Summer Camp
with a difference
The traditional view of summer camps as sites
– usually in cold places like hill stations – where city kids under the careful
supervision of adults indulge in fun activities like hiking, rafting, canoeing
etc and thus get to see the country – was given a variation this summer by
Pratham Bengal. Summer camps with a difference were organized by the Pratham
teams working in 8 blocks in 6 districts of West Bengal. Over the last several
years that Pratham has been working in the rural areas of West Bengal and
studying the status of primary education in the villages – a trend has been observed
– children undergo a “learning loss” when they stay away from school for a
prolonged period such as during long holidays like summer and Puja vacations.
This happens because during their absence from school they seldom stay in touch
with books or any kind of printed material – this is especially true in case of
those children whose parents are unlettered. So with a view to prevent such
learning losses from taking place the Pratham Teams at the block level
organized 96 learning camps – 12 in each block – with the purpose to involve
children in some fun learning activities. These “summer” camps – a far cry from
the ones described earlier – were held in certain selected villages – mostly in
school buildings, in playing fields, village squares – wherever open space was
available.
Objectives
of the Summer Camps:
The objectives of the summer learning camps,
apart from checking learning loss of children and improving upon their existing
learning levels, was also to interact with important stakeholders of the
village education process such as the guardians, private tutors, school
teachers, elected representatives of people and exchange ideas and views
regarding the status of education in their villages and what ails the system
and how improvements can be brought upon, besides sharing about the work of
Pratham and spreading the reach of the Read India program. Mobilization of new
volunteers for the Read India program was also a prime objective.
Preparation
for the Camps:
Each camp was of 6 days duration – the first
day was used for testing of children to assess their existing learning levels,
followed by 4 days of teaching using the CAMaL methodology and on the final day
the children were tested again. This was followed by a meeting or “Gram Sabha”
involving all the stakeholders and the local Pratham members. As way of
preparation for the learning camps the BRG members mobilized new volunteers
from the selected villages and also enlisted the help of former volunteers. They
took to various means in order to draw children to the learning camps including
visiting the homes of people and personally inviting them to send their
children to the camps. Though the focus was on children studying in classes 1,
2, 3 and 4 children studying in other standards and even out of school children
were welcome.
The Learning
Camps:
Altogether 59 Language and 37 Math learning
camps were organized over a period of 3 weeks. Every week 4 learning camps were
held in each block – 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. While in the
learning camps organized earlier the focus was on improving the learning levels
of the attending children and demonstrating the efficacy of the CAMaL teaching
methodologies – this time while including the aforesaid objectives the focus
was widened to creating publicity for Pratham and Read India. Each block was
provided with 3 big bright yellow umbrellas bearing the Pratham logo. These
umbrellas were prominently displayed at the sites of the learning camps and
they were effective in drawing curious onlookers wanting to know about the
learning camps and their purpose.
The Yellow Umbrella – used for
creating publicity
At the end of the learning camp end-line
tests of the children were done and the results were compared with those of
baseline tests – which had been completed by the second day of the camp. In
many cases it was noted that the children had made remarkable improvements in
their learning levels – a point which was highlighted during the Gram Sabhas.
Baseline and
End-line figures pertaining to 57 Language learning camps held in the 8 blocks
of West Bengal
Standard
|
Baseline
|
End-line
|
||||||||||
Total
Children
|
Beginner
|
Letter
|
Word
|
Para
|
Story
|
Total
Children
|
Beginner
|
Letter
|
Word
|
Para
|
Story
|
|
1
|
1068
|
729
|
274
|
57
|
6
|
2
|
1013
|
473
|
420
|
86
|
26
|
8
|
2
|
975
|
369
|
412
|
157
|
32
|
5
|
916
|
205
|
430
|
211
|
58
|
12
|
3
|
883
|
149
|
340
|
259
|
114
|
21
|
833
|
57
|
287
|
286
|
143
|
60
|
4
|
907
|
89
|
216
|
309
|
214
|
79
|
845
|
40
|
169
|
240
|
238
|
158
|
Total
|
3833
|
1336
|
1242
|
782
|
366
|
107
|
3607
|
772
|
1306
|
823
|
465
|
238
|
Graphical
Representation of the Baseline and End-line figures – Language
Images from learning camp –
clockwise from top left – swar chart being used to teach Bengali alphabets in
Cooch Behar, a language class in progress in Jhalda 1, Purulia, a class being
conducted by BRG member Badal in Jalpaiguri, children taking part in fun
activities in a learning camp in Jalpaiguri
Baseline and
End-line figures pertaining to 39 Math learning camps held in the 8 blocks of
West Bengal
Standard
|
Baseline
|
End-line
|
||||||||||||
Total
Children
|
Beginner
|
0-9
|
10 to 99
|
Add
|
Sub
|
Div
|
Total
Children
|
Beginner
|
0-9
|
10 to 99
|
Add
|
Sub
|
Div
|
|
1
|
753
|
411
|
292
|
40
|
1
|
7
|
2
|
599
|
212
|
301
|
71
|
1
|
11
|
3
|
2
|
543
|
107
|
315
|
93
|
6
|
20
|
2
|
438
|
47
|
215
|
133
|
3
|
35
|
5
|
3
|
495
|
41
|
243
|
144
|
6
|
54
|
7
|
444
|
10
|
150
|
197
|
5
|
70
|
12
|
4
|
479
|
21
|
146
|
176
|
11
|
108
|
17
|
404
|
6
|
73
|
158
|
16
|
122
|
29
|
Total
|
2270
|
580
|
996
|
453
|
24
|
189
|
28
|
1885
|
275
|
739
|
559
|
25
|
238
|
49
|
Graphical
Representation of the Baseline and End-line figures – Math
Gram Sabhas:
On the last day of each learning camp a Gram
Sabha was held where local people were invited. These meetings were well
attended by parents and in many of the camps school teachers also turned up and
shared their views. During these discussions some very interesting albeit
commonly known facts came into focus.
