Final Evaluation Report

Country: India
Project Title: Making Right to Education work for Tribal Children in Odisha , India Project
Number: IND 1218
Amount of Allocation:
Project Holder: Sikshasandhan
Project Duration: 1st January 2010- 31st December 2012
Evaluation Report for
Sikshasandhan and Welthungerhilfe
25th -28th August 2012
by
Prof.K. Sujatha
Mr.Venkat Reddy
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Table of contents
Details Page No
Details of the evaluation 05
Description of framework conditions and the project 07
Projectholder analysis 08
Background and description of the target groups 09
Relevance of the people 13
Education of tribes in Odisha 14
Achievements, process followed, difficulties faced and lessons learnt 16
Creating inclusive environment in the school 30
Sustainability and replicability of the programme 33
Capacity of Sikshasandhan as a resource centre 34
Challenges 37
Recommendations 38
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List of abbreviations and acronyms
BPL: Below Poverty Line
BRCC: Block Resource Centre Coordinator
CCE: Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation
CRCC: Cluster Resource Centre Coordinator
DI: District Inspector
DPC: District Project Coordinator
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
HM: Head Master
ICDS: Integrated Child Development Services Scheme
INGO: International Non-governmental Organisation
KKID: Karl Kubel Institute for Development
MDM: Mid-Day Meal Scheme
MLE: Multi Lingual Education
NCTE: National Council for Teacher Education
NGO: Non Governmental Organisation
NUEPA: National University of Educational Planning and Administration
OBC: Other Backward Classes
PESA: Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act
PRI: Panchayati Raj Institution
RCFCE Act: Right of the Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act
RTE: Right to Education
SCERT: State Council for Educational Research and Training
SC: Scheduled Caste
SI: School Inspector
SMC: School Management Committee
ST: Scheduled Tribe
SSA: Sarva Siksha Abhiyan
UEE: Universalisation of Elementary Education
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Sikshasandhan and Welthungerhilfe for giving us the opportunity to conduct
an evaluation of the ongoing programme being implemented at Kalamagadia Panchayat of Kaptipada
Block, Mayurbhanj, Odisha. We would also like to thank the field staffs, teachers, community
members and officials of education department who have been very generous in helping us conduct
this evaluation.
Prof.K. Sujatha
Mr.Venkat Reddy
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Reasons and aims of the evaluation
Welthungerhilfe and Sikshasandhan are jointly carrying out an educational project named “Making
Right to Education work for Tribal Children in Orissa, India” that is being implemented since 2010.
The main purpose of the project is to develop strategies, tools and approaches for bringing tribal
children to school and to influence classroom curriculum, pedagogy and school management in the
context of RTE 2009 in 12 villages of Kalamagadia, a tribal dominated Gram Panchayat in the
Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Sikshasandhan is basically working at four levels:
1. Mobilising the community and children for bringing the latter to schools.
2. Capacity building of School Management Committees (SMCs).
3. Interaction with government schools and teachers for creating inclusive and child-centred
environment for children.
4. Bringing all stakeholders (government department, teachers, the community and PRIs etc.) on to
one platform for improving the educational situation.
For improving teaching learning practices in the schools, Sikshasandhan has taken a two
pronged approach: a) mothertongue-based interaction by language teachers appointed by
Sikshasandhan; b) building capacities of government school teachers on teaching children in multi-
grade and multilingual situations. Sikshasandhan has also developed the necessary learning materials
to support this method (e.g. - story books for children, village history, riddles, picture cards, hand
writing books, etc.)
However, the project is coming to an end in December 2012. Therefore Sikshasandhan and
Welthungerhilfe jointly proposed for an evaluation of the project in the month of August 2012.
0.1: Evaluation Period: Originally it was planned that the team will spend four days at the field and
cover all the 12 schools. But due to a change of plans just before the scheduled visit, the team
members spent three days. However, the team has devoted the maximum possible time in the field.
0.2: Project holders’ participation in the evaluation: The project holder provided all necessary
support throughout the evaluation and organised meetings with resource persons, project
implementing NGOs, beneficiaries, and arranged for transport and translation.
0.3: Special incidence during the evaluation: During the evaluation process one of the team
members became ill and could not participate fully.
0.4: Members of the evaluation team: Prof. K. Sujatha, Head Department of Educational
Administration, NUEPA, and Mr. Venkat Reddy, Director, M.V. Foundation, Hyderabad, Andhra
Pradesh. Besides these two members, Mr. Rahul Chaudhury, Policy Coordinator-Welthungerhilfe
was present as a participant observer.
0.5: Evaluation process and methods: The evaluation was carried out with a combination of desk
study, joint meetings, discussions and field visits to six schools.
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An initial meeting of introduction and planning of the evaluation process was held on 26th
August 2012 at the field office of Sikshasandhan, at Nuasahi, Kaptipada, Mayurbhanj followed by
field visits that lasted three days. Mr. Pitambar Sankhua, the project coordinator explained about the
detailed process of the implementation of the project, baseline status of the area, challenges. Mr. Anil
Pradhan, Member-Secretary, Sikshasandhan explained about the overall aim, objectives, strategies of
Sikshasandhan. The team decided that Mr. Venkat will evaluate community participation,
community capacity building aspects of the project, and in the absence of Dr. Kundu, Prof. K.
Sujatha will look into the pedagogical aspects of the project.
The following are the details of the schedule followed during the field visit:
Date: 26th
August 2012:
• Meeting with Sikshasandhan staff and language teachers
• Meeting with SMC members
• Meeting with children’s clubs members
Date: 27th
August 2012
• The team visited Kathachua School. Mr. Venkat especially wanted to talk to all members of
SMC in one school and talked with the SMC members of this school in details. Prof. Sujatha has
observed the classroom transaction process, methods and materials in the school and also
interacted with SMC members.
• The team visited Balichua, Rugudi, Sarisua and Gokulchnadrapur schools and interacted with the
children, parents, teachers, and observed overall aspects of the schooling.
• During the afternoon session the team interacted with Government school teachers
28th
August:
• The team interacted with BRCC, CRCC and SI of Schools at Kaptipada block office.
• The team also met District Coordinator for ST, SC and Minorities and DPC at Baripada, the
district headquarter.
• The team also visited schools located outside the project area- Hatibandha Primary School, GB
Nagar block.
1.0 Description of framework conditions and the project:
Odisha is one of the eastern provinces of India inhabited by roughly 42 million people. It is bounded
by the Bay of Bengal in the east, Chhatisgarh on the west and Andhra Pradesh on the South.
Scheduled Tribes and Schedules castes constitute 39 percent of the total population. Scheduled
Tribes alone constitute 23 percent of the total population, and there are 62 tribal groups in Odisha
with more than 30 spoken languages. The state is divided into 30 districts, amongst which
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Mayurbhanj is the largest in area, accounting for almost 7percent of the total geographical area of the
state.
Mayurbhanj consists of 26 blocks, with total number of 3945 villages. The district’s literacy rate
(63.98 percent) is below the national and state averages; while male literacy is higher with 74.92
percent the female literacy is a meagre 53.18 percent. The district and the block under study,
Kaptipada, are numerically dominated by Tribal communities.
Kaptipada block has the second highest rate of Scheduled Tribes (85.57 percent) in the
district. Around 73 percent of the households in the block are in the Below Poverty Line (BPL)
category, which is among the highest in the district. The Kalamagadia Gram Panchayat is situated in
the South of Kaptipada block and has a total number of 34 villages inhabited by 7025 people as per
the baseline survey conducted by Sikshasandhan. The average household size is approximately 5.5.
1.1.1 Project holder Analysis
Sikshasandhan is a resource centre for education started in the year 1995 with the conviction that
education is a powerful tool in the empowerment process of tribal and other underprivileged sections
of the society. During its formative years, Sikshasandhan provided support services to voluntary
organisations and government department on training and in local specific syllabus and teaching
learning materials for children. Sikshasandhan has given top priority in publication of educational
books including books for children since its inception. It has translated into Odia language inspiring
books written by teachers from all over the world regarding their first-hand experiences in running
schools. It has translated into Odia books written by V. Sukhmlinsky, Leo Tolstoy, A.S. Nail, John
Holt, Ivan Illich, Paulo Friere, Rabindranath Tagore, Vinoba Bhave, Mahatma Gandhi and by many
other eminent writers. It has also developed a well stocked library that helps Sikshasandhan to
develop materials for teachers, students and community. This library attracts students and researchers
from India and abroad to Sikshasandhan. The organisation also publishes a bi-monthly magazine
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titled ‘Sikha’, an Odia word that means ‘flame’, which publishes the experience of the teachers, news
and views, book reviews etc. which is unique in the state. Sikshasandhan is a well-known name in
the field of publication of educational books in Odisha. It also organises debates and discussions on
the content and process of education and in true sense it has searched for alternatives and tried to do
something innovative in the field of education. Sikshasandhan coordinated a consortium (consisting
seven voluntary organisations) for experimenting alternative education centres for children of tribal
communities from 1999- 2008 with the support of Welthungerhilfe. The experiment became a model
for tribal education in India. It drew attention of students and researchers from universities in India
and abroad (Denmark, Canada and Germany) and policy makers in and outside the state. Through its
firsthand field experience Sikshasandhan has influenced educational policy of the government in
favour of children of tribal communities. The organisation had developed primers in tribal languages
before the state Government made efforts towards developing primers in tribal languages under
DPEP. Before the Government of Odisha started publishing books in tribal languages under DPEP,
Sikshasandhan has developed text-books for children of tribal communities in three tribal languages.
Sikshasandhan was also part of Citizen Initiative in India that put pressure on the government to
make elementary education as a fundamental right.
Sikshasandhan has a governing council consisting of 9 members and a general council
consisting of 40 members. The Founder Chairman of Sikshasandhan, Chittaranjan Das, was an
eminent freedom fighter, award-winning author and educational innovator. He has more than 200
books to his credit. The present Chairman of Sikshasandhan, Jatin Nayak, is an eminent professor of
English at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, and an award winning translator. The board members and
people associated with Sikshasandhan have been drawn from various disciplines, and they are highly
respected in their respective fields.
2.0 Background and description of the Project
Sikshasandhan worked in the field of Alternative Education Centre (AEC) for tribal children with the
support of its consortium partners in different parts of the tribal belt of Odisha during 1999-to 2008
with the support of Welthungerhilfe. During this period, Sikshasandhan had developed some
innovative approaches to improve educational situation of the tribal villages on an experimental
basis. The following paragraph details some of the innovative features of the programme.
AEC were run with the active participation of the community. The school timing was fixed
by the community as per their convenience and holidays were fixed as per their own festival calendar
and the weekly market day. Teachers were trained to prepare a syllabus incorporating their socio-
cultural components in it. The medium of instruction was the children’s language. Efforts were made
to unfold their inborn talents by organising creative activities for children, children’s festivals,
exposure visits to different places etc. Women were trained to change their attitude towards the
education of the girl child. Sikshasandhan facilitated the development of syllabi taking into account
the local context while running Alternative Education Centers along with appointment of teachers
from the locality, management of the school by the community and adjustment of timing and
holidays as per the needs of the locality. Sikshasandhan is pursuing the same approach at present
with the government schools.
As mentioned above, India amended its constitution to make children’s right to free and
compulsory education as a fundamental right in 2002. To implement this constitutional provision, it
has enacted The Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education(RCFCE) Act 2009 popularly
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known as RTE Act. When this RTE Act got assent of the President of India, Sikshasandhan decided
to work in government schools of Kalamagadia Gram Panchayat of Mayurbhanj district of Odisha to
see the impacts of the implementation of the Act in case of children of tribal communities.
Sikshasandhan has chosen this block because the socio-economic profile of the district makes it
amenable for such a study, and the organisation has a good rapport with the community through its
earlier programmes.
The project was designed keeping in view the educational needs of the community, socio-
economic situation of the people in the area and the provisions of RTE Act, 2009. The overall goal
of the project is to secure and improve education of rural children from tribal communities in
government schools in Kalamagadia Gram Panchayat of Mayurbhanj district. To achieve this goal
Sikshasandhan has followed the following strategies:
• Understanding the context and the establishment of contact with the various stakeholders
such as educational administration at various levels, PRIs.
• Awareness generation and mobilisation at the community level.
• Capacity building of SMCs/PRI members and community members.
• Networking and collaboration with PRIs, and the education department.
• Facilitating improvements in the classroom teaching-learning practices.
• Facilitating interactions at various levels to highlight problems of tribal children.
Corresponding to the strategies, it has planned some activities:
• Sikshasandhan tried to understand the gravity of the problems in the area. It conducted a
baseline survey to know the actual situation of the area and identified out of school and
extremely irregular children in the Gram Panchayat.
• It conducted village-level meetings and mobilised the community for schooling. It organised
a padayatra covering all the34 hamlets. At the end of the padayatra, an event was also
organised to formally launch the programmes of the project.
• Awareness campaigns were conducted through posters and wall-painting on the salient
features of RTE Act.
• Proper formation of SMCs as per the guidelines of the RTE ACT was facilitated, and
capacity building training programme for members of the Committees were conducted.
• Joint workshops inviting PRI, Parents, SMC, and teachers were conducted.
• Children's festivals, creative workshops, winter camps to build confidence of children to
encourage their creativity etc were conducted.
• Karl Kubel Institute for Development (KKID), Coimbatore was invited to develop the
monitoring mechanism for the project. During the discussions it was realised that language is
a major barrier for schooling, and Sikshasandhan has no control over the government schools.
Therefore, it was understood that it will be difficult to bring out any visible changes in the
classroom transaction process without working on the language issue. Accordingly it was
decided to appoint 10 language teachers from the local tribal communities in 10 schools to
teach in mother tongue at the primary level.
• Photo-profiling of each individual child was done to facilitate project processes.
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• Training programmes were conducted for government schools teachers on teaching in
multilingual and multi-grade situations. Language teachers were also trained on community
mobilisation, teaching children of tribal communities in their mother tongue, and the
development of course packages with respect to the local context.
• Sikshasandhan also conducted a district-level experience-sharing workshop inviting all
NGOs working in the district, voluntary organisations and the education department.
