As the crow flies, Bandhwari village is less than 12 km from Gurgaon. In Bandhwari, there are 643 children below six years, about 15 per cent of the total population of just over 4000 people. Agriculture is the main occupation and, compared to neighbouring villages, Bandhwari is seemingly prosperous with pucca roads and houses with access to electricity and water. The village government school has around 800 students. Yet, Bandhwari has low literacy and high unemployment rates and is divided along caste lines.
We were visiting the government school where teachers were excited at the prospect of using technology to teach English. The school has stable electricity supply and a computer with a projection aid. But they were unsure if the equipment was in working condition. It had never been used in the five years since it was supplied.
Across the country there are many similar stories; computers installed under various schemes are unused — money and opportunity wasted. There is much talk about the effectiveness of technology as an aid for learning. But technology is a credible solution that must be applied with discipline and determination.
RightToRead aims to use technology to support the reading of prescribed text books using multi-sensory software. This reason for this is that teachers do not worry about completing the syllabus if school text-books can be read on the software during classes. We hope, over time, to influence the expansion of the programme in schools to enable students to use reading material better suited to their context. However armed with evidence of demonstrable improvement in reading skills, we will follow the path of least resistance.
For change to be successful, the teacher must feel empowered and successful. Thus, an integral part of the RightToRead initiative is to train and hand-hold teachers through the early days of implementation. Technology, however simple, can be a daunting prospect in many classrooms. Some teachers have never moved a computer-mouse and others can lose interest if the audio system does not work. However, once it becomes a habit and students show progress, the battle is close to won.
In Rajasthan, at Samudaik Bodh Shala (Taal Vriksha Naala) run by Bodh Shiksha Samiti, English was a real challenge until a few months ago. Now, students are bringing word lists to teachers and requesting them to access the reading tool to teach them meanings and pronunciation. In Maharashtra, the headmaster of Zakir Hussain High School in Partur, remarks, “The software has not only provided our students with the supplementary aid to improve their pronunciation but succeeded in developing a keen interest in reading”.
Let us go back to the school, which is in possession of computer equipment never used. About a decade ago, as part of the provisions of the 11th Planning Commission, the government had allocated Rs. 5000 crore for the ICT @ Schools scheme in order to invest in improving the quality of education. The scheme was launched in 2004 and, in the first phase, 78,893 schools were covered out of a targeted 108,000 Upper Primary government and government-aided schools. The scheme, however, did not achieve its goals for a number of reasons including poor teacher training and enablement. In the next phase, ICT has taken a more thoughtful approach. Under the current scheme, contracts are awarded to bidders who can provide and operate computer labs over five years. The providers have to deploy qualified personnel at each school and ensure the upkeep (and uptime) of equipment as well as deliver learning outcomes.
In Maharashtra, RightToRead has been implemented in the initial phase in Aurangabad, Jalna and Beed districts. These schools are covered under the ICT scheme and the computer labs were installed and are managed by IL&FS Education (a RightToRead coalition partner). It is encouraging to see how — at almost no additional cost of computers and personnel — the technology-powered reading programme has been implemented. Computer Instructors (CI) at each school have trained teachers to use the reading software in class. Each week, using familiar tools (Whatsapp, IVR), each CI reports the programme adherence for their school. There are problems to solve — teacher vacancy or power supply in some zillas — but, overall, the engagement of teachers and enthusiasm of children fuels the outcome.
In Rajkot where the initiative was launched in 2014, teachers found computers and English challenging. One motivated teacher says, “Whatever you have instructed me in our teachers training, I am following the same. I can skip other activity of the school but I will not skip this class. I teach our students and our students are talent. They are catching very fast whatever I used to teach in software.”
RightToRead India is a national initiative to promote technology enabled reading and comprehension in government schools. The authors are company leaders of EnglishHelper™, the coalition partner.
