The document outlines best practices for integrating and sustaining an IBT (Industrial Based Training) program within schools, including strategies to gain conceptual buy-in from stakeholders, effective administrative practices, and financial sustainability approaches such as leveraging community service activities. It also presents case studies on transforming teacher-student relationships and motivating instructors through empowering practical innovation.

1. Lend-A-Hand India: PLAN100
BEST PRACTICES FOR SCHOOLS AND
ADMINISTRATORS ON INTEGRATING AND
SUSTAINING THE IBT PROGRAM

2. Background
Since Lend-A-Hand India (LAHI) launched
PLAN100, it has successfully reached over 60
schools and 11,000 students in just over five years.
 The original 19 schools that have successfully trained
cohorts of graduates through the three-year IBT
program are “IBT champions” and are leading the
efforts to implement strategies striving towards the
long-term sustainability of the program.

3. Defining Sustainability
 Sustainability needs to be viewed through many different lenses;
foremost, conceptual sustainability is the lifeline of an effectively
running initiative
• The ability of the initiative to consistently cover its costs
Financial with cash-in. This typically requires conceptual buy-in
from the financial source (s)– customer or donor
• The level of administrative support the
Administrative initiative receives , which helps it sustain and
improve upon its programs‟ operations
• The ease and efficiency achieved in
Implementation running the initiative‟s core activities
on a regular basis
• The level of commitment and
buy-in of the program‟s
Conceptual outcomes received from key
stakeholders

4. Project Objectives
 This study is primarily aimed at uncovering unique
and replicable strategies aimed at sustaining IBT
within a school‟s curriculum. To achieve this
goal, the following steps have been taken:
• …an in-depth interview guide to be used with key
Design stakeholders at a pre-determined set of IBT schools
• …IBT schools “in action” for a number of days (rapid
Observe ethnography) to identify key success factors of their
program‟s functionality
• …best practices to current and future IBT schools as a reference
Disseminate tool for gaining insight on how other schools have effectively
integrated and sustained the program with a long-term

5. METHODOLOGY

6. Methodology: Ethnography and Contextual
Inquiry
 An ethnographical approach was used for this project, with the
key activity being observing activities at a school over a period of
days to examine how the IBT program functions and to gain
insight from key participants including:
 Students
 IBT Instructors
 Non-IBT Teachers
 IBT Coordinators
 Headmasters
 School Committee Members
 Over the period of one month, 4 schools (profiled on the next
slide) were visited and 21 interviews were conducted

7. Selected School Profiles
D.N.
Mangaon Vikramgad Dhanaji
Wandrekar
School School School
School
size & Location
Mangaon, Raigan Vikramgad, Upper Pal, Khiroda, Jalgaon
District Thane District Jalgaon District District
Program
SES
120 IBT students 180 IBT students 185 IBT students 173 IBT students
(100% per class) – (25% per class) – (100% per class) – (25% per class) –
100% ST 95% ST 100% ST few ST
Rev- Completion
93% graduation 90% graduation 95% graduation 99% graduation
rates
rate / 100% exam rate / 100% exam rate / 91% exam rate / 100% exam
pass rate pass rate pass rate pass rate
Student fees: Student fees: Rs. Student fees: Rs. Student fees: Rs.
enue
Rs: 0 240,00 2,000 50,000
CS: 40,000 CS: Rs. 5,000 CS: Rs. 1,000 CS: Rs. 3,000

8. Sample Discussion Questions
 IBT Integration: How was the decision made the launch IBT
at your school? What were the main motivations? Who was
involved in the decision-making? In what capacity?
 IBT Commitment: How would you describe the commitment /
involvement of each stakeholder (e.g.
students, instructors, parents, management)? What are they
motivated by? What sells them on IBT?
 Challenges to Sustainability: Besides funding, what are the
biggest challenges you face today regarding commitment to
IBT?
 Instructor Recruitment & Retention: What has worked well in
retaining instructors? What challenges have you faced in
keeping them engaged in IBT? What are they motivated by?
 Funding: What are your strategies for financially sustaining
the IBT program? If fees and community service do not cover
the costs of running IBT, what are the other options?

