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NIEPA WORKSHOP ON SCHOOL MAPPING AND MICRO PLANNING(July 29-30, 1997)
ANDHRA PRADESH DPEP was introduced in 5 districts of Andhra
Pradesh. Karimnagar, Kurnool, Nellore,
Vizianagaram and Warrangal districts were chosen for implementation of
DPEP. To facilitate district planning
process, various discussion/meetings were held. These discussions were initiated at the district level. Plans were prepared at the Mandal (a unit
lower than district level) level. The
planning process involved activities at village, Mandal and district
levels. The Mandal officers were imparted training to prepare
plans. The Mandal Resource persons were
trained in 1995. They were imparted
training in formulating village education plans. They went to villages and gave training to village resource
persons. They conducted Gram Sabhas and
held discussions with Village Education Committees. A village education profile was prepared. Further, a village education plan was
prepared. On this basis, a village
action plan was prepared. Based on the educational needs of villages, village
action plans were prepared along with Mandal Action Plans. The Mandal action plan was compiled at
Mandal headquarters. Based on these
lower level plans, a district perspective plan was made. It is on this basis, that a District Action
Plan was prepared.
ASSAM The District
Primary Education Programme started in Assam effectively from the year 1994-95,
in three district of Dhubri, Darrang and Morigaon. A number of activities are going on since then with various
degrees of success. Many of the
activities are related to micro-planning and school mapping exercises. The need for operationalising the
micro-planning and school mapping exercise in a planned and systematic way has been felt for quite
sometime now. With work soon to commence in the phase II districts, it has
become all the more essential, to draw up a strategy and action plan. There may be certain obvious differences in
the approaches for the Phase I and
Phase II districts as the needs are different, considering that the Phase I
districts have already completed three years of implementation. In the meantime, a
4 (four) member team from DPEP, Assam attended a training course at NIEPA, New
Delhi, on school mapping and micro planning during February' 97. Thereafter, a three phase workshop on micro
planning was been organised of which two phases are already over, and the last
phase which is a field level programme will commence in September 1997. Resource Persons from IGNOU and
LBSNAA, Mussoorie, have also been articipating in these workshops. Basic Strategy It is being thought that micro planning exercises will be
initiated in select clusters, in the blocks of both Phase I and Phase II
districts. The scale will be limited
initially but it is expected that progressively these will be carried out to
cover more areas. Of course in the
Phase I districts the clusters (group
of villages, not necessarily a DPEP cluster) will be selected on the basis of
existing data on backwardness in terms of literacy, population pattern, and
other parameters, and may be scattered through out the district. This is to gather a holistic understanding
of the ground realities in a participatory way. On the other hand in the case of Phase II districts presently
only one block, will be selected for carrying out the exercises with intensive
multi-level interventions in a detailed manner. As far as the school mapping exercise is concerned, two
blocks will be taken up ; namely,
Mayong in Morigaon and Dudhnoi in Goalpara in the Phase I and Phase II
respectively. Subsequently more blocks will be taken up in different districts
in a phased manner. It needs to be
mentioned here that while understanding the school mapping exercises,
information will be gathered through
PRA/PLA techniques wherever feasible, but data and information will also be
gathered through other means like using investigators with questionnaires etc. In each district a District
Core Team will be constituted involving persons from different categories (not
necessarily from all), viz. DEEO, DI,
BEEO, Programme Officers, BRC Co-ordinators, Social Workers, representatives of
NGOs, Women Groups, etc. Committed
persons with communication and training skills, will be selected in each
district to form a panel of Master Trainers and Facilitators. Basic manual and other documents will be
developed in the local language(s) to be used as basic reference. It will be ensured that they will be user
friendly, being easily accessible and comprehensible. NIEPA module will form part of the basic reference material in
this regard. Intensive training in micro planning and school mapping
will be imparted in various stages to the panel of Master Trainers. This will involve hands on tasks, and field
work so that there is conceptual clarity.
As mentioned earlier, the District Core Teams will identify the target
clusters based on available information, for initiating the exercises in the
DPEP Phase I districts, for micro planning.
However, school mapping in conjuction with micro planning, exercises
will be carried out in two blocks (Mayong and Dudhnoi) on a pilot basis. To make the BEC/BLEC an empowered body, active
involvement in the planning and implementation processes as a natural corollary
to the micro planning and school mapping orientation of the members will be
organised. Sustainability of the
programme and actual translation will depend on a large extent on the
successful empowerment of the BEC/BLEC. All actual field activities will be preceeded by
awareness generation programmes and pre-publicity for creating a suitable
environment. Mobilisation of the
community will be a key process, carried out with the help of animators,
facilitators etc. Orientation of field
level functionaries, animators, VEC members, Women Groups etc. will be organised. Expected Outcomes (of initial phase) * A Village Profile Action Plan of target area villages. * Completion of school mapping exercise in pilot blocks. * Preparation of a Block Master Plan in the pilot blocks. * Development of a pool of Master Trainers at the district
and sub-district levels for subsequent extension. * Creation of teams of Facilitators and animators who can be actively associated in the other programmes. * Awareness generation and mobilisation of the community, across all sections. BIHAR The Bihar Education Project (BEP) is aimed to be an
instrument of educational reconstruction.
