Maharashtra

HOW IT BEGAN

Pratham's first steps in Maharashtra can be traced back to a team of 12 activists sent out from Mumbai with a view to intervene in the urban areas. Their target group was in-school and out-of-school children from the slum communities.

With absolutely no government support at the onset, work began with financial assistance from Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT). However, the Pratham team ensured that the government officials at the local level were constantly updated as to the progress of the programs.

Periodic reviews and evaluations resulted in the approach undergoing a change. The focus has now shifted to addressing the educational concerns through direct intervention in communities.

Worth noting here is that while Pratham's work in Maharashtra focused only on the urban areas, Alibag was an exception. Moreover, on the request of Uttarwar family of Vidarbha (now settled in the US), another rural program was taken up in Ralegaon.

READING PROGRAM

Besides the ongoing classes being conducted, in December, Pratham successfully experimented with a reading technique that enabled children who could not read to do so.

Professor Jalaluddin, an internationally recognized expert has shown on a large scale that children who cannot read and write can do so in a matter of 3 months. Along the same lines, Pratham experiments show that children who can read words or letters but not paragraphs can start reading with comprehension in a matter of 15-30 days with some very simple reading practice and lots of books. Most experts believe that any focussed activity in schools is bound to give results.

In Maharashtra, this reading experiment was an immense hit with the children enrolled being in addition to those already attending the ongoing classes. The achievement caught on like wild fire with all Pratham networks keen to implement it in their cities.

Worth noting is that a crucial element for the success of the Reading Program was the material created. Thanks to the supply of premium paper by BILT, Pratham was able to develop learning material that was very well received and acclaimed.

ENROLLMENT

Enrollment Summary of Cities in February - 2003
	Total		In School		Out of School		Average
	No of Units	Children Enrolled	No of Units	Children Enrolled	No of Units	Children Enrolled	In school	Out of School
Alibaug	133	2698	122	2520	11	178	20.7	16.2
Amravati	173	5081	148	4564	25	517	30.8	20.7
Aurangabad	152	4015	120	3204	32	811	26.7	25.3
Kolapur	75	1528	35	817	40	711	23.3	17.8
Mulshi	182	3308	45	996	137	2312	22.1	16.9
Nagpur	132	3388	115	3049	17	339	26.5	19.9
Nashik	53	1391	44	1197	9	194	27.2	21.6
Navi Mumbai	22	550	22	550	0	0	25	0
Pimpri-Chinchwad	221	7488	145	5899	76	1589	40.7	20.9
Pune	290	8660	183	6516	107	2144	35.6	20
Ralegaon	88	2387	88	2387	0	0	27.1	0
Solapur	153	5006	122	4244	31	762	34.8	24.6
Thane	189	5396	162	4782	27	614	29.5	22.7
TOTAL	1863	50896	1351	40725	512	10171	30.14	19.86

• Total number of children enrolled in Pratham classes: 50,896

• Total number of children enrolled in Reading classes: 26,975
  (The Reading Classes were implemented for the children who were unable to
  read. The number of children attending these classes were over and above those
  already benefiting from Pratham classes.)

The average enrollment in these classes is 30.14 children for the in-school program and community Balsakhi program. This is much higher than the national average of Pratham classes held across the country, where the corresponding figure is 23.