2.1 Framework conditions at local level
Kalamagadia is one of the most underdeveloped Gram Panchayats of the Kaptipada block of
Mayurbhanj. The Gram Panchayat(GP) has 34 hamlets comprising 8 revenue villages served by 12
government schools. The total population of the GP was 7025 in 2010 (baseline survey conducted by
Sikshasandhan). Scheduled Tribes constitute 87.1%. The literacy rate of the GP was 38%. Children
generally constitute economic assets for the family. Children help parents in collecting sal leaves,
non-timber forests produces, and help in agriculture. Children also help their parents in domestic
chores. The elder siblings take care of the younger ones when the parents go out for work.
Kalamagadia GP is difficult to access with very poor road communication network. It also
lacks other infrastructure facilities. The houses are mostly scattered in and around forests. It is very
difficult to conduct community meetings, especially during evenings. Teacher absenteeism was
rampant in all the primary schools. Schools used to open only for few hours daily. The teachers
would generally come at 11.30 am and leave by 2.30 p.m. The pupil-teacher ratio was also high in
most of the schools. Schools used to remain closed on Saturdays, although it is a working day.
Most of the schools were single teacher schools. There were only 22 teachers in 11 schools,
out of which only 6 teachers are regular teachers and 16 were on contracts. Each regular teacher was
in charge of 3 to 4 schools. The Prafulla Chandrapur New Primary School did not have a single
teacher. After Sikshasandhan’s interventions, the government made temporary arrangement for a
teacher in the school for a period of six months. Later a Sikshasahayak has been appointed for the
school. In most of the schools the MDM scheme was non-functional, the school buildings were half-
constructed, and the community members were completely unaware about the various provisions
under SSA, and were not involved in activities of the schools. In certain schools even attendance and
admission registers were absent, and prayers were not conducted daily. Even though the Government
of Odisha has enacted Community Participation Rules 2000, nobody was aware about these rules.
Mayurbhanj district comes under Scheduled Area as per fifth Schedule of the Constitution, and the
GP has special powers in administration, due to non implementation of the PESA Act, people are
not aware of it.
Sikshasandhan staff told the evaluation team that when they conducted photo-profiling of the
children, they came to know the real picture of children in the school registers. In many cases one
student was enrolled more than once in a same school, one student was admitted in more than one
school, names of dead children were found in the registers. Instances of children who do not exist in
reality were also found in the school records.
2.2 Description of the target group:
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The target groups of the project were children (1671 in the 6-14 age-group), SMC members (175),
government school teachers (22), language teachers in schools (10), parents, and members of PRIs.
The PPM had the overall objectives of enrolling only 80% of out-of-school children, and to ensure
90% of attendance of the enrolled children. However, Sikshasandhan's intervention has not been
limited to the target mentioned in the project proposal; they have gone beyond the target which was
essential in view of the socio-economic situation that prevails in this particular local context.
Sikshasandhan’s intervention was not only limited for ensuring 80% attendance of out of school but
also for all the tribal children in the panchayat
3.0 Relevance
Assessment of national framework conditions relevant to the project:
To understand Sikshasandhan’s intervention and its understanding of education and development,
one needs to understand the whole development paradigm of tribal communities in India. Though the
Indian Constitution envisages special provisions and measures, tribes in India remain the most
backward in terms of socio-economic development. Several lopsided policies, inappropriate welfare
and socio-economic development programmes have failed to improve socio-economic conditions of
tribes. There is wide gap between developmental needs of tribal communities and governmental
plans and programmes. Ineffective delivery mechanisms, lack of relevance and cultural sensitivity,
community and social acceptance have led to the failure of the trickle-down principle. This has
resulted in a wide gap between the tribes and the other communities. Over the years both central and
state governments have undertake measures such as free text books, stipends, scholarships, school
uniforms and bi-cycles, establishment of Ashram schools, hostels etc. for attracting children from
tribal communities. Apart from economic factors, medium of instruction, unfamiliar content and
cuurriculum are identified as critical issues in educating the children from tribal communities.
However, no special efforts have been made to address the issues related to the linguistic and cultural
gaps between the students on the one hand, and the teachers and the schools and the community on
the other. No concerted efforts have been made to remove educational constraints and to integrate
different activities to solve the problems of the tribal communities. As a result no remarkable
improvement has taken place in the field of education of tribal children.
Education status of tribes in Odisha:
Odisha is one of the major states of India having a large concentration of tribal population. The
population of Scheduled Tribes in Odisha is 8,145,081 which is 9.67% of the tribal population of the
country and 21.1% of the total population of the state as per the 2001 .Census. Odisha houses 62
tribal communities out of the 573 recognised as Scheduled Tribes in the country as per the Article
342 of the Constitution. The overall literacy rate of the STs is 37.4 % as against the literacy rate for
the state of Odisha that stands at 63.08 % as per the 2001 census. Compared to the literacy rates of
men and women from the general category in the state (that stand at 75.35 % and 50.51%
respectively), the corresponding rates amongst the STs of the state of Odisha (at 51.5 % and 23.37
% respectively) paint a stark picture. The female literacy rates in the six major tribal-dominated
districts of the state are lower than the state avreage.
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In view of this, Sikshasandhan’s work holds a lot of meaning, for its unique kind of
intervention for spreading education in tribal areas taking into account the educational needs of tribal
communities at the micro-level. The intervention is multidimensional in nature. On the one hand it
tries to create awareness on education, and on the other hand it wants to improve the classroom
transaction process so that children will not drop out from the schools. The unique aspect of
community mobilisation is that it has tried to build the confidence of the parents and the children
through their language and cultural identity. The project has worked with the understanding that
tribal communities are not inferior to anybody in the so-called mainstream, and that communities
from the ‘mainstream’ can learn many things from tribal communities such as sciences of
cultivation, collection and preservation of fruits, roots and agricultural products etc apart from their
symbiotic and harmonious lifestyle and culture. Sikshasandhan’s approach in this regard is to
appraise these positively to tribal students, and to create a sense of confidence. The language
teachers in this way have made good contributions as they work as a bridge between the community
and the schools and the teachers. They also act as a bridge between nontribal teachers and children.
This total approach has brought positive changes in the teaching and learning process in the
schools. Sikshasandhan has developed bilingual picture cards, story books, riddles and compilations
of local history etc. Apart from developing materials, Sikshasandhan has trained teachers to develop
new teaching learning materials, and to use of materials developed by Sikshasandhan in the class
room effectively. The content of the materials have been collected from the community, and they are
being used in the classroom. Through these training and materials Sikshasandhan has tried to bring
about attitudinal changes of the teachers towards tribal children and to create child friendly/centred
environment in the schools. In addition to this, Sikshasandhan has also developed a child tracking
system to track the daily attendance of the children the experience of which has been shared at
different levels.
Even though Sikshasandhan is working in a small area, its qualitative and innovative work
has had a larger impact on the strategies for educating tribes in India. The project Making Right to
Education Work for Tribal Children in Odisha, India started since 2010 in one of the most
underdeveloped tribal area of Odisha. If one goes by the coverage of the work in terms size (in terms
area), it is only in one Gram Panchayat, but if one see the nature, scope and intent of the
interventions, especially in the context of RTE Act 2009, it has large implications for replication in
the tribal areas of India. No special provision has been made in the Act 2009 to address the special
needs of the children of tribal communities in India. It has been taken for granted that the uniform
Act and its rules will solve the problems of education of children of tribal communities. But the fact
is that Scheduled Tribes in rural areas constitutes the most disadvantaged group in India, and the
literacy level of the tribal groups is very low in comparison to the general literacy rate of India. From
July 2010 Terre des Hommes, Germany supported the work in Ramchandrapur Gram Panchayat of
Kaptipada Block with an advocacy component in the project to emphasise on child rights. Since
2011 January Child Rights and You (CRY) has been supporting the work in Ranipokhari Panchayat
of Kaptipada Block focusing on preschool and child rights. Oxfam India started supporting
Sikshasandhn to work in Noto Panchayat of Kaptipada Block since July 2011 to address the issue of
girls’ education and advocacy. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust has also been supporting Sikshasandhan from
July 2012 to work in Saradiha Panchayat of Kaptipada Block where research component has been
give more importance along with the programme part.
In Odisha 16.68% (2010- OPEPA) of tribal children in the 6-14 year age group are out of
school. The situation of drop-outs in the case of tribal children is also higher that children belonging
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to the general category of the population. Various commissions and committees set up by the
government of India and National Policy on Education (1986) and Revised Policy and Programme
Action (1992) suggested several measures for improving access to schooling and participation in
tribal areas. The National Policy of Education has recommended adoption of tribal languages as
medium of instruction, appointing tribal youth as teachers, and for making content and curriculum
relevant to the local tribal context. The national Policy recognised the diversity among tribes and
recommended micro-level planning taking the household as the unit for planning for education.
While translating policy into action there have been wide variations among different states.
Central and state governments have taken hardly any initiatives to translate these recommendations
into action while planning educational policies and programmes, although a few states have adopted
some of the policy suggestions. In the case of Odisha, several recommendations made in the National
Policy were not implemented, particularly regarding the appointment of tribal teachers, mother
tongue as the medium of instruction and about micro-level planning.
Recently MLE programme is being implemented by the Government of Odisha on an
experimental basis. However, this programme has not been accepted as a matter of policy for
imparting education for children of tribal communities. The MLE programme in this regard is being
implemented in two schools in the targeted GP. However, when Sikshasandhan started its work in
this area MLE teachers were on deputation to nearby schools in both the schools. As a result, MLE
programme was not in operational in this project area. Sikshasandhan appraised the situation to the
state government and now an order has been issued that MLE teachers will not be transferred
without the permission of the State Government.
In view of the existing scenario, the current project implemented by Sikshasandhan has great
relevance not only for imparting education for tribal children of Kalamagadia, but it also has larger
relevance for innovations for bringing about policy changes in the field of education for children of
tribal communities in India.
4. Achievements:
The achievement of the project initiated by Sikshasandhan has to be assessed against the backdrop of
the area and the status of schools in the project area prior to the launch of the organisational
initiatives. The only government institutions present in the 8 revenue villages and 34 hamlets of the
Kalamgadia Panchayat are a Primary Health Centre (PHC) and 12 primary schools. Even these
institutions are near defunct, as doctors and teachers are rarely present. There are no motorable roads,
sanitation facilities or electricity. The people of this area have consequentially been alienated
socially, economically and culturally from mainstream society.
The inhabitants of the Panchayat primarily belong to four tribal groups viz., Kolha, Bathudi,
Bhumaja and Santhal. They speak Ho, Santhali and Bathuli. Odia, the official language of the
State, is the medium of instruction in government schools, and all the textbooks are in this language.
The nontribal teachers cannot understand any of the languages spoken by the children. Very little
efforts have been made since independence to bridge this language gap. Therefore, alienation seems
to continue unabatedly in all forms. Apart from the language barrier, there are many lacunae in the
delivery system such as poor pupil-teacher ratios, acute teacher shortage, high teacher absenteeism,
non-functional school committees, and lack of functioning monitoring mechanisms.
It is against this background that Sikshasandhan began working in the area from January
2010 with the objective of improving the educational status of the GP by securing the Right of
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Education for all children in the 6-14 years age group. Kalamagadia, the target GP has 12
Government schools and Sikshasandhan has 100% coverage. However, it has appointed language
teachers in 10 government schools (as two schools were New Primary Schools having only class I
and teachers appointed from these schools were from the tribal community). The purpose in this
regard is not to set up any parallel institutions but to strengthen existing government institutions, as a
matter of strategy.
The organisation has successfully employed the broad strategies mentioned below in order to
achieve the project objectives:
• Building the capacities of various stakeholders like children, parents, School Management
Committees and teachers. Bridging the language barrier between schools and children by
appointing language teachers.
• Redesigning curricula to align with local culture and traditions so that children evince interest
• Advocacy with the government and media to highlight issues of concern
The organisation has undertaken a number of strategies including campaigns, awareness
generation, capacity building of government school teachers, workshops, posting language teachers-
cum-mobilisers, identifying and tracking children on a regular basis, formation of children’s clubs,
enrolling out-of-school children in educational institutions, applying multilingual and multi-grade
teaching methods, improving interface with the government, and scaling up the campaign, amongst
others.
The overall goal of the project was to enrol 80% of the out of school children in the 6-14 age
group in the government schools in Kalamagadia GP, and to ensure 90% attendance and 80%
retention of the enrolled children. Sikshasandhan has already achieved the target in quantitative
terms. However, Sikshasandhan staff says they are not satisfied with the result. They told us that they
are not limiting their target only for out of school children, they are more concerned about the overall
attendance of the students and performance of the schools. They said that Sikshasandhan is more
concerned about the sustainability aspects of the programme. They believe that communities should
be sufficiently capacitated so that after the withdrawal of the project they will be able to manage
their affairs on their own.
Sikshasandhan is also concerned about the present government policy on tribal education.
Government of Odisha has no separate policy for education for the tribal areas of Odisha.
Sikshasandhans’ experience shows if somebody interacts with the policy makers in view of his or her
field experience he or she will be respectfully heard. Sikshasandhan wants to work in the field, and
in view of its experience it wants to undertake relevant policy initiatives in the field of education for
tribal children in Odisha and India.
Impact of community mobilisation:
“Sar Uthake Jeene Ke Liye Hamare Bachche Padhai Karna Chahiye” (Our children must study so
that they can live with raised heads (with dignity))
“Education eliminates ignorance”
“They (our children that are in school) can take decisions on their own; they need not depend on
others like we do”
14