Village Meetings popularly known
as Gram Sabhas at Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar
For instance from what the mothers had to say
it was clear that they rely greatly on private tuitions. In one such meeting in
Cooch Behar it was revealed that even children studying in lower classes like
standard 1 or 2 receive private tuitions. However the mothers also admitted
that they seldom monitor the performance of the private tutor and are largely
in the dark about the progress made by their children under the latter’s
guidance. These parents were encouraged by the Pratham members to demand
accountability from service providers – schools as well as private tutors. When informed about the Read India program
they were interested and agreed to send their children to such classes however
they also said that that would not be at the cost of the private tuitions which
would continue to be a priority for them. It was clear that private tuitions
are here to stay in rural West Bengal – a fact which is corroborated by ASER
findings of 2011-12 according to which around 68% of children in Rural West
Bengal avail of paid private tuitions.
In most of the village meetings the mothers
admitted that they lacked confidence in their abilities to guide their children
with their education as they were not educated themselves. Hence – the reliance
on private tutors. However in the course of discussions it was revealed that
the most compelling factor affecting the children’s education and preventing
progress was the lack of motivation on the part of the mothers. Basanti Burman – an Anganwadi Teacher in charge of an ICDS centre in
Andharam Pakhihaga Village in Cooch Behar said that the parents hardly send
their children to the Anganwadi Centre and so she doesn’t get enough pupils to
teach. They are only interested in the mid-day meals served in these centres so
much so that the Anganwadi centres are known as “khichdi centres”.
Ms. Basanti Burman, an Anganwadi
Worker from Mathabhanga, Cooch Behar shares her point of view in the Gram Sabha
held in her village
In the
same meeting Ms. Sujata Burman, a
former member of the local Village Education Committee and an educated woman
with 2 daughters shared that most mothers in the village were indifferent about
their children’s education and were content with just sending them to school
and at most engaging a private tutor and that they claimed that they were too
busy with household and farm work and so did not have enough time to pay
attention to their children’s studies.
Ms. Sujata Burman (second from
left) an educated mother who plans to send her 2 daughters to a private school
It
also came out that the more aware and discerning parents send their children to
private schools commonly known as “nursery schools” rather than government or
primary schools as the former are known to have much higher standards of
teaching than the latter. While conducting a learning camp at Jhanjupara
Village in Jalpaiguri it was found that the learning levels of the attendant
children were unexpectedly high. On investigating it was found that these
children go to a private school which is situated just opposite the local
primary school and that the student count in the latter is decreasing in spite
of the so called attraction of the midday meals served every day.
While the above facts came into light during
the Gram Sabhas, focus was also placed on the Read India centres and parents
were encouraged to send their children to the centres and also to play an
active role in the monitoring of the centres. They were also asked to send
their children to school and interact more often with the school teachers.