ATTENDENCE

Attendence Summary of Cities in February 2003
	Total In School (in%)			In School (in%)			Out-of-School (in%)
CITIES	Coupon Based average daily atten- dence	Sample Based average atten- dence	Coupon Based average daily atten- dence	Sample Based average atten- dance	Coupon Based average daily atten- dence	Sample Based average atten- dence	Coupon Based average daily atten- dence	Sample Based average atten- dence
Alibaug	77.5	DNA	83.1	No	83.3	DNA	66.1	DNA
Amravati	79.7	100.0	No	No	77.7	100	81.7	100
Aurangabad	72.5	68.1	No	No	73.5	41.7	71.4	94.6
Kolapur	66.6	78.3	No	No	75.8	83.6	57.4	73.1
Mulashi	66.7	DNA	DNA	No	77.7	DNA	55.8	DNA
Nagpur	73.3	87.9	No	No	73.8	93.1	72.7	82.7
Nashik	60.8	77.3	No	No	60.3	75.1	61.2	79.5
Pimpri- Chinchwad	71.3	DNA	No	No	No	DNA	71.3	DNA
Pune	66.5	DNA	59.3	No	66.7	DNA	73.4	DNA
Ralegaon	68.4	68.7	No	No	68.4	68.7	No	No
Solapur	67.9	73.9	No	No	70.2	72.6	65.5	75.2
Thane	91.4	85.2	No	NO	90.1	84.6	92.8	85.7
AVERAGE	71.9	79.9	71.2	0.0	74.2	77.4	69.9	84.4

AGE / SEX RATIO

		Gender in (%)		Ages in (%)
Program	Total Children	Girls	Boys	6	7	8	9	10	11
Bridge Course	10171	56	44	10	10	14	14	12	40
School Based Balsakhi	4634	52	48	0	0	3	3	28	65
Reading Class	9116	55	45	1	2	4	4	18	71
	26975	53	47	4	5	6	7	13	66

Looking at the figures, it is obvious that girls are benefiting from these classes. Also, the older children are benefiting more across the programs. More children in the upper age group (who can also be potential drop-outs) are attending the in-school balsakhi and community balsakhi program.

This is in line with Pratham's focus on the older age group in these cities. Worth noting is that a number of children in the higher age group are benefiting from the Reading Classes, which indicates that older children could not read.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The 2 tables below provide:
1) The achievement profile of all children attending the Reading Classes
2) The achievement profile of all children attending programs other than the Reading Classes

Maharahtra Reading Test Report

	Children		Pre-Test (%)					Post-Test (%)
CITIES	Pre Test	Mid Test	St- ory	Para- graph	Wo- rd	Let- ter	Not- hing	St- ory	Para- graph	Wo- rd	Let- ter	Not- hing
Alibaug	2581	2544	0	487	944	742	408	971	623	524	326	100
%			0	4	12	31	54	28	21	23	24	4
Amravati	5084	5076	0	315	1248	1697	1824	2072	1842	871	219	72
%			0	6	25	33	36	41	36	17	4	1
Aurangabad	1777	1623	0	0	52	553	1172	572	810	171	70	0
%			0	0	3	31	66	35	50	11	4	0
Kolapur	1426	1441	0	57	166	438	765	406	301	331	351	52
%			0	4	12	31	54	28	21	23	24	4
Mulshi	1083	1053	0	204	423	273	183	233	280	307	171	62
%			0	19	39	25	17	22	27	29	16	6
Nashik	2765	2511	0	68	640	935	1122	545	718	658	469	121
%			0	2	23	34	41	22	29	26	19	5
Pimpri- Chinchwad	3239	3199	0	0	800	852	1587	366	594	1141	814	284
%			0	0	25	26	49	11	19	36	25	9
Solapur	4923	4237	0	76	695	2728	1424	1002	1043	1317	827	48
%			0	2	14	55	29	24	25	31	20	1
Thane	4285	4285	0	93	1207	1869	1116	3321	493	402	69	0
%			0	2	28	44	26	78	12	9	2	0

Thane results are above average, not only when compared to the rest of Maharashtra but also when compared to all India figures of Pratham's programs.

When preparing the baseline data, each child was given a one-to-one test in reading and the child was then classified into one of the 4 categories. This test was given in December. A similar test was then conducted on February 28. The data reveals that the children have made significant progress.
From this observation, we have taken the decision to move onto increased academic inputs and other competencies for the next academic year.

