Wednesday, 15 January 2014

BEST PRACTICES :EDUCATION

1. Students Academic Management System (SAMS), Government of Odisha
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This initiative was conferred Gold award in the category of “Outstanding Performance in Citizen-Centric Service Delivery” in the National e-Governance Awards, 2013
SAMS is one of the few e-governance initiatives in the country which has such a wide coverage. The project provides a 3600 approach to all the stakeholders in matters of academic administration. The primary activities under the project include, e-Admission (applying in common application form at SAMS centres and selection) and e-Administration (issuing admit card and library card, and allotment of section, subjects and hostels).SAMS has changed the admission process in Odisha from being “College centric” to be “Student centric”.

2. Holistic approach for integrating persons with disabilities

Amar Jyoti Research and Rehabilitation Centre renders rehabilitative services to persons with disabilities with an endeavour to enable them to lead independent and inclusive lives at par with their fellow citizens.
Amar Jyoti started its operations in 1981 by establishing a small school for educating children with and without disability in equal numbers.Today as a result of dedicated effort and persistence over three decades, Amar Jyoti has expanded its operations and set-up two holistic research and rehabilitation centres one each in Delhi and Gwalior aiming at the complete educational, medical and vocational integration of persons with disabilities.
To realize it's aim of integrating persons with and without disabilities, Amar Jyoti follows a holistic approach consisting of multifarious activities:inclusive education, healthcare, skill training, capacity building courses and enhancing employment opportunities. Amar Jyoti follows a phased manner of integration; children with disabilities are trained in separate sections and their progress in continuously monitored. Once a child has reached a certain level of training and is considered suitable for adapting with children without disabilities, he/she is transferred from the separate section to the regular section.Amar Jyoti is also providing persons with disabilities with adequate infrastructural support, mobility aids and various therapies to reduce and treat their disability. At the same time, Amar Jyoti is engaging with other schools, parents, communities, public transport authorities, employment organizations and policy makers to create a barrier free and welcoming environment for disabled populace across the country.
Amar Jyoti has pioneered the concept of inclusive education in India and is empowering disabled students to live a fulfilling life by overcoming the day to day challenges that their disability confronts them with.The continuance of the centre over the last three decades and its expansion from a small set up to the current day institutional structure reflects the ability of Amar Jyoti to sustain itself through the years. With the financial support of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, individual donors, the guidance of an experienced and committed set of leadership, the support of social workers, special educators, medical professionals, parents and communities, Amar Jyoti has rehabilitated over 40, 000 persons with disabilities. Over the years, Amar Jyoti has won several recognitions for its dedicated service and commitment like the National Award for the use of innovative approaches for the rehabilitation of persons with disability, the PHD Chamber of Commerce Award for Social Welfare, U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Award for pioneering achievements in the promotion of barrier-free environments.

3. Students Admission Management System

SAMS, a centralised e-admission system, initiated by the Department of Higher Education, Orissa, leverages ICT to enhance students' access and capacitate college functionaries to manage an easy and convenient process of admissions.
Students Academic Management System (SAMS) extends the goal of effective and efficient delivery of public services using ICT as an innovative tool. It was initiated by the Department of Higher Education (DHE), Orissa in the year 2009. It was in response to the emerging concern that most universities and colleges in the state were not adequately equipped to cater to the demand for greater access to better quality higher education.
The DHE of Orissa aimed at qualitative expansion of higher education with the initiation of SAMS. This centralized e-governance programme is gradually transforming the patterns of service delivery within this sector. The key objective of SAMS is to first, ensure that students and guardians can access the admission process in a simple, economical and less time consuming way and second, capacitate college administration to ensure effective and efficient information management and dissemination during the admission process.
The programme is supported by a well integrated institutional structure, technical assistance and continuous monitoring and evaluation of the system. This arrangement is lead by the Department of Higher Education of Odisha in collaboration with Orissa Computer Application Centre, IT department (OCAC) and Cybertech Software and Multimedia Private Limited (CSM). OCAC and CSM provide the technical assistance and infrastructural support for the effective and efficient implementation of the programme.