Its main aim is to attain Universalisation of Elementary Education. Education is considered a process of social
reconstruction. The BEP acts as a catalyst
by mobilising the community to undertake educational activities. School mapping and micro planning exercises
are based on their own understanding of these tools. The BEP, is on the threshold mission of DPEP. The Bihar Education Project started in three districts of Ranchi, Rohtas and West Champaran in 1991-92. It is the first comprehensive externally funded `Education for All' Project initiated in India. This was extended to four more districts in 1992-93. Now, selected districts of Bihar are planned to covered under DPEP. The DPEP activities will cover 17 districts including the seven districts covered under the BEP. The preparatory activities of the DPEP are progressing at the state level. For involving the community to spread education, an
environment has to be created.
Environment building is a process of involving the community by
increasing communication. This is done
by ways of wall writing, conducting padayatras, cultural greetings, panchayat
meetings etc. These are ways of
environment building. In this process
of environment building, animators or `preraks' are identified. People who are ready to act as agents of
social change are the `Preraks'. The
group of preraks include the disadvantaged sections of society and women. Women form at least one-third of the Prerak
Dal. A five-day training programme is conducted for the
Preraks for conducting micro planning exercises. This training programme is not just a lecture session, but is
actually a process of rapport building.
After undergoing training, the Preraks go to the villages and start the
environment building activities. They
try to convey to the people and Mukhiyas what is the role of education in the
process of social reconstruction.
The mobilising groups start the micro planning exercises. There are 11 stages which have been
identified by BEP to complete the micro planning exercises. This is based on the `PRASOON' module. The different steps are given below: 1. Social
mapping 2. Resource mapping 3. Educational
Survey 4. Trend analysis 5.
Responsibility chart 6. Seasonal Analysis 7. Informal
discussions 8. Household survey 9. Teachers
response/school mapping 10. Analysis of data 11. Preparation
of village educational plan The micro planning exercises are used to form `village
education committees' or to strengthen the existing VECs. VEC's are evolved through the processs of
micro planning. The VEC's are tried to
made more vibrant and more active to help in educational reconstruction. GUJARAT The state of Gujarat was included in the District Primary
Education Programme in the second phase of DPEP. The three districts selected under the DPEP are Dangs, Panchmahal
and Banaskanta. Low levels of female
literacy was the critierion for selection of the district. A workshop-cum-seminar was held at NIEPA for
preparation of district plans. The DPEO
of these three districts and state level education officer (planning) were oriented
to DPEP activities. This was followed
by a sharing meeting at state, district and block levels. Block level officers and NGOs and panchayat
officials, prominent educationist were invited to these sharing meetings. Their views on the problems and issues
concerning primary education were elicited.
Surveys were undertaken to collect necessary data about these
districts. Since District Primary Education Programme has been
introduced in Gujarat only in the second round, the state is in initial round
of planning process. Capacity building
processes are now taking place before the actual planning process takes
place. For this, core groups to
prepare district plans were identified.
While preparing draft plans in each of the three districts, help was
taken from IIM and M.S. University Baroda.
Proper guidance was given to district planning groups. State component plan for DPEP was prepared
at the state level. Guidance for
revision of plans was given by state authority by conducting a state level
sharing meeting. Accordingly, all plans
were revised. At this stage, a
joint team of MHRD officials and Ed.Cil experts visited the state. Every component of the plan was checked by
the team. They also visited three
districts. Suggestions were made by the
team for revising the draft plans.
Taking into account these suggestions district draft plans and state
component plans were revised. In December, 1995 a workshop cum seminar was
organised by MHRD, NIEPA and NCERT which also helped revise the plans. A pre-appraisal mission visited for
finalising the plans. Mission also
visited three districts. Various
discussions were held with NGOs and functionaries. A base-line survey was undertaken with the helpe of GCERT and
DIET and a socio-economic survey was taken up by Sardar Patel Institute of
Economics Research. The outcomes of
these surveys were discussed and were incorporated in the plan. Appraisal Mission visited the state for final appraisal
of the plans. The draft plan and component
plans were finalised. Various
workshops, seminars and sharing meetings at state, district and village levels,
were organised. Orientation programme
as well as activities for environment building were also started in these three
districts. A workshop on visioning and
awareness building at state and district level was also organised. For development of posters and cut outs,
various workshops were organised. Various modules for training were developed
by GCERT. Various types of training for
DIET faculty and VEC members are
envisaged to be organised. At present
AW plan 97-98 has been prepared HARYANA DPEP is an innovation for the attainment of
universalization of primary education.
