EDUCATION SUPPORT PROGRAM (ESP), SRDS
The success of the Informal Primary Education program supported by the Education Support Program and attuned by its partner NGOs (ESP NFPE) is largely determined by the attitude, knowledge, skills and activities of partner NGO heads. This paper is an attempt to provide the partner NGO heads with an operational guideline of ESP NFPE. One obvious fact is that all NGO heads work with and through other people and they should possess the art of getting the things done through others. Now the question is what are the things that an NGO head will have to do for the successful implementation of ESP NFPE? An NGO head will have to do many things, ‘change hats’ frequently, and must be alert to the particular role needed at a given time. It is not possible to write the names of all the activities that an NGO head will have to do. Only a shortlist of activities is given below.
SELECTION OF VILLAGES: The NGO heads are to see that the villages are selected properly. The criteria for selecting villages are:
Availability of potential teachers
Availability of school accommodation
Availability of eligible children
easy accessibility from the field office
Intra and inter-village communication
Necessity felt by the villagers
Closeness of the village to other feasible villages
SELECTION OF POTENTIAL TEACHERS
The availability of potential teachers is the most important criterion for selecting a village. To be potential one should possess the following qualification.
A. Minimum academic qualification should be S.S.C. The academic qualification may be relaxed for exceptionally intelligent candidates but they must have at least 9/10 years of schooling.
B. S/he should complete the teacher training course of at least 12 days or more at any of SRDS’s training centers in the first year.
C. His/her present occupation should be such that s/he can spare sufficient time needed for conducting school activities.
D. S/he should be a permanent resident of the village concerned.
E. Because this is a part-time job s/he should have other sources of income.
F. S/he should be married. The criterion can be relaxed if the chance of dropout
is low. G. The villagers must accept him.
H. S/he must be physically capable to perform the act of teaching.
I. S/he must have good verbal (oral and written) communication ability.
J. S/he must not have a family restriction or social barrier for conducting co-curricular activities.
S/he must agree to work under the terms and conditions given by the appointing authority. The terms and conditions are:
(i) The teacher will not be allowed to enjoy leave for more than five (5) days at a time.
(ii)The school will remain closed for 82 days in each year. This includes weekly holidays and holidays for festivals.
(iii) The teacher will be paid Tk.800, Tk.825 and Tk.850 a month respectively in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. But if s/he remains absent on any working day Tk.25 will be deducted from his/her salary. S/he will not be allowed to bring his/her child to school during school time. If the NGO head is not satisfied with the performance of a teacher s/he will have the authority to terminate the teacher at any time.
The Results
The selection of potential teachers is a very difficult and important task. The NGO heads should directly be involved in the final selection of teachers and they must do it in consultation with the PO-Technical Support Specialist (PO-TSS) of ESP and their NFPE Program Organizers (POs). For the selection of teachers, the NGO heads may follow the following techniques.
First, the NGO heads should discuss with the NFPE POs in detail about the qualities that a potential teacher should contain.
Second, the NGO head should ask the Program Organizer to make a list of the possible teachers in the format ‘List of Possible teachers’ developed by NFPE/ESP. If, for example, 10 teachers are needed he should ask the Program Organizer to make a list of 25-30 (2-3 per school).
Third, the NGO head should check the list carefully and in consultation with his/her NFPE PO and POTSS of ESP and should make a list of possible teachers for interviews. To make the list an NGO head should be careful enough to have choices in each case unless s/he is confident of a candidate. Fourth, in consultation with PO and TSS, the NGO head should fix a date of the interview and ask the PO to inform the enlisted persons to come to the place of interview on time with their bio-data.
Fifth, the NGO head should interview them from different angles and select those who possess the requisite qualification. In the final selection of teachers, preference should be given to the female.
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Arranging Accommodation
An NGO head should see that suitable accommodation for the schools
are arranged on time. Because no partner NGO will construct schoolhouses of its won, a house containing a single room for each school will be rented for five years. The criteria for renting a schoolhouse are: A. The house owner must agree to permit the NGO to use the house as a classroom, a venue
for parents meeting, cultural activities of the children, and a reading center. B. The house owner must agree to keep the house under the possession of the NGO for three
years. C. The premise should be located in the middle of the village and should be easily accessible by
children throughout the whole year, D. The minimum floor space should be 288 square feet (24X12).
⇒The room should have sufficient doors and windows for letting in and out plenty of air and light
⇒If necessity arises, the advance can be given to the house owner for construction, extension or initial repair.
