MoUs signed to improve quality of education in govt schools

The state government, on Wednesday signed memorandum of understanding (MOUs) with four non-governmental organisations to bring in innovation, improve quality of education and learning outcomes.

Pratham Foundation, Sikshana Foundation, Azim Premji Foundation and Khan Academy are the four non-profits which will work with the state government. All the programmes are targeted towards achieving the department’s goal of ‘Every Child in School and Learning Well’, a motto they have adopted from Pratham.

Pratham Foundation, known for its flagship Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), will take its pilot project ‘Read Karnataka’ from three districts to thirteen. Children of Class IV and V will be grouped based on their competency level in their first language and math. Using materials, activities and its own teaching methodology, Pratham will help government teachers improve the learning levels of students. In the 2017-18 academic year, the programme will reach over five lakh students in 18,426 government schools in these districts.

Sikshana Foundation, which ran a motivational programme titled ‘Prerana’ on a pilot basis in Chitradurga and Davangere, will now extend it to schools in all the 30 revenue districts. Children will be encouraged to be regular at school and participate in class by rewarding them with star badges. The fear of failing will be addressed through peer learning clubs and progress will be tracked through a learning map. The foundation will also supply practice books. They have launched an application which will help the department keep track of supply of books and students’ learning progress.

The government’s partnership with Azim Premji Foundation is an open-ended one with no time frame. They will continue to help the department in capacity building, in-service training, upgrading the Nali Kali model, and other efforts.

The department will work with Khan Academy to create educational content in Kannada for Science and Mathematics subjects for Class VIII, IX and X. This will include videos, exercises, articles and teacher tools which will be used as part of the Technology Assisted Learning Programme (TALP) to use technology to learn subjects better.

Speaking at the signing event, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait said, “Society has classified government schools for poor children, aided for the middle-class, and private for the rich. Through these programmes, we want our schools to compete with private schools and improve the quality of education. We expect results to improve over the years,” he said.