Keeping Focus on Quality as Schools Re-open Post Covid-19

“I now know what good schools should be like, and I know I don’t want a mediocre education anymore”. This is what I was told by a 14-year-old boy in a rural government school after finishing an exercise of evaluating the quality of his school.

 

A typical government schools consists of 1 or 2 teachers teaching multiple grades of students all in one classroom. Oftentimes these schools have very small grounds, infrastructure that leaves much to be desired and rows of silent children copying things off the board, followed by choral recitation of the text in their book. The National Education Policy, 2020 states that classrooms should be places where students develop skill such as communication, collaboration and critical thinking. In order to realise this vision, we need teachers who can facilitate such classrooms. But this is not possible if the leadership of schools is not equipped to support teachers to create a vibrant learning experience for students.

 

There are approximately 113 million children studying in Government schools in India for whom education could singularly dramatically transform life chances.

The World Bank predicts that India seeks to lose $420 billion in future earnings due to reduced learning levels as a result of school closures this past year. This crisis needs to be addressed at scale and fast- this is a large systemic issue that requires a systemic solution.

At Adhyayan, we support state governments in bringing about improvement in the quality of government schools through evidence-based capacity building. We build the capacity of school principals and government personnel in education within a state to:

1) Develop a shared and measurable language around school quality using a quality framework to review schools

2) Create an action plan based on the evidence of the review

3) Make targeted decisions around support needed by teachers using the evidence

4) Continuously monitor improvement across schools with a focus on teaching and learning

5) Create an enabling environment and support systems in the form of Peer Learning Communities of leaders

We ensure that students, parents and teachers also participate in the process of evaluation of schools so that everyone can play a role in school improvement.

Now that states are gradually resuming schools post COVID-19, the need to focus on quality education is now more than ever. We are currently seeking funding to be able to resume our program in Goa (824 government schools and 34000 students) and support the work that we have begun in Tripura (1400 government schools) and Arunachal Pradesh (10 schools).

In the two years of our program in Goa, 70% of the 824 government schools have demonstrated measurable improvement of one level against the state's quality measurement framework.

Watch a video of a hub leader share the impact of the program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyybAWsbqRs&t=26s

Watch a video of a student share the impact of the program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQnBPwGqifo

With our continued intervention in Goa and newly begun interventions, we will be able to amplify our impact across the following:

1) All stakeholders understand school quality in terms of active and engaged classrooms, and as measured against the State's quality framework.

2) Leaders at district and state levels are actively using data to determine the needs of teachers/school leaders to provide them with the right training and resources

3) School principals and other government personnel are regularly visiting schools to extend support and share best practices

4) Schools continue to show measurable improvement in their teaching and learning practices that moves away from rote learning towards discussion-based and engaged learning

Let’s eradicate the idea of a mediocre school and give each child in this country the opportunity to go to a good school that they deserve. It is time that we re-emerge from COVID-19 stronger, and with a robust mission to ensure a good school for every child.