The programme started in 4 districts in 1995-96. It is operational in seven districts, out of
which four districts namely Hissar, Sirsa, Jind and Kaithal are DPEP (I)
districts; Gurgoan, Bhiwani and Mohindergarh were included in DPEP(II)
distrcits. Planning process under DPEP II districts was initiated
during 1996-97. Core planning teams
headed by project officers and comprising of four members each were identified in these districts. These teams were trained in Decentralized
District Planning Process at LBSAA, Mussoorie in June 1996. They were further oriented in the planning
process at the state level. Meetings of
District Advisory Groups headed by ADCs of respective districts were organized
in these districts, in which the objectives of DPEP along with DPEP guidelines
were thoroughly discussed and debated.
Block Advisory group meetings were held in all the blocks of DPEP II
districts. The strategies of the planning process in each block were thoroughly
articulated. Members of district planning teams were asked to organise
mass mobilisation for DPEP and organised meetings with district authorities,
NGOs and other voluntary organisations engaged in imparting primary education
to children. Monthly meetings of the
district planning core teams were regularly held to monitor the progress of
DPEP planning process in various districts.
Planning teams also held monthly meetings in their respective districts
with the DEOs, DPEOs, SPEOs, BEOs, heads of selected primary schools, eminent
educationists, NGOs and other district officers dealing with Human Resource
Development. Core teams held meetings
with the community in all the villages of the district. In their interactions with the community,
awareness was created for the enrolment of children in primary schools
particularly of the girls and children belonging to weaker communities. The district planning team prepared an
exhaustive proforma for collecting information on infrastructure facilities,
enrolment of boys, girls, SC, ST, OBC,
position of teachers and children of 6-11 age group outside the school
system. The data received at the block
levels were consolidated; another
proforma was also developed for VECs
members for getting information on the problems and their solutions relating to
primary education. These proformae were
got filled in from every VEC in every village in the district. The problems and their solutions (block-wise) were
consolidated at the district level.
Lists of these problems and their solutions were prepared block
wise. These problems were discussed at
the DPEP Sammelan organised at CRC and BRC levels. Educational problems of the village schools were identified and
community itself suggested solutions which were discussed, articulated and
prioritized. Micro planning exercises were done in each village. Village map
and village profiles were
prepared. School profiles indicating availability of
infrastructural facilities and learning material/kits were also prepared for
each school. List of infrastructure
needed in each village school was also prepared. It was a participatory exercise carried out by the core planning
teams in each village of all the DPEP districts. The community actively participated in the preparation of the
village profiles and the related micro planning activities. School teachers also participated in the
development of school profiles, survey of school going and out-of-school children
and the mass mobilization programmes.
Finance Studies, Social Assessment Study (SAS) and Baseline Assessment
Study (BAS) were also conducted. SAS
was assigned to the Haryana Institute of Public Administration and BAS was
assigned to the Management Development Institute (MDI). The core planning teams were actively issued
findings of these studies. The findings of the studies were shared
among the District Management Groups including core teams. After ascertaining the existing position of educational
facilities in the districts, enrolment of children in these districts, were
projected for 2001. Facilities
to be provided in schools were discussed keeping in view the local specific
problems of each village/block and district.
These proposals were prepared in accordance with DPEP guidelines. HIMACHAL PRADESH The District Primary Education Programme started in
Himachal Pradesh on 1st September, 1996.
The state of Himachal Pradesh is a hilly state. The norms for opening schools is different
in hilly areas when compared to plain regions. Given the geography it is also difficult to conduct school mapping
exercises in this state. For organising school mapping and micro planning
exercises, first a state level workshop was conducted in Shimla. Later on, similar workshops were held in
different districts. Main work of
school mapping and microplanning exercises was done by teachers. Four villages in one panchayat was assigned
to two teachers each. Proformae were
given to each household for collecting information regarding the
household. The main focus was on
children not attending school. Data were collected and tabulated by computers. Data were collected on number of children in
the block, enrolment rates, non-enrolled children, castewise distribution of
children in different schools etc. The reasons for children not going to school
were also assertained and special attention was paid to the non-enrolment
children. Other data regarding schools
were also collected. On analysing the
reasons for children not attending school, it was found that distance was a
major factor for non-enrolment of children. After conducting the survey, it was
found that about 2000 children were not been attending school due to the
distance factor. A discussion was held
with local MLAs. A list of places were
prepared where schools were required.
Of the total number of schools proposed, 50% of them were only opened as
there were problems regarding appointment of teachers. A scheme of voluntary
teaching was initiated in Himachal.
Enrolment drive weeks were celebrated.
More and more children were enrolled under this scheme. KARNATAKA Micro
Planning aims at involving the community in identifying barriers to enrollment
and participation in primary education.
