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<p>Thanks Jyotsna, and also Guru for including this in the
consolidated note. Can you please put me in touch with the Ranchi
friends mentioned in point 2?</p>
<p>Jean<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 22-08-2021 10:05, Jyotsna Jha wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CADQV13MejR9g5_MjVv97tp6JL6TC8f=tkCnhiaaHEwc9dXxSjQ@mail.gmail.com">
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<div dir="ltr">Hi Jean,
<div>I can see that we all have different and at times also
contrary suggestions. </div>
<div>Yet, can help suggesting a few - I am sure you would
discern and decide: I think you should ask for some quick
decisions that are also easier to implement followed by some
modified approaches for being more supportive to children. I
have five suggestions:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>1. I am a votary for a Zero Year or a Bonus Year for all
primary kids, especially in states like Jharkhand and Bihar.
In the lifetime, one year is nothing but if pushed to higher
grades without knowing nothing, it would lead to much higher
dropouts. </div>
<div>2. A curriculum-approach replanning with support of local
(there are some in Ranchi who understand these well) and some
external people, focusing on key and supportive concepts - I
know that MP is making some such initiative. Different from
bridging in the sense that it also takes note of already
prevailing learning gaps and also structural aspects. </div>
<div>3. Training teachers on this new approach and also
extensively on equity and learning issues making them able to
have a differential approach and not treating all children the
same. It may also mean individual testing (as Sajitha is
suggesting) to know about each one of them - but much better
to equip teachers to do that rather than organising large
scale ones. It must include orienting them on socio-emotional
support and the importance of maintaining links with
children/parents during such breaks.</div>
<div>4. Preparing teachers/schools/system for future sudden such
occurrences (third wave?). For instance, many schools
don't have all children's addresses with landmarks, phone
numbers (family or neighbour), closest literate person's phone
number/address. We found that to be a major constraint that
teachers faced when it came to getting in touch with students
and families. Record collection may have happened but the
school does not have these in many cases. </div>
<div>5. Textbooks (plus additional learning materials) and Meals
to be non-negotiable - the system must assess the current
practices and assure the availability of these two. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regards,</div>
<div>Jyotsna</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 9:20
AM Sajitha Bashir <<a
href="mailto:sajitha.bashir@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">sajitha.bashir@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Studies from the US show that it takes several
years for students who are below grade level to "catch up"
to grade level ; one study I saw indicates that only 4 %
catch up in two years ! (This is pre-pandemic). In
general, younger children, and students who are not
independent learners take longer. So this cannot be a
one-time effort, it could take a few years. In other words,
think of what you have to do consistently for several years
(which may , if done well, actually introduce some much
needed changes in the education system). That is the first
point that I would make.
<div>The education support group of the coalition is
preparing draft guidelines/ principles . At this stage, a
few other points that could be put forward</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>- children need to be assessed individually (not just
on academic subjects); sample based assessments and tests
give us an idea of the scale of the problem, but do not
indicate what needs to be done in each school. These have
to be administered by teachers, but there must be some
quality checks and protocols, and consistent analysis of
data, to help develop school plans. [ Also, children
would also have learnt new skills and resilience during
this time, and it is important to build on this]</div>
<div>- extend the time for learning (eg weekends, holidays
etc). This obviously has to be negotiated with teachers
or other organizations have to be brought in.</div>
<div>- mixed age groups / classes in smaller groups - eg you
can teach literacy skills to some students in classes 1-3
together, if some grade 2-3 students have lost literacy
skills. This becomes more difficult at higher levels, but
solutions can be found.</div>
<div>- focus on core subjects initially - language,
mathematics; and socio-emotional</div>
<div>- tailored training for teachers to understand and take
up new methods, and regular support provided to them</div>
<div>- additional instructional materials for the above (ie
the textbooks usually cannot be used; but additional
instructional materials are not difficult to develop and
need not take time)</div>
<div>- a clear instructional plan developed by each school (
schools will need support for this)</div>
<div>- detailed district or block level planning and
monitoring to support each school; </div>
<div>- meaningful and sensitive communication with parents
on a regular basis.</div>
<div>- more public funding to support all of above; one
can't tackle the crisis meaningfully with the existing
level of resources</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Aug 21, 2021 at
9:56 PM Jean Dreze <<a
href="mailto:jaandaraz@riseup.net" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">jaandaraz@riseup.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>We are meeting the Education Secretary in Jharkhand
tomorrow. If you have any suggestions, or any
ready-made material that might be useful to him,
please let me know.</p>
<p>Jean<br>
</p>
<div>On 22-08-2021 07:12, Rishikesh wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is right. The gap that has
occurred over the 16+ months is so huge and as
Jean says it is over the gap that already existed!
