to read the words with matras using a knownto-unknown process. By practicing new words and reading complete sentences and short passages across the following six pages, including a newspaper article, the children can not only read their own storybooks and textbooks, but they can also challenge themselves to read the complex language found in newspapers.

Numeracy Redefined: A Novel Way to Grasp Complex Concepts with Ease Transforming Literacy Education in a Multitude of Languages The ALfA program teaches Hindi, among other languages, using a paired-learning approach that employs a known-to-unknown process. This approach involves making words from known pictures rather than memorizing

Rather than relying on counting on their fingers, or writing on paper, children learning numeracy first utilize concrete objects such as ice-cream sticks, matchsticks, or other available counters from the environment to solve numerical problems, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Seated in pairs, the teacher first

explains and demonstrates the concept, after which one child creates questions for their partner to solve using the concrete objects. They then switch roles, making mathematics more engaging and tangible. This hands-on, experiential learning approach is then coupled with written expression, culminating in children creating story sums

The good sight | 21

that incorporate several concepts together. They learn practical applications of mathematical concepts, such as measuring like a tailor with the fourteen measurements of a tailor. This approach results in improved concept clarity, better retention of mathematical concepts, and a more engaging and joyful learning experience, effectively eliminating maths phobia, and allowing students to surpass grade-level requirements within just 45 days of classes. ALfA is a groundbreaking pedagogy enabling learners to become foundationally literate and numerate in just 45 days. ALfA Benefits • 10x faster. Children learn basic FLN in three months – instead

of three years. • 10x lower climate impact. FLN in just 72 pages (averaging 18 pages per child - shared among two children, used for mutiple classes) compared to 180 page

textbook per subject + 180 page workbooks. No plastic, only reusable materials. • 10x cheaper. Thin, low-cost booklets. Free mobile app & e-Learning materials.

Peer learning through A4 sized books

Available in 30+ languages internationally

Use of locally available counetrs

Climate Change & ALfA from reducing the carbon footprint of learning to explaining climate change in simple language.

Global Warming Causes Dramatic Increase in Forest Fires screamed the newspaper headline. Tara quickly skimmed the article and fell into deep thought. She wished she could do something to help protect forests.” – an excerpt from a Climate Change short story by DEVI Sansthan.

22 | The good sight

Acquiring critical life skills, not just fundamental knowledge In order to foster an environment for children’s learning that is conducive to their growth and development, we must transcend the mere acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy skills and concentrate on developing world citizens who possess crucial life skills. A quality education should not only provide academic instruction but also encompass the holistic development of a child. In addition to developing cognitive skills, it is crucial to pay attention to a child’s social and emotional well-being, as it has a profound impact on their overall development. Incorporating mental health education and mindfulness practices in the curriculum can promote emotional regulation and help children cope with stress and anxiety. Paired learning has been recognized as beneficial for students, but the ALfA program takes this approach to a new level. Instead of occasional pairing, ALfA requires students to work in pairs throughout the school day. Moreover, the learning materials are designed to suit paired learning, and the program includes prompts for each module that increase time on task and encourage deeper engagement. ALfA’s unique approach to learning has not only resulted in superior learning outcomes but also the development of crucial World Citizenship skills such as Collaboration, Communication,

Critical Thinking, Creativity, Cultural Competence, Civic Engagement, and Character. Additionally, ALfA’s emphasis on education for climate action and ethical decision-making further prepares children to become responsible global citizens.

Fostering Inclusive Education: Helping Every Child Thrive The ALfA process creates an inclusive environment that allows every child to thrive, without being classified as

weak or strong. This approach promotes support and a sense of belonging, as all children work in a 1:1 setting that brings out their best qualities, including those who are shy, hyperactive, or have special needs. The process is joyful and emotionally supportive, empowering children to progress at their own pace. By emphasizing cooperation instead of competition, children develop essential skills for creating a future world that is more compassionate and caring.

Unlocking the 10X Learning Advantage in Your Region CHALLENGE 45-Days-to FLN Challenge / 90-Day Implementation

The good sight | 23

that incorporate several concepts together. They learn practical applications of mathematical concepts, such as measuring like a tailor with the fourteen measurements of a tailor. This approach results in improved concept clarity, better retention of mathematical concepts, and a more engaging and joyful learning experience, effectively eliminating maths phobia, and allowing students to surpass grade-level requirements within just 45 days of classes. ALfA is a groundbreaking pedagogy enabling learners to become foundationally literate and numerate in just 45 days. ALfA Benefits • 10x faster. Children learn basic FLN in three months – instead

of three years. • 10x lower climate impact. FLN in just 72 pages (averaging 18 pages per child - shared among two children, used for mutiple classes) compared to 180 page

textbook per subject + 180 page workbooks. No plastic, only reusable materials. • 10x cheaper. Thin, low-cost booklets. Free mobile app & e-Learning materials.

Peer learning through A4 sized books

Available in 30+ languages internationally

Use of locally available counetrs

Climate Change & ALfA from reducing the carbon footprint of learning to explaining climate change in simple language.

Global Warming Causes Dramatic Increase in Forest Fires screamed the newspaper headline. Tara quickly skimmed the article and fell into deep thought. She wished she could do something to help protect forests.” – an excerpt from a Climate Change short story by DEVI Sansthan.

22 | The good sight

Acquiring critical life skills, not just fundamental knowledge In order to foster an environment for children’s learning that is conducive to their growth and development, we must transcend the mere acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy skills and concentrate on developing world citizens who possess crucial life skills. A quality education should not only provide academic instruction but also encompass the holistic development of a child. In addition to developing cognitive skills, it is crucial to pay attention to a child’s social and emotional well-being, as it has a profound impact on their overall development. Incorporating mental health education and mindfulness practices in the curriculum can promote emotional regulation and help children cope with stress and anxiety. Paired learning has been recognized as beneficial for students, but the ALfA program takes this approach to a new level. Instead of occasional pairing, ALfA requires students to work in pairs throughout the school day. Moreover, the learning materials are designed to suit paired learning, and the program includes prompts for each module that increase time on task and encourage deeper engagement. ALfA’s unique approach to learning has not only resulted in superior learning outcomes but also the development of crucial World Citizenship skills such as Collaboration, Communication,

Critical Thinking, Creativity, Cultural Competence, Civic Engagement, and Character. Additionally, ALfA’s emphasis on education for climate action and ethical decision-making further prepares children to become responsible global citizens.

Fostering Inclusive Education: Helping Every Child Thrive The ALfA process creates an inclusive environment that allows every child to thrive, without being classified as

weak or strong. This approach promotes support and a sense of belonging, as all children work in a 1:1 setting that brings out their best qualities, including those who are shy, hyperactive, or have special needs. The process is joyful and emotionally supportive, empowering children to progress at their own pace. By emphasizing cooperation instead of competition, children develop essential skills for creating a future world that is more compassionate and caring.

Unlocking the 10X Learning Advantage in Your Region CHALLENGE 45-Days-to FLN Challenge / 90-Day Implementation

The good sight | 23

Governments are invited to participate in a “45-Days-To-FLN Challenge” on a system-wide or pilot basis. This entails allocating two periods a day for 45 days to literacy and numeracy education. • The ALfA Program is designed to be efficient and effective, requiring only two class periods a day for a total of 45 school days, which is less than 10% of a year’s academic time. States and districts have two options to adopt ALfA: the 45-Day FLN Challenge, which allows them to gauge improvements between a control and intervention group of schools, or the 90-Day Implementation at the system-wide level within districts or the state, which provides unparalleled benefits as children complete their prescribed textbooks and workbooks within the 90 days, after learning to read, write, and do basic numeracy using the ALfA program. • ALfA is not only effective but also low-to-no-cost, as it offers a free online version and a printed version that requires only an average of 18 pages per child per subject. This makes it both low-cost and climate friendly with a low carbon footprint. • ALfA is rapidly scalable, and can be adapted to another language within a month. It is already accessible in 15 Indian and 15 international languages.

CASE STUDY: From a Single District to a 24 | The good sight

15-District Partnership in UP, Building a Strong Evidence Base: The Path to Effective Education According to a study by Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE Chapter 8), the ALfA program expanded from 20 to 290 schools in UP’s Shamli district after only 30 days of implementation (210 schools in the intervention group and 80 in the control group). The initial randomized control trial involving the initial 10 intervention and 10 control groups showed a

highly significant effect size of 0.89 for Grade 5, as detailed in HGSE Chapter 8. The results of a new randomized control trial comparing 210 intervention schools versus 80 control schools is in the process of being finalized. ALfA’s groundbreaking approach to education makes it possible to achieve results in a remarkably short period of time. The program grew from 1 district in UP to a 15-district MOU with the Department of School Education by November 2022.

and large-scale impact is unparalleled. Additionally, the MOOT modality is being used to train master trainers and trainers globally to offer MOOT-like training in their own languages and regions, including physical training when necessary. In a recent example, a trainer from Honduras who is fluent in Spanish is training teachers in Peru.

A Step Towards Rapid Reforms: Policymakers Conclave MOOT Scaling up ALfA through Massive Open Online Training of Teachers We are encouraging governments to enroll their teachers in the free and highly effective Massive Open Online Training program. 93% of respondents have reported positive outcomes,

with 99% having takeaways for immediate implementation. The new online format for MOOT has made it even more effective than traditional in-person training, and its ability to make an immediate

The inaugural Global Policymakers Conclave was organized to encourage system-wide changes in education, and it received endorsements from several policymakers, including India’s Hon. Defence Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh who has been the former Education Minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. The first MOOT and the Global Policymakers Conclave had participation from individuals across 53 countries and 26 states in India. The good sight | 25

Governments are invited to participate in a “45-Days-To-FLN Challenge” on a system-wide or pilot basis. This entails allocating two periods a day for 45 days to literacy and numeracy education. • The ALfA Program is designed to be efficient and effective, requiring only two class periods a day for a total of 45 school days, which is less than 10% of a year’s academic time. States and districts have two options to adopt ALfA: the 45-Day FLN Challenge, which allows them to gauge improvements between a control and intervention group of schools, or the 90-Day Implementation at the system-wide level within districts or the state, which provides unparalleled benefits as children complete their prescribed textbooks and workbooks within the 90 days, after learning to read, write, and do basic numeracy using the ALfA program. • ALfA is not only effective but also low-to-no-cost, as it offers a free online version and a printed version that requires only an average of 18 pages per child per subject. This makes it both low-cost and climate friendly with a low carbon footprint. • ALfA is rapidly scalable, and can be adapted to another language within a month. It is already accessible in 15 Indian and 15 international languages.

CASE STUDY: From a Single District to a 24 | The good sight

15-District Partnership in UP, Building a Strong Evidence Base: The Path to Effective Education According to a study by Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE Chapter 8), the ALfA program expanded from 20 to 290 schools in UP’s Shamli district after only 30 days of implementation (210 schools in the intervention group and 80 in the control group). The initial randomized control trial involving the initial 10 intervention and 10 control groups showed a

highly significant effect size of 0.89 for Grade 5, as detailed in HGSE Chapter 8. The results of a new randomized control trial comparing 210 intervention schools versus 80 control schools is in the process of being finalized. ALfA’s groundbreaking approach to education makes it possible to achieve results in a remarkably short period of time. The program grew from 1 district in UP to a 15-district MOU with the Department of School Education by November 2022.

and large-scale impact is unparalleled. Additionally, the MOOT modality is being used to train master trainers and trainers globally to offer MOOT-like training in their own languages and regions, including physical training when necessary. In a recent example, a trainer from Honduras who is fluent in Spanish is training teachers in Peru.

A Step Towards Rapid Reforms: Policymakers Conclave MOOT Scaling up ALfA through Massive Open Online Training of Teachers We are encouraging governments to enroll their teachers in the free and highly effective Massive Open Online Training program. 93% of respondents have reported positive outcomes,

with 99% having takeaways for immediate implementation. The new online format for MOOT has made it even more effective than traditional in-person training, and its ability to make an immediate

The inaugural Global Policymakers Conclave was organized to encourage system-wide changes in education, and it received endorsements from several policymakers, including India’s Hon. Defence Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh who has been the former Education Minister of India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. The first MOOT and the Global Policymakers Conclave had participation from individuals across 53 countries and 26 states in India. The good sight | 25

Adult Literacy Programs with a Focus on Women: Moving Towards Equality

DEVI Sansthan has been working with HCL Foundation to advance literacy in Hardoi District of Uttar Pradesh, with the Government of Mizoram in three districts and with IImpact for the literacy of women in West Bengal. The free Literacy Now app developed with the help of SBI Foundation is available to assist.

26 | The good sight

The app is being adopted by 5 million children of middle and senior grades in Uttar Pradesh. Literacy Chicago in the US is also implementing the program successfully for adult learners. We further aim to draw policymakers’ attention to a people’s movement for adult

literacy, as detailed in our book “Disruptive Literacy”. The book includes a comparative analysis of successful movements worldwide. These demonstrate that government-lead mass movements can result in major gains in adult literacy relatively quickly.

In Conclusion Marcel Proust said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” We need to reconsider our approach to education and remain receptive to novel ideas and innovative methods. It is crucial to aim for a transformative change of 10x instead of settling for incremental change of 10%. The ALfA pedagogy provides a process that can enable children and adults globally to acquire literacy and numeracy skills on an unprecedented scale and within a fraction of the time frame. Education plays a vital role in a child’s growth and development; it is time for a shift in paradigm in the way we perceive and approach it. We need to act now and step up our efforts to achieve these goals. Yusra Fatima, Program Manager, DEVI Sansthan [email protected] | dignityeducation.org/links | +91 740 840 6000

The good sight | 27

Adult Literacy Programs with a Focus on Women: Moving Towards Equality

DEVI Sansthan has been working with HCL Foundation to advance literacy in Hardoi District of Uttar Pradesh, with the Government of Mizoram in three districts and with IImpact for the literacy of women in West Bengal. The free Literacy Now app developed with the help of SBI Foundation is available to assist.

26 | The good sight

The app is being adopted by 5 million children of middle and senior grades in Uttar Pradesh. Literacy Chicago in the US is also implementing the program successfully for adult learners. We further aim to draw policymakers’ attention to a people’s movement for adult

literacy, as detailed in our book “Disruptive Literacy”. The book includes a comparative analysis of successful movements worldwide. These demonstrate that government-lead mass movements can result in major gains in adult literacy relatively quickly.

In Conclusion Marcel Proust said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” We need to reconsider our approach to education and remain receptive to novel ideas and innovative methods. It is crucial to aim for a transformative change of 10x instead of settling for incremental change of 10%. The ALfA pedagogy provides a process that can enable children and adults globally to acquire literacy and numeracy skills on an unprecedented scale and within a fraction of the time frame. Education plays a vital role in a child’s growth and development; it is time for a shift in paradigm in the way we perceive and approach it. We need to act now and step up our efforts to achieve these goals. Yusra Fatima, Program Manager, DEVI Sansthan [email protected] | dignityeducation.org/links | +91 740 840 6000

The good sight | 27

Changing India one Wash at a time Heeals, a grassroots NGO based in Gurugram, aspires to create a cleaner, healthier and fairer society in India

B

y starting small and working with one community at a time, Sonika and Gaurav Kayshap, the Heeals founders, with strong and committed team believe they can begin to make changes that will spread gradually throughout India, all the while working hard to create and maintain a self-sustaining society by ensuring that every household in India has unimpeded access to proper WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (Menstrual Hygiene), Health Education and Environment facilities. They are helped in their mission by international volunteers/interns who come from all over the world to participate in creating WASH programmes and workshops in schools and communities spread out over 8 Indian states.

Working to eliminate the myths surrounding periods

Sanitation and access to safe drinking water The majority of Heeals’ work takes place during workshops that are run from schools in different towns and areas. They are created to help educate children on the effects of bad sanitation facilities and unsafe drinking water, menstrual hygiene, health, education and environment issue.

Children in poorer areas are often unable to attend classes. They regularly suffer from symptoms of diarrhea, gastroenteritis or food poisoning, more than likely caused by unsafe water and bad sanitation facilities. The Heeals team sensitise the locals on the importance of observing hygiene and proper sanitation.

Proper handwashing matters 28 | The good sight

Issues like how to obtain safe drinking water, how to keep the environment and surroundings

Sanitary pads distribution

clean, how to follow good hygiene practices both at school and home etc are covered through the workshops facilitated by Heeals.

Heeals uses different methods in their workshops: posters, interactive games, and various techniques regarding proper hand

The good sight | 29

Changing India one Wash at a time Heeals, a grassroots NGO based in Gurugram, aspires to create a cleaner, healthier and fairer society in India

B

y starting small and working with one community at a time, Sonika and Gaurav Kayshap, the Heeals founders, with strong and committed team believe they can begin to make changes that will spread gradually throughout India, all the while working hard to create and maintain a self-sustaining society by ensuring that every household in India has unimpeded access to proper WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (Menstrual Hygiene), Health Education and Environment facilities. They are helped in their mission by international volunteers/interns who come from all over the world to participate in creating WASH programmes and workshops in schools and communities spread out over 8 Indian states.