9. KEY FINDINGS AND BEST
PRACTICES

10. Common Challenges Expressed Regarding The
Sustainability of IBT
• Engaging parents and getting IBT buy-in
Conceptual • Sparking the interest of incoming IBT students
• Gaining buy-in from non-IBT teachers
• Instructor recruitment and retention
Implementation • Facilities and equipment maintenance
• Availability of raw materials for practicals
• Preparing and motivating the IBT coordinator
Administrative • Regular documentation of attendance, classroom
activities and practicals
• Limited local market for CS activities + lack of
Financial commitment
• Poor families not using gov‟t aid for education
• Financial support of school committee

11. Best Practices Addressing Challenges to
Sustainability of IBT (Conceptual)
Challenge Best Practice
Parents react more positively to tangible results.
Engaging Parents of Communicate IBT graduate success stories during
Potential and Current parents meetings so that the outcomes of the
IBT Students program are clear, particularly the ITI preferred
placement (VS)
Leverage the knowledge, experience and
perspectives of IBT graduates to come to the
school as ambassadors to the program, conveying
Sparking the interest its benefits to both students and their parents
of younger, non-IBT
students Students are excited by the practical component of
IBT, seeing it as a creative and preferred way of
learning. Demonstrate practicals and 10th
standard projects to incoming 8th standard
students as a core benefit to them of joining IBT

12. Identified Best Practices Addressing Challenges
to Sustainability of IBT (Conceptual)
Challenge Best Practice
IBT students increase their engagement with the
Motivating 8th program when they can effectively make the
standard IBT students connection between IBT and their home lives.
Instructors should actively seek input from
students on how to adapt the program to be most
relevant
IBT needs to play an active role in students‟
Gaining buy-in from
standard curriculum and vice versa. Schools that
non-IBT teachers
have succeeded in this facilitate close working
relationships between IBT and non-IBT
teachers, resulting in some co-teaching of relevant
topics

13. Best Practices Addressing Challenges to
Sustainability of IBT (Implementation)
Challenge Best Practice
Retaining IBT A) Recruiting IBT graduates who understand the
instructors program and its purpose;
B) Building an informal instructor network with
other nearby IBT program to exchange ideas
C) Empowering instructors by encouraging them
All to grow IBT project ideas through own
headmasters experiences in the field (this also has a positive
agree that effect on student engagement, as they are
well-trained motivated by new, innovative practicals)
and D) Integrating theory and practice such that IBT
motivated instructors get to participate in regular classes when
instructors appropriate
E) Having a seasoned instructor (3+ years) that can
are the key to
play the role of head instructor from a
IBT’s success
support, advisory, and training perspective
F) On-time, regular payment

14. Best Practices Addressing Challenges to
Sustainability of IBT (Implementation)
Challenge Best Practice
Schools that have succeeded in leveraging
Motivating instructors instructors‟ creativity and entrepreneurial skills to
to innovate through advance practicals have engaged them with
new practicals professional development opportunities. For
example, an exemplary engineering instructor was
able to attend a relevant seminar at a nearby
institute to help advance his skills.
The creativity allowed among IBT practicals is
limited by the availability of raw materials, a
Availability of raw particular challenge in the most rural schools.
materials Schools have addressed this challenge by having
the field officer, who has more market access and
reach, act as an informal buyer for materials