If we are to do anything meaningful, we will need
a lot of time with the children to even get them
to where they were before the lockdown.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I guess all will agree with it
too. But the challenge is in coming up with the
appropriate approach with a suitable curriculum,
material, pedagogy, capacity building to use them
& so on… we will have to start working with
State Govt’s to actionize this. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div
style="border-right:none;border-bottom:none;border-left:none;border-top:1pt
solid rgb(225,225,225);padding:3pt 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Jean Dreze <a
href="mailto:jaandaraz@riseup.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><jaandaraz@riseup.net></a>
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, August 21, 2021 8:09 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Niranjanaradhya.V.P Aradhya <a
href="mailto:aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com></a>;
Guru <a href="mailto:Guru@ITforChange.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><Guru@ITforChange.net></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Sajitha Bashir <a
href="mailto:sajitha.bashir@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><sajitha.bashir@gmail.com></a>;
<a href="mailto:mehendalearchana@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">mehendalearchana@gmail.com</a>;
<a
href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">research@educationemergency.net</a>;
Rishikesh <a
href="mailto:rishikesh@apu.edu.in"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><rishikesh@apu.edu.in></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Research] posters</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p>It seems to me that the "bridge", however
designed, will have to extend to March 2023, not
2022. Because the "gap", for children who've been
left out all this time, is not just one-and-a-half
years (since lockdown began); it's one-and-a-half
years + what they forgot of what they had learnt +
whatever gap was already there before the lockdown
began. I don't see a 3-month bridge course filling
that gap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jean</p>
<p> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 21-08-2021 19:51,
Niranjanaradhya.V.P Aradhya wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Hi Jean
and friends </span><span style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black">You have
raised an important issue. Since March 24<sup>th</sup>
to till date nothing much happened to
children who are in lower classes.
Therefore, I propose the following. </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black">The
children who joined class 1 in 2020-21 can
be combined with the children who are
joining class 1 in 2021-22 since there
levels of learning are one and the same.
These children will undergo accelerated
learning programme to learn basic things
appropriate to their age and grade in a
combined manner to benefit both the age
groups and grades in 2021-22 for 200 hundred
learning days as indicated by RTE Act.
During this period, teachers with special
curriculum and methods help these children
master the competencies otherwise they would
have mastered in class 1 and two
respectively. At the end of 2022 academic
year , a special programme for children who
got admitted to class 1 in 2020-21 ( though
they have not attended school) can be
designed with special curriculum to prepare
them for class 3, so that we can avoid loss
of one year for no fault of them. </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black">In the
meal for all other grades from 2 to 10, the
first 3 months should be devoted to
well-structured bridge course with a
specially designed curriculum to get
familiar with age wise- grade wise
competencies before we start curriculum
transaction </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Otherwise,
the loss is for marginalized children who
are first- or second-generation learners.