“Educating children means giving them the third eye”
“Persons without education are like those having eyes but no vision”
“Education makes human beings of us”
These are words that resonate from the voices of parents and SMC members that had not had
the fortune of attending schools during their childhood. One can see a strong urge in them to educate
their children, and confidence in their voices that they will send their children to school. They
expressed this during a meeting with them. Both they and PRI representatives from the GP have a
very clear understanding of the provisions of the Right to Education Act, 2009 as a result of the
efforts made by the volunteers of Sikshasandhan. One can also see a clear positive attitude among
parents towards their children’s education and awareness about the state of the affairs of the children.
This clearly reflects the impact of strong community mobilisation programmes conducted around the
RTE Act by Skishasandhan. Sikshasandhan has organised many activities on its own and in
partnership with other stakeholders to mobilise communities. The following is a brief report on these
activities and their impact.
Comprehensive survey of children:
Sikshasandhan followed a systematic approach in planning and implementing the project initiatives.
The intervention activities of Sikshasandhan are based on sound knowledge of the baseline situation
and appropriate action plans. The process of implementation of project interventions is worthy of
documenting separately which may become guidelines for other similar agencies in the country.
A series of meetings were conducted in all villages at the launch of the campaign with the
participation of parents, teachers, PRI members and children. These meetings were used as a forum
to introduce the aims and objectives of the campaign to every household, and to educate them on the
Right to Education Act. These meetings not only served as a launching pad for the project, but also
helped the volunteers develop rapport with various stakeholders.
The community meetings were followed by a comprehensive survey on the status of children
in the GP. The organisation took all possible steps to avoid the duplication of names. They also
involved the locals in this activity. They compiled lists of all children the age group of 6-14 years in
the villages, and held interactive brainstorming sessions with parents, PRI members, teachers and
children to gather detailed information on the status of child and teacher attendance, the functioning
of schools and the problems faced therein. The baseline surveys and interactions revealed that:
• The teacher-pupil ratio was very poor.
• Enrolment rate of children in the age group of 6-14 years did not exceed 50 % in any of the
villages.
• There were a lot of discrepancies in the data about enrolment due to duplication of
registration, fake enrollments that included practices such as inclusion of names of dead
children, same names enrolled in different classes and in different schools, and the inclusion
of names of drop-out children in the registers.
Language Teachers:
15