15. Best Practices Addressing Challenges to
Sustainability of IBT (Administrative)
Challenge Best Practice
Efforts to minimize the IBT coordinator role (e.g.
Motivating and have them only responsible for teaching theory)
incenting the IBT have not been effective, resulting in disengaged
coordinator and uncommitted coordinators. They need to be
well-trained in the IBT program and be seen as a
resource, not a nuisance, to instructors. The
position should be applied and interviewed for and
be incentivized with additional professional
development opportunities.
Schools succeeding in record keeping hold
Record keeping is not instructors responsible for the thorough
done effectively nor documentation of class activities using the
regularly LAHI/Vigyan Ashram form

16. Identified Best Practices Addressing Challenges
to Sustainability of IBT (Financial)
Challenge Best Practice
Schools not focused on community service make
excuses from a lack of a local market to there being
Lack of commitment
„no time „ for CS. Those that succeed understand
to community service
the importance of it not just from a financial point
activities and revenue
of view but as a core component in the curriculum.
generation
This can only be accomplished if school leadership
makes it a priority for instructors and students.
IBT programs that have the school committee visit
once or twice a year have difficulties in the long-
Engaging the school run getting commitment from the committee on
committee IBT. The headmaster needs to be armed with
state-wide and school-specific outcomes data to
engage with the school committee on regularly.

17. Perspectives on Government Support (Financial)
FOR
*Potential reduction in quality
*Reduce financial stress of with government controlling
supporting the program through recruitment, monitoring and
unpredictable means evaluation
*If accomplished system-wide *Potential for delayed
(not just with a few payments, resulting in increased
schools), challenges with
AGAINST
difficulty in retaining instructors
government bureaucracy will be
reduced *Excessive red tape, and often
bribes, in getting approval
*More restrictions on the
prerequisites for instructors
“The Project PLAN 100 team visits and look after the program right
now; once it goes into government’s hands, I worry about the
quality.” – Headmaster, Vikramgad School

18. Case Study #1: Transforming the Teacher-
Student Relationship
 Students’ confidence within the classroom has been seen by
instructors at Vikramgad School and they attribute it to the close
instructor-student relationships they are able to foster within
the IBT classroom. They say students are much more willing to ask
questions and even more so, give suggestions when they have an
idea, within IBT (they cite significant change from 8th standard to
9th and 10th). They say that they are able to foster this environment
by:
 Removing the physical distance between students and teachers (no
chalkboard and desks)
 Working together with the students on projects
 Being friendly and talking to students outside of the classroom (e.g. to and
from school)
 Removing requirements to address instructors as sir/madam.
 In addition, instructors believe that fear from asking questions or
being incorrect is reduced because they are able to see and feel
what works and what doesn’t through hands-on practical work

19. Case Study #2: Motivating Instructors While
Engaging Students
 The headmaster and IBT coordinator at Dhanaji
School in Khorida attribute the school’s success
with IBT to student engagement.
 By giving the instructors the freedom to progress the
curriculum and bring in their own ideas, students are
able to do new and exciting practicals and that keeps
them engaged and interested in the work. Examples
include a solar cooker, a bicycle-powered light bulb and
washing machine, and dust-free chalk. More than in
other schools, the instructors are given full ownership
of their sections and are empowered to grow and
expand the syllabus as much as they are able to.

20. APPENDIX

21. General IBT Interview Guide (1 of 8)
School Background
 Numbers and Dates (for context and segmentation)
 Years of IBT
 # of IBT & Non-IBT students
 # of successful graduates
 # of drop-outs
 # of successful graduates continuing on to a technical or diploma
program
 What is the background of the students at your school?
 Literacy of parents
 Involvement of parents in student‟s education (% attendance at parents‟
meetings?)
 Family employment
 Ability to pay for tuition (what % can pay and how much?)

22. General IBT Interview Guide (2 of 8)
Integrating IBT – Conceptual
 How was the decision made the launch IBT at your school? What were the main
motivations? Who was involved in the decision-making? In what capacity?
 How was IBT first introduced to different groups?
 Students
 Teachers
 Management
 Donors
 What message was communicated to each group?
 How was it popularized?
 What were their initial reactions?
 Were they apprehensive at all? Why do you think?
 How did you respond to their apprehensions?
 How have their opinions changed, if at all?
 How would you describe the commitment / involvement of each group?
What are they motivated by? What sells them on IBT?
 Besides funding, what are the biggest challenges you face today
regarding commitment to IBT?
 Do you see a difference between IBT and non-IBT students?