Mahmooda
Khatoon – A case study
A learning camp was in progress in Jamirdanga
village in Mathabhanga. The camp was being held in a small clearing in front of
the local SSK. The children were seated in little circles on the grass and a
youngster was in charge of each circle. These youngsters were young men and
women - in their late teens or early twenties – all residents of the local or
adjacent villages who had been mobilized to lead the Read India program in
Rural Cooch Behar. Two bright yellow umbrellas bearing the Pratham logo and the
mission of the Read India program “Every child in school and learning well”
were standing – perched precariously on the shallow ground. As one watched the
activities on the field – children going over the “Swar Chart” in unison guided
by the volunteers, the volunteers conducting activities like “gup shup”, “find my letter”, “mind
mapping” etc one young lady stood out from the others. She stood out because of
her confidence and the practiced manner in which she was dealing with the
children. Unlike the others who seemed a little ill at ease chiefly due to the
presence of a number of people from outside Mahmooda went about teaching her “class”
completely unselfconscious of the fact that she was being watched by the
visitors. The children hung on to her words and it was obvious that they were
completely involved in the activities. Later when the classes were dissolved
all the volunteers gathered together. We got the chance to converse with them
and find out what had propelled them to be Read India volunteers. Mahmooda, we
found out, is a past volunteer of Read India. She had been a volunteer for 2
years – an unusual feat as usually a volunteer stays on for one year. Even
though she is not a part of Read India any more she is helping out with the
organizing of the learning camp in her village. In our brief interaction
Mahmooda came across as a very assertive and down to earth girl – who knows what
she wants and is willing to work hard to get it. She said that she has always
wanted to be a teacher and that after completing her graduation that’s what she
aims to be. At present she is in her third year of college studying Humanities.
Her father is a farmer while her mother is a homemaker. Though her parents have
very basic education themselves they have always encouraged Mahmooda and her 3
siblings to complete their education and spread their wings – her younger
brother and 2 sisters are in school. Apart from her own studies Mahmooda
teaches young children from her neighbourhood – she uses the CAMaL
methodologies that she had learnt and imbibed well at Pratham. She has
completed the digital and Spoken English courses offered at Pratham’s EFE and
said that she found them to be very helpful. Mahmooda is very articulate and
speaks her mind without hesitation. When one of the other girls in the group
said that she felt shy in the Spoken English classes especially when while role
playing Mahmooda chastised her and encouraged her to be more outgoing. Her
natural leadership qualities along with the willingness and ability to work
hard to achieve her goals and cheerful disposition set her up as an apt role
model for many.
Mahmooda Khatoon, former Read India
volunteer
Momina
Khatoon - A case study from Jalpaiguri
Momina Khatoon is a resident of Golabari
Village, Jalpaiguri. She is a dynamic member of the village community and is a
staunch champion of education. Herself educated up to the first standard the
mother-of-four has ensured that her 2 older daughters have completed school.
Her younger son and daughter are in school. Her daughters Sultana Rehana and
Babynath Parveen have both written their Higher Secondary Exams and at present
have taken a break from their studies. Both the girls are former Read India
volunteers and though they have completed their volunteering stints a long time
back they have retained their ties with Pratham and are always available to
help the new volunteers – with active encouragement from their mother. In the
learning camp held at Golabari Sultana and Babynath were present - running
classes and supporting the new volunteers. Momina herself played an active role trying
to mobilize volunteers and urging other villagers to send their children to the
camp. While her daughters were with Read India she motivated them to be
diligent volunteers and she continues to motivate the new volunteers. At
present there is no centre in Golabari village as there is no volunteer. Momina is
trying her best to mobilize new volunteers who can again start a centre in
Golabari Primary School. Due to her vibrant personality and obvious leadership
qualities which she uses to bring about positive changes in her community –
Momina commands a lot of respect from the villagers. She heads the Swanirbhar
Committee of the village and is held in high esteem by other mothers. She is
very forthright and readily shares her point of view and in the Gram Sabha held
at the end of the learning camp at Golabari she was present holding forth about
the importance of continuing Read India classes in Golabari and encouraging
youngsters to come out and volunteer in the initiative. Undoubtedly Momina is a
valuable asset to her community and is a source of inspiration for other
parents.
Outcome of
the camp:
Around 6000 children were covered in the 96
learning camps. More than 300 old and new volunteers were involved in this
program and for the latter it was a big learning experience as some of them
admitted. For the BRG members conducting the learning camps at a stretch for 3
weeks in mornings as well as evenings was a very challenging experience
especially considering the fact that those 3 weeks fell within a period when
heat wave like conditions had gripped the entire state of West Bengal. The most
difficult part of the job was to attract people to the learning camps as the
heat was keeping most people indoors nevertheless both children and their
parents responded to the learning camps enthusiastically and on an average at
least 30 people attended each of the Gram Sabhas. Though only children of classes
1 to 4 were to be taught in the learning camps many children from higher as
well as lower classes came to the camps many of them on all 4 days. Though the
response from the teaching community was not as overwhelming, in a few blocks such as Jhalda 1 and Joypur
(Purulia) and Sagardighi (Murshidabad) a number of teachers attended the
learning camps and expressed support for the Read India program.