⇒ The owner should bear the maintenance cost of the house. H. The house owner should agree to come to a written contract with the NGO.
Selection of Eligible Children: Eligible children can be defined as the children who have never been enrolled in school or are dropouts having no literacy or numeracy and those who belong to the age group 8 to 10 years. An NGO head should see that the Program Organizer is cautious enough to select the children of the right age group. If an over-aged boy is selected he may enter into the labor market as full-time labor before the completion of the course. If an over-aged girl is selected there is the chance that she may get married and migrate to another village before completing the course. If a child having a learning disability is selected then total investment for him will turn into wastage. The NGO heads should see that the Program Organizers select children based on the criteria mentioned below
Children should not have literacy or numeracy
Children should belong to the age group 8-10 years
There should be 30 children in each school
Seventy percent of the total children must be girls
Children belonging to the poor and deprived families must get priority
Female Children having learning disabilities should carefully be avoided. Our experience says that 3-4 percent of our rural children may have a learning disability.
Procurement of Materials:
Procuring materials on time is very important for the smooth running of the ESP NFPE program. Failure of an NGO head to procure materials from SRDS and or the local market will impede the progress of his program. ESP usually sends copies of material indent submitted to SRDS’s procurement department to the NGO heads 2-3 months ago the time during which the materials are supposed to be procured. The NGO heads must see that the materials are procured on time. While the NGO heads or their authorized persons come to collect the materials form SRDS’s store they should bring the copies of indent and the list of materials attached. They should tally the material items with the list and should count the materials under each item to be confirmed that they are getting the materials as per the list. Our experience reveals that due to carelessness some NGOs lose some materials on the way, which hampers the program and causes for the NGOs. The NGO heads should see that no material is lost on the way. The partner NGOs are also to procure some materials as school mat, school signboard, stock register, cashbook, ledger and stool from the local market. The NGO heads should see that these materials are procured on time. They should also take care of the quality of these materials. For a clear understanding of student books, teaching aids, supplementary reading materials, classroom supplies and teacher supplies needed in an ESP NFPE school, the NGO heads should read the budget for NFPE schools thoroughly.
Preservation and Utilization of Materials: The NGO heads should see that the materials are preserved and utilized properly. To prevent misuse and wastage the NGO heads may adopt the following measures.
NGO head should ask the Program Organizer to preserve all the materials in the steel trunk or a safe place
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to maintain a stock register
S/he should ask the Program Organizer not to distribute the materials like wood pencil, slate pencil, chalk and exercise book all at one time. The Program Organizer should be advised to distribute the materials 3 or 4 times a year. For example, one school may need (30X6) 180 wood pencil for one year.
The program Organizer should not distribute all the 180-wood pencil at a time.
Instead, it will be wise to distribute the 180-wood pencil in 3 instalments (60 per instalment). But there should not be any delay in the supply of the materials to the schools.
S/he should see that the materials are distributed through challans
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to check the teacher's stock of materials often. The teacher should also maintain a mini stock register
S/he should check the stock register maintained by the Program Organizer and should also verify the actual physical stock of materials
To make the Community Participate in the Program: Community refers to a group of people spatially related to each other having common values, interests and problems. In the context of ESP NFPE, by the community, we will refer to the parents of the children and their friends and relatives who feel an identity with them. Community participation is of vital importance to run the schools effectively. Without the participant of the program participants, no program can be successfully implemented. To make the community participate in the ESP NFPE program an NGO head should do the following
S/he should ask the Program Organizer
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to make a list of the parents for each school village in the format “List of Parents’ developed by ESP/NFPE.
S/he should ask the Program Organizer
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to form a parents committee in each school village for the general supervision of the school.
To form a village committee
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to form a parents committee in each school village for the general supervision of the school.
C. S/he should also ask the Program Organizer to form a village committee for each school consisting of four members:
(i) One interested father.
(ii) One interested mother.
(iii) One volunteer (may or may not be father or mother but should have some literacy and numeracy).
(iv) The teacher.
To submit a report
NGO head should ask the Program Organizer to submit a report on the village committee in the format Village Committee” developed by ESP/NFPE. The report will indicate whether the committee is rightly formed or not.
To motivate the members
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to motivate the members of the village committee to perform their functions properly. Some of the functions of the village committee are given below.
(i) The village committee should serve as a motivator in the village.
(ii) The village committee should encourage and persuade the parents/guardians to send their children to school regularly.
