Education in the primary schools in India is presently facing tremendous crisis. Surprisingly access to schools or primary education is not the actual problem. In fact more than 95% of the children in India actually go to schools. It is because of the poor teaching quality and learning levels that learning is not taking place in the schools. The 2007 national survey on education (ASER), which AID India participated in, has shown that 50% of the children in fifth standard in the schools in India are unable to read simple stories or do simple division problems!
In response to this crisis AID India had initiated an education program (EurekaChild Program) presently encompassing the state of Tamil Nadu. A pilot program conducted in 2006 covering about half a million children in 7000 village schools in TN met with staggering success. In just 6 months it lead to increase of number of 5th grade children who can read from 50% to above 80%!
The dramatic success of the pilot program has inspired AID to take this initiative to a much larger scale and eventually benefit about 10 million children in TN. AID India has embarked on a project to bring about a visible and measurable improvement in the overall learning quality of 400,000 children in 2500 villages in Tamil Nadu. Over a 3 year period AID expect to measurably demonstrate a significant improvement in Language (Tamil), Math, English, Science and Pre-primary skills of children and also address the health education and life skills requirements of adolescent girls in these 100 villages. Central to the initiative is the mobilization of the community and parents and creating an active Village Education Committee. Through this committee, the project will improve the quality of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools in the village and also form adolescent girls clubs for health and life skills education.
Donate today and make your contribution count towards creating a prosperous future of a nation where education is a reality for all children!
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1. Eureka Model School Champion ($5,000): Adopt a public school and help make it a model for delivery of quality education. Reaches 100 children.
2. Eureka Cluster Champion ($25,000): Team with family or a group of friends to adopt a five public school cluster. Your support will help build the framework for large-scale delivery of quality education. Reaches 500 children.
3. Eureka Block Champion ($12,500): Team with family and friends to join the Large Scale Education Campaign. Your contribution will provide 50 schools in One Block access to Reading, Math and Library Programs for one year.
EurekaChild - making education a reality for ALL children
The Problem
The 2007 Annual Survey on the state of primary education in India had some surprising findings. Of an estimated 140 million children in the age group 6-14 years in primary schools, 50% cannot read simple words or solve simple arithmetic problems In 5th Grade: Only 58% can read a simple story Only 42% can do a division problem
Imagine the future of a child who can't read a simple sentence at age 10! And, the future of a nation where 50% children finish primary school without learning basic arithmetic or reading! There are many reasons for the poor education status in India. Quite surprisingly, access to schooling is not one of them! Thanks to recent initiatives by the India's government as part of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, about 95% of the children enroll in primary school. However, a child without good primary education is more likely to drop out from school, a fact confirmed by actual data. Over 55 million of these children will not complete four years of school, eventually adding to the India's illiterate population. This is an urgent education crisis in India! A crisis, that challenges those of us who care about the next generation and about India's future in a fast changing world. As with any challenge or crisis, we can either accept it as a fact of life or treat it as an opportunity to create change. Yes, an opportunity to act before it is too late and to change the course of the nation.
AID India and education
Association for India's Development (AID) is one of few organizations who have decided to tackle this challenge head on. Our core belief is that every child has a right to good education and to the joy of learning. True education should strive to inculcate the spirit of discovery (Eureka moments!) in every child. Only when education is engaging and fun, will children look forward to school and realize their potential. This is the only way to ensure that the current generation is the last one with a literacy rate below 50%! Since 1997, AID India though Eureka Child, its key binitiative, has focused on creating innovative and lasting interventions in the area of education. Over these years, AID India has developed many innovative techniques of teaching basic science, math and reading to children. The techniques have been in the form of subject based learning modules, garnered through extensive work with school children and field experimentation. In 2006, the Government of Tamil Nadu requested AID to train its teacher's to improve the quality of education. Within a period of 6 months, AID reached out to 7300 schools in 5 districts in Tamil Nadu and trained the teachers on a novel approach to learning. The response from the children and the teachers was amazing. As the chart here shows, AID reached out to 450,000 children in that period and was able to achieve an improvement in reading skills by 30%, i.e., 150,000 new children who could now read. That means we have 150,000 more children now with greater self confidence to face the challenges posed by this world.
AID's 4 Key Focus Areas to Ensure Sustained Learning.
Measurement: Measurement works! It helps identify areas of improvement, track progress and focus on children needing the most attention. AID classifies children into 5 levels of reading/math ability. Each level's progress is tracked on a bi-weekly basis.
Effective Resource Material: AID has developed loads of fun and creative books, story cards, posters to explain reading, math and science concepts. We have also developed several low cost science experiments!
Better Teaching Methods: Teachers are trained in the innovative methods and are involved in the entire process. Once they see the results they are hooked!
Community Involvement: To ensure long term sustainability the community/parents need to take ownership of the schools. There needs to be an Education Watch! This is encouraged via regular learning festivals, libraries etc.
Having demonstrated success in 5 districts and 7300 schools in 2007, AID scaled up the large scale campaign to 10 districts and 1 million children in 2008 will similar success! The fact that we were able to achieve dramatic success in a short span demonstrates that children have the innate potential to learn. And, with the right kind of interventions-teaching material, methods and measurements-it is possible to make them flower on a large scale! This has encouraged AID to take this initiative to the next step and create Model schools and Learning centers. The aim is to demonstrate that with the right approach, one can leverage modest resources to provide high quality learning to young children.
How much does it cost? A typical model school costs about $5-7K per year, depending on the amount of upfront infrastructure costs. This works out to about $40 per year/child! AID aims to create 500 model schools across Tamil Nadu over the next 3 years.
Invest in the future generation
Children are the future of this world. Primary & pre-primary school are the foundations for lifelong success. This is the age when children's brains are growing the fastest and when they absorb the most knowledge. AID wants to ensure that they get the best attention in this critical period so that they can go on to a successful and productive adulthood.
We hope you will agree that we have a serious education crisis in the making. Especially in this information age, it would be a shame if we let another generation pass by without reaping the benefits of quality education and un-tapping their great potential.
Your contribution towards the Eureka Child program is an investment in the future generation. The rewards will be in the form of a more informed nation, and a work force with the abilities and self confidence to take on the challenges in a fast-paced and ever changing world.
Whether you make your pledge to support a one or a cluster of model schools or a village library campaign, you will have the assurance that your contribution will be leverage to the maximum extent due to AID's innovative and spirited efforts.
1. Eureka Model School Champion ($5,000): Adopt a public school and help make it a model for delivery of quality education. Support reaches 100-150 children.
2. Eureka Cluster Champion ($25,000): Team with family or a group of friends to adopt a five public school cluster. Your support will help build the framework for large-scale delivery of quality education. Support reaches 500-700 children.
3. Eureka Block Champion ($12,500): Team with family and friends to join the Large Scale Education Campaign. Your contribution will provide 50 schools in One Block access to Reading, Math and Library Programs for one year.