The online database supported by SAMS is maintained and disseminated at three levels. At the block and district level it is maintained by 380 SAMS resource centres and 30 SAMS nodal colleges respectively. At the state level, the Central SAMS laboratory (Bhubaneswar) plays a crucial role in coordinating the operation of the programme at the block and the district level. Experts from the department of higher education, IT department and OCAC train around 1200 personnel, representing different colleges, at the central laboratory. The training aims at enhancing their technical skills and understanding about SAMS and the effective management of the admission process
 

At present, almost 1200 colleges have been integrated into the system. This expansion has ensured in the process improved service delivery, access to better quality education, eliminating redundancy in the admission process, universalising better quality higher education and improved management of education system.
4. Quality education for the underprivileged

Teach For India is a unique initiative that provides promising graduates and young professionals an opportunity to teach in low-income schools in pursuance of educational equity.
In India, the high absenteeism rate of teachers, increased drop-out rates and understaffed government schools impact the overall educational scenario. With the aim to address this growing gap in the capacity of service delivery between government and private educational institutions in India, the Teach For India organisation has introduced a two-year Fellowship programme for young talented individuals between the age of 20 and 35, to teach full-time in low-income schools utilising innovative teaching tools and techniques. 

The Fellowship provides resources and training, and encourages youth to develop leadership skills. In the short run, TFI envisages to create a pool of dedicated teachers who work diligently to impart quality education to underprivileged children, and in the process become sensitive to resolve problems in public education system. Further, the long-term goal is to utilize this sensitivity, to build a powerful and ever-growing network of alumni who will continue to work towards creating equality in educational opportunities through various avenues.
 

Starting with 87 Fellows teaching in 35 schools in Mumbai and Pune in 2009, today 250 TFI Fellows are teaching across 130 schools in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. TFI is reaching out to about 12,000 students, providing them an opportunity to be exposed to a quality of education which they have so far been devoid of. At the same time, the presence of young, vibrant Fellows in the public education system is bringing a fresh outlook towards addressing the urgent need for educational reforms.

5. Quality management system for public service

The Department of Women and Child Development in Karnataka has implemented a quality management system to improve service delivery under Integrated Child Development Scheme.
Sevottam, a quality management system, developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India aims to improve quality of public service delivery. The key to successful execution of the Sevottam framework is designing the three essential modules: citizen charter, grievance redressal mechanism and capacity building. Given that field level implementation of a framework often proves to be a challenge, the DARPG sponsored a pilot project to include Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in the Department of Women and Child Development in two districts of Karnataka.
A participatory process was followed in a systematic manner to ensure acceptance of the reforms by all stakeholders. Thorough assessments were conducted to understand the existing arrangement of service delivery to establish performance benchmark. Gaps in services and present grievances were recognised through a citizen satisfaction survey. Based on the learning, citizen charter and grivenance redressal mechanisms were drafted.
Overall, the Sevottam model has enhanced the ICDS service delivery. Infrastructure at anganwadi centres have been upgraded; they were provided with LPG gas connections and water filters. The children and anganwadi workers/helpers now have uniforms from the government. It was noticed that the level of cleanliness has improved, and new teaching methods were adopted by the anganwadi workers because of the training provided to them. The DWCD has already upscaled few services to be included in all the anganwadi centres.

6. Empowering the differently-abled

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation established the Education and Training Institute for the differently-abled to provide special education and capacity building training to ensure their integration in the mainstream.
In order to respond to the special needs of children with different abilties (CWDAs), the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation started the Education and Training Centre for Children With Different Abilities (ETC). The objective of the ETC is to facilitate the process of making persons with different abilities contributing members of the society and empower them to live life with dignity. It also works towards mainstreaming of People With Different Abilities through protection of their rights and by undertaking various integrative rehabilitation measures.
The ETC is a unique programme that serves as a one stop centre for education and capacity building of CWDAs. Instead of having a general school for the disabled, the centre designed customised educational programmes to respond to special needs of different disabilities such as hearing impairment and intellectual impairment. ETC also has various units such as integration unit, inclusive unit, remedial unit that caters to various levels of requirements of CWDAs.
The main objective of the programme is to facilitate mainstreaming of CWDAs. Therefore, various schools and units work towards ensuring socio-psychological, educational, medical and economic rehabilitation of the children. As part of these rehabilitation measures ETC trains parents to understand the needs of CWDAs and conducts medical camps for diagnosis of children to ensure early intervention. ETC offers pre-vocational courses to provide training to children between the ages of 14-18 in the areas of their interest.
ETC ensures quality in service delivery through regular innovative capacity building measures for the staff. The processes of service delivery have clearly measureable indicators to ensure efficiency and satisfaction of the stakeholders. Approximately 1000 persons with different abilities are getting direct benefits per annum through the ETC and a total 350 students with various disabilities are receiving special education.