Working to eliminate the myths surrounding periods

Sanitation and access to safe drinking water The majority of Heeals’ work takes place during workshops that are run from schools in different towns and areas. They are created to help educate children on the effects of bad sanitation facilities and unsafe drinking water, menstrual hygiene, health, education and environment issue.

Children in poorer areas are often unable to attend classes. They regularly suffer from symptoms of diarrhea, gastroenteritis or food poisoning, more than likely caused by unsafe water and bad sanitation facilities. The Heeals team sensitise the locals on the importance of observing hygiene and proper sanitation.

Proper handwashing matters 28 | The good sight

Issues like how to obtain safe drinking water, how to keep the environment and surroundings

Sanitary pads distribution

clean, how to follow good hygiene practices both at school and home etc are covered through the workshops facilitated by Heeals.

Heeals uses different methods in their workshops: posters, interactive games, and various techniques regarding proper hand

The good sight | 29

Underlining the importance of safe drinking water

washing, as well as one-on-one sessions with students and female colleagues. Major method remains behavior change communication programmes.

Girl’s education and menstrual health

Rajasthan, from schools to monasteries, over 3,000 soaps and 40 reverse osmosis water filters, this small grassroots NGO is continuing to work step by step in order to be the change it wants to see in the world.

(Amy Mcarthur is HEEALS Overseas Team Member and can be reached at amymcarthur10@gmail. com.) n

These one-on-one sessions can be particularly effective when tackling issues surrounding menstrual health. Periods are often still taboo in India, with many girls receiving little to no education about menstruation, and sometimes even being discriminated against when their time of the month comes around. Heeals has been working hard to eliminate the myths surrounding periods - still known as “the curse” to many - by educating women and girls on how to safely and hygienically manage them. Workshops and talk groups are a part of this initiative. The organisation also distributes sanitary pads along with soap in the areas that they are most needed, thanks to the Pads for Girls programme. To raise awareness of the difficulty of managing menstruation in India, Heeals participated in making a short film called The Curse which explains the taboos and myths surrounding it still today.

Films and other actions

The Curse is one of several other short documentaries made by Heeals. They were all created to highlight the problems that the team tackles on a day-to-day basis, and are available on the organisation’s website. From Himachal Pradesh to

30 | The good sight

The good sight | 31

Underlining the importance of safe drinking water

washing, as well as one-on-one sessions with students and female colleagues. Major method remains behavior change communication programmes.

Girl’s education and menstrual health

Rajasthan, from schools to monasteries, over 3,000 soaps and 40 reverse osmosis water filters, this small grassroots NGO is continuing to work step by step in order to be the change it wants to see in the world.

(Amy Mcarthur is HEEALS Overseas Team Member and can be reached at amymcarthur10@gmail. com.) n

These one-on-one sessions can be particularly effective when tackling issues surrounding menstrual health. Periods are often still taboo in India, with many girls receiving little to no education about menstruation, and sometimes even being discriminated against when their time of the month comes around. Heeals has been working hard to eliminate the myths surrounding periods - still known as “the curse” to many - by educating women and girls on how to safely and hygienically manage them. Workshops and talk groups are a part of this initiative. The organisation also distributes sanitary pads along with soap in the areas that they are most needed, thanks to the Pads for Girls programme. To raise awareness of the difficulty of managing menstruation in India, Heeals participated in making a short film called The Curse which explains the taboos and myths surrounding it still today.

Films and other actions

The Curse is one of several other short documentaries made by Heeals. They were all created to highlight the problems that the team tackles on a day-to-day basis, and are available on the organisation’s website. From Himachal Pradesh to

30 | The good sight

The good sight | 31

Toilets for a O healthy tomorrow Bharti Foundation’s ‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’ is an initiative to improve sanitation facilities in rural areas and is contributing to India’s largest cleanliness drive Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Girls’ toilet in a govt school in Ludhiana

pen defecation is a challenge at the global scale. It adversely affects many facets of life, like physical and cognitive development of children, sometimes leading to infant mortality. It also reduces the availability of human capital because of diseases, leading to loss of productivity and associated disadvantages. Open defecation affects everyone, a respective of an individual’s access or lack thereof to sanitation facilities. Poor sanitation affects the quality of life in many ways. Some of the challenges faced by individuals and communities due to poor sanitation include: • High Child Mortality Rate: Death of children due to diarrheal disease is largely preventable through proper sanitation and improved hygiene. Prevalence of such diseases is much higher in rural areas without improved sanitation. • Loss to Gross Domestic Product (GDP): According to The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India, a report from the World Bank, poor sanitation leads to considerable economic losses for India, equivalent to 6.4% of India’s GDP in 2006 at US $53.8 billion (Rs. 2.4 trillion). • Impact on Education and Development of Children: India is among many developing countries which are increasing spend on education to meet the Development Goals’ targets for universal primary school

32 | The good sight

completion. For a host of reasons, that spending will have more impact if some money goes towards providing toilets for students and teachers. Children enduring intense whipworm infections are absent from school twice as much as their worm-free peers. Not only do these illnesses deprive children of school attendance and achievement, they have a negative impact on their development, thereby impacting their countries’ development potential and deepening the cycle of poverty. Knowledge on disease transmission indicates that 100 per cent of infections caused by soil-transmitted parasitic worms can be prevented with adequate sanitation, hygiene and availability of water.

Satya Bharti Abhiyan: Addressing Sanitation in Ludhiana and Rural Amritsar Bharti Foundation launched Satya Bharti Abhiyan programme in August, 2014 in response to the clarion call made by the Honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to support government’s initiatives under this score. Under Satya Bharti Abhiyan programme, Bharti Foundation has envisioned to provide access to toilet in every household not having one and foster behaviour change among communities towards adoption of good sanitation practices including sustainable usage and maintenance of toilets.

Project Impact More than 17,600 individual toilets have been constructed and handed The good sight | 33

Toilets for a O healthy tomorrow Bharti Foundation’s ‘Satya Bharti Abhiyan’ is an initiative to improve sanitation facilities in rural areas and is contributing to India’s largest cleanliness drive Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Girls’ toilet in a govt school in Ludhiana

pen defecation is a challenge at the global scale. It adversely affects many facets of life, like physical and cognitive development of children, sometimes leading to infant mortality. It also reduces the availability of human capital because of diseases, leading to loss of productivity and associated disadvantages. Open defecation affects everyone, a respective of an individual’s access or lack thereof to sanitation facilities. Poor sanitation affects the quality of life in many ways. Some of the challenges faced by individuals and communities due to poor sanitation include: • High Child Mortality Rate: Death of children due to diarrheal disease is largely preventable through proper sanitation and improved hygiene. Prevalence of such diseases is much higher in rural areas without improved sanitation. • Loss to Gross Domestic Product (GDP): According to The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Sanitation in India, a report from the World Bank, poor sanitation leads to considerable economic losses for India, equivalent to 6.4% of India’s GDP in 2006 at US $53.8 billion (Rs. 2.4 trillion). • Impact on Education and Development of Children: India is among many developing countries which are increasing spend on education to meet the Development Goals’ targets for universal primary school

32 | The good sight

completion. For a host of reasons, that spending will have more impact if some money goes towards providing toilets for students and teachers. Children enduring intense whipworm infections are absent from school twice as much as their worm-free peers. Not only do these illnesses deprive children of school attendance and achievement, they have a negative impact on their development, thereby impacting their countries’ development potential and deepening the cycle of poverty. Knowledge on disease transmission indicates that 100 per cent of infections caused by soil-transmitted parasitic worms can be prevented with adequate sanitation, hygiene and availability of water.

Satya Bharti Abhiyan: Addressing Sanitation in Ludhiana and Rural Amritsar Bharti Foundation launched Satya Bharti Abhiyan programme in August, 2014 in response to the clarion call made by the Honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to support government’s initiatives under this score. Under Satya Bharti Abhiyan programme, Bharti Foundation has envisioned to provide access to toilet in every household not having one and foster behaviour change among communities towards adoption of good sanitation practices including sustainable usage and maintenance of toilets.

Project Impact More than 17,600 individual toilets have been constructed and handed The good sight | 33

over, benefitting over 86,000 beneficiaries which enabled rural Ludhiana district to achieve selfdeclared ‘Open Defecation Free’ (ODF) status in Nov 2016, i.e. in less than 2 years’ time period. Thereafter 774 toilets were provided in urban Ludhiana, where the work was completed in July 2018. In Sept 2017, the Foundation expanded the programme to rural Amritsar and is currently working with Government of Punjab for construction of 20,000 toilets. As on September 2019, more than 6000 toilets have been completed in rural Amritsar.

themes into the programme, picked up the learnings from the ground and formed partnerships that helped it deliver this large scale programme with speed and quality.

In addition to providing household toilets the programme also provided a separate toilet for girls in 14 Government schools of rural Ludhiana. Bharti Foundation responded to the request by the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate and constructed 37 separate ladies’ toilets in police stations, posts and offices. The Satya Bharti Abhiyan programme has so far constructed more than 24,000 toilets that benefits more than 1,80,000 individuals.

Beneficiaries were encouraged to apply for the toilets under the guidance of local village panchayat. At the time of application, the beneficiaries were made to understand the specifications of the toilets and during the handing over process, the satisfaction of the beneficiary is given top priority The handing over of toilet is not considered complete unless the Foundation receives the written confirmation and satisfaction certificate from the respective beneficiary. Gram Panchayat was also involved in auditing the toilets

In addition to the quantitative impact, there were significant social changes which were fostered by the Abhiyan. These include adaption of good sanitation practices and their related socio economic and health benefits. The Satya Bharti Abhiyan being inclusive, does not discriminate households on any ground like economic status, caste, religion, political affiliation etc., and hence benefitted all including weaker and marginalised sections of the society, who traditionally are deprived of resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that over 34 | The good sight

A key step, at the time of initiation was to inform the community about the programme and to encourage them to participate. Village level meetings in Panchayat Bhawans, Gurdwaras etc., were undertaken to raise awareness among community members on the ill-effects of open defecation and the importance of having toilets in their household.

Toilets are essential for clean, and healthy communities

25% of households in which toilets are provided in rural Ludhiana are women lead and approximately 88% of beneficiaries of the Abhiyan are from marginalised (SC&ST) category, whereas they comprise 26. 39 % of population as per census 2011 data. Additionally, after the construction of toilets, the women and children felt more secure and safe as they don’t have to travel at odd areas for defecation. The programme

that had been delivered, thus empowering them in monitoring quality and process on ground. The list of all beneficiaries were submitted to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and Nodal Officer, Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, Ludhiana to conduct independent checks on the numbers as well as quality of toilets constructed. Recognising the importance of a well-structured Information, Education and Communication campaign in bringing about a mindset change, Bharti Foundation undertook various initiatives with intense engagement of community. One-on-one interaction with beneficiaries, use of easy-tounderstand booklets, village/gram sabha meetings and rallies etc., helped encourage regular use and proper operation and maintenance of toilets. These efforts yielded great results which were reflected in the survey which was done after a year of handing over the toilets, confirming over 98.5% usage by the beneficiaries.

provided a sense of dignity and greater independence and comfort to women, elderlies and the disabled members of the family.

Process-Driven Approach to Manage Size and Scale: For any programme to be successful, focus on quality, process transparency, stakeholder involvement and empowerment as well as strategic communications are the key pillars. Bharti Foundation incorporated these

What makes Abhiyan Different? The Satya Bharti Abhiyan benefitted a lot due to active participation of its partners and stakeholders but what sets this initiative apart is the “process oriented approach” of the entire programme. Adherence to the strongly listed processes helped to limit the subjectivity, empowered the ground teams to take quick decisions. This approach enabled Bharti Foundation to deliver of quality toilets at good speed. For instance, in rural Ludhiana, 17,628 toilets were provided within two years which translates into 24 toilets provided per day. Another aspect of the project that sets it apart is the engagement and empowerment of all stakeholders leading to their demonstrated ownership of the project by the over 98.5 % usage of the toilets provided, which showcases the sustainability. The project ensured transparency and sharing of information with all stakeholders, including the Government agencies that developed the required connect with the community and beneficiaries, especially women at various stages of the project, through multiple contact points.

Ladies’ toliet for staff and visitors at Ludhiana Police Station The good sight | 35

over, benefitting over 86,000 beneficiaries which enabled rural Ludhiana district to achieve selfdeclared ‘Open Defecation Free’ (ODF) status in Nov 2016, i.e. in less than 2 years’ time period. Thereafter 774 toilets were provided in urban Ludhiana, where the work was completed in July 2018. In Sept 2017, the Foundation expanded the programme to rural Amritsar and is currently working with Government of Punjab for construction of 20,000 toilets. As on September 2019, more than 6000 toilets have been completed in rural Amritsar.

themes into the programme, picked up the learnings from the ground and formed partnerships that helped it deliver this large scale programme with speed and quality.

In addition to providing household toilets the programme also provided a separate toilet for girls in 14 Government schools of rural Ludhiana. Bharti Foundation responded to the request by the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate and constructed 37 separate ladies’ toilets in police stations, posts and offices. The Satya Bharti Abhiyan programme has so far constructed more than 24,000 toilets that benefits more than 1,80,000 individuals.

Beneficiaries were encouraged to apply for the toilets under the guidance of local village panchayat. At the time of application, the beneficiaries were made to understand the specifications of the toilets and during the handing over process, the satisfaction of the beneficiary is given top priority The handing over of toilet is not considered complete unless the Foundation receives the written confirmation and satisfaction certificate from the respective beneficiary. Gram Panchayat was also involved in auditing the toilets

In addition to the quantitative impact, there were significant social changes which were fostered by the Abhiyan. These include adaption of good sanitation practices and their related socio economic and health benefits. The Satya Bharti Abhiyan being inclusive, does not discriminate households on any ground like economic status, caste, religion, political affiliation etc., and hence benefitted all including weaker and marginalised sections of the society, who traditionally are deprived of resources. This is demonstrated by the fact that over 34 | The good sight

A key step, at the time of initiation was to inform the community about the programme and to encourage them to participate. Village level meetings in Panchayat Bhawans, Gurdwaras etc., were undertaken to raise awareness among community members on the ill-effects of open defecation and the importance of having toilets in their household.

Toilets are essential for clean, and healthy communities

25% of households in which toilets are provided in rural Ludhiana are women lead and approximately 88% of beneficiaries of the Abhiyan are from marginalised (SC&ST) category, whereas they comprise 26. 39 % of population as per census 2011 data. Additionally, after the construction of toilets, the women and children felt more secure and safe as they don’t have to travel at odd areas for defecation. The programme

that had been delivered, thus empowering them in monitoring quality and process on ground. The list of all beneficiaries were submitted to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and Nodal Officer, Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, Ludhiana to conduct independent checks on the numbers as well as quality of toilets constructed. Recognising the importance of a well-structured Information, Education and Communication campaign in bringing about a mindset change, Bharti Foundation undertook various initiatives with intense engagement of community. One-on-one interaction with beneficiaries, use of easy-tounderstand booklets, village/gram sabha meetings and rallies etc., helped encourage regular use and proper operation and maintenance of toilets. These efforts yielded great results which were reflected in the survey which was done after a year of handing over the toilets, confirming over 98.5% usage by the beneficiaries.

provided a sense of dignity and greater independence and comfort to women, elderlies and the disabled members of the family.

Process-Driven Approach to Manage Size and Scale: For any programme to be successful, focus on quality, process transparency, stakeholder involvement and empowerment as well as strategic communications are the key pillars. Bharti Foundation incorporated these

What makes Abhiyan Different? The Satya Bharti Abhiyan benefitted a lot due to active participation of its partners and stakeholders but what sets this initiative apart is the “process oriented approach” of the entire programme. Adherence to the strongly listed processes helped to limit the subjectivity, empowered the ground teams to take quick decisions. This approach enabled Bharti Foundation to deliver of quality toilets at good speed. For instance, in rural Ludhiana, 17,628 toilets were provided within two years which translates into 24 toilets provided per day. Another aspect of the project that sets it apart is the engagement and empowerment of all stakeholders leading to their demonstrated ownership of the project by the over 98.5 % usage of the toilets provided, which showcases the sustainability. The project ensured transparency and sharing of information with all stakeholders, including the Government agencies that developed the required connect with the community and beneficiaries, especially women at various stages of the project, through multiple contact points.