The findings of the survey prompted the organisation to evolve suitable strategies to address each of
the problems contextually. One of the key decisions taken was that of recruiting language teachers in
order to overcome the language problem. It was resolved that local youth, preferably from the same
tribes, would be recruited. The organisation duly identified and recruited one youth each as language
teachers in June 2010 for all the 12 schools of the project area. They were expected to be at least
Matriculates with fluency in the local dialect. Preference was accorded to youth with a passion for
teaching and working with children. They were placed in charge of instructing children from classes
1 and 2. The regular government teachers taught children in the higher classes.
Over a period of time, the role and functions of the language teachers became diversified and
they evolved into language teacher-cum-community mobilisers, handling the essential task of
constantly interacting with community groups. They were given intensive inputs in pedagogy,
community mobilisation, child-retention and campaigning. They were responsible for teaching the
children, training School Management Committees (SMCs) and supporting the SMC members in
discharging their duties, tracking every child on a regular basis and updating parents, SMC members
and the community in this regard.
Their role has assumed great importance in the program. Their two different roles of teaching
and tracking children on a regular basis have had a great impact on children’s enrolment and
retention in schools. They were thus able to register nearly 90% of all children from the project
villages in school and retain at least 80% of them there. Another important impact of placing these
teachers was manifest is teacher attitude. Nearly all teachers have begun attending to their duties
regularly. The schools have also begun functioning full time.
School Management Committees
It became clear during an interaction with the SMC members from the schools that they have been
playing an active role in strengthening schools. Forming SMCs and making them functional is
crucial in the context of the Right to Education. Sikshasandhan has taken an active and lead role in
forming SMCs and making them functional. Language teachers undertook door-to-door visits as part
of an intensive campaign and educated parents on the issue. They also ensured the nomination of
SMC members in accordance with the norms of the RTE Act. This was not only an entry point for
Sikshasandhan into the schools, but also provided an opportunity to establish rapport and
relationship with the community. In fact, this created the enabling precondition for implementation
of project initiatives smoothly.
Once the SMCs were formed, the organisation began focusing on building the capacities of
the members. This was achieved through training and orientation sessions and by one-to-one
meetings with them. The Block and Cluster Resource Coordinators were involved in organising
these events. The members were given inputs on the aims and objects of the SMC, its structure and
composition, social audit of the schools and the members’ roles and responsibilities. They were ably
sported by the language teachers in this.
16

The story of a Mother: Balichua village
Dolari Soren, who is an active member of the School Management Committee, has two
children. Her daughter Phulaa is 9 years old, and the son Kotha is 2 years old. Her
husband’s brother and his wife abandoned their son (now 9 years old). Dolari adopted the
boy and started treating him as her own child and is sending him to school.
As a member of the SMC she mobilises children to go to school along with other SMC
members. When she comes across any parents who do not send their children to school, she
cites her own example - “when I am sending all my children, why can’t you send your
children?” she asks parents. She is vocal and articulate.
When some teachers misappropriated school uniforms, she raised the issue in the meetings.
Apart from this, when some parents claimed uniforms in two schools she raised objections.
For her it is an unethical practice, which must be stopped. When she talked about this in an
SMC meeting, the SMC adopted a resolution that the accounts of distributions must be made
transparent.
Her daughter who is in 4th
grade now taught Dolari to write her name. Ms. Dolari proudly
proclaims that her daughter is her guru. She is not just a proud mother but a conscience
keeper as well.
“This awareness has been possible amongst us due to the hard efforts of Sikshasandhan”
acknowledges Ms. Soren.
17

SMCs in all the 12 schools are functional as on date. The members now regularly visit
schools and monitor children’s attendance, and the implementation of the MDM scheme. They also
convene regular meetings as per the norms. Notably, women members have been playing a lead role
in the entire process. Members in some villages have been visiting schools every day by rotation.
Discussion with members of SMCs of different schools evidently showed that Sikshasandhan has
succeeded in capacity-building and empowerment of SMCs through language teachers, supervisors
and other field staff.
Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) Members:
A former Sarpanch of the Panchayat(Brunvan Padhuria) informed that the organisational
functionaries had involved PRI representatives in all activities under the campaign. This is in
consonance with the provisions of the RTE Act, which holds the local government finally
responsible for effective implementation of the Act. Sikshasandhan foresaw a bigger role for these
members in the process, as their participation would not just result in acceptance and consensus in
the context of child rights and implementation of the Act but would also lead to long-run
sustainability of the campaign. Bearing this in mind, Sikshasandhan held a series of training
programmes and orientation sessions for PRI members.
PRI members have been inspired by changes at the ground level to take part in the
programme. Ward members have extended support in special drives to wean children away from the
drudgery of physical labour and in linking them to schools. The story of a ward member from Rugidi
village is a case in point. She has been very active in mobilising children and in initiating solutions to
problems being faced in school. Former Sarpanch Mr. Brindavan Poduria, during whose tenure most
of the campaign activities were launched, wholeheartedly supported all aspects of the campaign, and
also instructed other members of the Panchayat to do likewise at their respective levels. He has been
personally mobilising parents and SMC members in the context of the campaign for better schooling,
and has also pledged to take up the issue of teacher shortage with district-level authorities.
Children
The outcome of all these activities is reflected in an increase in the number of children participating
in the education process. Their regular attendance and physical presence in school has also improved.
This process is monitored regularly by the language teachers. Teaching in their mother tongue (tribal
language) and adoption of Activity Based Learning (ABL) method had been a facilitating factor and
a real incentive for the students. Class room observations and interactions with students during field
visits revealed that the use of mother tongue and ABL methods complemented each other, and
children find learning interesting and easy. This initiative has been found effective in making child-
18

centred teaching possible by removing the fear of school. Classroom interaction has been found
lively and the students showed curiosity. Compared to the non-project school that was visited,
students in the project schools, particularly those in the lower classes, are attentive, actively
participate in learning, are receptive to questions and seem confident.
SMCs have also been ensuring quality of the MDM programme and the timely supply of
uniforms and stationery. Children’s issues are also debated in meetings of the SMC and school-level
meetings held with the participation of teachers and SMC members.
Sikshasandhan has initiated Children’s Clubs in all the schools in the project area. These
Clubs, which consist of 4 boys and 3 girls in each school, have helped bring the children’s leadership
qualities to the fore. A discussion was held with members of the Clubs on their role in the campaign.
They informed that they had been assisting in tracking children and motivating out-of-school
children to engage in educational pursuits. They narrated how they had freed some children from
work, and how they had negotiated with their parents in the process. This shows that the child-to-
child campaign has been effective and has contributed in bringing children to schools. They have
also been monitoring children’s hygiene, maintaining gardens in the school premises and in assisting
in serving the midday meal.
To our surprise some of the students from the project schools were quiet dynamic and
articulate in discussing about the importance of education, their aspirations for jobs, what they
would like to do when they grow up, how they motivated some drop-out children to join back in
school etc. Both boys and girls came forth to present their musical and dance talents. Interestingly
some of the girl students insisted that the team members should visit their homes and meet their
parents. The significant impact of Sikshasandhan is visible in the confidence-levels and personality
development of tribal children in the project schools.
Teachers:
Community-teacher relations were very poor at the time the programme was launched. This situation
improved after the entry of Sikshasandhan. During FGDs with community members, SMC members
and teachers, they pointed that earlier there was hardly any interaction between teachers and
community members mainly due to language issues, irregular functioning of schools and lack of
awareness about schools and education. They said with that with Sikshasandhan’s involvement in the
schools’ activities, teachers have become more regular and have begun interacting with community
members. This in turn has brought the schools and the communities closer. Now not only SMC
members but other members of the community as well feel confident to visit the schools and
communicate with the teachers through the language teacher appointed by Sikshasandhan. We can
conclude that SS has broken the toughest barrier, and established valuable relationships between
teachers and community members.
The government teachers had initially been suspicious about the entire program and doubted
the motives of the mobilisers. The mobilisers met them regularly and detailed their objectives and
strategies through individual and group meetings and interactions at different forums. Increased
enrolment and retention levels in schools through the language teachers’ efforts brought about a
change in their perception and they gradually began supporting the campaign.
Most of the teachers interacted with had no clue as to when and how the problem of teacher
shortage would be solved. They informed that they had got used to classes with large numbers of
children. “We had taken this issue to the notice of higher authorities many times, but there is no
19

