At Swanirvar we have experimented for several years as to how education can be made enjoyable and how to unleash the creative potential of children. Experiments have been carried out to make education relevant to the immediate context of the rural children, encourage them to ask questions and evaluate them in such a way that it helps them to grow rather than feel small.

At present Swanirvar is running 15 pre-primary and 3 primary schools in our project area. In addition we are trying to influence the mainstream education system by working with 40 local schools and through networks such as West Bengal Education Network (WBEN) and National Alliance For Right to Education and Equity (NAFRE).

Swanirvar's efforts in the field of education can be divided under two sections:

1. Creation of model education centres:

   At present there are 15 pre-primary and 3 primary schools which can give a good idea to any visitor (local or outsider) what a model education centre should be like. Experiments with teaching learning process has been carried out in the past such as:

   • Use of work cards and group activities,

   • Instead of the class room and the text books, village life and environment is used,

   • Emphasis on action learning - role plays/debates/chart making/framing questions etc., &

   • Experiments with evaluation systems instead of traumatizing exams.

    

2. Influencing state policy on education:

The process of influencing state policy on education has started although it cannot be said that Swanirvar is completely successful in this regard. So far:

• The pre-primary and primary supervisors of Swanirvar are also contributing as District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) resource persons. We are also part of the West Bengal Education Network, which is trying to begin a dialogue with the government on educational matters,

• Useful material available in textbooks presented haphazardly. Care and attention needs to given towards how and at what level a particular information should be provided to the student, &

• It is necessary to decentralize the process of curriculum development. The districts should be given greater freedom in designing their own curriculum.

In addition to pre-primary and primary education Swanirvar also carried out an experiment with high school boys and girls through the Kishore Kishori Bahini (KKB) inspired by Gandhi's vision of education.

The education programme of Swanirvar comprises interventions in the area of pre-primary and primary and adult education. The pre-primary centers are supported by CRY covering children in the age group of 3-6 years. All the pre-primary centers were scheduled for 3 hours a day, six days a week, with timings varying as per local convenience.

Salient characteristics of the pre-primary education programme at Swanirvar

Excellent teacher-student relationship and a high degree of child participation characterize the pre-primary centers at Swanirvar. For the past years, change has been significant. Previously, it was a situation when children feared schools and where the community was not at all convinced about the use of toys for learning. Today, the children love to stay in their centers even after school hours and parents are very eager to send them to school. The impact of the pre-primary centers has been considerable not only in the operational villages but also in the neighbouring ones, so much so that there is pressure on the organization to extend their activities. The supervisors have now trained local clubs in the area to initiate their own centers. Mothers are more aware of the need for education and this is obvious in terms of the increase in enrolment and the low dropout. The increase in the enrolment and the retention of girl children has also been profound. Children have also been mainstreamed through government run primary schools.

News Flash!

November 27, 2005

Ananda Bazar

Patrika

English Translation

(MS Word)

Bengali Op-Ed piece (PDF)

on SHIKSHAMITRA