Ladies’ toliet for staff and visitors at Ludhiana Police Station The good sight | 35

Restoring the Independence of Women: A Case Story Paramjeet Kaur is a determined woman, residing in the village of Salempur (Punjab) with her husband, Surender Singh and four children. The duo make just enough money to fulfill their basic necessities and the needs of the children. Despite economic restraints, a smile never leaves Paramjeet’s face. However, this was not the case just a few months ago. In 2013, Paramjeet shifted to her own house from a rented accommodation. The joy of owning a small house of her own was short-lived, as unlike the rented house, her own house had no toilet. Not used to defecating in the open, Paramjeet experienced unimagined embarrassment and great discomfort at having to travel long distances to defecate. Her children also began to fall sick often due to open defecation, adding to the strain on their finances as her husband was the

Satya Bharti School children as the change agents for rural Sanitation The efforts of the Satya Bharti Abhiyan have been complemented by more than 40,000 students of Satya Bharti Schools who are being motivated by Bharti Foundation to become the change agents and undertake awareness campaigns in their respective villages. It is interesting to note that the concerted efforts of the students and teachers of Bharti Foundation have resulted in construction of toilets in more than 3,000 households. These students continue to raise awareness around the issues of cleanliness, sanitation and water conservation. n

36 | The good sight

only earning member at that time. However, Paramjeet’s struggles soon came to an end when Bharti Foundation constructed an individual toilet in her house. This positive change transformed her life completely. With more time at her hands, Paramjeet started working part-time at a factory to add to the family income. Today, she is happy to contribute to the family income. “This toilet has truly empowered me, giving me the opportunity to work and give my family a better lifestyle”, says Paramjeet. She was also present at the July 15, 2017 event commemorating the completion of Satya Bharti Abhiyan in Ludhiana. And empowered and confident woman today, Paramjeet also spoke at the event and expressed her happiness over the transformation that her family witnessed upon the construction of a toilet in her house.

Multiple beneficiaries in a joint family in rural Ludhiana

(With inputs from Bharti Foundation)

The good sight | 37

Restoring the Independence of Women: A Case Story Paramjeet Kaur is a determined woman, residing in the village of Salempur (Punjab) with her husband, Surender Singh and four children. The duo make just enough money to fulfill their basic necessities and the needs of the children. Despite economic restraints, a smile never leaves Paramjeet’s face. However, this was not the case just a few months ago. In 2013, Paramjeet shifted to her own house from a rented accommodation. The joy of owning a small house of her own was short-lived, as unlike the rented house, her own house had no toilet. Not used to defecating in the open, Paramjeet experienced unimagined embarrassment and great discomfort at having to travel long distances to defecate. Her children also began to fall sick often due to open defecation, adding to the strain on their finances as her husband was the

Satya Bharti School children as the change agents for rural Sanitation The efforts of the Satya Bharti Abhiyan have been complemented by more than 40,000 students of Satya Bharti Schools who are being motivated by Bharti Foundation to become the change agents and undertake awareness campaigns in their respective villages. It is interesting to note that the concerted efforts of the students and teachers of Bharti Foundation have resulted in construction of toilets in more than 3,000 households. These students continue to raise awareness around the issues of cleanliness, sanitation and water conservation. n

36 | The good sight

only earning member at that time. However, Paramjeet’s struggles soon came to an end when Bharti Foundation constructed an individual toilet in her house. This positive change transformed her life completely. With more time at her hands, Paramjeet started working part-time at a factory to add to the family income. Today, she is happy to contribute to the family income. “This toilet has truly empowered me, giving me the opportunity to work and give my family a better lifestyle”, says Paramjeet. She was also present at the July 15, 2017 event commemorating the completion of Satya Bharti Abhiyan in Ludhiana. And empowered and confident woman today, Paramjeet also spoke at the event and expressed her happiness over the transformation that her family witnessed upon the construction of a toilet in her house.

Multiple beneficiaries in a joint family in rural Ludhiana

(With inputs from Bharti Foundation)

The good sight | 37

Focus on basics

understanding takes a lot of time. If this process does not start at home or in any pre-school facility, a kid taking direct admission in Class 1 is in serious disadvantage. The result is that this disadvantage travels with him as he moves ahead in the curriculum and classes. With a no-detention policy till Class 8, it is common within the kids, especially from an underprivileged background with lack of good educational facility, to show signs of severe learning deficiencies even when he is in a much higher class.

Bridging the gap ThinkZone, a Cuttack-based social enterprise, uses innovative ‘School-in-a-Box’ education solution, offline technology, proprietary teaching activities and class management tools to deliver quality early grade education programmes 38 | The good sight

Early childhood programme

W

ith one of the largest populations in the world, India has been facing several challenges in its different sectors, one of them being education. Across India, over 260 million students are studying at more than 1.5 million recognised schools in the country. Among these, less than 45% of the children in Grade 5 are of Grade 2 or less while 25 million students fail to cope up with their classes and suffer from severe learning deficiencies.

Several factors have led to these figures but it can be broadly identified into gaps in the curriculum, unavailability of teachers, substandard infrastructure and problems with the implementation of the whole educational programme. For the primary grade, the curriculum starts with mostly all the subjects at once, for a child who is in Class 1, there is a time bounds to learn and start writing and to perform in the tests. Usually writing and learning alphabets of any language or simple numbers and mathematical

In India, right now the dropout rate shoots from 4% in primary to 17% in secondary levels. Out of the many things, it also indicates that the severe learning deficiencies obtained during primary education stay on and only grow as kids move into secondary grades. In some of the rural and remote areas, the schools are understaffed, teachers are overburdened with teaching kids, school management work and all other governmental work that they are assigned round the year, including elections and surveys. Thus any new programme introduced by the government is rarely implemented. Pre-primary education is one rarelytalked-about topic in the country although it should be the primary focus right now. The National Educational Policy Draft 2019 states with evidence that 85% of a child’s cumulative development happens before the age of six. The Integrated Child Development Service and under it the Anganwadi scheme has played a major role in improving the health status in the rural hinterland but nothing concrete has yet been set up for the curriculum or for monitoring the learning outcomes. The good sight | 39

Focus on basics

understanding takes a lot of time. If this process does not start at home or in any pre-school facility, a kid taking direct admission in Class 1 is in serious disadvantage. The result is that this disadvantage travels with him as he moves ahead in the curriculum and classes. With a no-detention policy till Class 8, it is common within the kids, especially from an underprivileged background with lack of good educational facility, to show signs of severe learning deficiencies even when he is in a much higher class.

Bridging the gap ThinkZone, a Cuttack-based social enterprise, uses innovative ‘School-in-a-Box’ education solution, offline technology, proprietary teaching activities and class management tools to deliver quality early grade education programmes 38 | The good sight

Early childhood programme

W

ith one of the largest populations in the world, India has been facing several challenges in its different sectors, one of them being education. Across India, over 260 million students are studying at more than 1.5 million recognised schools in the country. Among these, less than 45% of the children in Grade 5 are of Grade 2 or less while 25 million students fail to cope up with their classes and suffer from severe learning deficiencies.

Several factors have led to these figures but it can be broadly identified into gaps in the curriculum, unavailability of teachers, substandard infrastructure and problems with the implementation of the whole educational programme. For the primary grade, the curriculum starts with mostly all the subjects at once, for a child who is in Class 1, there is a time bounds to learn and start writing and to perform in the tests. Usually writing and learning alphabets of any language or simple numbers and mathematical

In India, right now the dropout rate shoots from 4% in primary to 17% in secondary levels. Out of the many things, it also indicates that the severe learning deficiencies obtained during primary education stay on and only grow as kids move into secondary grades. In some of the rural and remote areas, the schools are understaffed, teachers are overburdened with teaching kids, school management work and all other governmental work that they are assigned round the year, including elections and surveys. Thus any new programme introduced by the government is rarely implemented. Pre-primary education is one rarelytalked-about topic in the country although it should be the primary focus right now. The National Educational Policy Draft 2019 states with evidence that 85% of a child’s cumulative development happens before the age of six. The Integrated Child Development Service and under it the Anganwadi scheme has played a major role in improving the health status in the rural hinterland but nothing concrete has yet been set up for the curriculum or for monitoring the learning outcomes. The good sight | 39

deficiencies while they haven’t yet started their journey into the competitive world.

Early childhood programme class underway

ThinkZone, a Cuttack-based social enterprise, has been working on these educational challenges since 2014 in rural Odisha. Thinkzone follows the “Teaching-at-theRight-Level” (TaRL) – an MIT evidence-based approach and uses an innovative ‘School-in-aBox’ education solution, offline technology, proprietary teaching activities and class management tools to deliver quality early-grade education programmes. The ThinkZone solution for these challenges works in two phases – remedy and prevention. Thus the programme works in two phases i.e. The Early Childhood Programme and The Primary Grade Programme. Its Early Childhood Programme focuses on the kids who don’t get the right support in the early stage and fall behind on the following important development skills: • Physical: Unstable (Example: Unable to hold a pencil and write, no hand-eye coordination etc) • Language: (Example: Unable to understand and speak simple sentences) 40 | The good sight

• Social and Emotional: (Example: Cannot interact with fellow children, cries when goes to an external environment) • Memory: (Example: Unable to understand and recollect simple objects) The Early Childhood Programme focuses on these parameters via a skill-based approach by working on the development of Physical (gross motor and fine motor), Language (listening, reading, writing, speaking), Social and Emotional (personal work, play and inter-relation) and Memory Skills (classification, pre-mathematical concepts). Children become school ready and eager to learn, thereby enabling a successful transition to a primary school learning environment. To be able to assess whether the programme has the desired effect, we assess children’s learning outcomes based on 15 broad learning parameters under the above 4 mentioned skills (physical, language, memory and social & emotional). This is the prevention part of the syllabus to help them cope up with the

The second phase of the solution is to target the kids who are already in their primary grades but are falling behind. The remedial programme is for children who are already in formal primary schools but several steps behind basic learning competencies. They fall behind due to the inability to perform even the most basic tasks in the classroom, develop behaviour problems and a lack of motivation for staying in schools. Some of the key skills which children lack are: • Language: (Example: Grade 4 children unable to read and write letters, common words, and paragraph with 4 simple sentences – Grade 1 Level) • Arithmetic: (Example: Grade 5 children unable to tell time, do simple currency operations, 2-digit subtraction etc – Grade 2 Level)

trained woman of the community. These women are provided with training beforehand for understanding and incorporating age/level appropriate curriculum through activity-based teaching methodology. The training also constitutes usage of teaching and learning materials which is a part of the School-in-a-Box and using the ThinkZone Application for mobile phones containing activity plans for the educators among many other things. Every month they also get refresher training to revisit various topics from the curriculum as well as new activities or content for the kids on the mobile application and through offline sessions. ThinkZone also engages with lowincome group families via different community outreach programmes to make them understand about quality education. It also enables

and empowers them to adopt modern educational practices at home. Parents receive small learning modules which they can try at their homes with children. Apart from this, they also receive monthly updates about the learning outcome of their children. In the past few years, ThinkZone has impacted over 4,000 children while engaging more than 200 trained educators from the community. ThinkZone has been working in three districts and has covered more than 350 villages through the programme. There has been a 50% average increase in the learning levels of the children in these centres. Ninety per cent of the enrolled children have jumped 2 levels up from their existing language and arithmetic levels in one year of the Primary Grade Programme while 80% of enrolled

children in the Early Childhood Programme have developed 12 of the 15 required learning parameters in a year. ThinkZone has also started working with Anganwadis in Cuttack district recently and will soon start working with primary schools to provide quality education. The goal to achieve quality education for all can only be achieved when we have all the stakeholders – government, parents, students, teachers, the community, NGOs and organisations like ThinkZone – working towards it together. Filling the gaps in Pre-Primary and Primary Education is one of the several solutions which can be a game-changer in solving this big crisis of the country. n

The Primary Level Education Programme is a level-based and not an age-based programme with every level having a particular conceptual ability defined (Example: 2 digit addition and subtraction for certain level and fractions addition and subtraction for some other level). The focus of the programme is on improving reading fluency, reading and listening comprehension and moving from one level to another, and improving arithmetic ability. To be able to assess whether the programme has the desired effect, we assess children’s learning outcomes based on learning parameters of reading and arithmetic skills of all the levels. Both the programmes are an afterschool programme and are run by a

Refresher training of educators from the community.

The good sight | 41

deficiencies while they haven’t yet started their journey into the competitive world.

Early childhood programme class underway

ThinkZone, a Cuttack-based social enterprise, has been working on these educational challenges since 2014 in rural Odisha. Thinkzone follows the “Teaching-at-theRight-Level” (TaRL) – an MIT evidence-based approach and uses an innovative ‘School-in-aBox’ education solution, offline technology, proprietary teaching activities and class management tools to deliver quality early-grade education programmes. The ThinkZone solution for these challenges works in two phases – remedy and prevention. Thus the programme works in two phases i.e. The Early Childhood Programme and The Primary Grade Programme. Its Early Childhood Programme focuses on the kids who don’t get the right support in the early stage and fall behind on the following important development skills: • Physical: Unstable (Example: Unable to hold a pencil and write, no hand-eye coordination etc) • Language: (Example: Unable to understand and speak simple sentences) 40 | The good sight

• Social and Emotional: (Example: Cannot interact with fellow children, cries when goes to an external environment) • Memory: (Example: Unable to understand and recollect simple objects) The Early Childhood Programme focuses on these parameters via a skill-based approach by working on the development of Physical (gross motor and fine motor), Language (listening, reading, writing, speaking), Social and Emotional (personal work, play and inter-relation) and Memory Skills (classification, pre-mathematical concepts). Children become school ready and eager to learn, thereby enabling a successful transition to a primary school learning environment. To be able to assess whether the programme has the desired effect, we assess children’s learning outcomes based on 15 broad learning parameters under the above 4 mentioned skills (physical, language, memory and social & emotional). This is the prevention part of the syllabus to help them cope up with the

The second phase of the solution is to target the kids who are already in their primary grades but are falling behind. The remedial programme is for children who are already in formal primary schools but several steps behind basic learning competencies. They fall behind due to the inability to perform even the most basic tasks in the classroom, develop behaviour problems and a lack of motivation for staying in schools. Some of the key skills which children lack are: • Language: (Example: Grade 4 children unable to read and write letters, common words, and paragraph with 4 simple sentences – Grade 1 Level) • Arithmetic: (Example: Grade 5 children unable to tell time, do simple currency operations, 2-digit subtraction etc – Grade 2 Level)

trained woman of the community. These women are provided with training beforehand for understanding and incorporating age/level appropriate curriculum through activity-based teaching methodology. The training also constitutes usage of teaching and learning materials which is a part of the School-in-a-Box and using the ThinkZone Application for mobile phones containing activity plans for the educators among many other things. Every month they also get refresher training to revisit various topics from the curriculum as well as new activities or content for the kids on the mobile application and through offline sessions. ThinkZone also engages with lowincome group families via different community outreach programmes to make them understand about quality education. It also enables

and empowers them to adopt modern educational practices at home. Parents receive small learning modules which they can try at their homes with children. Apart from this, they also receive monthly updates about the learning outcome of their children. In the past few years, ThinkZone has impacted over 4,000 children while engaging more than 200 trained educators from the community. ThinkZone has been working in three districts and has covered more than 350 villages through the programme. There has been a 50% average increase in the learning levels of the children in these centres. Ninety per cent of the enrolled children have jumped 2 levels up from their existing language and arithmetic levels in one year of the Primary Grade Programme while 80% of enrolled

children in the Early Childhood Programme have developed 12 of the 15 required learning parameters in a year. ThinkZone has also started working with Anganwadis in Cuttack district recently and will soon start working with primary schools to provide quality education. The goal to achieve quality education for all can only be achieved when we have all the stakeholders – government, parents, students, teachers, the community, NGOs and organisations like ThinkZone – working towards it together. Filling the gaps in Pre-Primary and Primary Education is one of the several solutions which can be a game-changer in solving this big crisis of the country. n

The Primary Level Education Programme is a level-based and not an age-based programme with every level having a particular conceptual ability defined (Example: 2 digit addition and subtraction for certain level and fractions addition and subtraction for some other level). The focus of the programme is on improving reading fluency, reading and listening comprehension and moving from one level to another, and improving arithmetic ability. To be able to assess whether the programme has the desired effect, we assess children’s learning outcomes based on learning parameters of reading and arithmetic skills of all the levels. Both the programmes are an afterschool programme and are run by a

Refresher training of educators from the community.

The good sight | 41

By the numbers

Data the epicentre for research and the foundation of policymaking help figure out how our policies will work on the ground; Track Your Metrics, a data collection application developed by Outline India, is a tool meant for funders and CSR to track the work of their grantees, induct new grantees, all on the basis of datasets

O

ne goes through pages of numbers each day, tucked away in our WhatsApp forwards, the op-eds we read and write, the reports we skim through and the slides we view during conferences. Pause and consider the origin of those numbers. These are numbers that were perhaps collected from public hospitals in Jharkhand, one of the poorer states in India, where perhaps quacks are revered over hardto-access public healthcare officials. The data points could also be from an overcrowded public health centre in Odisha where the women line up with their newborns to collect subsidies due as incentives for institutional births. But who decides whether the numbers were collected from the right stakeholders, whether the enumerator hit the right option in his/her tablet while making the entry, whether he/she made it to the right household, whether he/she cared enough to understand the answer and probe further. Doing fieldwork in India and perhaps across the developing world is akin to what Marvel comics are made of. Its adventure is unpredictable and there’s always a hero and an evil force. Moving away from paper-based data collection has significant advantages but subjectivity in data collection will continue to alter our perceptions and policies.