It also draws community support to find solutions to overcome these
barriers. Micro planning ensure
people’s participation . It also locates village specific educational problems
and child learning processes . Micro planning exercises help to understands the
sensitive village systems, and prepares people - centered educational Action
Plan. This exercise locates the role of VEC in consonance with village specific
educational problems,. Micro planning helps to fix up the responsibilities by
concretising the role of VEC. These VECs monitors the educational system of the
village and contributes to the progress of enrollment and retention. The whole
process of micro planning not only enlightens the Resource Persons but also the
villagers. These exercises epitomizes the village specific educational problems and Initiate Action Plan. They help
in identifying the mechanism for effective implementation with people’s
participation. While organizing the training, 2-3 micro planning processes are
actually started in the selected villages. It provides scope for practical
experience and exposure to the techniques of micro planning and documents the
whole process of micro planning. It
prepares a village education register. The training design invariably incorporates people’s
participation. This training aims at bringing about an attitudinal change among
the resource persons to elicit people’s participation. It helps to identify the
specific areas in primary education and elicits people’s participation in
primary education. It is field-based and incorporates the feedback from the
people. It elicits the field experiences of the resource persons. It also
builds up learning environment both for the people and the resource person and
consolidates the learning experiences. In
Karnataka, micro planning was conducted in
10-12 villages - Alambadi in Kolar, TS Chatra and Balghatta in Mandya,
Baichapura in Bangalore, Hemnur in Raichur and Jodakurali in Belgaum districts. To
begin with, social and resource mapping,
seasonal analysis and responsibility exercises were undertaken. A house to house survey for child by child design of participation in education
was conducted and Village Education
Registerwas developed. Six
resource persons went to TS Chatra - some had worked in the total literacy
campaign, one was with an NGO and some others were BRC trainers. The Deputy
Project Coordinator and the Block Education Officer accompanied them. Other VEC members and elders from the
village welcomed them to the village.
First, they gathered the school children and went around the village
shouting slogans and singing songs.
Women and other children curiously peeped out of their houses to watch. They
organized a meeting in which VEC members and others participated. They
explained why they had come to the village and asked villagers to identify an
appropriate place to draw the village map.
They choose the school playground where within half an hour many people
joined - mostly members of the local youth association. Villagers were then asked
to draw their village map. After
initial hesitation and some encouragement the men got started - the women
watched. The temple, school, ration shop, cooperative milk center and handpumps
were plotted on the ground. They then
moved on to drawing the main lanes and houses. This
went on for three full hours. The map
was completed, it was transferred on to a chart. By the end of it, along with a feeling of satisfaction for
successfully drawing the village map, there was a visible sense of dismay since
large number of children were unable to regularly attend school. While this was going on, two resource
persons went to the school where 56 children had been enrolled. There were two teachers. Around 35 children were present. Then followed an interesting hour with the
children in various activities. A
house to house survey was also conducted with the help of the village
youth. Resource persons went through
the survey formats to document information about each child in every family. The village survey attempted to provide
answers to the following categories of questions: ‘Has she/he ever attended school ?’ ‘When did she/he
stop going to school ?’ ‘How regularly was she/he able to attend schools ?’
‘What kind of work was she/he involved in outside school ?’ ‘Did school have to
interrupted because she/he was required to perform domestic work ?’ ‘Did she/he
have time to play or watch TV ?’ The whole process entailed not merely data collection,
but discussions with members of the family, particularly women and the children
themselves. Since there were 283
houses, the people in the village suggested to set up two teams - each team
comprised four persons with at least one woman. Using the social map each team was designated specific areas in
the village. Each resource person accompanied a team to a couple of houses to
share the experience and were careful
not to be too obtrusive. The work was
relatively easy for the local teams who knew the people in the households and
understood the circumstances in which they lived. A variety of symbols and colors were used to plot this on
a local calendar. The seasonal map confirmed
that both - school going and non enrolled children were involved in
agricultural activities. Sugarcane cutting during January and March coincides
with terminal examinations. Children were generally free from agricultural work
in April and May which coincided with the school vacations. During peak
agricultural season, all the members of the family are busy. School attendance is naturally erratic
during these months. Carrying food for elders in the fields was a daily
responsibility of boys. Girls assisted
in family chores along with helping in agricultural operations. On
the last evening of the stay in the village a Gram Sabha was
held. There was a festive atmosphere.
The evening began with community songs and dances. Then the results of the social, resource, seasonal analyses and
the survey were presented to them. The Gram Panchayat Adhyaksha along with the
other panchayat and VEC members pledged to take responsibility for all children
to attend schools. They also talked
about supporting a non-formal education center for children who could not
attend school regularly. The meeting
ended with promises and pledges. KERALA DPEP,
Kerala aims to universalise primary education by the year 2000 A.D. Three districts namely Idukki, Palakkad and
Thiruvanthapuram were included under Phase II of DPEP. Kerala is the most literate state in India,
Yet, Universal Elementary Education is still unattained due to various social,
economic and political reasons. To
create awareness among the general public at the micro level and also to study
the educational status of children in the age group of 0-14 years in
DPEP-I districts, a house to house
survey was conducted. This survey also
served to identify areas where new schools can be started. In the survey, one of the crucial reasons
quoted by the public for enrolment and drop-out, was non-accessibility of
schools. House to House Survey This survey was conducted in each of the DPEP districts
of the Phase II (3 districts). For
this, special forms were made use of.