7. Fighting domestic violence against women

The Bell Bajao campaign spreads awareness to stop domestic violence against women. It utilizes the power of media and community mobilization tools to create a gender sensitive society.
In 2008, global human rights organization Breakthrough launched a 360 degree ‘cultural, organizing and media ‘ campaign, Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell), to bring an end to domestic violence against women. The Bell Bajao campaign focuses on breaking the notion that domestic violence is a private affair and seeks to mobilize young men to take a stand against violence.
The campaign has two main components – a) media and edutainment (entertainment designed to educate) development and b) community mobilization through trainings and local partnerships. The media campaign runs throughout the country while the community mobilization initiatives run in seven districts each in the states of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
Since 2008, Bell Bajao has successfully leveraged social and new media tools to change mindsets and reduce instances of domestic violence. A strong network of local partners, support from government agencies and an in depth monitoring and evaluation strategy has influenced the gender attitudes of over 130 million people across the country.

8. Yuva Maitri- Engaging young men on gender issues

Yuva Maitri, a gender sensitisation programme in Maharashtra uses innovative youth-friendly communication tools to promote a healthy dialogue amongst young men on sexuality, masculinity, patriarchy and related issues.
Since 1993, Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) has been working to build a movement that explores the role of men as partners and key stakeholders in addressing gender inequality.
In 2006, MAVA launched a new initiative, 'Friendship among youth' or 'Yuva Maitri' in Marathi to engage young men from rural colleges in Pune on gender related issues. These students were trained under a ‘Personal change’ plan for a year with guidance from gender experts and sexologists and the usage of innovative tools like interactive workshops, awareness songs and wall newspapers.
Many of these students went on to become ‘trained communicators’ and spread MAVA’s message of gender equality among their peers.
The initiative has gradually spread to Mumbai, Satara, Kolhapur and Jalgaon as MAVA has partnered with women’s organisations and local universities to conduct Yuva Maitri workshops and training sessions. To date, Yuva Maitri has reached more than 20,000 young men and 5,000 young women encouraging them to break gender stereotypes.

9. Lifelines - Mobile query system for education

LifeLines Education is a digital inclusion initiative aimed at enabling academic-pedagogic support for rural school teachers in Rajasthan through mobile.
OneWorld, the Government of Rajasthan and UNICEF have partnered to launch the programme, which reaches over 4.5 lakh teachers in over 100,000 schools in the State. Accessible on a toll-free number, the service is mediated in the local language whereby the telephone serves as the medium of user interface. High-end communication technology and custom-made computing applications are configured at the backend to support integrated call handling and management of a very large audio and text database.
Enabling continued academic guidance and didactic advisory to teachers, via phone and in their local language, LifeLines has established itself as an effective support platform in rural Rajasthan. Teachers today recognise LifeLines-Education for providing them with access to curricular instruction and teaching guidance from experts, which they acknowledge is having a positive impact on the standard of qualitative learning. This recognition of LifeLines is reflected in its increasing demand and usage by teachers.

10. Galli Galli Sim Sim - Sesame Workshop Education Programme
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Source: www.galligallisimsim.com/
Source: www.galligallisimsim.com/
Galli Galli Sim Sim aims to expand the reach of high quality early childhood care and education to children and caregivers across India by developing and promoting innovative educational content through television and various outreach programs.
Modeled on its landmark educational television series Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop (SWI) has developed a multimedia educational initiative Galli Galli Sim Sim (GGSS) for Indian children between two and six years old. GGSS was launched in 2006 to provide early education through a play method of learning.
The central focus of the Galli Galli Sim Sim project is a television series. The series is set in an Indian neighbourhood, depicting the day-to-day life of children and families all across India. The show runs in the Hindi and features animated segments with Muppets, music, stories and art inspired from various dimensions of Indian culture.
The Galli Galli Sim Sim outreach initiative extends the educational message of the television series to those who do not have access to the show. The outreach programme is designed to work in urban slums through mobile community viewings (MCV) and the introduction of facilitated educational kits in local child care centers (balwadis).
The GGSS show is rated among the top five regularly watched children’s show in India. It reaches approximately 22 million viewers across urban and rural India. Its outreach efforts have reached around one million children and 300,000 caregivers.