42 | The good sight

irk out a response that would triangulate and ensure us of the findings. This was a painful process. I have often wondered if I would be willing to answer or be able to recollect my thoughts for such detailed assessments. For instance, do you (the reader) remember the amount of money you have spent on medical expenses in the last 6 months, much less, the last year? Would you as a woman or a man be able to recount the horrific details of a stillborn or the death of a newborn? Well, we had to ask these questions, across thousands of people, albeit in the interest of research. People would sometimes break down in the midst of the survey. We would take a break and then we had to be back, asking more questions. People got angry on certain occasions or refused to continue. Sadly, this was to the detriment of the larger goal of

launching a more effective healthcare policy. I remember another instance. It was the festival of Shivratri, an important one in the state. We reached around 1 pm huddled up in three big cars, a team of 5 researchers and 8 enumerators. It’s a day of religious festivities when people would stay home. We assumed it was the perfect occasion to wrap things up quickly. We were wrong. There was little opportunity other than the seasonal farming routine. This was an impoverished community, and alcohol was a part of the daily routine. On the occasion of Shivratri, it was apparently legit and expected that people would be inebriated in the afternoon, the women folk included. Our arrival was not well received and we decided to exit. The study continued in other parts as one Outline India team member at work in field

I use this chapter to showcase my understanding of people, human behaviour and how our healthcare policies must consider the counterfactual and think of all things alien, before sealing the deal. Through field stories , I hope to bring out how our culture, the everyday of events, news, political discussions and online debate feed into the larger political narrative and affect data and hence policy outcomes.

Sensitive questions and sensitivity

My team speaks many Indian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Bangla, Odia, among others but on one such field mission, we found ourselves in the remote reaches of Karnataka. We were investigating the effects on the health of certain government policy. Our questions were detailed. Our goal was to help the central government figure how it could widen the ambit of the policy from its current, below poverty line (BPL) stature to include subsets from the above poverty (APL) line groups. We asked about the money they had spent on medicines in the last year and how their spending habits had changed as a result. The respondents hated us for how far we would push them. We would ask the same question twice, worded differently, negatively loaded on certain occasions to The good sight | 43

By the numbers

Data the epicentre for research and the foundation of policymaking help figure out how our policies will work on the ground; Track Your Metrics, a data collection application developed by Outline India, is a tool meant for funders and CSR to track the work of their grantees, induct new grantees, all on the basis of datasets

O

ne goes through pages of numbers each day, tucked away in our WhatsApp forwards, the op-eds we read and write, the reports we skim through and the slides we view during conferences. Pause and consider the origin of those numbers. These are numbers that were perhaps collected from public hospitals in Jharkhand, one of the poorer states in India, where perhaps quacks are revered over hardto-access public healthcare officials. The data points could also be from an overcrowded public health centre in Odisha where the women line up with their newborns to collect subsidies due as incentives for institutional births. But who decides whether the numbers were collected from the right stakeholders, whether the enumerator hit the right option in his/her tablet while making the entry, whether he/she made it to the right household, whether he/she cared enough to understand the answer and probe further. Doing fieldwork in India and perhaps across the developing world is akin to what Marvel comics are made of. Its adventure is unpredictable and there’s always a hero and an evil force. Moving away from paper-based data collection has significant advantages but subjectivity in data collection will continue to alter our perceptions and policies.

42 | The good sight

irk out a response that would triangulate and ensure us of the findings. This was a painful process. I have often wondered if I would be willing to answer or be able to recollect my thoughts for such detailed assessments. For instance, do you (the reader) remember the amount of money you have spent on medical expenses in the last 6 months, much less, the last year? Would you as a woman or a man be able to recount the horrific details of a stillborn or the death of a newborn? Well, we had to ask these questions, across thousands of people, albeit in the interest of research. People would sometimes break down in the midst of the survey. We would take a break and then we had to be back, asking more questions. People got angry on certain occasions or refused to continue. Sadly, this was to the detriment of the larger goal of

launching a more effective healthcare policy. I remember another instance. It was the festival of Shivratri, an important one in the state. We reached around 1 pm huddled up in three big cars, a team of 5 researchers and 8 enumerators. It’s a day of religious festivities when people would stay home. We assumed it was the perfect occasion to wrap things up quickly. We were wrong. There was little opportunity other than the seasonal farming routine. This was an impoverished community, and alcohol was a part of the daily routine. On the occasion of Shivratri, it was apparently legit and expected that people would be inebriated in the afternoon, the women folk included. Our arrival was not well received and we decided to exit. The study continued in other parts as one Outline India team member at work in field

I use this chapter to showcase my understanding of people, human behaviour and how our healthcare policies must consider the counterfactual and think of all things alien, before sealing the deal. Through field stories , I hope to bring out how our culture, the everyday of events, news, political discussions and online debate feed into the larger political narrative and affect data and hence policy outcomes.

Sensitive questions and sensitivity

My team speaks many Indian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Bangla, Odia, among others but on one such field mission, we found ourselves in the remote reaches of Karnataka. We were investigating the effects on the health of certain government policy. Our questions were detailed. Our goal was to help the central government figure how it could widen the ambit of the policy from its current, below poverty line (BPL) stature to include subsets from the above poverty (APL) line groups. We asked about the money they had spent on medicines in the last year and how their spending habits had changed as a result. The respondents hated us for how far we would push them. We would ask the same question twice, worded differently, negatively loaded on certain occasions to The good sight | 43

would hope.

spread like wildfire in villages that are not as well connected. Also, visits from outsiders are a rare and special occasion in these parts. The outsider is both revered and scrutinised. Households not part of the sample were not given the gift i.e. the pen set.

The instances above highlight the criticality of designing survey tools and preparing for the unforeseen during data collection.

Timing

A day later our team of enumerators were met with a subgroup of unhappy individuals. One of these individuals was the nephew of the Sarpanch (village head). To the villagers his station commanded subservience and our team was happy to comply. The piece of news that apparently reached him was as follows – we were a team from Delhi who was visiting to influence women and how they behaved with their husbands. More so, the gifts were intended to buy into their vote. A few phone calls and two hours later, our lead supervisor was summoned to explain what was precisely the case at the police station. A pen set worth INR 18 was not to be doled out without the express permission of the village leaders.

We carry out large-scale data collection exercises, over hundreds of villages, households and people. Sometimes our surveys are tedious and long, 6090 minutes, running up to two hours and longer in certain cases. Most rural households welcome us in, but they have time-sensitive work. A woman, for instance, must look after her husband, in-laws, send children to school, clean up and feed the cattle. The men may be putting in long hours in the field during sowing or harvesting season. Healthcare practitioners multitask and serve long stressful hours in public hospitals. Timing is everything when it comes to good data. As luck would have it, Elections 2019 in India came with their own set of constraints for policy work and research. Before the elections, however, the model code of conduct (MCC) kicks in. The MCC allows the Election Commission to regulate the acts of parties and candidates alike in the interest of fair elections . It ensures the ruling party does not get an unfair advantage and hence no new measures, policies or acts must be rolled out at this time. This was a politically charged time of the year and hence community work, surveys or interventions can be misconstrued as acts to influence the voters in a certain direction. It might make certain sects happy and render others aggravated. Some of our partners asked us to push data collection, and certain others that were season sensitive suffered or had to be remodelled.

Incentives becoming disincentives

In this particular study in Rajasthan, we talked to the mothers extensively about the division of financial resources among children on the basis of gender to better understand how that might affect growth, nutrition and choices going further. We discussed nutrition and daily calendars for each child based on gender. Our survey awarded pen sets to households as a sign of gratitude for their time and patience. We assumed this to be a neutral and albeit a useful gift for everyone. Well, we were partly wrong. Firstly, word

44 | The good sight

Power equations Endline qualitative study in progress

Outline India team at work

The example above brings to light how power equations work in certain locales. When we must interview women, we ensure the family elders are not around. On certain occasions, we find an open space within the household but away from the ears of other family members. Of course, this is not easy to achieve in numerous cases. Women in certain communities do not enjoy the freedom of expression and must adhere to certain tacit rules while sharing opinion. However, they must not be interviewed alone or must be interviewed solely by a female enumerator. Any medical tests, taking of blood pressure, in short, any physical contact with a female respondent or girl child must be either by a female enumerator or administered in the presence of a guardian/ family member. It is interesting to observe that while women may be the sole cooks and caretakers of children, their reach and decision making in terms of what supplies are purchased and hence nutrition of their offspring/ themselves is not a subject under their purview. Take the case of the Swachch Bharat Mission (Clean India Campaign), wherein ‘saving the dignity’ of women was the jingle the authorities came up with. In households, where men enjoy absolute power, women are considered as those who ‘must be saved’ and rescued. When we tested for recall of the messaging

The good sight | 45

would hope.

spread like wildfire in villages that are not as well connected. Also, visits from outsiders are a rare and special occasion in these parts. The outsider is both revered and scrutinised. Households not part of the sample were not given the gift i.e. the pen set.

The instances above highlight the criticality of designing survey tools and preparing for the unforeseen during data collection.

Timing

A day later our team of enumerators were met with a subgroup of unhappy individuals. One of these individuals was the nephew of the Sarpanch (village head). To the villagers his station commanded subservience and our team was happy to comply. The piece of news that apparently reached him was as follows – we were a team from Delhi who was visiting to influence women and how they behaved with their husbands. More so, the gifts were intended to buy into their vote. A few phone calls and two hours later, our lead supervisor was summoned to explain what was precisely the case at the police station. A pen set worth INR 18 was not to be doled out without the express permission of the village leaders.

We carry out large-scale data collection exercises, over hundreds of villages, households and people. Sometimes our surveys are tedious and long, 6090 minutes, running up to two hours and longer in certain cases. Most rural households welcome us in, but they have time-sensitive work. A woman, for instance, must look after her husband, in-laws, send children to school, clean up and feed the cattle. The men may be putting in long hours in the field during sowing or harvesting season. Healthcare practitioners multitask and serve long stressful hours in public hospitals. Timing is everything when it comes to good data. As luck would have it, Elections 2019 in India came with their own set of constraints for policy work and research. Before the elections, however, the model code of conduct (MCC) kicks in. The MCC allows the Election Commission to regulate the acts of parties and candidates alike in the interest of fair elections . It ensures the ruling party does not get an unfair advantage and hence no new measures, policies or acts must be rolled out at this time. This was a politically charged time of the year and hence community work, surveys or interventions can be misconstrued as acts to influence the voters in a certain direction. It might make certain sects happy and render others aggravated. Some of our partners asked us to push data collection, and certain others that were season sensitive suffered or had to be remodelled.

Incentives becoming disincentives

In this particular study in Rajasthan, we talked to the mothers extensively about the division of financial resources among children on the basis of gender to better understand how that might affect growth, nutrition and choices going further. We discussed nutrition and daily calendars for each child based on gender. Our survey awarded pen sets to households as a sign of gratitude for their time and patience. We assumed this to be a neutral and albeit a useful gift for everyone. Well, we were partly wrong. Firstly, word

44 | The good sight

Power equations Endline qualitative study in progress

Outline India team at work

The example above brings to light how power equations work in certain locales. When we must interview women, we ensure the family elders are not around. On certain occasions, we find an open space within the household but away from the ears of other family members. Of course, this is not easy to achieve in numerous cases. Women in certain communities do not enjoy the freedom of expression and must adhere to certain tacit rules while sharing opinion. However, they must not be interviewed alone or must be interviewed solely by a female enumerator. Any medical tests, taking of blood pressure, in short, any physical contact with a female respondent or girl child must be either by a female enumerator or administered in the presence of a guardian/ family member. It is interesting to observe that while women may be the sole cooks and caretakers of children, their reach and decision making in terms of what supplies are purchased and hence nutrition of their offspring/ themselves is not a subject under their purview. Take the case of the Swachch Bharat Mission (Clean India Campaign), wherein ‘saving the dignity’ of women was the jingle the authorities came up with. In households, where men enjoy absolute power, women are considered as those who ‘must be saved’ and rescued. When we tested for recall of the messaging

The good sight | 45

Trained supervisor conducting a survey

among households and communities to figure whether the campaign was working, whether people understood why hygiene is crucial, why toilets must be built and used, we found that the campaign appealed to people who were more concerned about the women exposing body parts in the open to defecate, over and above health risks. The recall for the jingle was high and perhaps achieved its end goal i.e. getting people to use toilets. I will steer clear of whether such messaging is appropriate or sets things right, but it seemed to be working on certain counts.

Motivation and misinterpretation

I have wondered if we can put an equation to calculate motivation. Why are certain public health care professionals found doing 10-20 procedures a day, while other PHCs are found desolate with bluecollared staff running the show? In July three years ago, we found ourselves close to the Nepal and Bhutan border, not too far from Bengal. It was pleasant weather and the rain gods obliged. We found ourselves working with youth, boys and girls under 15 years of age. Many of these girls were young mothers, in certain cases mothers to two children. The state of Bihar banned alcohol a few years ago and that changed things for the better in a lot of households. Motivation to work and look for work may have increased by a little. Resources available at the household level for other purchases and avenues rose. What this also meant was a thriving black market with exorbitant charges for alcohol. It also meant that tribal communities went full throttle in producing local alcohol, called mahua and tadi in certain areas. Two drastically different externalities to the same issue.

particular woman did not like this. It was somehow assumed that we were there to enlist families for handing out government subsidies. Those who were part of discussions would be at the receiving end and the rest would have to wait. This was not acceptable and a rumour soon spread. As we worked in an empty school compound, a mob of 200 people surrounded us. They weren’t happy. The village leader came to our rescue but when it comes to financial incentives or subsidies, his power and might did not cut it. Forty minutes later, our team had to pull out. Much to our dismay, we eventually had to drop that village from our sample. No one emerged a winner here.

Automation

For years, my colleagues and I have evaluated implementation partners, NGOs big and small, government policies and bodies. Some of these have been exhilarating exercises. Each exercise has had its share of unique challenges, and no one evaluation or monitoring mission resembles the other. I wondered if we could serve those who could not afford us. Could we make ourselves dispensable? We realised though that our contribution may be very small in comparison to the needs of India or the quantum of work going on in India. Take for instance an example, we are home to an estimated 3.1 million NGOs, this is about 2.5 times the number of public hospitals and about 250 times the number of educational institutions. If we extrapolate this to the developing world, it puts to shame some of our pondering over problems that matter.

Our study though focused on sexual and reproductive health among these young girls and boys and we came across communities where no one knew about the concept of birth control. Getting to these communities was tough and took us about 3 hours one way from the nearest makeshift guesthouse.

Contribution of not for profits in the development arena continues to be fragmented and looked at with suspicion. A big reason is the absence of any data around their existence and any monitoring of their work. When someone on a Sunday rings your bell and holds a brochure with some smiling children, asking you to contribute 200 rupees, how often have you actually pulled out your wallet? What if you are now a billion-dollar corporate and instead of a young boy coming to your household doorstep, it is a big not for profit asking for 2 million.

As our researchers conducted group interviews and focus group discussions, our age filters and the number of respondent filters did not allow us to include everyone. We had to sit some people out. We had a staff of 15 to engage the others. However, one

India is at a cusp of change when it comes to philanthropic and at certain levels ‘forced’ social (CSR) contribution. It excites me to think about how deep contributions from the private sector will affect the work by those who are recipients of these funds.

46 | The good sight

However, across the developing world information asymmetry is rampant. No one knows what the other donor, or not for profit is doing. Year after year, more money is pumped in and we wonder if there is any change at all. There is scepticism. If there is change, we are keen on figuring what specifically is causing this systemic shift, we want to figure if it can be replicated and scaled across different locales, states, programmes and countries. With the CSR bill, the social contributions will rise exponentially. While some of the big corporate firms have a plan in place to dispense funds and track them, a majority are struggling to figure whether to set up their own internal CSR teams or to outsource this work to specialists. Some have certain pre-existing NGO partnerships but are now under the scanner to provide proof of ‘good-doing’ or to justify spends to their boards. When some of these bigger partners order evaluations, they are typically done once in a few years, if at all.

Each evaluation can last months and can cost millions depending on the sample frame and magnitude of the exercise. But what happens the other 11 months, what if the implementation partner has other needs. More so, there may exist other partners more suited or more efficient in execution. How can we give them a chance and ensure existing partners do not become lazy? Let us look at the other side of the coin. The small NGO partner, who in its little way may be trying to bring about changes to the community. These are largely unorganised organisations and are run by 4-5 member volunteer teams in most cases. They may or may not have their Section C documents (NGO status making it tax-deductible). They could still be doing a good job. But no one knows that. They do not have any research capacity. There is an in general fear of numbers. They are stuck in a vicious cycle of no metrics, no growth. There could be a different subset of NGOs who may have learnt to game the system, there may be little work on the ground, but they perhaps have the The good sight | 47

Trained supervisor conducting a survey

among households and communities to figure whether the campaign was working, whether people understood why hygiene is crucial, why toilets must be built and used, we found that the campaign appealed to people who were more concerned about the women exposing body parts in the open to defecate, over and above health risks. The recall for the jingle was high and perhaps achieved its end goal i.e. getting people to use toilets. I will steer clear of whether such messaging is appropriate or sets things right, but it seemed to be working on certain counts.

