Pratham Education Foundation

Parrho Jehanabad – a model of learning in the making

By Boban Varghese Paul

If you are a regular to this website or familiar with Pratham’s Read India model, you might question what is different about what you see in this picture. Just like anywhere else in Pratham’s Block Excellence Program blocks this seems to be a middle aged volunteer who decided to spend her free time teaching a set of children, who were found to be unable to read stories or short passages. The next picture of a man doing the same thing also seems to be a similar thing right?

If this is what you think, then I must say that you have been deceived!

This picture is of government school teachers in Jehanabad district teaching children using the Pratham’s CAMaL methodology of teaching. What you witness in this picture is part of a reading program that the District Magistrate (DM) of Jehanabad, Mr. Balamurugan R. IAS, has started and of which Pratham is an integral part. This program is called ‘Parrho Jehanabad’.

Currently, this program is operational in 2 out of 5 blocks of Jehanabad district. The objective of this program is to make all ‘non-reader’ children ‘readers’ within 60 working days or 3 months.

Key features of this program are as follows:

·         Training of all CRCCs and teachers conducted were by Pratham.

•       All trained CRCCs conducted 15 day camps in different schools. They are now responsible for monitoring of teachers in schools.
•          2-3 teachers in all 240 schools of 2 blocks were trained (1 for each learning level, depending on number of non-reader students per school) on respective learning levels.
•          Daily special classes are held from 1:30pm to 3pm in using the CAMaL methodology.
•          3 personals from Pratham have been deputed in the district for supporting this program. They visit schools and guide teachers on CAMaL. Regular interaction between Pratham and local education officers ensures that these visits are focused and those schools are visited first that need most support.
•          Parent Teacher Meetings are held on the 12th day of every month.
•          External evaluation is conducted on a regular basis, by a set of renowned institutions in the district, to provide a report on how well or badly the program is being run.
•          Regular meetings are held by the district magistrate for the education officers and Pratham members, to discuss achievements and areas for improvement.

On visiting the district education office and schools one can clearly see the excitement and enthusiasm with which this program is being carried out by the government. Government officers were seen actively monitoring the schools and understanding issues with implementation of the program. The program was being implemented with perfect punctuality – I entered a particular school at 1:32pm and was pleasantly surprised to see that the special classes had already started and teachers were reading out stories to their set of kids. Children were divided into 4 groups – beginner, letter, word and paragraph. Attendance in these classes was at above 90%. All teachers were seated on the ground with the children – this depicts a monumental change in the mind-set of teachers who now went down to the actual level of the children, both physically and in terms of learning, to bring them up to the level they should be at.

On speaking to the local Pratham members, I came to understand the significant improvements that children had made in the course of 15 days of these special classes – most of them had already improved by one learning level. This is a significant achievement and re-emphasizes the impact Pratham’s methodology can have on learning levels of a child, if implemented well.

This picture will teach you how to make kheer, as told by a 'child chef' (this was an exercise children at paragraph level were doing when I met them) in one of the schools of Jehanabad. 

What is significant about this program unlike the other government partnerships that Pratham has had is the sense of ownership shown by the government – Pratham is only playing a supporting role in this block with monitoring, actual implementation and evaluation being part of the government’s responsibilities. The district magistrate and his team, along with Pratham is working to understand how this program can be made sustainable in the long run – one of the ideas being discussed is the greater participation of the community. The monthly parent teacher meeting is an effort in this direction.

Having seen this program and having met the DM of Jehanabad, I feel confident that this district will become a model block for demonstration of learning level achievements, both within Bihar as well as outside. In fact, during my meeting with the DM, a government officer from another department told the DM, “Agar aap Parrho Jehanabad ki tarah humme bhi kuch targets denge tho kaam karna aasaan ho jayega.” (if you give us targets just like you have set for Parrho Jehanabad, it will be easier for us to do our work). Jehanabad will soon be remembered not for the famous ‘Jehanabad Jailbreak’ of 2005 by CPI-Maoists to facilitate the escape of over 375 prisoners but for the ‘jailbreak’ attempt of the district government to free the prisoners of low learning level, the children.