11. TARA Akshar Plus: Educating rural women
TARA Akshar Plus (+) is an innovative computer based functional literacy programme that trains rural women to read and write in Hindi, and carry out basic mathematical calculations.
TARA Akshar+ was developed in 2004 by TARAhaat Information and Marketing Services Ltd. - the ICT arm of the non-profit organisation, Development Alternative Group.
The software application uses a unique visual memory technique that links every letter of the Hindi alphabet to an object that the female students use in their daily lives. This linkage helps rural women to learn the alphabets quickly without forgetting what they have learned later on.
A TARA Akshar+ instructor uses software, flash cards and playing cards to train the students in just 49 days through 2 hour classes every day. Students alternate between reading and writing lessons.
A well-structured programme design and a thorough implementation plan have resulted in a very high degree of efficiency. Covering the entire Hindi speaking belt of the country, TARA Akshar+ has succeeded in educating approximately 58,000 rural women with a drop out rate of only 1%. Its integration with the National Literacy Mission is underway.

12. Naandi Foundation: The Midday Meal Program
Adopting standardised procedures for the preparation and delivery of daily hot cooked meals to students of government schools, Naandi Foundation hopes to address the correlated problems of malnutrition and low school attendance.
In 2001, a revised policy altered the Midday Meal Programme (MDM) launched by the Government of India in 1995, henceforth making it compulsory for the meal to be a hot cooked one. The mode of implementation was left to the discretion of the states.

In 2002, the Government of Andhra Pradesh asked Naandi Foundation, an established not-for-profit organization to develop a system to administer the MDM programme in Hyderabad. Naandi leveraged its business principles of economies of scale and performance management to execute the task. It developed partnerships with various organisations and combined best practices to facilitate the programme.

With its first kitchen in Hyderabad, launched in 2003, Naandi has now successfully replicated its standardised procedures of preparing, packaging, transporting and delivering nutrient-rich meals using state-of-the-art technology, supported by proper monitoring and feedback mechanisms across five states – Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chattisgarh.
13. Computer Aided Text to Speech and Text to Braille System -Visually Impaired (Shruti Dhrishti)-West Bengal

The West Bengal government's public sector undertaking known as Webel Mediatronics Limited developed the automatic Braille transcription system for the physically challenged people to overcome their shortcoming due to their deformity.
The Automatic Braille Transcription System can convert text to Braille and Braille to text in 12 Indian languages. This transcription system has been installed in blind schools to support reading, writing and printing tasks. Braille-ready texts are made available online in 12 languages at www. Braille-aids.com.
The System has enabled visually impaired persons to meet the benefits of e-classroom activities. They can access document from Internet and the selected document can be transferred to Braille. In addition, the user, after browsing a website, can listen to its content through Text to speech system and read the content through Text to Braille system. It is a user-friendly interface and can be easily operated as well.
14. Paschimbanga Rajya Shishu Shiksha Mission

The main objective of this project is to ensure success and 100 percent enrolment retainment of children for quality education.
The Government of Bengal introduced an alternative education programme at the primary level as part of the universalization of primary education goal.
This project has been funded by the UNICEF, which provided financial support towards Capacity Building Measures and training programme in Education. The National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT) and the West Bengal Board of Primary and Secondary Education provide the textbooks under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to the primary schools. In addition, a routine health check up for the children along with their mothers is undertaken by the Health Department.
The Teachers, mostly women in rural areas, employed on a contractual basis are the resource persons. It aims to meet the Millennium Development Goal for achieving Education for All by 2015 in terms of spread and quality of education for children.

15. Report on 'Children of Prisoners Back Home Project' of West Bengal Prison Directorate

The West Bengal Prison Directorate in partnership with National Legal Service Authority initiated 'The Prisoners Children back home project' to ameliorate the conditions of children of prisoners in the region.
A well-designed system of justice dispensation both inside as well as outside the prison has been undertaken in this project to facilitate the development of prisoners' children back home. Its objective is to protect those children of prisoners who are stigmatized in the society and are victim of abuse and exploitation.
Under this programme, voluntary services have been provided by schools and institutions to use part of their funding for the welfare and advancement of these children. The outcome has been positive; those children are now doing professional courses and been employed as well.
This practice is easily replicable in other states and has been successful in restoring security in these children's lives.
16. Stree Shakti: A novel approach to women’s empowerment

Project Stree Shakti is a joint collaboration effort of the Government of Delhi, community-based organisations and NGOs to empower women, especially those belonging to economically weaker sections of society.
The initiative comprises integrated capacity building to strengthen the ability of women to participate equally in the mainstream of society. In the first instance, the project has prioritised three areas that significantly impact the process of empowerment namely health, literacy and income generation.
The proposed objectives are met through a Gender Resource Centre. Its activities include the maintenance of a documentation centre and data bank on women’s issues; and dissemination of the data directly and through grass root level NGOs to the target groups. The centre would also act as a bridge between service providers and the community members.
Stree Shakti Camps are also organised, the underlying concept here is that these institutions/programmes should reach the target group at their doorstep within a period of two years.