Motivation and misinterpretation

I have wondered if we can put an equation to calculate motivation. Why are certain public health care professionals found doing 10-20 procedures a day, while other PHCs are found desolate with bluecollared staff running the show? In July three years ago, we found ourselves close to the Nepal and Bhutan border, not too far from Bengal. It was pleasant weather and the rain gods obliged. We found ourselves working with youth, boys and girls under 15 years of age. Many of these girls were young mothers, in certain cases mothers to two children. The state of Bihar banned alcohol a few years ago and that changed things for the better in a lot of households. Motivation to work and look for work may have increased by a little. Resources available at the household level for other purchases and avenues rose. What this also meant was a thriving black market with exorbitant charges for alcohol. It also meant that tribal communities went full throttle in producing local alcohol, called mahua and tadi in certain areas. Two drastically different externalities to the same issue.

particular woman did not like this. It was somehow assumed that we were there to enlist families for handing out government subsidies. Those who were part of discussions would be at the receiving end and the rest would have to wait. This was not acceptable and a rumour soon spread. As we worked in an empty school compound, a mob of 200 people surrounded us. They weren’t happy. The village leader came to our rescue but when it comes to financial incentives or subsidies, his power and might did not cut it. Forty minutes later, our team had to pull out. Much to our dismay, we eventually had to drop that village from our sample. No one emerged a winner here.

Automation

For years, my colleagues and I have evaluated implementation partners, NGOs big and small, government policies and bodies. Some of these have been exhilarating exercises. Each exercise has had its share of unique challenges, and no one evaluation or monitoring mission resembles the other. I wondered if we could serve those who could not afford us. Could we make ourselves dispensable? We realised though that our contribution may be very small in comparison to the needs of India or the quantum of work going on in India. Take for instance an example, we are home to an estimated 3.1 million NGOs, this is about 2.5 times the number of public hospitals and about 250 times the number of educational institutions. If we extrapolate this to the developing world, it puts to shame some of our pondering over problems that matter.

Our study though focused on sexual and reproductive health among these young girls and boys and we came across communities where no one knew about the concept of birth control. Getting to these communities was tough and took us about 3 hours one way from the nearest makeshift guesthouse.

Contribution of not for profits in the development arena continues to be fragmented and looked at with suspicion. A big reason is the absence of any data around their existence and any monitoring of their work. When someone on a Sunday rings your bell and holds a brochure with some smiling children, asking you to contribute 200 rupees, how often have you actually pulled out your wallet? What if you are now a billion-dollar corporate and instead of a young boy coming to your household doorstep, it is a big not for profit asking for 2 million.

As our researchers conducted group interviews and focus group discussions, our age filters and the number of respondent filters did not allow us to include everyone. We had to sit some people out. We had a staff of 15 to engage the others. However, one

India is at a cusp of change when it comes to philanthropic and at certain levels ‘forced’ social (CSR) contribution. It excites me to think about how deep contributions from the private sector will affect the work by those who are recipients of these funds.

46 | The good sight

However, across the developing world information asymmetry is rampant. No one knows what the other donor, or not for profit is doing. Year after year, more money is pumped in and we wonder if there is any change at all. There is scepticism. If there is change, we are keen on figuring what specifically is causing this systemic shift, we want to figure if it can be replicated and scaled across different locales, states, programmes and countries. With the CSR bill, the social contributions will rise exponentially. While some of the big corporate firms have a plan in place to dispense funds and track them, a majority are struggling to figure whether to set up their own internal CSR teams or to outsource this work to specialists. Some have certain pre-existing NGO partnerships but are now under the scanner to provide proof of ‘good-doing’ or to justify spends to their boards. When some of these bigger partners order evaluations, they are typically done once in a few years, if at all.

Each evaluation can last months and can cost millions depending on the sample frame and magnitude of the exercise. But what happens the other 11 months, what if the implementation partner has other needs. More so, there may exist other partners more suited or more efficient in execution. How can we give them a chance and ensure existing partners do not become lazy? Let us look at the other side of the coin. The small NGO partner, who in its little way may be trying to bring about changes to the community. These are largely unorganised organisations and are run by 4-5 member volunteer teams in most cases. They may or may not have their Section C documents (NGO status making it tax-deductible). They could still be doing a good job. But no one knows that. They do not have any research capacity. There is an in general fear of numbers. They are stuck in a vicious cycle of no metrics, no growth. There could be a different subset of NGOs who may have learnt to game the system, there may be little work on the ground, but they perhaps have the The good sight | 47

right networks, shiny brochures and demonstrating capability. What happens then? The same organisation keeps getting funded over and over. Put together this seems like a hot mess. What if we could create competition in the development sector on the basis of tangible proof of work, i.e. small datasets. What if small NGOs could compete for the same body of funding? Would things change if there was a marketplace for NGOs to meet funders and vice versa? What if we could connect small NGOs to big funders/CSRs on the basis of impact metrics, irrespective of location? What if we could use the existing surveys and tools, recycle the works of sectoral leaders to improve tracking? What if the evaluation could happen at ~0 unit cost? Well, my answer is yes that’s possible. At Outline India, we have been working for the past 15 months, to develop our tech platform and data collection application, Track Your Metrics. It is a tool meant for 1) Funders and CSR to track the work of their grantees, induct new grantees, all on the basis of datasets 2) Small NGOs who want to showcase their work and get connected to funders Imagine that you are a popular beverage maker, setting up a new factory in Alwar, Rajasthan. You would now like to work with the community to dispense your CSR funds, or to appease the people. Your most likely choice of the sector will be something to do with water. You would typically hire a consultancy firm to figure out the needs of the villages and people, what quantum to money to spend and most importantly how to spend it. This entire process can cost you lakhs if not more, and months to figure out. However, if you use TYM (Track Your Metrics), our hope is to connect you to relevant NGOs in the area. Example: We will say, here is a list of 4 NGOs that work in water purification and these are their datasets. You can now connect with them directly and do your due diligence.

- The beverage maker has the option of 4 partners to choose from. It can look at their existing selfreported datasets or do its further due diligence. It saved itself weeks of additional work and lots of money. TYM streamlines the engagement for both sides. What is exciting is the fact that all in-built survey tools within TYM are linked to benchmarked indicators, many of which are the recommended United Nations benchmarks – Sustainable Development Goal indicators across health, education and WASH sectors (for now). A majority of these survey or assessment tools once made are never used again. They lie hidden away in reports distributed across various websites. TYM is that neat, clean solution that digs these bodies of workout and enables recycling of work. In conferences, during talks and seminars, we often bring up certain rudimentary facts. India houses a fifth of the world’s poor. A majority of Indians live in villages, about 75% of us i.e. 950 million Indians. In terms of access to the World Wide Web, about 55% of humanity accesses the internet. Our debates, discussions and conversations on social media and WhatsApp are not representative of what India thinks. In fact, that has perhaps become more obvious since our pre-poll survey results were grossly out of line. Within India’s villages, internet usage patterns are starkly different. There is perhaps one smartphone, and it is usually the male lead who pockets it with pride. India’s problems are basics and solutions to those problems require scale, vision and technology to combine the aforementioned. Data is the epicentre for research, the foundation of policymaking and the data collector that elegant juggler who must dictate how we spend our funds, and help figure out how our policies will work on the ground. I urge you to consider the study context, field realities and qualitative research before you run some quick numbers. In India and across the developing world, sometimes the ‘grey’ of policy outcomes is where our solutions lie. n

Think about what this does - NGOs A, B, C and D will now have the opportunity to compete for funding on the basis of whoever is doing a better job 48 | The good sight

The good sight | 49

right networks, shiny brochures and demonstrating capability. What happens then? The same organisation keeps getting funded over and over. Put together this seems like a hot mess. What if we could create competition in the development sector on the basis of tangible proof of work, i.e. small datasets. What if small NGOs could compete for the same body of funding? Would things change if there was a marketplace for NGOs to meet funders and vice versa? What if we could connect small NGOs to big funders/CSRs on the basis of impact metrics, irrespective of location? What if we could use the existing surveys and tools, recycle the works of sectoral leaders to improve tracking? What if the evaluation could happen at ~0 unit cost? Well, my answer is yes that’s possible. At Outline India, we have been working for the past 15 months, to develop our tech platform and data collection application, Track Your Metrics. It is a tool meant for 1) Funders and CSR to track the work of their grantees, induct new grantees, all on the basis of datasets 2) Small NGOs who want to showcase their work and get connected to funders Imagine that you are a popular beverage maker, setting up a new factory in Alwar, Rajasthan. You would now like to work with the community to dispense your CSR funds, or to appease the people. Your most likely choice of the sector will be something to do with water. You would typically hire a consultancy firm to figure out the needs of the villages and people, what quantum to money to spend and most importantly how to spend it. This entire process can cost you lakhs if not more, and months to figure out. However, if you use TYM (Track Your Metrics), our hope is to connect you to relevant NGOs in the area. Example: We will say, here is a list of 4 NGOs that work in water purification and these are their datasets. You can now connect with them directly and do your due diligence.

- The beverage maker has the option of 4 partners to choose from. It can look at their existing selfreported datasets or do its further due diligence. It saved itself weeks of additional work and lots of money. TYM streamlines the engagement for both sides. What is exciting is the fact that all in-built survey tools within TYM are linked to benchmarked indicators, many of which are the recommended United Nations benchmarks – Sustainable Development Goal indicators across health, education and WASH sectors (for now). A majority of these survey or assessment tools once made are never used again. They lie hidden away in reports distributed across various websites. TYM is that neat, clean solution that digs these bodies of workout and enables recycling of work. In conferences, during talks and seminars, we often bring up certain rudimentary facts. India houses a fifth of the world’s poor. A majority of Indians live in villages, about 75% of us i.e. 950 million Indians. In terms of access to the World Wide Web, about 55% of humanity accesses the internet. Our debates, discussions and conversations on social media and WhatsApp are not representative of what India thinks. In fact, that has perhaps become more obvious since our pre-poll survey results were grossly out of line. Within India’s villages, internet usage patterns are starkly different. There is perhaps one smartphone, and it is usually the male lead who pockets it with pride. India’s problems are basics and solutions to those problems require scale, vision and technology to combine the aforementioned. Data is the epicentre for research, the foundation of policymaking and the data collector that elegant juggler who must dictate how we spend our funds, and help figure out how our policies will work on the ground. I urge you to consider the study context, field realities and qualitative research before you run some quick numbers. In India and across the developing world, sometimes the ‘grey’ of policy outcomes is where our solutions lie. n

Think about what this does - NGOs A, B, C and D will now have the opportunity to compete for funding on the basis of whoever is doing a better job 48 | The good sight

The good sight | 49

Margin to Mainstream

Swayam Shikshan Prayog repositions women to take on new roles as decision-makers in agriculture, enterprise and embrace community leadership, thereby enhancing their economic and social resilience

Empowering women at the grassroots

50 | The good sight

The good sight | 51

Margin to Mainstream

Swayam Shikshan Prayog repositions women to take on new roles as decision-makers in agriculture, enterprise and embrace community leadership, thereby enhancing their economic and social resilience

Empowering women at the grassroots

50 | The good sight

The good sight | 51

S

wayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) aspires to promote inclusive, sustainable community development by empowering women at the grassroots in climate threatened, under-served areas across seven Indian states. SSP repositions women to take on new roles as decision-makers in agriculture, enterprise and embrace community leadership, thereby enhancing their economic and social resilience. By tapping the power of rural women social entrepreneurs in ailing economies, SSP has opened up non-traditional livelihood incomes, tripled household earnings, and built new leadership capital in excluded areas. By enhancing women’s social, economic, and political competencies, and by mainstreaming them into development and government processes, SSP has grown these women into a formidable army of change agents.

What Was the Problem? SSP teams work with the landless and marginalised farmer households and, among these with women, who face the most challenging social and economic inequalities. Despite their best efforts, to earn and sustain livelihoods, women face enormous problems in access to resources, skills, and finance and market opportunities. Social norms, cultural values and gender stereotyping often prohibit women from owning land, homes, or other essential assets for gaining access to capital and going to markets or entering business. Such stigma severely hinders economic options and mobility for rural women.

SSP’s Solution It needs a collaborative effort to unlock the true potential of a model.

SSP facilitates women to formulate and lead self-help groups

SSP has developed a widespread Self Help Group (SHG) network of 100,000 women that has gone beyond the first-steps of reconstruction and savings to build social, political, and economic competencies for its women members SSP’s model is founded in a twotiered approach that builds women’s capacities through their economic empowerment, and creates an enabling and self-sustaining ecosystem that supports women’s leadership to bring transformation across high impact sectors. The multiplier effect of SSP’s approach means that grassroots women within SSP’s networks go beyond achieving entrepreneurship to embracing community leadership roles.

From 1994-1998, SSP worked to transform this mass-scale disaster into an opportunity for rebuilding of not only houses, but empowerment of women and communities. Since inception, SSP has developed a widespread Self Help Group (SHG) network of 100,000 women that has gone beyond the first-steps of reconstruction and savings to build social, political, and economic competencies for its women members. By enabling grassroots women-led enterprises, it has empowered women in Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Assam, and Odisha to promote inclusive development by providing them access to skills, finance, and markets. In 2006, the SSP group of social enterprises was created as an ecosystem to nurture various

aspects of the programme and to develop and refine the value chains to help the women to succeed in hitherto untapped markets. SSP and its group of social enterprises facilitate women to formulate and lead self-help groups, social enterprises, and communitycentered initiatives that include a wide range of financial services, skill-building, and livelihoods generation planks. They provide information, products and services in impact sectors such as clean energy, safe water and sanitation, health and nutrition, agriculture, and food security. SSP has launched and mentored a network of Sakhi SHGs and Sakhi Federations, creating a dynamic umbrella-network of SHGs in the geographical regions of their work. The initiatives are strengthened through women’s leadership, and

long- and short-term partnerships with local government bodies, state governments, and corporate houses. As part of ecosystem building for budding women entrepreneurs, SSP has created a programme to support Women’s Initiative to Learn and Lead (WILL). The goal of this centre of learning is to build an overarching system that teaches and nurtures entrepreneurial and leadership attitudes among grassroots women, and which also acts as a platform to facilitate SSP’s all-encompassing vision of facilitating women-led community initiatives for sustainable and inclusive development. The four pillars of WILL are: entrepreneurship and leadership development; creating a partnership ecosystem; research and knowledge generation; and enabling a womenled development innovation hub.

The ‘Swayam Shikshan’ Story SSP was started as an initiative within SPARC, a Mumbai-based NGO, after Latur and Osmanabad districts suffered a massive earthquake which claimed over 11,000 lives. SSP started with the idea that women need to be involved in reconstruction as homeowners and trained women’s groups should act as facilitators’ between Govt. and people. SSP lobbied with the government to appoint women from Mahila Mandals as community facilitators. 52 | The good sight

The good sight | 53

S

wayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) aspires to promote inclusive, sustainable community development by empowering women at the grassroots in climate threatened, under-served areas across seven Indian states. SSP repositions women to take on new roles as decision-makers in agriculture, enterprise and embrace community leadership, thereby enhancing their economic and social resilience. By tapping the power of rural women social entrepreneurs in ailing economies, SSP has opened up non-traditional livelihood incomes, tripled household earnings, and built new leadership capital in excluded areas. By enhancing women’s social, economic, and political competencies, and by mainstreaming them into development and government processes, SSP has grown these women into a formidable army of change agents.

What Was the Problem? SSP teams work with the landless and marginalised farmer households and, among these with women, who face the most challenging social and economic inequalities. Despite their best efforts, to earn and sustain livelihoods, women face enormous problems in access to resources, skills, and finance and market opportunities. Social norms, cultural values and gender stereotyping often prohibit women from owning land, homes, or other essential assets for gaining access to capital and going to markets or entering business. Such stigma severely hinders economic options and mobility for rural women.

SSP’s Solution It needs a collaborative effort to unlock the true potential of a model.

SSP facilitates women to formulate and lead self-help groups

SSP has developed a widespread Self Help Group (SHG) network of 100,000 women that has gone beyond the first-steps of reconstruction and savings to build social, political, and economic competencies for its women members SSP’s model is founded in a twotiered approach that builds women’s capacities through their economic empowerment, and creates an enabling and self-sustaining ecosystem that supports women’s leadership to bring transformation across high impact sectors. The multiplier effect of SSP’s approach means that grassroots women within SSP’s networks go beyond achieving entrepreneurship to embracing community leadership roles.

From 1994-1998, SSP worked to transform this mass-scale disaster into an opportunity for rebuilding of not only houses, but empowerment of women and communities. Since inception, SSP has developed a widespread Self Help Group (SHG) network of 100,000 women that has gone beyond the first-steps of reconstruction and savings to build social, political, and economic competencies for its women members. By enabling grassroots women-led enterprises, it has empowered women in Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Assam, and Odisha to promote inclusive development by providing them access to skills, finance, and markets. In 2006, the SSP group of social enterprises was created as an ecosystem to nurture various

aspects of the programme and to develop and refine the value chains to help the women to succeed in hitherto untapped markets. SSP and its group of social enterprises facilitate women to formulate and lead self-help groups, social enterprises, and communitycentered initiatives that include a wide range of financial services, skill-building, and livelihoods generation planks. They provide information, products and services in impact sectors such as clean energy, safe water and sanitation, health and nutrition, agriculture, and food security. SSP has launched and mentored a network of Sakhi SHGs and Sakhi Federations, creating a dynamic umbrella-network of SHGs in the geographical regions of their work. The initiatives are strengthened through women’s leadership, and

long- and short-term partnerships with local government bodies, state governments, and corporate houses. As part of ecosystem building for budding women entrepreneurs, SSP has created a programme to support Women’s Initiative to Learn and Lead (WILL). The goal of this centre of learning is to build an overarching system that teaches and nurtures entrepreneurial and leadership attitudes among grassroots women, and which also acts as a platform to facilitate SSP’s all-encompassing vision of facilitating women-led community initiatives for sustainable and inclusive development. The four pillars of WILL are: entrepreneurship and leadership development; creating a partnership ecosystem; research and knowledge generation; and enabling a womenled development innovation hub.