response from them” they said. They acknowledged Sikshasandhan’s efforts to appoint language
teachers, pointing out at the same time that this was not a permanent solution. The government has to
ultimately review its policies seriously and modify them, taking cues from the Sikshasandhan’s
experiences.
Most of the teachers interacted with said that they had very little or no knowledge of RTE Act
and its provisions, and its implication on the functioning of the school and their performance, even
though they have attended some cluster and block level training programmes on the Act. This hints
at the ineffectiveness of these training sessions. With Sikshasandhan’s involvement, they gradually
understood the importance of RTE Act, and its importance, particularly in a tribal context. Though
some of the teachers still feel that parents lack interest in children’s education and engage them in
households work and economic activities, many of them believe that parents can be convinced to
educate their children. However, most of the teachers felt that Anganwadis are not effective in
focussing on school readiness activities. They ended with an observation that strengthening
Anganwadi Centres could help retain girl children in school, thus increasing overall enrolment rates.
Block Level Officials
The Coordinators of the Cluster and the Block Resource Centers and the Inspector of Schools opined
during an interaction that the Sikshasandhan intervention has been effective in terms of building the
capacities of SMCs. Consequently, they have been receiving representations from community for
teachers, classrooms and even schools. Their data also reveals that schools of Kalamgadia Panchayat
have registered greater enrolment and retention levels in comparison to other schools of the block.
They were also appreciative of the role being played by the language teachers at the levels of both
the school and the community. They further observed that there has been an improvement in the
attendance of teachers in the Panchayat.
Responding to a question on shortage of teachers and infrastructure, they replied that it is the
policy to recruit teachers at the state-level, and that the local administration does not have any say in
the matter. In addition, a number of court cases relating to earlier recruitments are pending, which
has caused delays in the appointment of teachers. There are 220 teachers in 84 schools of the block
as against a requirement of 278 as on date .To address this issue Sikshasandhan has been interacting
with the district educational administration. They have committed to give priority to Kalamagadia
while appointing teachers in future.
District-level officials:
An interaction with the District Coordinator for Tribal Education, SSA, Mayurbhanj brought out that
there are 320 single teacher schools in the district. While this is a major challenge, bridging the
language barrier is another severe challenge. A proposal has been sent to the State Government
detailing the problem of language barrier in the schools. He sees a lasting solution for tribal
children’s education in multilingual and multi-graded teaching. The District Coordinator for tribal
education under SSA felt that initiatives in Kalamgadia GP by Sikshasandhan are not only beneficial
for educating tribal children through empowering the SMCs, but this programme has also become a
model for expansion in other tribal areas. However, two years being a short period such a
programme, he said that this needs to be integrated with Early Childhood Education and
strengthened and continued for a longer period to sustain the benefits and institutionalise the process.
20

Sikshasandhan, thus, can play an instrumental role in helping the district administration
formulate relevant programmes. The lessons learnt from the pilot project could be incorporated in the
training programs of the district. Sikshasandhan’s resource material on Community Mobilisation and
SMC Training and the multi-language teaching-learning material developed by the organisation can
be used in tribal pockets of other districts
School in a non-project village:
The team also planned a visit to a nearby school outside the project area in order to have an idea of
the impact that the program has had. They accordingly visited Primary School Hatibandha. The head
teacher was absent as he was attending a block-level training session and two teachers were present
in the school. There were 90 children on rolls but only 42 of them were present. When asked where
the other children had gone, the teachers came up with lame excuses. The team later asked the
teachers if an SMC had been formed in the school, to which they replied that a Committee had been
formed but that the members hardly ever participated in the school’s activities. A comparison
between the situation in the non -project school and that in schools of the project area clearly shows
the differences are due to the Sikshasandhan intervention.
Processes followed, difficulties faced and lesson learnt during implementation of the project:
Processes
• Community mobilisation has been the backbone for the success of the programme, involving
the important stakeholders’ viz., parents, children, SMCs, PRI members and teachers. These
efforts have culminated in the formation of a platform to discuss/debate/plan the issues of
children and of their right to education.
• It has demonstrated the power of the poor in articulating their demand for education which
they have been deprived of for generations. It is a realisation on their part that education is
the only way out to come out of the deprivation and marginalisation.
• Sikshasandhan hasn’t gone for any alternative system and has made use of the existing
infrastructure. On one hand it is a cost effective exercise and on the other hand it has to be
viewed as a process of making the education system accountable. By strengthening and
empowering the existing institutions such as schools, SMCs and Gram Panchayats, the
organisation has been trying to find lasting solutions to the problem of out of school children
institutionally. This has to be viewed as upholding the democratic values and improving the
credibility of these institutions.
• By involving GPs and SMCs in the recruitment of Volunteer Teachers (language teachers)
and adopting a procedure for that, it makes these institutions accountable.
• Formation of SMCs has been crucial in the whole process. Sikshasandhan took an active and
leading role in forming SMCs and in making them functional.
• As a result of the training and capacity building activities given to the SMC members, they
visit the schools regularly to monitor attendance and the MDM scheme.
• A comprehensive survey of children was organised with photos of every child. This has
helped in tracking every in-school and out-of-school child.
21

• In order to address the language problem, the organisation has taken two important steps
which may be considered path-breaking, and has made the District Authorities to seriously
contemplate about replicating the same in all the tribal pockets; a) appointment of language
teachers who are well-versed in the mother tongue of the tribal children and in Odia, the state
language and, b) preparing multilingual study materials.
• Formation of children’s clubs has facilitated child-to-child interactions, and has also helped
developed leadership qualities among children.
22

Provisions in the
Act
Time line Issues for achievement/Things to address
Sections
In RTE
Act
Gaps in RTE Act
Establishing
schools
Within 3
Years
The appropriate government and the local
authority shall establish a school,within such area
of limits of neighbourhood,as may be
prescribed ,where it is not established,within a
period of three years from commencement of
this Act.
Sec '6'
Establishing PS within one
KM and UPS within three
KMs as per the schedule of
the RTE Act needs to be
done for some villages.
Fulfilling the
norms and
standards Where a
school established
before
commencement of
this Act
Within 3
Years
Where a school established before
commencement of this Act does not fulfil the
norms and standards specified in the Schedule,it
shall take steps to fulfil such norms and
standards at its own expenses.
Sec 19 '2'
All schools in the Panchayat
are not fulfilling these
norms and standards
specified in the schedule
(See Annexure for
Schedule)
Ensuring PTR
Within 6
months
Within six months from the date of
commencement of this Act,the appropriate
Government and the local authority shall ensure
that the people-teacher ratio as specified in the
shedule,in maintained in each school.
Sec 25
(1)
Pupil Teacher Ratio is not
maintained in all the
schools as specified in the
Schedule
Identification of
disadvantaged
Within a
period of 1
year from
appointme
nt date
For the purpose of determining and for
establidhing neighbourhood schools,the state
government/local authority shall undertake
school mapping,and identify all children,including
children in remote areas,children with
disabilities,children belonging to di
Sec 8 & 9
School Mapping and
identifying disadvantaged
children have not been
done by the Local Authority
and the Departments in the
Panchayats
Every year
6 (1) The local Authority shall maintain a
records of all children,in its jurisdiction,through a
household survey,from their birth till they attain
14 years. (2) The record,reffered to
in sub-Rule (1),shall updated each year.
Sec 9
The local Authority / Gram
Panchayat are not
maintaining these records
within
6months
and every
2 years
A school Management Committee shall be
constituted in every school,other than an
unaided school,within its jurisdiction,within six
months of the appointmented date,and
reconstituted every two years.
Sec 21
SMCs are formed and
active in all schools
Atleast 3
months
before end
of the
financial
year
and plan
shall be 3
year plan
14 (1) The School Managing Committee shall
prepare a school Development plan atleast three
months before the end of the financial year in
which it is first constituted under the Act (2)
The school Development plan shall be a three
year plan comprising t
SDPs are prepared but
SMC members need to
internalise this process in a
more systematic fashion.
Withion 6
months
16 (1) The state Government shall estimate the
teacher requirement as per the norms in the
Schedule for all schools reffered to in clause (n)
of ection 2 within the State,within six months
from the commencement of the Act.
Sec 23
(2)
Need to verify with the
State Government
An assessment of some key provisions in Shikshasandhan Project as per RTE Act
23