23. General IBT Interview Guide (3 of 8)
Integrating IBT – Administrative
 How are the administrative responsibilities of IBT program
divided?
 Paperwork, documentation and record keeping
 What is your current system for these activities?
 What is challenging?
 What has worked well?
 Communication
 What is your current system for this?
 What is challenging?
 What has worked well?
 Facilities / land management
 What is your current system for these activities?
 What is challenging?
 What has worked well?
 Instructor search
 What is your current system for this?
 What is challenging?
 What has worked well?

24. General IBT Interview Guide (4 of 8)
Integrating IBT - Implementation
 How would you rate the success of each of the four IBT
modules?
 What has been the key success factors for each of the modules?
 What have the challenges been?
 What has been done to overcome the challenges?
 How has the recruitment and retention process for
instructors been?
 What has worked in retaining good instructors?
 What challenges, if any, have you faced in keeping them
engaged in IBT?
 Do you think reward system for instructors will be useful?
How we should design it?

25. General IBT Interview Guide (5 of 8)
 How involved is your IBT program in community service activities?
 Who is managing and who is driving these activities?
 How do you think these activities contribute to the IBT program, overall?
 What do the students get out of it?
 What are the challenges in increasing community activities?
 How it can be strengthened?

 How are the 10th standard projects going?
 What types of projects are there?
 How do you decide about which project to take?
 Are you satisfied with the quality and learning from the projects by the students?
 What do the students get out of it?

 How are your physical facilities for IBT? How have these been
maintained/upgraded? Are they clean? Are they sufficient?
 Classrooms
 Workshops
 Agriculture land
 Storage space
 Etc.

26. General IBT Interview Guide (6 of 8)
Integrating IBT – Financial (HM)
 How are the costs for IBT currently covered?
 Fees
 Community Service
 LAHI
 Private Donors
 What have you done to increase the funding for IBT?
 Fees
 Community Service
 Private Donors
 Income generation activities by the school
 What challenges have you faced in maintaining or increasing contribution from
each of these sources?
 Looking forward, do you believe the IBT program can become self-sustaining?
 What are your strategies for financially sustaining the IBT program?
 If fees and community service do not cover the costs of running IBT, what are the other
options?

27. General IBT Interview Guide (7 of 8)
 What support is the school‟s management able to offer?
 What about the government?
 How do you think they should support the program?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages you see to involving the
government?
 What will change in terms of implementation, monitoring, and
program administration with government involvement?
 What do you think is the possibility of receiving government support
– funding, salaries of instructors etc.
 What are the pros and cons of government funding? Do you think it
will be misused – not used properly – IBT quality will go down and it
will lose its importance.
 What do you think about receiving all the present support from the
government – recognition of the subject, because it is optional
subject, only those schools and students who are interested will opt /
go for it, and IBT students getting reservations in ITI and polytechnic
colleges? Isn‟t it sufficient so that each school can create its own edge
to do good IBT?

28. General IBT Interview Guide (8 of 8)
IBT Instructor-Specific Questions
 What is your academic background? Your professional background?
 How did you get involved with IBT? Do you see any benefits in becoming
instructor?
 How has your experience been so far? What do you like / dislike about IBT?
 What is the impact that you have seen in the students?
 What long-term benefits do you think exist for students who take part in the
IBT program?
Teacher-Specific Questions
 What do you think about IBT and its influence on students at the school?
 How has it added to the students‟ education?
 What difference have you seen in the subject you teach?
 Have you been able to integrate IBT learning into your subject? How?
 What do you see as the most important characteristics or selling points of IBT?