The ‘Swayam Shikshan’ Story SSP was started as an initiative within SPARC, a Mumbai-based NGO, after Latur and Osmanabad districts suffered a massive earthquake which claimed over 11,000 lives. SSP started with the idea that women need to be involved in reconstruction as homeowners and trained women’s groups should act as facilitators’ between Govt. and people. SSP lobbied with the government to appoint women from Mahila Mandals as community facilitators. 52 | The good sight

The good sight | 53

The Innovation The women entrepreneurs associated with SSP have experienced economic, social, and entrepreneurial transformation, all of which has contributed immensely in their business development and personal growth. They have increased their incomes, are able to support the running of their households, and are re-investing to expand their businesses. These women entrepreneurs have become more mindful in planning their expenditures, future savings, and have clarity when developing their business plans. They are now keen to explore new opportunities. Women entrepreneurs associated with the organization are eventually transforming themselves as job creators, trainers and community resource persons and business leaders. Today, these women entrepreneurs have widely expanded their customer base and have simultaneously increased their risk appetite. Community acceptance of women as entrepreneurs has resulted in them gaining access to Gram Sabhas, Panchayats, and block-level meetings. The women are using this access to generate awareness around various community development issues and for marketing products at the mass level.

Partnerships To optimize its community development efforts, SSP works with multiple partners with congruent goals. Multiple stakeholders have served to enrich SSP’s work by lending a wider perspective as well as financial and

54 | The good sight

“Empowering grassroots women’s collectives to create sustainable livelihoods and communities that work in harmony with nature realises our vision of a resilient future. Our women are not beneficiaries anymore. They are farmers, entrepreneurs, and partners with corporate and government organisations.” - Prema Gopalan, Founder

Impact

7 States

25

170,000 empowered women entrepreneurs, farmers and community leaders

5.5 2,000 million Districts

Villages

people in under-served communities positively impacted

Inspiring entrepreneurship

training support. Unique among the scaled up partnerships are the wPOWER programme (2012 to 2016), a USAID India supported clean energy initiative. Over 1010 village level entrepreneurs launched businesses and services to market clean cook stoves, bio fuel, solar lamps and lights impacting the lives of over one million people

across Maharashtra and Bihar. Under the umbrella of National Rural Livelihood Mission, SSP is implementing the Start up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), creating a network of Community Resource Persons (CRP’s) to further support 5000 women as entrepreneurs across two blocks in Solapur district from 2016 to 2020. SSP is also implementing the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran

Pariyojana (MKSP) initiative (2016-20) with the Government of Maharashtra to support 23, 000 women farmers to adopt improved and sustainable agriculture practices in 460 villages across two districts in Maharashtra through a cadre of Community Resource persons, chosen from SSP’s cadres of agriculture leaders. n

The good sight | 55

The Innovation The women entrepreneurs associated with SSP have experienced economic, social, and entrepreneurial transformation, all of which has contributed immensely in their business development and personal growth. They have increased their incomes, are able to support the running of their households, and are re-investing to expand their businesses. These women entrepreneurs have become more mindful in planning their expenditures, future savings, and have clarity when developing their business plans. They are now keen to explore new opportunities. Women entrepreneurs associated with the organization are eventually transforming themselves as job creators, trainers and community resource persons and business leaders. Today, these women entrepreneurs have widely expanded their customer base and have simultaneously increased their risk appetite. Community acceptance of women as entrepreneurs has resulted in them gaining access to Gram Sabhas, Panchayats, and block-level meetings. The women are using this access to generate awareness around various community development issues and for marketing products at the mass level.

Partnerships To optimize its community development efforts, SSP works with multiple partners with congruent goals. Multiple stakeholders have served to enrich SSP’s work by lending a wider perspective as well as financial and

54 | The good sight

“Empowering grassroots women’s collectives to create sustainable livelihoods and communities that work in harmony with nature realises our vision of a resilient future. Our women are not beneficiaries anymore. They are farmers, entrepreneurs, and partners with corporate and government organisations.” - Prema Gopalan, Founder

Impact

7 States

25

170,000 empowered women entrepreneurs, farmers and community leaders

5.5 2,000 million Districts

Villages

people in under-served communities positively impacted

Inspiring entrepreneurship

training support. Unique among the scaled up partnerships are the wPOWER programme (2012 to 2016), a USAID India supported clean energy initiative. Over 1010 village level entrepreneurs launched businesses and services to market clean cook stoves, bio fuel, solar lamps and lights impacting the lives of over one million people

across Maharashtra and Bihar. Under the umbrella of National Rural Livelihood Mission, SSP is implementing the Start up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), creating a network of Community Resource Persons (CRP’s) to further support 5000 women as entrepreneurs across two blocks in Solapur district from 2016 to 2020. SSP is also implementing the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran

Pariyojana (MKSP) initiative (2016-20) with the Government of Maharashtra to support 23, 000 women farmers to adopt improved and sustainable agriculture practices in 460 villages across two districts in Maharashtra through a cadre of Community Resource persons, chosen from SSP’s cadres of agriculture leaders. n

The good sight | 55

Tribal women in uniform infront of khichdi processing unit

Khichdi for livelihood Deepak Foundation aims to provide livelihood opportunity to nearly 3,000 tribal women of Chhota Udepur in Eastern Gujarat through its award-winning Instant Khichdi Project

produced foods through the public distribution system. Women’s engagement into agriculture largely remains as unpaid household chores, without land rights and scope of engaging into any collective business enterprise. Hence, there is a need for collective engagement of women farmers into the business model to improve livelihood and food security. In this erstwhile royal state, 6,000 women farmers from Kavant and Naswadi pledged to defy the norms and owned what they have been doing as the invisible gender so far. Deepak Foundation fueled a community-owned initiative ‘Project Paripurna’ - for food and nutrition security. Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana has been working with

Instant khichdi mix

A

dusty road accompanied by the trail of trees takes you to the remote hamlet of Chhota Udepur (112 km from Vadodara), a tribal district in the Eastern Gujarat. Womenfolk in the households under their veils carry out the chores like grazing cattle and taking cattle to a different paddock. Getting up in the morning to fetch fodder and grazing cattle is part of the job. As an invisible gender, womenfolk are always engaged in farm work, although they lack equal rights in land ownership. They are engaged in all labourintensive processes and non-mechanised farm occupations like sowing and harvesting. Today, agriculture alone as a sustainable livelihood option is almost impossible for the rural poor in India. The increasing cost of agriculture inputs, poor access to technology and lack of transport and storage facility traps the marginal farmers into a vicious cycle of poverty, drudgery and poor nourishment. The situation is worst in remote tribal areas where despite production of pulses and millets throughout the year, the government fails to provide these locally

56 | The good sight

The good sight | 57

Tribal women in uniform infront of khichdi processing unit

Khichdi for livelihood Deepak Foundation aims to provide livelihood opportunity to nearly 3,000 tribal women of Chhota Udepur in Eastern Gujarat through its award-winning Instant Khichdi Project

produced foods through the public distribution system. Women’s engagement into agriculture largely remains as unpaid household chores, without land rights and scope of engaging into any collective business enterprise. Hence, there is a need for collective engagement of women farmers into the business model to improve livelihood and food security. In this erstwhile royal state, 6,000 women farmers from Kavant and Naswadi pledged to defy the norms and owned what they have been doing as the invisible gender so far. Deepak Foundation fueled a community-owned initiative ‘Project Paripurna’ - for food and nutrition security. Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana has been working with

Instant khichdi mix

A

dusty road accompanied by the trail of trees takes you to the remote hamlet of Chhota Udepur (112 km from Vadodara), a tribal district in the Eastern Gujarat. Womenfolk in the households under their veils carry out the chores like grazing cattle and taking cattle to a different paddock. Getting up in the morning to fetch fodder and grazing cattle is part of the job. As an invisible gender, womenfolk are always engaged in farm work, although they lack equal rights in land ownership. They are engaged in all labourintensive processes and non-mechanised farm occupations like sowing and harvesting. Today, agriculture alone as a sustainable livelihood option is almost impossible for the rural poor in India. The increasing cost of agriculture inputs, poor access to technology and lack of transport and storage facility traps the marginal farmers into a vicious cycle of poverty, drudgery and poor nourishment. The situation is worst in remote tribal areas where despite production of pulses and millets throughout the year, the government fails to provide these locally

56 | The good sight

The good sight | 57

over 6,000 tribal women farmers in Kawant and Naswadi blocks of Chhota Udepur district of Gujarat. This project also comprehends that women in agritech get affected by issues of recognition. Imagine that by the absence of land rights, female agricultural labourers, farm widows, and even family members who are abstained for any recognition as farmers, and the consequent entitlements, the initiative definitely has far reached goals. A. D. Patel Institute of Technology, Anand, was roped in to develop the product and M. S. University of Baroda’s Foods and Nutrition Department was roped in for sensory evaluation and nutrition assessment. Deepak Group of Industries pitched in for setting up the first plant at Naswadi. The product now branded as “de

India Express” Instant Khichdi is ready to be launched in the market. First the women were trained on sustainable agriculture techniques. Then 300 Woman Farmers’ Producer Groups (FPGs) formed under this project were collectivised into two Farmer Producer Companies. With the spearheading objective of creating value addition systems through food processing for these women, reducing drudgery and ensuring food security, the Foundation conceptualised an innovative product and a model. This is a business model of FPGoperated processing units to prepare a culturally acceptable “Instant Khichdi Mix” using locally grown pulses, rice and vegetable enriched with spices and

mineral mix as a nutritious meal supplement. The pre-mix can also be procured by the government to supply as mid-day meals in school and pre-school and PDS shops. The concept has won the prestigious Millennium Alliance Round IV Innovation Award and a grant for product development. The project was also nominated in the category of social enterprise in the Outlook Poshan Award in 2019. Livelihood opportunity for nearly 3,000 women farmers will be created within a period of coming two years. Pre-mix khichdi will help overcome under-nutrition in the entire family and will reduce drudgery and save fuel. n

Tribal women at work

58 | The good sight

The good sight | 59

over 6,000 tribal women farmers in Kawant and Naswadi blocks of Chhota Udepur district of Gujarat. This project also comprehends that women in agritech get affected by issues of recognition. Imagine that by the absence of land rights, female agricultural labourers, farm widows, and even family members who are abstained for any recognition as farmers, and the consequent entitlements, the initiative definitely has far reached goals. A. D. Patel Institute of Technology, Anand, was roped in to develop the product and M. S. University of Baroda’s Foods and Nutrition Department was roped in for sensory evaluation and nutrition assessment. Deepak Group of Industries pitched in for setting up the first plant at Naswadi. The product now branded as “de

India Express” Instant Khichdi is ready to be launched in the market. First the women were trained on sustainable agriculture techniques. Then 300 Woman Farmers’ Producer Groups (FPGs) formed under this project were collectivised into two Farmer Producer Companies. With the spearheading objective of creating value addition systems through food processing for these women, reducing drudgery and ensuring food security, the Foundation conceptualised an innovative product and a model. This is a business model of FPGoperated processing units to prepare a culturally acceptable “Instant Khichdi Mix” using locally grown pulses, rice and vegetable enriched with spices and

mineral mix as a nutritious meal supplement. The pre-mix can also be procured by the government to supply as mid-day meals in school and pre-school and PDS shops. The concept has won the prestigious Millennium Alliance Round IV Innovation Award and a grant for product development. The project was also nominated in the category of social enterprise in the Outlook Poshan Award in 2019. Livelihood opportunity for nearly 3,000 women farmers will be created within a period of coming two years. Pre-mix khichdi will help overcome under-nutrition in the entire family and will reduce drudgery and save fuel. n

Tribal women at work

58 | The good sight

The good sight | 59

Aim to strengthen scope of arts and sports education Carrying core values like the sense of possibility, ownership, reflection, love and joy, Aikaarth, a non-profit working on education, has the vision to create a world of justice where everyone has equitable access to resources and opportunities. It provides a fellowship to young talented individuals who are exceptional in their form of intelligence to be a teacher and teach extra-curricular activities, to children from low-income communities in the most under-resourced schools. On the other hand, it also engages with the fellows and supports this growing community to create a ripple effect of transformation.

Q. What problem are you looking to solve? A - Though the curriculum of NCERT and SCERT (Telangana) encourages arts and sports education (The State Board of Telangana says that in higher classes, every class, every day should have sports period and the CBSE board mandates every school to reserve a minimum of 2 periods for arts education every week for classes 1 to 10), it is not implemented effectively in low-budget private schools and government schools because of lack of capacity and resources. We have an academic-oriented meritocratic measurement and selection approach, and the best and the brightest get into the better colleges, and perhaps, they will also get better rankings in life. Children

from low-income communities need these rankings to change their current reality. Thus, schools need to prioritise academics. Only 18% of private schools charge fees higher than Rs 1,000 per month and there are around 1 million teacher vacancies at the school level, which makes it very challenging for the stakeholders to allocate resources and efforts to hire teachers for arts and sports education and ensure its effective implementation. We can help schools with it. Q. Why is the problem important? A - The present unfair and highly biased academics-oriented meritocratic measurement and selection approach to education invariably leaves behind the

students who aren’t strong academically, often making them feel under-valued. A child from a low-income community who isn’t strong academically will probably have a difficult journey to build a better life and will be unaware of his abilities and potential. There are always students with strong potential in an art form or sport who may or may not also be interested or strong academically. If these students are not exposed to sports and arts education in school, they may never discover their strengths in it. Discovering sport and artistic strengths can lead to self-confidence and well-being. Besides, such discovery can lead students to choose careers in related fields. We need to give the much-deserved Aikaarth Founder Pooja Agarwal with children

Aikaarth Founder Pooja Agarwal

Pooja Agarwal, founder of Aikaarth, and Ruchi Agarwal, co-founder, tell about their journey so far during a candid talk with The Good Sight. Aikaarth Co-founder Ruchi Agarwal 60 | The good sight

The good sight | 61

Aim to strengthen scope of arts and sports education Carrying core values like the sense of possibility, ownership, reflection, love and joy, Aikaarth, a non-profit working on education, has the vision to create a world of justice where everyone has equitable access to resources and opportunities. It provides a fellowship to young talented individuals who are exceptional in their form of intelligence to be a teacher and teach extra-curricular activities, to children from low-income communities in the most under-resourced schools. On the other hand, it also engages with the fellows and supports this growing community to create a ripple effect of transformation.

Q. What problem are you looking to solve? A - Though the curriculum of NCERT and SCERT (Telangana) encourages arts and sports education (The State Board of Telangana says that in higher classes, every class, every day should have sports period and the CBSE board mandates every school to reserve a minimum of 2 periods for arts education every week for classes 1 to 10), it is not implemented effectively in low-budget private schools and government schools because of lack of capacity and resources. We have an academic-oriented meritocratic measurement and selection approach, and the best and the brightest get into the better colleges, and perhaps, they will also get better rankings in life. Children

from low-income communities need these rankings to change their current reality. Thus, schools need to prioritise academics. Only 18% of private schools charge fees higher than Rs 1,000 per month and there are around 1 million teacher vacancies at the school level, which makes it very challenging for the stakeholders to allocate resources and efforts to hire teachers for arts and sports education and ensure its effective implementation. We can help schools with it. Q. Why is the problem important? A - The present unfair and highly biased academics-oriented meritocratic measurement and selection approach to education invariably leaves behind the

students who aren’t strong academically, often making them feel under-valued. A child from a low-income community who isn’t strong academically will probably have a difficult journey to build a better life and will be unaware of his abilities and potential. There are always students with strong potential in an art form or sport who may or may not also be interested or strong academically. If these students are not exposed to sports and arts education in school, they may never discover their strengths in it. Discovering sport and artistic strengths can lead to self-confidence and well-being. Besides, such discovery can lead students to choose careers in related fields. We need to give the much-deserved Aikaarth Founder Pooja Agarwal with children

Aikaarth Founder Pooja Agarwal

Pooja Agarwal, founder of Aikaarth, and Ruchi Agarwal, co-founder, tell about their journey so far during a candid talk with The Good Sight. Aikaarth Co-founder Ruchi Agarwal 60 | The good sight

The good sight | 61

consideration and opportunity to that student with the potential of being a brilliant chess player, a world-class violinist or an inspiring theatre artist. Q. How is your initiative addressing the concern? A - On one hand, we need trainers and resources in under-resourced schools to effectively implement arts and sports education so that children build expertise in it while on the other hand, we need to strengthen the scope of these fields and change perceptions around it because this can lead to change in the academic-oriented meritocratic approach which would further lead to arts and sports education being prioritised and implemented effectively. So, Aikaarth has developed a two-part theory of change i.e. short term and long term. In the short term, we provide a fellowship programme to outstanding individuals who are exceptional in the fields of performing arts (music, dance, drama, public speaking, storytelling and poetry), visual arts (drawing and painting, photography, crafts and sculptor making), culinary arts (cooking) and sports/games who would serve as trainers in underresourced schools to teach these activities. In the long term, we support our alumni in growing in their fields and strengthening its scope so that there are more opportunities for our children to excel in various fields. Q. How are you different from other organisations that are 62 | The good sight

Aikaarth Co-Founder Ruchi Agarwal with students at a school

similar to yours? A - There are many organisations doing great work specifically for sports in schools. With respect to arts education, we find many organisations utilising arts education for building a transfer skill like leadership, critical and creative thinking, social skills or behavioural skills, life skills, ability to communicate and cooperate effectively, learn languages, empathy, perspective-taking and the ability to regulate one’s emotions by expressing rather than suppressing them, etc. However, we are inspired by “Art for Art’s sake?” by Ellen Winner, Thalia R. Goldstein and Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin which concludes by arguing that the value of the arts for human experience is a sufficient reason to justify its presence in school curricula whether or not transfer results from arts education, and that the main justification for arts education is clearly the acquisition of artistic skills. The primary justification of arts education should remain the intrinsic importance of the arts and the related skills that they develop.