The main objectives of this survey were : (i) to find out the non-enrolled children of the targeted group (5-10); (ii) to find out the dropout children from class I - IV; (iii) to get the picture of the educational facility of each family
for schooling (distance); and (iv) to know the number of families who do not have the schooling
facility within a walking distance of <
1 k.m. This survey was done with the help of teachers of each
district. Teachers were given training
at block level. Then with the help of
the prescribed proforma the teachers conducted the study. For this 15-22 days were taken. The analysis part was done by the Future
Study Unit, university of Kerala. School Data Base Using special proforma school data were collected from
each school. The main objectives were
to know about the details regarding each school such as number of students,
number and size of class rooms, details of furniture, equipments, learning aids
etc. Besides these studies, 3 more studies were
conducted. They were : (i) Gender
study; (ii) Tribal study; and (iii) Financial
study. All
these studies were conducted at state-level and once the studies were
completed, the relevent findings were reported to each districts. Micro Planning
using Visualisation in Participatory Process Apart
from the major objective of improving quality of primary education, DPEP aims
to ensure that all the beneficiaries and stake holders of the programme are
directly involved in developmental activities.
With this in mind, a method called Visualisation in Participatory
Process is being utilised with the general objectives of : 1.
making
people understand various steps in facilitating planning process; 2.
involving
PTAs/NGOs/GOs in all planning process; 3.
creating
awareness about DPEP; and 4.
operationalising
the planning process at micro level. VIPP
method, unlike other training method , believes in the participants’ capability
to develop and improve themselves. It
combines techniques of visualisation with methods of interactive learning. Group games, role plays etc. are used to convey ideas, seek solutions and
prioritise problems, solutions and strategies.
This helps participants to know more about their capacities, strengths
and weaknesses, encourage them to seek more knowledge. VIPP
method was introduced in DPEP Kerala through two rounds of training at the
State level by VIPP experts from UNICEF, Chennai and Mumbai. These sessions attended by the DIET faculty
members included ‘mock’ District and
Panchayath level sessions and provided practice to participants to skillfully
conduct the sessions, later, at district, block and Panchayath levels. As part of planning process for DPEP - II, VIPP sessions were initially conducted at the district level in which district level functionaries of Jilla Panchayath, MLAs, MPs, district level officers and Block-Panchayath Presidents participated. Subsequently, similar VIPP sessions were conducted at Block level and Panchayath level to evolve a list of possible strategies to be adopted for addressing the various issues related to primary education in the district. A final decision on the strategies to be adopted was agreed upon by the district level groups at the second round of VIPP sessions. Thus the final list of project interventions were decided by an entirely democratic process of identification of problems and causes at Panchayath, Block and District levels. The process that was followed is illustrated in the flow chart.
Modify and Restrategise
Modify
and Restrategise
DPEP,
Kerala in an effort to involve even more people at the grassroots level in its
project, made a conscious decision to
use participatory methodologies in the training of officials. Thus, a state level training of trainers
workshop for DPEP officials was held at Mithranikethan, Trivandrum. The objectives of the workshop were to
orient and familiarise participants on the “Participatory Planning Process” and to understand how to
prioritise problems and evolve strategies.
The workshop was conducted using participatory training techniques and
maintained active participation of the group. Before
going into the VIPP sessions, the objectives and guidelines of DPEP were
explained to the participants by the State Project Director. Clarifications about the Government of India and World Bank
procedures were made. Role
play was utilised when the three groups are asked to introduce DPEP to people
at the Village, Block and District levels.
The groups brought out the difficulty in introducing the programme, the
scepticism of teachers, mothers, officials and chaos that reigns in all such
meetings. Village Level
Planning The
participants had by now learned the techniques used in VIPP. Now the groups were asked to plan for
implementing DPEP at the village level.
