<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">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">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.<u></u><u></u></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. <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></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"><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"><aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com></a>; Guru
<a href="mailto:Guru@ITforChange.net" target="_blank"><Guru@ITforChange.net></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Sajitha Bashir
<a href="mailto:sajitha.bashir@gmail.com" target="_blank"><sajitha.bashir@gmail.com></a>;
<a href="mailto:mehendalearchana@gmail.com" target="_blank">mehendalearchana@gmail.com</a>;
<a href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net" target="_blank">research@educationemergency.net</a>; Rishikesh
<a href="mailto:rishikesh@apu.edu.in" target="_blank"><rishikesh@apu.edu.in></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Research] posters<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></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.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p>Jean<u></u><u></u></p>
<p><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 21-08-2021 19:51, Niranjanaradhya.V.P
Aradhya wrote:<u></u><u></u></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"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></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"><u></u><u></u></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"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></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"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></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"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black">Niranjan </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;color:black"> </span><span style="color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><u></u> <u></u></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"><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"><Guru@ITforChange.net></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> niranjan aradhya <a href="mailto:aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com" target="_blank"><aradhyaniranjan@hotmail.com></a>;
Sajitha Bashir <a href="mailto:sajitha.bashir@gmail.com" target="_blank"><sajitha.bashir@gmail.com></a>;
<a href="mailto:mehendalearchana@gmail.com" target="_blank">mehendalearchana@gmail.com</a>
<a href="mailto:mehendalearchana@gmail.com" target="_blank"><mehendalearchana@gmail.com></a>;
<a href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net" target="_blank">research@educationemergency.net</a>
<a href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net" target="_blank"><research@educationemergency.net></a>;
Rishikesh <a href="mailto:rishikesh@apu.edu.in" target="_blank"><rishikesh@apu.edu.in></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Research] posters</span> <u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p>Dear Guru and friends,<u></u><u></u></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.<u></u><u></u></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.<u></u><u></u></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.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p>I am not clear whether <a href="mailto:research@educationemergency.net" target="_blank">"research@educationemergency.net"</a>
is a kind of collective address so I am CC-ing a few at
random!<u></u><u></u></p>
<p>Best,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p>Jean<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 10-08-2021 11:05, Guru wrote:<u></u><u></u></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>
<u></u><u></u></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.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p>More asap,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p>Jean<u></u><u></u></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 06-08-2021 15:41, Guru
wrote:<u></u><u></u></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt">
<pre>Dear Jean<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><u></u> <u></u></pre>
<pre>I am attaching the posters that my colleague made in our Karnataka<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>'Open Schools' campaign<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><u></u> <u></u></pre>
<pre>The campaign included a street protest, media articles, few press<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>releases which were reported in local papers. It may have helped a bit -<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>the Karnataka Govt kept high schools open Jan-March 2021.<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Through the State SMC Federation, Niranjan and others also organized<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>district level protest meetings on school opening. A PIL was also put up<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>in Karnataka High Court on both opening schools and providing mid day<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>meals. The CJ was sympathetic but did not give a firm directive to open<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>schools. (there is a general middle class fear psychosis)<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><u></u> <u></u></pre>
<pre>For this time, apart from posters, street protests, short videos<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>(children, parents, teachers) in multiple languages, social media<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>campaigns, apart from policy briefs, guidelines/toolkits for school<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>opening will be required. And the idea of the national coalition is to<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>share resources/ideas across groups working in different geographies.<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><u></u> <u></u></pre>
<pre>regards,<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre>Guru<u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><u></u> <u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2021/mar/19/midday-meals-as-crucial-as-classes-survey-2278502.html" target="_blank">https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2021/mar/19/midday-meals-as-crucial-as-classes-survey-2278502.html</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-schools-and-all-classes-local-hygiene-precautions" target="_blank">https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-schools-and-all-classes-local-hygiene-precautions</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><a href="https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-primary-schools-now-to-avoid-a-learning-crisis" target="_blank">https://itforchange.net/press-release-open-all-primary-schools-now-to-avoid-a-learning-crisis</a><u></u><u></u></pre>
<pre><u></u> <u></u></pre>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<u></u><u></u></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote></div>
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