We believe that arts education and sports inevitably foster various skills and positive changes. However, our focus is not to build a programme about transfer skills through arts and sports education. We are focusing on ensuring that children build expertise in the activity they choose to learn. Our programme is about building knowledge, mindsets, skills and values related to the art/sport only and exposing children to opportunities and resources for the same. Q. How can others support you for this initiative? A - Our top three priorities for now are: 1. Designing a strong and incredible curriculum for all the activities that we teach children. 2. Raising funds to sustain and grow. 3. Recruiting fellows who are exceptional in arts and sports to be trainers for children. We would love to get any support possible in these aspects. n

The good sight | 63

consideration and opportunity to that student with the potential of being a brilliant chess player, a world-class violinist or an inspiring theatre artist. Q. How is your initiative addressing the concern? A - On one hand, we need trainers and resources in under-resourced schools to effectively implement arts and sports education so that children build expertise in it while on the other hand, we need to strengthen the scope of these fields and change perceptions around it because this can lead to change in the academic-oriented meritocratic approach which would further lead to arts and sports education being prioritised and implemented effectively. So, Aikaarth has developed a two-part theory of change i.e. short term and long term. In the short term, we provide a fellowship programme to outstanding individuals who are exceptional in the fields of performing arts (music, dance, drama, public speaking, storytelling and poetry), visual arts (drawing and painting, photography, crafts and sculptor making), culinary arts (cooking) and sports/games who would serve as trainers in underresourced schools to teach these activities. In the long term, we support our alumni in growing in their fields and strengthening its scope so that there are more opportunities for our children to excel in various fields. Q. How are you different from other organisations that are 62 | The good sight

Aikaarth Co-Founder Ruchi Agarwal with students at a school

similar to yours? A - There are many organisations doing great work specifically for sports in schools. With respect to arts education, we find many organisations utilising arts education for building a transfer skill like leadership, critical and creative thinking, social skills or behavioural skills, life skills, ability to communicate and cooperate effectively, learn languages, empathy, perspective-taking and the ability to regulate one’s emotions by expressing rather than suppressing them, etc. However, we are inspired by “Art for Art’s sake?” by Ellen Winner, Thalia R. Goldstein and Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin which concludes by arguing that the value of the arts for human experience is a sufficient reason to justify its presence in school curricula whether or not transfer results from arts education, and that the main justification for arts education is clearly the acquisition of artistic skills. The primary justification of arts education should remain the intrinsic importance of the arts and the related skills that they develop.

We believe that arts education and sports inevitably foster various skills and positive changes. However, our focus is not to build a programme about transfer skills through arts and sports education. We are focusing on ensuring that children build expertise in the activity they choose to learn. Our programme is about building knowledge, mindsets, skills and values related to the art/sport only and exposing children to opportunities and resources for the same. Q. How can others support you for this initiative? A - Our top three priorities for now are: 1. Designing a strong and incredible curriculum for all the activities that we teach children. 2. Raising funds to sustain and grow. 3. Recruiting fellows who are exceptional in arts and sports to be trainers for children. We would love to get any support possible in these aspects. n

The good sight | 63

Education my right

A very distinctive feature of Cohesion’s work in Banaskantha (Gujarat) is that the organisation is working with the existing systems of service delivery in education and it has been able to develop synergies with the stakeholders at village level, block level and district level

Making education available and accessible to all

E

ducation is important for the personal, social and economic development of the nation as it empowers minds that will be able to conceive good thoughts and ideas. Cohesion has been working for education since 2005 with a strong belief that it is the right of all children, irrespective of the hardships in their surroundings or within their families. The education providers should rise up to diminish these hardships and make education available and accessible to all. For the girl who grows up poor in a remote rural area, staying in school and learning can protect her from child marriage, intimate-partner violence and continued poverty. For the boy who lives in an urban slum, schooling, instead of child labour, can provide him with the skills needed for a better-paying and more fulfilling job as an adult (UNICEF).

cultural practices such as early marriage prevent girls from continuing education beyond elementary. A very distinctive feature of Cohesion’s work in Banaskantha (Gujarat) is that the organisation is working with the existing systems of service delivery in education and it has been able to develop synergies with the stakeholders at village level, block level and district level. Working since 2016 in partnership with UNICEF, Cohesion has developed a beautiful model for emphasising the rightful place of a child of school going age- SCHOOL. With the slogan of darekbalakshala ma hoye (Every child in school), the programme has been able to engage community and schools in building an environment conducive to innovations in each day of the school- the aim being continuous improvement in attendance, retention and transition in schools and promoting education which is inclusive and gender responsive.

Patriarchy and strong rooted 64 | The good sight

The good sight | 65

Education my right

A very distinctive feature of Cohesion’s work in Banaskantha (Gujarat) is that the organisation is working with the existing systems of service delivery in education and it has been able to develop synergies with the stakeholders at village level, block level and district level

Making education available and accessible to all

E

ducation is important for the personal, social and economic development of the nation as it empowers minds that will be able to conceive good thoughts and ideas. Cohesion has been working for education since 2005 with a strong belief that it is the right of all children, irrespective of the hardships in their surroundings or within their families. The education providers should rise up to diminish these hardships and make education available and accessible to all. For the girl who grows up poor in a remote rural area, staying in school and learning can protect her from child marriage, intimate-partner violence and continued poverty. For the boy who lives in an urban slum, schooling, instead of child labour, can provide him with the skills needed for a better-paying and more fulfilling job as an adult (UNICEF).

cultural practices such as early marriage prevent girls from continuing education beyond elementary. A very distinctive feature of Cohesion’s work in Banaskantha (Gujarat) is that the organisation is working with the existing systems of service delivery in education and it has been able to develop synergies with the stakeholders at village level, block level and district level. Working since 2016 in partnership with UNICEF, Cohesion has developed a beautiful model for emphasising the rightful place of a child of school going age- SCHOOL. With the slogan of darekbalakshala ma hoye (Every child in school), the programme has been able to engage community and schools in building an environment conducive to innovations in each day of the school- the aim being continuous improvement in attendance, retention and transition in schools and promoting education which is inclusive and gender responsive.

Patriarchy and strong rooted 64 | The good sight

The good sight | 65

Mapping Exercise: A tool to regularize children and improve attendance

Irregular Boys Girls Total 277 276 553 Always absent 25 50 75

40 Villages

15500+ children

101 Schools

Dropped out 47 57 104 Total 349 383 732

Beginning of project

Since 2016

State, District, Block

Gujarat, Banaskantha, Kankrej

Map made by children Mapping Exercise

Number of Schools 101 (49 schools from Std 1 to 5 42 schools from Std 1 to 8, 10 schools from Std 9 to 12) Number of children (Academic year 2018-19)

15884

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya

Thara

Modern Schools

Ratanpur

Adolescent Girls Groups at school level

43 groups 1238 members

Adolescent Boys Groups at school level

3 groups 79 members

Adolescent Girls Groups at village level

35 groups 1024 members

School Management Committees

91

School Development and Management Committees

2

Shiksha Sarthi Network at Block level

55 members

Mapping exercises for irregular children In the year 2018, a mapping exercise was introduced as a tool to identify the irregular and drop out children by the children. The exercise was carried out at school level in two groups each of ten children from the school. These exercises were carried out in 101 schools with more than 2000 children. These children in two groups had a very distinctive task to do. One group mapped on a chart the layout of the village and identified the houses of children who are irregular or those who have dropped out. The output gave clear idea and a roadmap to the Cohesion staff for planning meetings with the parents of identified children for parent meetings, hamlet wise meetings and meeting the SMC members to influence them in ensuring regularity of their children. A total of 732 children were identified. This was followed by meetings carried out in all 40 project villages with the parents of these 732 children. 66 | The good sight

The good sight | 67

Mapping Exercise: A tool to regularize children and improve attendance

Irregular Boys Girls Total 277 276 553 Always absent 25 50 75

40 Villages

15500+ children

101 Schools

Dropped out 47 57 104 Total 349 383 732

Beginning of project

Since 2016

State, District, Block

Gujarat, Banaskantha, Kankrej

Map made by children Mapping Exercise

Number of Schools 101 (49 schools from Std 1 to 5 42 schools from Std 1 to 8, 10 schools from Std 9 to 12) Number of children (Academic year 2018-19)

15884

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya

Thara

Modern Schools

Ratanpur

Adolescent Girls Groups at school level

43 groups 1238 members

Adolescent Boys Groups at school level

3 groups 79 members

Adolescent Girls Groups at village level

35 groups 1024 members

School Management Committees

91

School Development and Management Committees

2

Shiksha Sarthi Network at Block level

55 members

Mapping exercises for irregular children In the year 2018, a mapping exercise was introduced as a tool to identify the irregular and drop out children by the children. The exercise was carried out at school level in two groups each of ten children from the school. These exercises were carried out in 101 schools with more than 2000 children. These children in two groups had a very distinctive task to do. One group mapped on a chart the layout of the village and identified the houses of children who are irregular or those who have dropped out. The output gave clear idea and a roadmap to the Cohesion staff for planning meetings with the parents of identified children for parent meetings, hamlet wise meetings and meeting the SMC members to influence them in ensuring regularity of their children. A total of 732 children were identified. This was followed by meetings carried out in all 40 project villages with the parents of these 732 children. 66 | The good sight

The good sight | 67

Education empowers minds

The second group mapped the school amenities on the chart and identified the gaps. This helped in identifying the problems and issues from a student’s perspective. The findings of the map were then shared with the school authorities and the School Management Committees (SMCs). The SMCs were prompted to include the issues identified in their School Development Plans that they make at the end of each calendar year. Although it was a very difficult

task to put across these concerns for getting solutions, but Cohesion team continues to draw attention of the concerned authorities on different platforms. Two such platforms are SMC network which has been developed at the block level and another is a Shiksha Saarthi network, developed from participation of 55 active SMC members. Meetings of the network members have helped in bringing forward the village level issues related to education on a common

platform and how to take them forward to the various education departments. Besides meeting regularly these networks have annual state level Sammelans where senior government officials are also invited, and the concerns and issues identified by the children in the mapping exercise find their way to the right audience. The SMC members have also started attending meetings in schools. They have also established a WhatsApp group to share information.

Cohesion Foundation, a grassroots NGO has over 19 years of experience implementing various development programmes. The similar experience in implementing education programme is over 14 years. Its key achievements in education can be summed up as mainstreaming children of migrant salt pan workers in village level education institutes; increasing transition rate of girls across key grades (5th to 6th, 8th to 9th); and continued education of children who are at the risk of dropping out. Parental engagement, SMC strengthening and learning enrichment are some its core strengths while achieving the desired outcomes in education. n

(The article and pictures have been contributed by Cohesion Foundation for The Good Sight)

68 | The good sight

The good sight | 69

Education empowers minds

The second group mapped the school amenities on the chart and identified the gaps. This helped in identifying the problems and issues from a student’s perspective. The findings of the map were then shared with the school authorities and the School Management Committees (SMCs). The SMCs were prompted to include the issues identified in their School Development Plans that they make at the end of each calendar year. Although it was a very difficult

task to put across these concerns for getting solutions, but Cohesion team continues to draw attention of the concerned authorities on different platforms. Two such platforms are SMC network which has been developed at the block level and another is a Shiksha Saarthi network, developed from participation of 55 active SMC members. Meetings of the network members have helped in bringing forward the village level issues related to education on a common

platform and how to take them forward to the various education departments. Besides meeting regularly these networks have annual state level Sammelans where senior government officials are also invited, and the concerns and issues identified by the children in the mapping exercise find their way to the right audience. The SMC members have also started attending meetings in schools. They have also established a WhatsApp group to share information.

Cohesion Foundation, a grassroots NGO has over 19 years of experience implementing various development programmes. The similar experience in implementing education programme is over 14 years. Its key achievements in education can be summed up as mainstreaming children of migrant salt pan workers in village level education institutes; increasing transition rate of girls across key grades (5th to 6th, 8th to 9th); and continued education of children who are at the risk of dropping out. Parental engagement, SMC strengthening and learning enrichment are some its core strengths while achieving the desired outcomes in education. n

(The article and pictures have been contributed by Cohesion Foundation for The Good Sight)

68 | The good sight

The good sight | 69

Village Folk Turn on the Tap

T

en years ago, while working with farmers, Vrutti Livelihood Resource Centre noticed something odd about the people. Many of them looked aged beyond their years, seemingly malnourished. Farming couples were hunched over from pain, going to local clinics for analgesics to be able to work extra hours on the fields. Concerned, Vrutti invited

Swasti, it’s sister outfit to come to Chikkaballapur and intervene. Chikkaballapur, a district in Karnataka, India is a drought-prone region. Its only source of water is groundwater, contaminated with toxic levels of fluoride. The people it turned out, were suffering from fluorosis and in some places were even poisoned by trace arsenic. A detailed needs assessment

revealed that as much as people were aware about water causing these health problems, they did not know that it could be reversed. The study also revealed that men were willing to spend on alcohol but not on potable water. The study also showed that women wanted healthy water for their children and for their families if they were ill, but not for cooking because they believed that boiling water removed harmful toxins.

A market model owned by communities achieves more sustainable health seeking behaviour than one that relies on donations for free, safe water by third parties

In Mamidikayalapalli, the medical costs have reduced by 100 per-cent, according to Vijay Kumar, the Gram Panchayat bill collector 70 | The good sight

The good sight | 71

Village Folk Turn on the Tap

T

en years ago, while working with farmers, Vrutti Livelihood Resource Centre noticed something odd about the people. Many of them looked aged beyond their years, seemingly malnourished. Farming couples were hunched over from pain, going to local clinics for analgesics to be able to work extra hours on the fields. Concerned, Vrutti invited

Swasti, it’s sister outfit to come to Chikkaballapur and intervene. Chikkaballapur, a district in Karnataka, India is a drought-prone region. Its only source of water is groundwater, contaminated with toxic levels of fluoride. The people it turned out, were suffering from fluorosis and in some places were even poisoned by trace arsenic. A detailed needs assessment

revealed that as much as people were aware about water causing these health problems, they did not know that it could be reversed. The study also revealed that men were willing to spend on alcohol but not on potable water. The study also showed that women wanted healthy water for their children and for their families if they were ill, but not for cooking because they believed that boiling water removed harmful toxins.