The groups were reorganised and were given the name, CRICKET, KATHAKALI
and DRUNK. In this session, the
participants were given a free hand in making all choices themselves as how to
distribute them, how many problems to identify, who will make the presentation
etc. The initial listing brought out a
lot of village specific issues. Later,
through role play, a demonstration of how village level planning should take
place was done with four teachers, headmistress, parents, youths and panchayath
members of the village. Thus
each and every participant, after the three day workshop was equipped with
skills for prioritising problems, identification of causes and development of
strategies. Further, they clearly
understood the usefulness of using participatory methodologies while planning
project interventions for DPEP, Kerala. MAHARASHTRA The planning process under DPEP was initiated in 1993 in
the state of Maharashtra for universalisation of elementary education. In this year, plan of action covering source
areas were prepared. The year 1994-95
was devoted to preparing base line surveys identifying school facilities,
locating new plans for `Balwadies’ and introduction of awareness
programmes. Schemes like parental
education, training of members of village education committees were also
introduced. The actual implementation
of the programme started in the year 1994-95. A serious effort in decentralized planning of education
under DPEP focuses on planning from grassroots level by ensuring local
participation. The involvement of local
bodies and community at large is very important for initiating and implementing school mapping and
microplanning exercises as it strengthens the local capacity-building. Micro planning and school mapping are useful
planning techniques/tools to develop such area specific plans. In Maharashtra, two workshops were held on
microlevel educational planning. The
first one was conducted from 27-29 September, 1995 at SCERT, Pune for DPEP-I
and the second one was held from 27 to 31 December, 1996 at Aurangabad for
DPEP-II. The main objectives of the training programmes were to
acquaint the participants with decentralised and area specific planning; to
introduce the participants to the concept and approaches to school mapping and micro planning; to train them in school mapping and micro
planning activities; and to equip them with the techniques of micro planning
and school mapping exercises. The participants of the programme were mainly DIET and
SCERT faculty members, supervisors, training incharge, Block Education Officers
and the district resource personnel.
The resource persons of the programme consisted mainly of faculty members of NIEPA, Lok
Jumbish and SCERT. Methodology The training methodology consisted of classroom lectures
and discussions followed by groupwork and practical exercises. A major share of time was spent on practical
exercises and groupwork. Outcome The participants understood the concept and importance of
micro planning. They were acquainted with various aspects of the planning such
as objectives, physical targets, financial targets, time limit, importance of
community participation. An interest
was created amongst them regarding these issues. Also, prioritization of needs and effectiveness of different
schemes were discussed. The other
aspects like monitoring and evaluation remained the important aspects of the
process. The workshop was participatory
and the experts from Lok Jumbish shared their valuable experiences in
microplanning. The participants saw a
number of video documents, depicting the actual process conducted in a village
in Rajasthan. As
a follow up of this training, participants were asked to conduct the
microplanning exercises on a sample basis, to get the direct feel of community
perception. As part of the training,
field work was included in the training progarmme. Visits to villages were made
and 6 villages of a block in Aurangabad were visited. There was a discussion ith regarding the village map. As
a follow up workshop, school mapping exercises were conducted on a sample basis. This was done in the DPEP(I) districts of Aurangabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Latur and in
some villages of Jalna, Beed, Dhula and Gadchiroli. A house to house
survey was conducted. There was a
project proposal for having enrolment registers. Meetings were held at village level. Meetings were held with Village Education Committee and Taluka
Advisory Committees. At the district
level, meetings were also held with executive and advisory committees. All
these activities were helpful in creating a suitable atmosphere for future
activities. Thus, school mapping
exercises conducted on a sample basis proved to be successful in environment
building activities. ORISSA The District Primary Education Programme was initiated in
the state of Orissa to universalise primary education. Orissa is in the second round of DPEP
districts. Initially, 5 districts were
covered under this scheme - Dhenkanal, Kalahandi, Balangir, Gajapati and
Rayagada. This programme was later on
extended to 3 more districts. DPEP in Orissa, in its initial stages of implementation
is focussing on capacity building at various levels. In this process, various people were imparted training in
different aspects. Taining programmes were conducted to impart skills in school
mapping and microplanning to resource persons. The training programmes had various objectives. One of the aspects of training was to give a
general exposure to DPEP. Information
was imparted about the concepts and methods of school mapping and
microplanning. Another aspect of
training was the participatory process of microplanning. For training purposes, one block from each district was selected. There was a group of resource persons at the
state level. Below this, there was a
group of resource persons at the district level. Various animators were selected at the village level. Thus, resource persons at different levels
of administration were imparted training in school mapping and micro planning. LOK JUMBISH, RAJASTHAN School mapping and micro-planning represent the principal
operational feature of Lok Jumbish at the village level. Its objectives are: ·
to
ensures community mobilization;
The main stages of school
mapping under Lok Jumbish are: Environment Building : Work in the village usually begins with activities geared to
build environment conducive enough to later activities. It is defined as a creation of positive
environment which allows for all men and women of the village to prepare
themselves mentally to accept and understand the message which needs to be
conveyed. As of January 31, 1997,
environment building has taken place in 2938 villages. Developing Core Team : School mapping exercise is initiated through core a team. Each core team has a minimum of 6 members
and in a big village, upto 20 to 22 members.
In very big villages Jumbish Dals are organized (and trained) for
various localities. Members from these
groups later constitute the core team for the village. Efforts are made to ensure that each core
team has at least 50% women members.
The village panch, sarpanch, female ward member etc. are also members of
the core team. Active teachers, lady
teachers, Shiksha Karmis and instructors of Sahaj Shiksha Kendra are also
members and also work as coordinator of the core team. In case they are not available, then any
suitable, educated person is entrusted with the task. As of January 31, 1997, 2332 core teams
(with a membership of 14936 men and 8173 women) were functioning. Survey and the Naksha Nazri: The
survey and the Naksha Nazri (the village map) that procede and follow it, form
the basic components of school mapping.