Creating inclusive environment in the schools
The Sikshasandhan project basically has three major components: a) community mobilisation and
community capacity building; b) creation of suitable, inclusive environment in the schools; and, c)
effective linkages with stakeholders and advocacy. Sikshasandhan has tried to bring innovations in
creating suitable environment in the schools in the following ways:
• Sikshasandhan has appointed teachers from the community as language teachers, and they
have been trained to adopt some innovative methods of teaching in the schools in the mother
tongue of the children. On the other hand, teachers from the government schools have also
been trained on teaching children in multi-lingual and multi-grade situations.
• Sikshasandhan believes that preschool concepts of language and mathematics are the
foundation of the child’s education. In case of Kalamagadia GP, preschool learning is
neglected in the ICDS programme. Therefore, the organisation decided to start imparting
preschool education during initial 1-2 months for the class-I students. Teachers were trained
to integrate these preschools concept in the primary schools’ syllabus. The methods of
teaching promoted by Sikshasandhan can be known from the proceedings of one of its
teachers' training programmes as follows:
"While teaching, we need to consider the childhood and socioeconomic, cultural practices of the
child. The environment of the child gets narrowed down from the home set up to a schools and then
to a classroom setting. Therefore we need to be careful while dealing with a child. A tribal child in
his day-to-day life is quite independent and free with many responsibilities. But when he/she enters
the school he/she feels restricted. There is no relationship between teaching and their home
environment. The skills and qualities of a tribal child are not being accepted by the school set up.
Our school and education system is obsessed with pronunciation, grammar and dominant,
mainstream values that de-motivate the children in school. That is why we will try to conduct some
activities outside the classroom the setting for one month.
Children will clean up a place in the school and conduct some activities (story telling games,
songs, riddles) there. The teaching will be environment friendly. Children will learn through games,
and they will not feel as if they are learning something. The tiger and goat game can be conducted
among the children. The teachers can collect indigenous stories and play with children. The children
will learn through the play-way method.”:
“In the context of education of tribal children, teachers have to learn some key words of the
languages of tribal children. By this the attitude of children towards school and teachers will
change gradually. He also gave an example by telling them to buy 10 to 12 plastic balls to carry to
the school and making the children play with them and through this method the teacher can make
them learn many things and the attitude towards classroom will change. The classroom has to be
organised in a child-centred approach, and the teacher should reach each and every child with
attention while involved in classroom teaching.
The child will first listen, speak, read and then write. This is the natural learning process of
a child. But unfortunately we first teach the child to write. First the child will listen. Therefore, tell
stories and practise children to recite rhymes. Then children will tell stories, practise dialogue from
the stories. After that teachers should select words from the stories and pictures along with words
24

should be there. Children will read these through pictures. This is called shadow reading. By this
process they will recognise alphabets and with the help of letters they will learn to write words,
sentences, phrases and small paragraphs. As the learning and evaluation pattern for tribal and rural
children is not done contextually, this results in their poor performance.”
Then the resource person interacted with the children in front of the teachers. He told a story
of a crab and a wolf to the children with the self-involvement of the students. He first practised
dialogues with the children. Then teachers changed roles with respect to the students. He also told
the teachers to follow this methodology to teach the children, and to teach them in a multilingual
context by learning some key words in their language. Listening and speaking can be done through
telling stories: they should do it through action, facial expression, repetition which will help in
better understanding of the children outside the school. For reading and writing we can use the text
books. Then they will learn phrases, sentences, paragraphs accordingly. All this will help will help
in reducing the fear of school among the children.”
During our field visit, we observed the sitting arrangements of the children. They sat in
groups, and the grouping was been done based on the learning levels of children. There is no fixation
of time for children to learn different subjects or to transit from one group to another. However,
teachers informed that they are trying their best to increase the competency level of each child.
Teachers have adopted the ABL method by using different methods of teaching such as storytelling,
asking questions, facilitating children for answers etc. We found that children are confident and are
not scared. Teachers have developed a number of teaching aids besides the use of teaching-learning
materials developed by Sikshasandhan. Teachers in the project area had an advantage of focussed
and intensive training conducted by Sikshasandhan on pedagogy, material preparation etc. However,
the class rooms are found crowded as two or three classes are clubbed together. This makes it tough
for the teachers to manage teaching-learning more effectively. As already mentioned, as the result of
Sikshasandhan's interventions, all classes are overcrowded due to increased enrolment. The
government has not appointed teachers as per the norm of the RTE Act.
While conducting teachers' trainings programmes, Sikshasandhan also involved students in
the process. Demonstration class was undertaken with the students in front of teachers. Individual
and group assignments were given to the teachers. The assignments were given in view of the
materials available from the locality. This is a unique aspect of the training programme conducted by
Sikshasandhan which is rarely adopted in teacher training programmes. However, there is a need for
a longitudinal study and process documentation of the pedagogy followed in the classrooms adopted
by Sikshasandhan to show the impact of the methods on learning outcomes of the students in relation
to the required levels of competencies. Sikshasandhan staff members told during the interaction that
it took a lot of time to streamline the functioning of the government schools. As a result, they have
not yet started the proper documentation of their pedagogical interventions. But, proper
documentation of the programme is very much needed to validate the pedagogical aspects of the
project. Learners’ evaluation is an important component in the whole process. RTE Act has
recommended CCE whereas the government has not introduced CCE in its schools. Sikshasandhan
should also work on this and contextualise CCE in the context of its innovative teaching processes
adopted in this project.
25

Sustainability and replicability of the programme
Sustainability of the programme depends on the acceptability of the programme by the government,
institutionalisation of process initiatives at school level, and the awareness and capacity of the
community in monitoring the schools. Sikshasandhan has already shared this intervention
(pedagogical) with the district’s educational administration. It has to also collaborate with SCERT,
Odisha and the state government for acceptability of the programme as a model intervention.
In view of the underdevelopment of the project area, illiteracy and lack of awareness of the people,
Sikshasandhan has to work for a few more years to have greater sustainability of the programme.
Communities’ capacity building has to be done in more systematic manner. SMCs need to be
federated to sharpen community voice in the area. Children's clubs need to be federated, and
more training programmes, exposure visits should be arranged for members of the children's
club.
Considering the socioeconomic and cultural context of project area and educational
backwardness and vulnerable situation in which tribes are placed, two years is too short a period of
time for any developmental project to make a sustainable impact. Taking into account the significant
change that Sikshasandhan has been able to achieve in the last two years, there is an absolute need to
continue this project for a minimum additional period of another three years for reaping greater befits
from the project. This period also will help to examine how mother tongue medium education in the
initial classes helps tribal children to progress in higher classes, and how project initiatives,
especially those regarding community participation and school accountability can enable schools to
become effective even in disadvantaged situations.
However, the Sikshasandhan programme in Kalamagadia has generated interest among the
funding agencies. Sikshasandhan has expanded its area of operation to four other GPs with the
support of Terre Des Hommes, Germany, Oxfam India, CRY and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
Capacity as a resource centre for education:
Taking in to consideration the requirement of innovation and development in education in Odisha in
the realm of elementary education in general and tribal education in particular, Sikshasandhan was
created in the year 1995 by a group of reputed educationists and intellectuals in the year 1995. Since
then Sikshasandhan has been actively working as a resource centre for education and especially for
tribal education in Odisha. During the last 16 years the organisation has adopted a variety of
approaches while extending its support to different agencies and NGOs as a resource agency on
education. Some of these major processes are been discussed bellow.
• Sikshasandhan has been providing support services to different agencies and NGOs working
on education on different aspect of education in terms of materials and training since its
inception.
• One of the major thrust areas of Sikshasandhan while working on tribal education has been
development of context-specific curriculum and pedagogy. Apart from certain manuals,
many curricula based on local contexts have been developed over a period of time.
26

• During its partnership with Catholic Relief service, Sikshasandhan undertook the training and
capacity building of more than 150 instructors in preschool education and successful
transition to elementary education.
• Sikshasandhan worked as resource agency for Odisha Siksha Abhijan (OSA), a campaign
initiated with the support of Commonwealth Education Fund (CEF). It developed training
packages and a handbook for community mobilisation, and conducted training programmes
for partners and functionaries of OSA. Sikshasandhan provided support services to 600 bridge
school centres across the state managed by OSA with the support of CEF in terms of training,
capacity building, monitoring, evaluation and learning assessment etc.
In the aftermath of RTE Act, Sikshasandhan has extended resource support including training and
material support to different agencies and NGOs including development of different ICE materials in
tribal languages, development of training modules on the RTE Act for the different stakeholders
coming under the Act. Apart from this, it has already conducted district-level RTE consultations in
more than 20 districts of the state. Many state-level consultations on RTE Act including a stocktaking
convention on the status of implementation of the same in the state have also been organised by the
organisation.
Experience:
Sikshasandhan has been working as the only resource centre dedicated exclusively to educational
issues in Odisha. Throughout its existence it has been providing support services including training,
capacity-building, resource-material development and dissemination, etc to different organisations
and agencies working in education in general and in the field of tribal education in particular. During
1998-2008 Sikshasandhan worked with a consortium approach on AECs (Alternative Education
Centre) with eight partner organisation across the state in the most inaccessible areas. In the
aftermath of the implementation of the RTE Act, Sikshasandhan undertook the challenge of
preparing a manual on the Act in Odia and in developing a plethora of IEC materials in Odia and
other tribal languages. It also developed training modules on the RTE Act for different groups of
stakeholders.
However, in 2010, it directly operated in the field for the effective implementation of RTE
Act in some underdeveloped GPs of Mayurbhanj district with support from different agencies
Presently Sikshasandhan is operating in five Gram panchyats of Kaptipada block with 100%
coverage with the support of agencies like Welterhungerhilfe, TDH-Germany, Oxfam-India, CRY
and SDTT. The organisation also runs a residential bridge course centre for tribal girls named UDAN
with the support of CRAE-India. These activities of Sikshasandhan are coordinated by its field office
at Kaptipada in Mayurbhanj district.
Resource in term of materials
Sikshasandhan, to its credit, has already published more than 85 books on educational psychology,
pedagogy, innovation etc in Odia. This has created a name for the organisation across the state.
Books have also been published by the organisation in the genres of popular science, biography, and
contemporary issues including an encyclopaedia of personages in Odia. Sikshasandhan also publishes
27