A market model owned by communities achieves more sustainable health seeking behaviour than one that relies on donations for free, safe water by third parties

In Mamidikayalapalli, the medical costs have reduced by 100 per-cent, according to Vijay Kumar, the Gram Panchayat bill collector 70 | The good sight

The good sight | 71

The team understood that in order for people to use healthy water and avoid water from their wells, a wellthought out market model, with strong behaviour change interventions was needed

72 | The good sight

In addition, the study revealed that all previous health interventions that were grant-based (where communities accessed programmes, services and products for free) were popular but not sustained. The team understood that in order for people to use healthy water and avoid water from their wells, a well-thought out market model, with strong behaviour change interventions was needed. It also had to be owned and governed by the community. Thus emerged a market model where initial grant capital and technical support were catalysed externally (in this case through Swasti) and the community managed the operations and governance completely. A reasonable price point was set at 2 rupees per 20 litres. Ten years later, the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF) still did not address the provision of safe water, but politi- cally it seemed like a good bet. Both political leaders and private companies used this opportunity to provide safe water. An extensive study by two Water Fellows from Arghyam in 2018, revealed that most of the water plants established by political leaders or companies are non-

functional or have been shut down, but the eleven communityled water plants, co-established by the community, continue to thrive. Thimammpalli, where the first community water plant was inaugurated back in 2013, still functions to full capacity. Dr. Mahima from the local health center says, “Earlier, during summer, the clinic was overloaded with patients complaining of gastrointestinal issues and water-related problems. Today, patients coming to the clinic have no water related diseases.” Health interventions need a new kind of leadership: people from within the community who value both the business potential and social capital of the project. They are the ones who can keep it moving forward. Swasti worked with Gram Panchayats in Chikkaballapur to create a community-owned solution through investment in 10 water defluoridation plants and a tanker operating across two taluks of the district. Since 2017, Swasti only visits the water plants to meet old friends and enjoy a cold drink of water. n

The good sight | 73

The team understood that in order for people to use healthy water and avoid water from their wells, a wellthought out market model, with strong behaviour change interventions was needed

72 | The good sight

In addition, the study revealed that all previous health interventions that were grant-based (where communities accessed programmes, services and products for free) were popular but not sustained. The team understood that in order for people to use healthy water and avoid water from their wells, a well-thought out market model, with strong behaviour change interventions was needed. It also had to be owned and governed by the community. Thus emerged a market model where initial grant capital and technical support were catalysed externally (in this case through Swasti) and the community managed the operations and governance completely. A reasonable price point was set at 2 rupees per 20 litres. Ten years later, the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis (NPPCF) still did not address the provision of safe water, but politi- cally it seemed like a good bet. Both political leaders and private companies used this opportunity to provide safe water. An extensive study by two Water Fellows from Arghyam in 2018, revealed that most of the water plants established by political leaders or companies are non-

functional or have been shut down, but the eleven communityled water plants, co-established by the community, continue to thrive. Thimammpalli, where the first community water plant was inaugurated back in 2013, still functions to full capacity. Dr. Mahima from the local health center says, “Earlier, during summer, the clinic was overloaded with patients complaining of gastrointestinal issues and water-related problems. Today, patients coming to the clinic have no water related diseases.” Health interventions need a new kind of leadership: people from within the community who value both the business potential and social capital of the project. They are the ones who can keep it moving forward. Swasti worked with Gram Panchayats in Chikkaballapur to create a community-owned solution through investment in 10 water defluoridation plants and a tanker operating across two taluks of the district. Since 2017, Swasti only visits the water plants to meet old friends and enjoy a cold drink of water. n

The good sight | 73

A

Let’s reimagine social change as young India! Haiyaa is on a mission to bring social change by cultivating new leadership and building powerful community organisations in India Aprajita Pandey (Aprajita is the founder & CEO of Haiyya. Haiyya was founded in 2015, with a vision to rebuild and transform the social fabric of India, where young leaders and their organisations are building grassroots citizen power to strengthen democracy, governance and human rights.) 74 | The good sight

Team spirit

With community

few weeks back, as the world was mobilising itself for one of the biggest and widest global climate strike campaign (20-27 September 2019), I couldn’t help but think of the interesting juncture we are at as young India. About 70% of our population is less than 35 years of age, and we’re the youngest country in the world. On one hand, as young people, we are still dealing with grave problems of the poor education system, mass unemployment, lack of health infrastructure to name a few. On the other hand, students and youth are skipping schools, classrooms, job routines and hitting the streets to make themselves heard as they protest global inaction and apathy on the issue of climate change. Can it get any more ironic that today’s youth is struggling to access classrooms, universities, skills and job markets and yet they are ready to skip them for a burning issue that has historically been neglected because guess what? It’s not just the problems that have been neglected, it’s the youth who have been neglected. Young India is ready to lead and they are seeing things through. To echo Ridhima Pandey, one of the 16 children climate activists who filed a complaint to protest the lack of government action on the climate crisis at the United Nations Climate Action Summit this year, “I want to save my future, I want to save our future”. India faces many challenges; from rising inequality, the galloping role of corruption, a polarised society, to environmental degradation. The good sight | 75

A

Let’s reimagine social change as young India! Haiyaa is on a mission to bring social change by cultivating new leadership and building powerful community organisations in India Aprajita Pandey (Aprajita is the founder & CEO of Haiyya. Haiyya was founded in 2015, with a vision to rebuild and transform the social fabric of India, where young leaders and their organisations are building grassroots citizen power to strengthen democracy, governance and human rights.) 74 | The good sight

Team spirit

With community

few weeks back, as the world was mobilising itself for one of the biggest and widest global climate strike campaign (20-27 September 2019), I couldn’t help but think of the interesting juncture we are at as young India. About 70% of our population is less than 35 years of age, and we’re the youngest country in the world. On one hand, as young people, we are still dealing with grave problems of the poor education system, mass unemployment, lack of health infrastructure to name a few. On the other hand, students and youth are skipping schools, classrooms, job routines and hitting the streets to make themselves heard as they protest global inaction and apathy on the issue of climate change. Can it get any more ironic that today’s youth is struggling to access classrooms, universities, skills and job markets and yet they are ready to skip them for a burning issue that has historically been neglected because guess what? It’s not just the problems that have been neglected, it’s the youth who have been neglected. Young India is ready to lead and they are seeing things through. To echo Ridhima Pandey, one of the 16 children climate activists who filed a complaint to protest the lack of government action on the climate crisis at the United Nations Climate Action Summit this year, “I want to save my future, I want to save our future”. India faces many challenges; from rising inequality, the galloping role of corruption, a polarised society, to environmental degradation. The good sight | 75

Social change is not something new to this time. But its complexities have given rise to a whole new generation of changemakers, rising within modern-day communities and its challenges. We set up Haiyya because we were frustrated at how the social development sector was significantly failing to create and sustain leadership support pathways for young people who want to make a difference. India has a rich history and culture of citizens organising to drive social change. There have been many powerful movements and campaigns, starting freedom movement, to anti-caste movement by Ambedkar, anti-emergency movement by JP Narayan, Chipko Andolan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, anti-corruption movement, Nirbhaya movement to LGBTQIA+ movement. Peoplepower campaigning has been our cultural and instinctive performance to participate in the democratic process. We’re again witnessing the dawn of new age campaigning and organising, not only in India but worldwide. And in Greta Thunberg’s words, “We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.” So what now? Two big questions, Haiyya is trying to answer in the past four years is - how do we channelise this anger, courage, hope and momentum into possibilities? How do we imbibe and spread the right values and means to achieve the all-important end? As a young nonprofit and a team of young people under 35 ourselves, we have 76 | The good sight

devising a strategy, designing structure and taking action. Our campaign ‘Health Over Stigma’ is about fighting stigma against young unmarried women’s sexual and reproductive health services. We identified the constituency, the problem, the solution and the means to address the problem, by organising women as part of our campaign in different roles. Today the campaign is a national movement, both online and offline, with the goal to hold doctors accountable to non-judgemental services.

Can our campaigns take into account human emotions?

Youths on a campaign

been learning, testing and adapting our assumptions and practices over the past four years, chasing our vision to build an alternate progressive ecosystem for young India. Some of our insights and learning questions are:

Are our campaigns assuming what people want? With the rise of NGO and start-up culture in the past two decades in India, we have seen some significant shifts in the way we have engaged with people and social change. Meaningful citizen

engagement, people’s campaigning and organising efforts have started reducing to one-off mobilisations, tech solutions and service delivery. And hence citizens became beneficiaries and customers, and we started assuming their desire and selling them positive change. At Haiyya, we as organisers ask three critical questions: Who are my people? What is their urgent problem? How can they turn their resources into the power to solve their problem? We answer the questions in dialogue with the constituency by building relationships, telling stories,

Saving the environment

We are a society of storytellers. We tell stories in organising to communicate our values and to motivate people to take action. One of the core jobs of any campaign is to tell a ‘new story’ that is created by the shared values and emotions of people who have directly experienced it. In order for people to be motivated to act, it requires hope, courage, self-worth and solidarity. And only stories can inspire people to connect back with their emotions, values and feelings and allows us to exercise choice by overcoming fear, isolation, apathy and self-doubt. We turn to the public narrative in organising to answer the question of “why?” – why we care, why the work that we do matters, why do we value one goal over another. Most of us don’t do this work because of a list of facts, and rattling off statistics isn’t usually an effective means of recruiting ordinary people to stand up against injustice. Instead, we’re here because of our values;

the desire to make change stems from beliefs like fairness, equality, democracy, or environmental sustainability. For us at Haiyya, public narrative (story of self, us and now) is not synonymous with ‘speech-making.’ It is a practice we use in many different contexts, not just from a stage at a rally. For example, stories are also told when recruiting a new team member or when debriefing with a volunteer who had a hard shift. Specifically, an organiser may ask a new team member – why did you choose to get involved in this campaign? or can you tell me more about why you’re here today? – in order to hear a little of the volunteer’s story. In turn, the organiser might share a bit of their story for the purpose of building connections, and hopefully, motivating the volunteer to take further action on the campaign.

Are our campaigns building leaders and collective power? At Haiyya we define campaigning leadership as “accepting responsibility for enabling others to achieve purpose under conditions of uncertainty”. And hence a very core element of our campaigns and projects are building local leaders on the ground who can identify, recruit and develop the leadership of others, build a community around that leadership; and build power from the resources of that community. The way we can bring long-lasting change is to couple the deep desire for change with the capacity to make that change happen. Our success metrics to measure the scale of the campaign is The good sight | 77

Social change is not something new to this time. But its complexities have given rise to a whole new generation of changemakers, rising within modern-day communities and its challenges. We set up Haiyya because we were frustrated at how the social development sector was significantly failing to create and sustain leadership support pathways for young people who want to make a difference. India has a rich history and culture of citizens organising to drive social change. There have been many powerful movements and campaigns, starting freedom movement, to anti-caste movement by Ambedkar, anti-emergency movement by JP Narayan, Chipko Andolan, Narmada Bachao Andolan, anti-corruption movement, Nirbhaya movement to LGBTQIA+ movement. Peoplepower campaigning has been our cultural and instinctive performance to participate in the democratic process. We’re again witnessing the dawn of new age campaigning and organising, not only in India but worldwide. And in Greta Thunberg’s words, “We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.” So what now? Two big questions, Haiyya is trying to answer in the past four years is - how do we channelise this anger, courage, hope and momentum into possibilities? How do we imbibe and spread the right values and means to achieve the all-important end? As a young nonprofit and a team of young people under 35 ourselves, we have 76 | The good sight

devising a strategy, designing structure and taking action. Our campaign ‘Health Over Stigma’ is about fighting stigma against young unmarried women’s sexual and reproductive health services. We identified the constituency, the problem, the solution and the means to address the problem, by organising women as part of our campaign in different roles. Today the campaign is a national movement, both online and offline, with the goal to hold doctors accountable to non-judgemental services.

Can our campaigns take into account human emotions?

Youths on a campaign

been learning, testing and adapting our assumptions and practices over the past four years, chasing our vision to build an alternate progressive ecosystem for young India. Some of our insights and learning questions are:

Are our campaigns assuming what people want? With the rise of NGO and start-up culture in the past two decades in India, we have seen some significant shifts in the way we have engaged with people and social change. Meaningful citizen

engagement, people’s campaigning and organising efforts have started reducing to one-off mobilisations, tech solutions and service delivery. And hence citizens became beneficiaries and customers, and we started assuming their desire and selling them positive change. At Haiyya, we as organisers ask three critical questions: Who are my people? What is their urgent problem? How can they turn their resources into the power to solve their problem? We answer the questions in dialogue with the constituency by building relationships, telling stories,

Saving the environment

We are a society of storytellers. We tell stories in organising to communicate our values and to motivate people to take action. One of the core jobs of any campaign is to tell a ‘new story’ that is created by the shared values and emotions of people who have directly experienced it. In order for people to be motivated to act, it requires hope, courage, self-worth and solidarity. And only stories can inspire people to connect back with their emotions, values and feelings and allows us to exercise choice by overcoming fear, isolation, apathy and self-doubt. We turn to the public narrative in organising to answer the question of “why?” – why we care, why the work that we do matters, why do we value one goal over another. Most of us don’t do this work because of a list of facts, and rattling off statistics isn’t usually an effective means of recruiting ordinary people to stand up against injustice. Instead, we’re here because of our values;

the desire to make change stems from beliefs like fairness, equality, democracy, or environmental sustainability. For us at Haiyya, public narrative (story of self, us and now) is not synonymous with ‘speech-making.’ It is a practice we use in many different contexts, not just from a stage at a rally. For example, stories are also told when recruiting a new team member or when debriefing with a volunteer who had a hard shift. Specifically, an organiser may ask a new team member – why did you choose to get involved in this campaign? or can you tell me more about why you’re here today? – in order to hear a little of the volunteer’s story. In turn, the organiser might share a bit of their story for the purpose of building connections, and hopefully, motivating the volunteer to take further action on the campaign.

Are our campaigns building leaders and collective power? At Haiyya we define campaigning leadership as “accepting responsibility for enabling others to achieve purpose under conditions of uncertainty”. And hence a very core element of our campaigns and projects are building local leaders on the ground who can identify, recruit and develop the leadership of others, build a community around that leadership; and build power from the resources of that community. The way we can bring long-lasting change is to couple the deep desire for change with the capacity to make that change happen. Our success metrics to measure the scale of the campaign is The good sight | 77

to track how many leaders have we developed over time and what role are they playing in our campaign. It’s rather more important today because the reason the youth issues, identity and engagement has been

overlooked has been the dangerous tendency to hijack the movement and not develop a new line of leaders. We need a new approach to campaign for leadership that can embrace empathy, collaboration, inter-dependency and co-creation. Our campaigns and training programmes have developed more than 2,000 leaders who’re trained to be organisers.

Are our campaigns led by the ones who are most affected?

and the most debated one in the campaigning space as well. The whole idea and principle of organising campaign is to convert affected people’s resources into power to make change happen, hence the most effective and sustainable leadership comes from those who are most at stake. Our campaigns identify the constituency that is affected by the issue and then starts inviting them in leadership roles of core team leaders, regional chapter leaders, action volunteers etc.

Are we creating ripples for a youthful future? This is a question that led to the birth of Haiyya and hence our commitment to inspire, support and collaborate with more young people, organisations and new age movements is at the heart of work. We are here to challenge as well as support the NGO and civil society sector to learn and practice meaningful engagement and decision-making with young

people. Our training, coaching and incubation methods develop future-fit young changemakers and organisations who can inspire and drive change with their people. It is high time we collectively reflect on our role as individuals, groups and organisations working in the formal or informal social change space, and what changes are we ready to commit to as we are closing this year and embarking onto 2020. I am optimistic that the insights and

learning questions shared above will be helpful as you think of the next campaign you or your organisation is trying to work on. “Inside us lies every possibility that is available to a sentient being. Every darkness, every light. It is the choices we make that decide who or what we will be.” Charles de Lint, Spiritwalk. n

This is the most pressing question

Team meeting

78 | The good sight

The good sight | 79

to track how many leaders have we developed over time and what role are they playing in our campaign. It’s rather more important today because the reason the youth issues, identity and engagement has been

overlooked has been the dangerous tendency to hijack the movement and not develop a new line of leaders. We need a new approach to campaign for leadership that can embrace empathy, collaboration, inter-dependency and co-creation. Our campaigns and training programmes have developed more than 2,000 leaders who’re trained to be organisers.

Are our campaigns led by the ones who are most affected?

and the most debated one in the campaigning space as well. The whole idea and principle of organising campaign is to convert affected people’s resources into power to make change happen, hence the most effective and sustainable leadership comes from those who are most at stake. Our campaigns identify the constituency that is affected by the issue and then starts inviting them in leadership roles of core team leaders, regional chapter leaders, action volunteers etc.

Are we creating ripples for a youthful future? This is a question that led to the birth of Haiyya and hence our commitment to inspire, support and collaborate with more young people, organisations and new age movements is at the heart of work. We are here to challenge as well as support the NGO and civil society sector to learn and practice meaningful engagement and decision-making with young

people. Our training, coaching and incubation methods develop future-fit young changemakers and organisations who can inspire and drive change with their people. It is high time we collectively reflect on our role as individuals, groups and organisations working in the formal or informal social change space, and what changes are we ready to commit to as we are closing this year and embarking onto 2020. I am optimistic that the insights and

learning questions shared above will be helpful as you think of the next campaign you or your organisation is trying to work on. “Inside us lies every possibility that is available to a sentient being. Every darkness, every light. It is the choices we make that decide who or what we will be.” Charles de Lint, Spiritwalk. n

This is the most pressing question

Team meeting

78 | The good sight

The good sight | 79

World Change Starts with Educated Children.® Over 18 Million Children Benefited Worldwide Room to Read delivers physical literacy resources during school closures to over 500,000 children in Asia

Disclaimer: The content in The Good Sight is for information purpose only. The Good Sight assumes no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors/organisations and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Good Sight. 80 | The good sight

The good sight | 81

World Change Starts with Educated Children.® Over 18 Million Children Benefited Worldwide Room to Read delivers physical literacy resources during school closures to over 500,000 children in Asia

Disclaimer: The content in The Good Sight is for information purpose only. The Good Sight assumes no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors/organisations and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Good Sight. 80 | The good sight

The good sight | 81

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