Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mali, Senegal... India. Different countries, different cultures, different contexts. Then what has suddenly made people from all these countries travel to each others' villages? What do we have in common? The Answer... A new challenge with Children.
The ASER National Workshop, held annually in Lucknow, brings together associates from all parts of India to kick off the beginning of the ASER survey season, a three month long initiative to gauge children’s learning levels across the rural areas of the country. This year, the diversity of the group was further amplified by the presence of visitors from three African countries, Mali, Senegal and Kenya. Inspired by ASER’s wide reach and impact, visitors explained that they had come to the workshop to get an ‘insider’s’ view of the ASER process in order to launch or strengthen similar surveys in their home countries.
In addition to attending sessions on tools, dissemination and trainings, the visiting teams were able to fit in a field visit to a village. When asked to reflect on their experience, our guests replied that they were taken aback by the hospitality of villagers and the comfortable interactions between the survey teams and local residents. What was a less charming aspect of their stay? The constant honking you hear on the streets they exclaimed.
Before leaving for home, members from all three countries noted that the workshop was a good way to understand the fitment of the nuts and bolts of conducing large-scale, community driven surveys.
By Shinjini Chatterjee
Research Associate, ASER Centre
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