a bi-monthly magazine called 'Sikha' 'on educational issues and the sharing of experience of teachers
and educationists. This magazine has been successfully run continuously since the last fifteen years.
Sikshasandhan as a centre for educational innovation has developed a teachers’ training
manual taking into consideration the contextualisation of curricular issues, and the need for
innovation in classroom transactions.
The implementation of the RTE Act provided Sikshasandhan with another opportunity to
reach out to more groups and organisations in taking the RTE Act to the community-level. In doing
so it has developed two manuals of the RTE Act with different notifications of the Government of
Odisha. It has also developed a series of IEC materials regarding the RTE Act for effectively
understanding the Act in the most lucid way possible.
Another major contribution of Sikshasandhan in this regard has been the development of a
reference- cum- research library within its premises. The library consist some of the rarest books in
the field of education, philosophy and social sciences, especially in the Odia language.
Resource in terms of personnel
As already mentioned earlier, Sikshasandhan was created by a group of prominent educationists and
intellectuals of the state of Odisha to promote the cause of education and to undertake innovative
experiments in elementary education, especially in the education of tribal children. This legacy
continues as many eminent personalities and researchers in education, psychology etc have
contributed to the cause of innovative education practices in different phases of the organisation’s
biography. A vibrant resource group at present is guiding its activity with active participation and
inputs sharing in different activities. A list of such personalities is attached in the annexture.
Recognition and institutional capacity:
Sikshasandhan has been the only group/organisation working exclusively on the issue of education in
Odisha consistently for the last 16 years. In spite of many challenges and funding difficulties the
organisation has always remained committed to the cause for which it was constituted, and, therefore,
is a credible name in the Odisha civil society circles. Its thrust on tribal education has made it well-
known across the country. Sikshasandhan also facilitates the Odisha RTE forum in Odisha, and has
been the frontrunner in making the RTE Act reach in different parts of the state of Odisha, especially
in the tribal pockets. Sikshasandhan has its own office building, training centre and conference hall.
In view of this, we feel Sikshasandhan has the capacity to provide resource support in term of
training and capacity building, developing contextual syllabi and text books, development of training
manuals for teachers and SMCs. Sikshasandhan has already developed number of IEC materials and
teaching learning materials. It can develop IEC materials for other agencies too. The details of
materails developed are enclosed as annexure-III.
Challenges:
• Due to intensive community mobilisation more children will join schools. Recruitment of
additional government teachers may take time. Thus, the maintenance of ideal teacher pupil
ratio (1:30 as per the RTE act) is a challenge.
28

• The language teachers perform the role of teachers and also do community mobilisation. It
might not be easy for the language teachers to do justice to both the roles.
• School monitoring mechanisms of the government are weak in the interior areas. Monitoring
teacher’s absenteeism in these areas might not be easy. Strategies need to be designed for
effective tackling of this grim situation.
• There is a dearth of sufficient number of upper primary schools. Therefore shifting children
from primary to upper primary schools is a challenge.
• Due to rigorous campaign and mobilisation, a large number of out-of-school and dropout
children are being admitted and re-enrolled in schools. Never enrolled older children may
find it difficult to sit in lower classes along with younger children. They require special
courses and training (residential and/or non-residential) for joining age-appropriate classes.
Suitable learning methods must be introduced to reintegrate them into the formal school
system.
• Motivated community members take up problems of schools relating to lack of infrastructure
and other school problems with the government by giving petitions and constant follow-ups
with the concerned government officials and departments. But the lukewarm response from
the government may de-motivate the community members and affect these efforts negatively.
• Language teachers are handling classes 1 and 2 with a child-centred teaching. When children
move to next classes they are taught by the government-appointed teachers. These teachers
need to be well-equipped and trained to teach these children.
• SMCs are becoming quite active and articulate in many schools. The school HMs and
teachers must be prepared accordingly to work closely with the SMC members. Recently
school development plans were prepared for each school; in this process SMC members
actively participated.
• Documentation and research on effectiveness of methods and materials that have been
adopted by Sikshasandhan for promoting education for tribal children needs to be undertaken.
• SCERT and the State Government need to be convinced that the model will work in other
tribal areas. This request undoubtedly demonstrates the valuable model developed by
Sikshasandhan is a potential model for replication.
Recommendations
The analysis of the approach and strategies adopted by Sikshasandhan with support from
Welthungerhilfe and KKID clearly reflects the deep-rooted thought that has gone into the
conceptualisation of the project. However, there are certain key areas where there is scope for
improvements. The recommendations given below may help the project achieve greater success in
terms of qualitative improvements and also from the viewpoint of its replication in other districts.
For strengthening the existing programme:
• At the village-level, children must be tracked name-wise at least once in a month.
Consolidated data of children may be monitored at panchayat-level. For this, each village
29

should maintain a register of the children with all the relevant details, and the list should be
reviewed at least once in a month.
• The role of the language teachers need to be redefined. As teaching multilevel and
multilingual classes itself is a challenging task, there should be separate community
mobilisers appointed in every panchayat, whose role should be clearly defined.
• The language teachers need continuous professional training not only in teaching mother
tongue but also in assessing students and in multilingual education.
• SMC members need in-depth training on their roles and entitlements under the RTE Act.
Preparing simple FAQs on the roles and responsibilities of SMCs with pictures would also be
of much help. Federating SMCs at Panchayat level and facilitation of meetings between
counterparts will also enrich their capacities. One-to-one interactions will be more effective
than formal meetings. Sharing of children’s data with SMC members will empower them,
and monitoring of all children in their villages will become easier for them.
• Sikshasandhan’s interventions need to be integrated with ECE/Anganwadies to have greater
effects on schooling and education of tribal children.
• Orientation on the roles and responsibilities of ward members has to be done. One-to-one
interactions with PRI members will enhance their capacities, and will go a long way in
strengthening the Anganwadi Centers and schools. Panchayat meetings exclusively on the
issues related to children and education will strengthen the Gram Panchayats, and will
facilitate in scaling. Block-level members of the PRI have to be informed and exposed to the
experiment.
• Identification of active and proactive teachers and regular meetings with them will facilitate
in their owning up of the programme in the long run. Teachers need to be encouraged to ally
with the SMCs, and to raise their grievances at higher levels. Exposure visits to these teachers
to the best practices within Odisha or outside the state will help the teachers.
• Orientation sessions must be organised for the community/language teachers on organisation
development, leadership and community mobilisation in order to strengthen the scope of the
existing programme.
• Solidarity with non-target stakeholder groups must be reinforced. Involving community
members, government officials, local elected representatives etc., helps to ensure their
continued support for the project. It also helps to ensure that no contact points are left isolated
or unsolicited.
• The field volunteers’ abilities to conceptualise their understanding about core issues related to
the project must be enhanced, and they must be better educated about government policies
and programmes with respect to the activities they are involved in.
• Capacities of the communities and parents need to be enhanced to enable them articulate their
demands and negotiate with government departments. They can be organised into village
-wise forums/pressure groups.
• Every child is eligible as per his or her age for enrolment in an age-appropriate class. It is
important, therefore, to acknowledge this fact and establish special training courses as
envisaged in the RTE Act in section 4.
• Children who are not regular at schools, and who are not yet enrolled, are obviously working
at home, or are working outside for wage or non-wage work. The issue of child labour and its
30

implications for the education and well-being of children needs to be discussed elaborately in
the project area.
• The members of the Shikshasandhaan team have not only proven their abilities in the field
but have also proved that the model is effective. It is high time they took up the role of
trainers and organised training for volunteers, activists and NGO representatives to enable
them understand the spirit of the programme and its possibility of playing a bigger role as a
resource organisation.
• Sikshasandhan’s approach lies in its demonstration on the ground; therefore, its success will
rely on a dual strategy of both implementation and advising. Its capacity as an advisor needs
to be further enhanced.
• It is necessary for all Shikshasandhan senior team members to be able to negotiate with
District and State officials at all levels of the Government. Capacity building in this area is
necessary, as efficient networking with government will play a key role in the future.
• Facilitation and reaching out to ground-level functionaries of the education department must
be streamlined to actively involve them in the project so that they may take up
responsibilities for working towards various aspects and goals of the project.
• TOT sessions must be held for the field-level staff to enhance their presentation skills.
• Sikshasandhan should develop a charter of non-compromisable principles based on its
experience. The charter should guide its activities/strategies etc, and the formulation of a
charter would help bring different NGOs with similar goals together.
• ICDS centers exist in every village. These centers not only have to provide nutritious food
but also it is mandatory that they impart preschool education. It is observed that currently
these centers are not functioning properly. Though these are not a part of the project, we
strongly recommend that the strengthening of the ICDS centers need to be a part of the
project.
• Sikshasandhan should develop proper mechanisms of documentation to validate the
effectiveness of its pedagogic interventions.
• Sikshasandhan should also plan advocacy activities for bringing out policy changes in the
field of education.
• Sikshasandhan should also work on CCE in the context of its interventions.
• Sikshasandhan should be given a chance to work for more years in the project area.
31

Annexure- I
Key resource persons:-
• Dr. Manmatha Kundu, Former Chairman, NCTE and former director Academy of Tribal Languages
and Culture
• Dr. Mohit Mohan Mohanty- Former Director, SIEMAT
• Dr. Uday Nath Dash- Former Professor of Psychology at Utkal and Delhi University
• Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra- Former State Coordinator for Tribal Education
• Dr. Chandra Kishore Mohapatra- Former Professor of Mathematics and Director In Charge, Institute
of Mathematics and Application
32