17. Social Work&Research Centre (The Barefoot Challenge),Tilonia, Rajasthan

This project has enabled all the facilities and gadgets in 'Barefoot College' including the library, office, computers, soil testing labs, primary health centres, etc to be operated with solar energy in Tilonia village of Rajasthan.
The Barefoot College is a model that has taken years of experience, local culture and traditions, commitment and dedication to achieve development at the grass root level. The organization has adopted a methodology, which minimizes waste and maximizes effectiveness through several activities such as Education, Health, Agriculture, Eco-Volunteerism, and Women’s Empowerment.
Major objectives of this programme include creating awareness about rights and duties, improvising the economic resources by implementing NREGA, and bring about a transformation in the lives of the village community through education and health facilities.
The project has been replicated in 14 states of India and several countries in abroad through education workshops for improvising knowledge and income for citizens. It has been successful in uplifting the self-esteem of the village community in Tilonia.
18. Twin E-Learning Programme: Skills for Employability of the Underprivileged Youth in Manipur

The Twin E-Learning Programme has solved the issue of unemployment among the youth in Manipur by preparing them with skills in English Proficiency, Basic Computer Education and other related soft skills.
The main issue addressed by the Twin E-Learning Programme is increasing unemployment among the youth through introducing and developing their IT skills in emerging sectors of the state. The Center enables the users access to knowledge, trade related support and economic opportunities through online facilities.
The programme has helped the youth to earn a livelihood by focusing on developing their skills for employability such as English, Retail Management and basic computer knowledge. Students from a lower economic background can avail services free of cost including Computer basics, Gender issues, and have interactive sessions with experts.
This practice has enhanced the capacity building of the youth and empowered them to face challenges in the future.
19. Online Posting and Transfer of Teachers in Education Department of Delhi Government

The Department of Education in Delhi introduced reforms for transparent transfer policy, and on line submission of transfer requests by the teachers of Delhi Government schools to bring about accountability and efficiency.
Owing to the large numbers involved, processing of requests for transfer from teachers, was becoming difficult and taking a long time through manual means. There were rising complaints about delays, centralization of power and oversight torments faced by the applicants. There was a severe need for restructuring of human resource, new skill development and a standardization of performance matrix for processing offices. The online transfer policy introduced new stages; for instance, applications were submitted online to eliminate delays. A scientific criterion of posting was adopted and unnecessary transfers were avoided. A well-defined transfer of policy of teachers and on-line transfer system brings in speed, accountability and reduces third party interventions. The efforts made in decentralizing the system and de-concentration of power of the Directors has yielded results. It also suggests that the appropriate use of technology facilitates new public management reforms in education.
20. Radical Improvement in Delhi Government School Systems

Improvised mechanisms were designed in Delhi Government Schools through I-schooling to make the administrative machinery efficient and accountable in a way to reduce the burden of routine, repetitive and monotonous work both for faculty and students.
The Delhi Government Schools underwent a progressive change in terms of enhanced capacity building of the teachers and over all improvement in the performance of the students through the innovative public school strategy known as I-schooling. A web-based MIS and a Decision Support System were developed to assess poor performance, fix accountability, provide feedback and institute deadline based improvements. Measures were taken to motivate teachers through upgradation of subject knowledge, strengthening of their pedagogical skills; and developing positive attitude towards their profession. Efforts were also taken to make learning joyful, interesting and meaningful for students, with curricular and extra curricular enhancements. Steps were taken to improve school infrastructure and reform the examination system. As a result, the Delhi government schools performed better than private schools in many subjects in the board examinations.

21. Girls's School Dropout Program (GSDP)

The Girls's School Dropout Program (GSDP) is undertaken as part of the Vikasini activity. 'VIKASINI' literally means Developing and Empowering Women. It aims to empower women especially those belonging to the disadvantaged section of t
The project centre is located in west Delhi covering a wide area sprawled with over more than one hundred thousand population amidst several slums. From among 300 colleges 137 colleges have already replicated the model in Innovative Education as developed by AIACHE. About 60 colleges have replicated the National Service Scheme on Child Labor.
It is partly supported by the Ministry of Convergence Government of NCR, Delhi in reaching out to vulnerable groups in the society. The All India Association for Christian Higher Education (AIACHE) in 2006, entered into a partnership with the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) to support the project "Girls' School Dropout Program (GSDP)" for a period of three years.



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