The Naksha Nazri conveys in one glance the situation in the village. It is a basis for discussion on the
situation within the villagers which
allows an easy understanding of the situation of those who are deprived
of primary education It is a very powerful instrument for school
mapping, and is the basis to involve deprived children in education. The survey results in the final Naksha
Nazri, and information is contained in Family Survey Form, (incorporating
family and village education register) and the statistical abstract, commonly
known as "goshwara" is prepared.
As of July 31, 1997 school mapping exercise has been completed in 2850
villages. Norms and Preparation of Plan : The limits that are set on the basis of our expected
requirements and the resources available to fulfil them are shown as
norms. Normally it is important to take
decisions on the basis of established norms but under special circumstances
they need not be so rigid and in which case revised decisions are taken at the
level of KSPS. All KSPS decision are
taken as final and are implemented by the various government departments. Micro Planning The basic aspects of micro-planning include: enrolment of
all boys and girls (and special emphasis of those who remain deprived), regular
attendance and retention of those who are enrolled, creating a sense of
responsibility towards education of children in parents and the community etc. Village Education Register and Retention Register Village Education Register: It is a
register which conveys the educational situation of each boy and girl of all
families in the village. A list is prepared of boys and girls who are not regular
in their studies or have not been brought within the education system. Parents of such children are inspired
through locality- wise meetings or house to house contacts. This list is made by the teacher and the
meeting organised by members of VEC: The VER is kept in the school or in the SS
Kendra, in case there is no school.
After every two years, the survey is done again. With every survey a new VER is made. Retention Register : In many ways, retention register is a mirror of the school and
whether it is being run satisfactorily or
unsatisfactorily. The purpose
of retention register is basically to calculate the retention rate of a school
or a class, that is, how many children continue their studies and how many drop
out. Teachers and instructors are trained on various aspects
of retention register. In these
trainings special attention is paid to the fact that starting retention
register on a large scale is an important innovation. It contributes to the recreation of educational organisation, and
it is necessary to monitor specially children who are irregular in the school
or have left it. Praveshotsav : Praveshotsav is an event
through which a positive and creative environment is created for education
amongst children, the school and the community; parents develop a sense of
responsibility and environment to create and observe dignity and respects
towards the teacher; the schools start functioning from the beginning of the
session; effective retention becomes possible; Initial hesitation in children
is removed, and positive environment created; the environment of fear is
removed and a cordial relationship between the teacher and children is created;
the dignity and respect of teacher is increased and intimate relationship with
the community created; positive environment towards education is created and is
related it to the village community. Village Education Committees (VECs) : Village Education Committees do not get
set up by an executive order, rather they evolve over a period of time. As a matter of fact it is the Core Team
which after a course of time becomes Village Education Committee by taking in
members from other village committees.
It plays an important role in strengthening primary education in the
village through the use of micro-planning, once school mapping exercise is
completed. Village Education Plan : This is
also a new instrument under micro planning.
Its main function is to monitor from year to year information about the
number of boys and girls of 5-14 age group who are attending school and those
who are still out of it. Overall
progress in regard to effective enrolment is monitored at the village level
with the help of the Village Education Plan. TAMIL NADU Initially, DPEP was implemented in 3 districts in Tamil Nadu ,and later on 3 more districts were included in DPEP phase II. While preparing Annual Work Plans and District Plans, it was felt
that there was a lack of scientific data.
So, a need based and area specific data base was required. Data pertaining to number of children,
enrolment rates, dropouts etc was required. State representatives from Tamil Nadu attended a training
programme on school mapping and microplanning in NIEPA in 1997. Based on this training programme, a workshop
was organised in Tamil Nadu regarding school mapping and microplanning in March
,1997. The participants of the training programme consisted of a team of state
resource persons. The training was
imparted by the state resource team (state planning team) to the `District
Level Resource Persons'. Training was
imparted to district planning team members in a two-day workshop conducted.
Training was then imparted by district resource persons to block resource
persons, AEEOs and AAEEOs. The block
resource persons then imparted training to Headmasters and Teachers, i.e. the
enumerators and supervisors during second and third week of August. Enumeration was then carried out in the
field. The data collected were then
consolidated. Consolidation of data
started at habitation level. It was
then consolidated at the village panchayat level. There was compilation of data at block level and, later on, at
district level. It was at the district
level that report writing actually took place. School mapping and microplanning exercises were actually
carried out after the workshop. The
workshop was very helpful in implementing school mapping exercises. In the school mapping exercise, a block map was drawn and
the participants were then asked to plot the schools in the block in the
map. The names of all villages and
villagers werelisted at the block level.
Number of schools, their staff position, student enrolments were noted
down and areas were identified where schools were actually required. It was found that 19 habitations required
schools at present and total number of schools for 2001 were estimated. Additional facilities required in schools
was also estimated. Training on school mapping exercises and house hold
surveys were provided to functionaries at different levels of educational
administration. Microplanning exercises
helped in environment building activities.