Annexure- II
Publications of Sikshasandhan (This list is not fully updated. The latest updated catalogue is available in
Odia.)
TRANSLATIONS INTO ODIA
Jane Sikshakanku Chithi (Letter to a Teacher)
The original title of the book is Letter to a Teacher. Chitta Ranjan Das, an eminent writer and freedom fighter, has
translated the book into Odia. This book consists of a series of moving letters written by a few dropouts in Italy. The
experience of these dropouts has much in common with similarly placed children in the third world. We tend to
neglect to see things from children's point of view in the belief that children have nothing meaningful to say about the
education they receive. In this book children speak eloquently about the deficiencies of conventional methods of
instruction. The book has already been translated into several world languages, and at one time it was a best seller in
Italy.
Price :Rs. 60/-
Mo Hrudaya Pilanka Pai'n (To Children I Give My Heart)
This book is the Odia translation of the original English text To Children I Give My Heart written by the Russian
writer and teacher Vasily Alexandrovich Sukhomlinsky (1918-1970). The book has been translated into Odia by
Chitta Ranjan Das. This book is the result of thirty years' works in a school – the result of thought, concern, anxiety
and aggression. Those who believe in the great power of education to change human being must read this book.
Price: Rs.60/-
Bidyalayare Mastiskanuheh Hrudaya) Hearts not Head in the school
The author A.S. Nail was an experimenter in education. He founded the Summerhill School in Leinston. Summerhill
was the name of Lyme house, and that had been the name of the author's wife's own home. Mr. Nail and his wife
together had built up the Summerhill. The school was an experimental school. When the school was twenty years old,
the author thought to set down the story of the schools, so that some stray planner may read it and feel convinced that
child psychology is the basics of education. With this conviction, the author documented the experiences he had
gained. This book is a wonderful document of his experiments on the idea of free school.
Price: Rs. 50/-
Yasnaya Polyana
Tolstoy's ‘Yasnaya Polyana' translated into Odia by Chittaranjan Das, has been published. Tolstoy had opened a
school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana about 150 years ago with the intention to solve many of the
educational problems affecting erstwhile Russia; those are still persistent in our society. Tolstoy taught that the
government would never try to do any experiment in education in order to solve the real problems according to him;
society would change if a revolutionary change in education would take place. This book is all about his experiment in
that school of Yasnaya Pollyanna.
Price: Rs.50/-
Pilae Sikhanti Kipari? (How Children Learn?)
The author John Holt is a famous name in the educational history of the world. His famous book “How children
Learn” has been translated in to Odia by Sumitra Choudhury and Sikshasandhan has published it.
Price: Rs.75/-
Siksha Bichara(On Education)
One can feel the extent, to which a teacher can go while trying to understand the mind of a student, after reading this
book which is written by Vasily Alexandrovich Sukhomlinsky. He had established a school for the children affected
33

in the Second World War .The book has been translated into Odia by Anil Pradhan and Prfulla Behera. This is his
second contribution after his first book “To Children I give my heart” in Odia.
Price: Rs.75/-
Siksha Tatwa(Thoughts on Education)
Every year hundreds of books are published on Education all over the world because the way of teaching, contents,
instruments and even style all are changing.The thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Vinoba
Bhave have always been appreciated in Indian Educational Scenario. The articles and discussions of Acharya Vinoba
Bhave in different magazines in different times have been compiled, translated and published by eminent social
worker Annapurna Moharana 50 years back since now. At that time it was published as “ Sikhshna Bichara”. Now in
its’ second edition it is published as “Sikshya Tatwa (Thoughts on Education). This book consists of 65 essays
regarding the objective, way, progress and results of Education. Not only teachers, but also all the parents and students
must read such a valuable book.
Price: Rs.100/-
Soudha Sandesha (Citadelle)
This book contains a series of reflections on life written by the famous writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupe'ry, first
published in French under the title Citadelle. It is translated into Odia by Chittaranjan Das. Saint Exupe'ry looked at
adventure and danger with a poet's eyes. Citadelle gives moving expression to Saint-Exupery's persistent belief that
man's only lasting reason for living is as repository of the values of civilisation
Price: Rs. 200/-
Mu'n Regoberta Menchu (I, Regoberta Menchu)
This fascinating autobiography titled I, Regoberta Menchu has been ably translated into Odia By Mr. Aurobindo
Behera. The author of this book was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1992. It tells us the story of Regoberta
Menchu's remarkable life, which vividly reflects the experiences common to many communities in India. The story is
a saga of struggle for survival and the eventual triumph of community pitted against an unjust and cruel system bent
upon denying it a civilised existence. The strength of these remarkable women's personality is her gift for striking
expression, and her passionate sense of justice.
Price: Rs. 80/-
Ahinshara Anweshana (In Quest of Non-violence)
The book presents a biographical account of the eminent social reformer and freedom fighter, Acharya Vinoba Bhabe.
It has been translated from Bengali into Odia by Shanti Devi. The book describes how the Gandhian concept of non-
violence has shaped the life and philosophy of Vinoba Bhabe. It gives us an insight into the mind of a remarkable man
and makes us familiar with his central ideas.
Price: Rs.75/-
Mo Jatiku Jibakudia(Odia Translation of ‘Let My People Go’ by Albert Luthuli)
‘Let My People Go’ is the story of the struggle life of Nobel laureate for peace and South African leader Albert
Luthuli in 1960. Albert Luthuli was the Secretary to the National Congress of Africa who had fought against racism
and the dominance of the whites and the experiences related to his struggle and discipline have been very nicely
enumerated in this book. This book is a valuable gift to the Odia Literature by the eminent writer Chittaranjan Das
who has done a very easy and simple translation of this book. It is expected that this book will be an inspiration for all
the readers.
Price: Rs.150/-
Agnya Palanara Rajaniti
Etien da la Buaeti is a famous novelist of France. He died at the age of 32 in the year 1564. He had written this small
but very deep book while studying Law in the University. This book has been written on a true face in a very simple
manner. The administration of the country has been indirectly focused in this book. This book has been translated into
Odia by Chittaranjan Das.
Price: Rs.100/-
Hindu O Boudha Prachinakathamala( Part I and II)
34

Sister Nivedita is a well-known name in India. Anand Kumar Swami is one among the equals who has searched the
pious heart of Indian education.This book has been writtenby Sister Nivedita and Swami Anand Swami. This book
consists of almost all the Indian stories, puranas, established art and sculptures which have been considers as an asset
not only in India but all over the world. This book has been translated into Odia by Chittaranjan Das.
Price: Rs.75/- ( each part)
De-schoooling society by Ivan Illich
ORIGINAL WRITINGS IN ODIA
Dekhu Dekhu Keba Sahu (Who can Bear This)
This book brings together essays on the life and works of Bhima Bhoi, the 19th century Odia poet, by Chittaranjan
Das. Bhima Bhoi was not a poet in the ordinary sense of the term. A profound humanism and compassion distinguish
his poetry and define his vision of life. The important role Mahima Dharma can play in the context of the spiritual
sterility afflicting the modern world has been discussed insightfully by the writer in these essays.
Price: 50/-
Odishare Moulika Sikshara Prayoga (Experiments in the Field of Basic Education in Orissa), compiled by
Satrughna Nath, Sarat Moharana, Bhagirathi Nayak and Akshaya Mohanty
This is a compilation of writings, which chronich and analyse experiments in the field of basic education in Orissa.
The contributors were actively involved in these experiments and their reminiscences and reflections add value to the
book. “I have given many things to India. But this system of education (basic Education) together with its technique
is, I feel, the best of them. I do not think, I will have anything better to offer the country” M.K. Gandhi.
Price: Rs120/-
Jeevan Bidyalaya(The Life School) by Chitta Ranjan Das
The book records the experiences as a teacher at an experimental school set up in the middle of jungle. It reveals Sri
Das's passion for shaping young minds by constantly challenging them to think critically and to be creative.
Price: Rs.100/-
Jangala Chithi (Letters from the Forest)
Jangle Chithi by Chittaranjan Das is a collection of letters the author wrote while working as a teacher in a school,
which had been set up in a jungle in Champatimunda, Orissa. These letters give fascinating account of a bold new
experiment with making Gandhi's dream of basic education a reality. They also constitute a moving human document
and convey an intense feeling for people and landscape.
Price: Rs. 50/-
Siksha Bitarka
Siksha Bitarka means discourse on education. The book has been brought out in collaboration with Agragamee. This
book is a collection of papers presented at a national seminar on “Education for Social Change: An Agenda for 21st
Century”. The contributions are from eminent educationists, academicians, activists and other well-known persons.
The book is divided into two sections. Section one deals with general issues, problems and causes concerning
education for social change. The second section deals with the special problems affecting tribals and women. The
contributors include Chitta Ranjan Das, Bunker Roy, Shyama Bahadur Namra and others. The book will be useful to
researchers, planners and educationists.
Price: Rs.36 /-
Au Jane Ekalabya o' Anyanya Kahani (Another Ekalavya and other short stories)
Prabina Mohanty's collection of short stories meant for children was published during the reporting period. Her stories
offer rare inslghts into the way child’s mind works and give us a feel of daily life in a school, its drama, its pleasures
and disappointments.
Price: Rs. 40/-
Christen Kold: a Biography
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