Akrut Ontimane was considered a dull student by his teachers. He cleared his school examinations with average marks, but failed in his first year Pre University examinations. He could not clear three core subjects in the first year.
Brought up in a hamlet in the midst of a forest, Akrut went to a government college in a small town near Karwar. His classroom was crowded as there were over 150 students in a class and he was not sure he understood what was taught. The college also suffered from scarcity of teachers and some of the existing ones were on contract and could not spend quality time with students.
A family friend suggested that the boy be trained in the Academic Intensive Care Unit (AICU) run by the Shaheen group of institutions. Akrut came to the Shaheen campus in Bidar and trained under specific subject teachers. After two months of training, he has gone back to class and is doing well. ``I am scoring 15 – 16 out of 25 in my term examinations. What is more, I am beginning to understand what the teachers say in the class room and the laboratories,’’ he said. Akrut is not the only one to benefit from the AICU though. Every year, hundreds of students are admitted in the AICU in Bidar and other centres. Syed Akram, who had discontinued his Madrassa studies, is enjoying this special class. The boy from Telangana had never been to a formal school. After three months in the AICU, he has picked up on his mathematics, science and language skills. ``I never knew that one day I would be able to read Kannada. But now, I am good enough to face an examination in Kannada,’’ he said.
All about the AICU
It is an innovative concept of imparting high-quality education to the dropouts and Madrasa students between school grades 1st to 12th.
Several years ago, the Shaheen education society introduced Hifz-ul- Quran Plus, a project to bring Madrassa graduates into mainstream education. It involved admitting youngsters who had passed out from Madrassas into high school classes and asking them to face 9th standard examination after a few moths of intense coaching in mathematics, science and languages, subjects that are usually not taught in the Madrassa system.
Hifz Ul Quran plus was such an unprecedented success that the model was followed by some institutions in other states.
However, there was the issue of the Madrassa dropouts. They were not keeping pace with their other brothers who had passed out. Then, the society chairman Abdul Qadeer held a brain storming session with the teachers where the issue was discussed. An innovative idea came out of the meeting. They decided to reduce the strength of each class to six. Classes were held in batches where subject teachers focused on only five or six students. This system was named AICU. It aimed at bringing school and college drop-outs and Madrasa students into the mainstream education using the principle of individual attention to each student.
STUDENTS SIT IN CIRCLES OF SMALL GROUPS WHILE BEING TUTORED BY TEACHERS AT THE ACADEMIC INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (AICU) IN SHAHEEN COLLEGE
Over a decade and a half, the idea has stabilised and the AICU has evolved into an academy of mainstreaming of slow learners. There are daily dictation tests and weekly written tests. The students get a full home work schedule daily. All along, students are graded in three stages with three levels in each stage. The most interesting aspect of this experiment is that the results have been steady, at 100 per cent.
“While most mainstream education institutes admit only the brightest students, we freely admit drop outs and slow learners. We are probably the only mainstream education institution in the state that openly admits students who have failed or are expected to do so. With us, they get more attention and not less. It is our attempt at social empowerment of the downtrodden communities via quality education,’’ Dr Qadeer said.
“ We started the AICU because we believe that dropping out of schools is not just the student’s problem. It is a social issue that has to be addressed by the system. Dropping out of students from schools is rampant across the country. Most dropouts occur at three levels - 7th to 9th and in 10th, and 12th Grades. The reasons are financial problems, social backwardness, and lack of access to quality education. We decided to work on the third aspect as it the most important. We decided to give individual attention and quality education to those who are considered dull. Our results have been so encouraging that we have had delegations of educators from other states to adopt this method,’’ said Dr Qadeer. The units are now running in ten centres, to start with. We plan to expand it pan India, with a major centre in New Delhi.
“It is not as difficult as it seems,’’ says Meher Sultana, director of the AICU project. ``The challenge is to identify the pace of each student and work with it. The method is to focus on each child, build an emotional bond with him or her, identify their obstacles, and sit with them while they learn,’’ she said. It is all about focussing on their individual differences and try to make the child understand that he should celebrate it and not be ashamed of it’’, she said.
AICU has developed a program of screening, testing, and focussed teaching of needy students, according to Ms Sultana.
“We have observed that most students are weak in Mathematics and languages, as the traditional teaching -learning process does not appeal to their levels of comprehension,’’ she said. Teaching in the AICU commences from the current level of understanding of each student and lessons are tailor-made for individual ability and learning pattern. Students are free to ask any doubt at any stage. Separate training modules are prepared for the students and each is encouraged to develop a good handwriting style, to aid motor learning. This module has worked equally well with slow learners and Madrassa drop-outs.
We have converted a whole wing of the school into separate classrooms for dropouts. Boys and girls from the age 12 and above are admitted in separate classes. On an average, each room has four teachers and 24 students. This year, however, our intake has increased to 400 students. It may be due to the frequent closure of schools and colleges due to the lock down. We are forced to expand to keep with the demand,” she said.