The table below gives the achievement profile recorded by 6 cities on a monthly basis. (Amravati, Aurangabad, Nashik, Nagpur, Solapur, Thane)

Programs	Total Chil- dren	Achievement Profile (%) of 6 Cities - February 2003 Only children with 50% or more attendence included
		Language								Mathematics
		Baseline				Achievement				Baseline							Achievement
		P	W	L	O	P	W	L	O	D	M	S	A	T	N	0	D	M	S	A	T	N	0
Bridge Course	2602	1	28	32	29	68	21	6	5	4	1	7	4	29	10	34	62	10	12	7	2	2	4
Community Balsakhi	4597	5	28	29	14	65	25	7	3	7	5	12	7	24	4	17	49	16	26	5	1	1	2
School Balsakhi	2205	7	15	41	28	65	27	7	1	11	7	10	7	22	7	24	47	29	18	3	1	1	1

Language
P = reading of paragraph
W = word recognition
L = letter recognition
0 = none of the above

Mathematics
D = Can do division sums
M = Can do multiplication sums
S = Can do subtraction sums (with & without borrowing)
A = Can do addition sums (with & without borrowing)
T = Can recite tables up to 10
N = Can recognize numbers
0 = none of the above

Children attending the Bridge Classes have shown a higher progress than the others. The children in the Bridge Classes are also faring well in language. This data will be compared to the results of the final written examination conducted by Pratham.

FINDINGS BY AN EXTERNAL TEAM

It was decided that the Mumbai Team would visit the Maharashtra program. For each city, 3 to 5 people were deputed for evaluation. Out of the total number of classes held in each city, 20% would be randomly selected for evaluation. Chits were made of all the classes and the selection was done by randomly picking them up.

Training was given to the team on what parameters the children must be tested. The format was designed for attendance and achievement testing. The evaluator was told to visit the class after 30 minutes of it being opened or 30 minutes before it shuts down for the day. They were also told to check as to how many children are present - both, whose names are written on the attendance sheet and whose names are not written on the attendance sheet. To see the achievement level of the children, stories given to the evaluator were those not seen by the children before. Clear instructions were given on how to grade the children in paragraph, word, letter & zero level. Below is the city wise attendance index of Maharashtra.

ATTENDANCE INDEX

Out of the total 1308 classes (including cities other than BILT-supported), 128 classes were visited - 10%. The average attendance is 60% of its enrollment. Only 9% classes were found closed during the visit. In Kolhapur and Solapur, the enrollment is very low as compared to the other cities but at the same time the daily attendance is 100%. Thane shows daily attendance more than 70%. The cities with the enrollment above 25 are Aurangabad, Nagpur, Nasik.

ACHIEVEMENT INDEX

In 128 classes, total children present were 1,600, out of which 428 children were tested. The results are very encouraging and show that 35% children have moved to the paragraph level and 25% are at the word level. The children from word level and letter level moved very fast to paragraph level. In Thane 65% of the children have moved to the paragraph level.

AUTHORITIES TAKE NOTICE

• Local municipal authorities invited Pratham to start classes for out-of-school children.

• Some cities requested in-school intervention towards remedial education.

• The State Curriculum and Education Research Training Institute (SCERT) invited Pratham to participate in developing curriculum for out-of-school children.

• The "Read India'' program was undertaken by the state government in all Zilla Parishad schools in the Mokhada (tribal block in Thane) and Igatpuri (Nasik). Pratham played the role of the catalyst by providing the training and the relevant material to the school teachers, who were the implementors.

• The Government of Maharashtra has invited Pratham to scale up the "Read India" program across the state (along with teaching/learning basics of math). This would be undertaken under the SSA-innovative programs. Educational bodies such as the DIET, SCERT and D.Ed. colleges would be roped into the program to ensure its effective implementation. The phasing of the program and various modalities are currently being discussed.

CONCLUSION

Pratham's reach in Maharashtra has been growing by leaps and bounds - both, geographically and in the number of children being impacted. On March 30, 2003, a written examination was conducted for all children. Despite being a Sunday, around 85,000 children appeared for this examination (including Mumbai).

Pratham Maharashtra has now become the flagship program for Pratham's catalytic activities.

The program has involved local municipal corporations, institutions and individuals. This has given a further boost to the increased participation of volunteers and elected members.

A number of NGOs (both large and small) have requested Pratham to initiate a developing network in Maharashtra to effect greater change.