Realising the propensity of migrant workers to engage their wards in jobs at a young age, thus leading to higher school dropout rate among the community, the Roshni project plans to integrate an innovative module, Earn N’ Learn, from the forthcoming academic year to overcome that challenge and to even turn it into an opportunity.
The decision is based on the analysis that adding to the collective income of the family takes precedence to learning even in the case of children as young as 10 years or above, while many children, especially those enrolled directly in upper primary classes, themselves are more interested in earning rather than learning. The Earn N’ Learn module proposes to tap into the creative talents of children, thus guiding them to a vocation of their choice by making it integral to learning without overriding the curriculum objectives.
“The module is conceived as a combination of three concepts – earning to learn, earn while learning, and learn while earning, thus making it a win-win situation for all parties concerned. Selected topics across various subjects will be tuned towards the concept of earning, thus retaining the interest of children in learning, thereby reducing dropout rate,” said Jayasree Kulakkunnath, academic coordinator of Roshni project.
The idea was to integrate the module into the project by 2020 before the pandemic disrupted the plan. In fact, a trial of sorts was held at the Sree Narayana Higher Secondary School, Thrikkanarvattom, in December 2019 when migrant children set up a Christmas market of an assortment of items on their own. The project needed them to identify their business proposition, design products, calculate input cost, purchase raw materials, manufacture products, and determine a selling price all on their own.
A comprehensive learner’s profile (CLP) is another module to be added to the project this year. Apart from the basic personal and education details, it will also have a health profile elaborating on vaccination details and medical background with the option for updating them periodically considering the floating nature of the migrant population.
“The possibility of using the domain of Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education [KITE] for recording and updating profile is being explored. CLP will offer an instant verification point for the academic, health and related matters of migrant children wherever they go. It will also make possible to track their progress even when they move to another place from the existing school,” said Ms. Kulakkunnath.
Roshni project will also adopt a hybrid model from this academic year. “Considering the challenges of post-pandemic world, classes will be split between online and offline modes for three days each. The project also seeks to bridge learning gaps caused by the pandemic,” said Prakash C.K., general coordinator, Roshni.
Though the possibility of expanding Roshni to the pre-primary sector is also being toyed with, it remains inconclusive owing to various challenges. A final decision may be taken in this regard during Saturday’s meeting.