Therefore, while talking on behalf them and
demanding any solution needs a fair
understanding and all benefit should be
given to children. The decision also should
be in the best interest of the children. </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Niranjan
</span><span style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span
style="color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"
align="center">
<hr width="98%" size="2" align="center"></div>
<div
id="gmail-m_-1970655996329404840gmail-m_265165389183865879divRplyFwdMsg">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="color:black">From:</span></b><span
style="color:black"> Jean Dreze <a
href="mailto:jaandaraz@riseup.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><jaandaraz@riseup.net></a><br>
<b>Sent:</b> 21 August 2021 1:20 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Guru <a
href="mailto:Guru@ITforChange.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><Guru@ITforChange.net></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> niranjan aradhya <a
href="mailto:aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com></a>;
Sajitha Bashir <a
href="mailto:sajitha.bashir@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><sajitha.bashir@gmail.com></a>;
<a
href="mailto:mehendalearchana@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">mehendalearchana@gmail.com</a>
<a
href="mailto:mehendalearchana@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><mehendalearchana@gmail.com></a>;
<a
href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">research@educationemergency.net</a>
<a
href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><research@educationemergency.net></a>;
Rishikesh <a
href="mailto:rishikesh@apu.edu.in"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><rishikesh@apu.edu.in></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Research] posters</span>
</p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p>Dear Guru and friends,</p>
<p>I am still tied up with the field survey,
but doing my best to keep up in the between
with all the useful material you are
circulating.</p>
<p>The survey findings are alarming (no
surprise here). In Latehar district, in 5
SC/ST hamlets, we found that 75% of children
were unable to read a single word.
Meanwhile, the schools are falling apart.</p>
<p>I wonder what the "line" is on automatic
promotion. Once again it seems to suit
privileged children, who are more or less on
track, but it is the kiss of educational
death for other children. How can children
who were enrolled in Class 1 last year, and
have never been to school or learnt the
alphabet, be in Class 2 now (Class 3 in a
few months), where they are given English
textbooks (in Jharkhand)? Is there not a
case for a "bonus year" when all children
are helped to recover instead of sorting the
winners and losers yet again? Just curious -
I am sure that you have discussed this.</p>
<p>I am not clear whether <a
href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">"research@educationemergency.net"</a>
is a kind of collective address so I am
CC-ing a few at random!</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Jean</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 10-08-2021 11:05,
Guru wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt">
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks Jean<br>
<br>
We are in the process of translating
posters to as many languages as possible
as these can help in sharp and quick
communication. We will share these with
you as well.<br>
<br>
regards<br>
Guru<br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/08/21 7:03 am, Jean Dreze wrote:<br>
<br>
</p>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt">
<p>Dear Guru: Thanks for this and other
mails. I am up to my ears right now with
the field survey (until 22 August), but
I will catch up as soon as possible. We
will definitely help with media for one
thing.</p>
<p>More asap,</p>
<p>Jean</p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 06-08-2021
15:41, Guru wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt">
<pre>Dear Jean</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre>I am attaching the posters that my colleague made in our Karnataka</pre>
<pre>'Open Schools' campaign</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre>The campaign included a street protest, media articles, few press</pre>
<pre>releases which were reported in local papers. It may have helped a bit -</pre>
<pre>the Karnataka Govt kept high schools open Jan-March 2021.</pre>
<pre>Through the State SMC Federation, Niranjan and others also organized</pre>
<pre>district level protest meetings on school opening. A PIL was also put up</pre>
<pre>in Karnataka High Court on both opening schools and providing mid day</pre>
<pre>meals. The CJ was sympathetic but did not give a firm directive to open</pre>
<pre>schools. (there is a general middle class fear psychosis)</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre>For this time, apart from posters, street protests, short videos</pre>
<pre>(children, parents, teachers) in multiple languages, social media</pre>
<pre>campaigns, apart from policy briefs, guidelines/toolkits for school</pre>
<pre>opening will be required. And the idea of the national coalition is to</pre>
<pre>share resources/ideas across groups working in different geographies.</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre>regards,</pre>
<pre>Guru</pre>
<pre> </pre>
<pre><a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2021/mar/19/midday-meals-as-crucial-as-classes-survey-2278502.html" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2021/mar/19/midday-meals-as-crucial-as-classes-survey-2278502.html</a></pre>
<pre><a href="https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-schools-and-all-classes-local-hygiene-precautions" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-schools-and-all-classes-local-hygiene-precautions</a></pre>
<pre><a href="https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-primary-schools-now-to-avoid-a-learning-crisis" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-primary-schools-now-to-avoid-a-learning-crisis</a></pre>
<pre> </pre>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
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</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
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