From "Every Child
in school and learning well to
"Learn to Read and Read to Learn" by K.B. Kothari
1
Thanks to support from Novib, Pratham - Rajasthan
continues to build upon its tradition of getting large number
of deprived children into the mainstream schools and help
them with better learning opportunities. Commenced in 2001,
today it has expanded its grass root community outreach among
the poorer population of urban slums in Jaipur city. Over
the last two years community mobilization through parents,
volunteer teachers and children has gained recognition and
Pratham is now well recognized for its mission of "Every
Child in School and Learning well". Nearly 10000 children
in the age group of 6-14 years are participating in learning
and teaching programs through Bridge Courses and getting mainstreamed.
This is an outstanding achievement for the unique partnership
among children, parents, volunteer teachers, government and
dedicated young team of primarily women and some men of Pratham.
Based on the strong foundation of initial work, Pratham has
been able to provide (with NOVIB/NPL Support) some small scale
school infrastructure improvements through additional rooms,
toilets and play facilities and repairs in existing school
buildings. This has proved to be a significant contributor
in getting children admitted to schools from Bridge Courses.
Last year Pratham - Jaipur started six Children Community
Centers (CCC) in urban slums of the city. Each of these CCC's
is now providing educational and development oriented learning
activities for local communities. The facilities available
in these centers are games and activity club, study centers
for older age girls, library facilities etc.
To strengthen the quality of learning in Bridge Courses, innovative
techniques of language proficiency has been introduced through
accelerated reading components. The results of this innovative
technique has been stunning:
|
In School Children
|
| |
Pre test
|
Post Test
|
|
Can Read
|
Number
|
%
|
Number
|
%
|
| Story |
0 |
0 |
318 |
74 |
| Paragraph |
32 |
7 |
95 |
22 |
| Word |
112 |
26 |
6 |
1 |
| Letters |
139 |
32 |
4 |
1 |
| Nothing |
145 |
34 |
5 |
1 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Total |
428 |
|
428 |
|
|
In School Children
|
| |
Pre test
|
Post Test
|
|
Can Read
|
Number
|
%
|
Number
|
%
|
| Story |
0 |
0 |
1302 |
36 |
| Paragraph |
463 |
13 |
1260 |
35 |
| Word |
705 |
20 |
612 |
17 |
| Letters |
1081 |
30 |
343 |
0 |
| Nothing |
1340 |
37 |
72 |
2 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Total |
3589 |
|
3589 |
|
Today, we in Pratham are exploring new areas
of Rajasthan in Jodhpur, Ajmer and Kishangarh city slums for
new partnerships to carry forward the mission of 'Learn to
Read' and ' Read to Learn'.
1Mr. Kothari is the Founder Trustee of Pratham
Rajasthan and can be contacted at jaipur@pratham.org
|