Bal Melas were conducted and community participation was on a massive
scale. Such activities heldped establishing rapport between school s, teachers and villagers. UTTAR PRADESH The `Basic Educaiton Project' has been in implementation
in U.P. since October, 1993. It is an
externally aided project which covers 12 districts for a period of 7
years. The main objective of the
project is to bring all children in the
age group 6-14 within the fold of education by the year 2000. This will be achieved through the use of
formal as well as informal systems of learning. Under this project micro planning exercises have been
conducted in U.P. to assess the situation of primary edcuation. The unit of micro planning in this project
was a habitation and not a village. Two
training programmes were held in Allahabad and Aligarh for training people in
micro planning exercises. Micro
planning exercises were conducted in two phases. First phase was conducted during 1994-95 and second phase was
conducted during 1995-96. In the first phase, 3 blocks were included. The remaining blocks were covered in the
second phase. The first phase of
training focussed on micro
planning exercises. The second round of training focussed on
awareness building programmes. To facilitate
micro planning exercises, some
formats were used. The formats
developed by NIEPA were used for micro
planning. Information was required
regarding the number of children in the school going age group, the number of children enrolled,
non-enrolled children, targetted children for enrolment in next year, names of
children and so on. In total, 5 formats were used for collection of data. a) The first format was
on household survey. It was a joint
venture of animators and teachers for 50 households. b) Format nos. 2 and 3 -
This format was regarding information pertaining to habitation and village
level. c) Format 4 - This
format dealt with facilities available in the area. d) Format 5 - This
format dealt with information regarding village education plan. Information was collected on the basis of the above
formats. The collected information was then compiled at the block level. On the basis of the existing information 7
new formats were created: Format 1
dealt with lists of primary schools; Format 2 dealt with lists of upper primary
schools; Format 3 dealt with lists of new formal centres; Format 4 pertained to facilities required in
existing schools; Format 5
dealt with schools required to be closed or transferred; Format6 asked for informationon schoolswith
enrolment less than 50% of
school going population; and
Format 7
asked for information on schools with enrolment between 50% and
75% of school going population. School mapping exercises were also carried out. For school mapping, block was chosen as the
unit. Maps were prepared for all 174
blocks. Information regarding school
mapping exercises were collected and compiled. The above information was useful
in locating children and deployment of teachers. The information was also used as a basis for opening new
schools. The above information will
also be useful while considering Phase II districts of Basic Education Project
in U.P. WEST BENGAL The state of West
Bengal was included in the second round of DPEP states. The actual project started recently. Money has started flowing recently in
December, 1996. The state of West
Bengal is in the preparatory stage of capacity building. Certain capacity building exercises for
undertaking tasks relating to microplanning and school mapping have been
chalked out. West Bengal has tried to
be independent and evolve its own strategy for conducting school mapping and
microplanning exercises. At the
national level, training programme on school mapping and microplanning
exercises was conducted by NIEPA, New Delhi and LBSNAA, Mussoorie, at the state level, the state
Project offices (DPO) conducted these exercises. Below this, the District Project Office (DPEP) conducted
exercises at the district level. At the
block level, exercises were executed by Block Resource Centre under block level
co-ordination committee (BLCC). At the
village level, the VEC did the field work and microplanning exercises. Training was imparted at the national level for
conducting school mapping and microplanning activities. State Resource persons had a 5 day training
course in September, 1996 at NIEPA, New Delhi and a 9 day training course for
21 state resource persons at LBSNAA Mussoorie in November, 1996. The training courses had practical exercises
which were more intensive with village level Participatory Rural Appraisal
(PRA) Process. At the state level,
training was imparted by the state resource persons in January, 1997. One training programme was organised for the
district level resource persons, another training programme was organised for
the sub-district level structure personnel.
Special stress was laid down on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
exercises. At the district level, workshops were organised on school
mapping and micro planning in June, 1997.
PRA exercises were special components of the district level
workshops. Workshops were conducted in
5 DPEP districts of South Parganas, Birbhum, Bankura, Murshidabad and
Coochbehar. Inspection officers and
members of the 3-tier panchayat system in the districts were oriented in large
numbers. At the sub-district and lower
levels, training will be organised at the level of villages October, 1997. Modules were adopted and developed at the state level for
imparting training in micro planning and school mapping exercises (including
PRA components). They were used in
state level, district level and sub-district level workshops on the concerned
issues. To facilitate micro planning processes, village level
information will be collected. This
will be collected with the use of certain formats. Household information will be collected on an individual basis in
Format 1. Household information will be
collected in Format 2, which will be consolidated. Information for village
education register will be collected in Format 3, which will be collected
household-wise. School information will
be collected villagewise in format 4. School mapping and PRA exercises were successfully conducted in district of South 24 Parganas of West Bengal. |