(iii) The members of the village committee will be responsible for informing the parents about the monthly meeting.
(iv) The members of the village committee should visit the school at least twice a week and should talk to the teacher for a few minutes about school. This responsibility may be rotated among the members.
(v) the village committee has to see that the teacher comes to school regularly on time.
Arrange a monthly meeting
NGO head should ask the Program Organizer to arrange a monthly meeting with parents at least once a month. In the meeting, the parents will discuss the school. They should be encouraged to voice their opinions. The meeting should be considered as a forum for exchanging opinions, ideas on education among parents, teachers and Program Organizers.
Submit reports on parent's meetings
S/he should ask the Program Organizer to submit reports on parent’s meetings in the format ‘Report on Parents Meeting’ developed by ESP/NFPE. From the report the NGO head will be able to understand parent’s interest in the program, problems faced by teachers, parents, children and Program Organizers and the measures that the parents adopt to solve the problems.
Arranging Teacher Training
Teacher training is one of the most important aspects of the ESP NFPE program. NFPE curriculum is different and it follows some methods, which is quite different from that of the traditional one. Without training, no teacher will be able to organize and teach children properly. Hence, the NGO heads must be serious about the training of their teachers. NFPE teacher training consists of an intensive 12-day training course followed by in-service courses. The in-service courses comprise of a 4-day refresher course after the first year and a 1-day refresher every month from the beginning to the end. Besides, a 2-day orientation of teachers is held just before the opening of schools. In this session, the whole basic training is reviewed.
To Maintain Liaison with Important Persons
One of the major functions of NGO heads is to maintain liaison with the important persons. In the context of ESP NFPE, their important persons may be the NFPE teachers, parents of the children, their NFPE Program Organizers, political leaders, elected members of the local government, teachers of the government primary schools, TEO, TNO, the TSS of ESP, Program Manager, ESP and others. The NGO heads should maintain liaison with them and seek their cooperation for the smooth running of the ESP NFPE program. Oftentimes, the NGO heads should talk to the TSS in detail about the program and should accept their feedback and suggestions.
Checking & Filing
Checking, Filing and Sending Reports and Plans Prepared by Program Organizers: For the NGO heads, checking, filing and sending reports and plans prepared by Program Organizers are of crucial importance. The NGO heads should very carefully check the weekly action plan, Gantt chart, reports on parents meeting, weekly school visit report, monthly school visit report, report on absentee, evaluation reports and others. They should ask the Program Organizer to file the report properly and send these, per the needs of ESP, to ESP TSS and or Program Manager, ESP. Before sending any reports to ESP, the NGO heads must write seen on those.
Surprise Visit to Schools
To observe the school environment, teacher’s punctuality and ability to perform the act of teaching, and development of the children the NGO heads should make a surprise visit to the school as much as possible. While visiting schools, the NGO heads must inquire into whether the Program Organizers visit the schools as per expectation and try to help the teachers do their jobs rightly. They should also test the validity of the reports on school supervision and parents meeting prepared by Program Organizers. This will make teachers as well as the Program Organizers alert and dutiful. To supervise schools more effectively, the NGO heads should also carefully read the paper, provided by ESP to the Program Organizer, on the principles of school supervision.
Surprise Visit to Schools
To observe the school environment, teacher’s punctuality and ability to perform the act of teaching, and development of the children the NGO heads should make a surprise visit to the school as much as possible. While visiting schools, the NGO heads must inquire into whether the Program Organizers visit the schools as per expectation and try to help the teachers do their jobs rightly. They should also test the validity of the reports on school supervision and parents meeting prepared by Program Organizers. This will make teachers as well as the Program Organizers alert and dutiful. To supervise schools more effectively, the NGO heads should also carefully read the paper, provided by ESP to the Program Organizer, on the principles of school supervision.
Motivating the Teachers and Program Organizers
The success of the ESP NEPE program largely depends on the knowledge, skills and motivation of teachers and program Organizers. ESP will try to provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills through training, suggestions, personal contact and providing feedback. But it is the responsibility of the NGO heads to motivate their teachers and Program Organizers to work sincerely. The motivation of teachers and Program Organizers depends on so many factors as their feeling about the worthiness of the work they do, the level of success of their efforts, the behavior they receive form the NGO heads, their feeling about the importance in organizations they work for, the salary they receive and the regularity of the payment of salary. The NGO heads should try to maintain a good relationship with their teachers and Program Organizers, provide them with tea and lunch at the monthly refresher day or during other in-service training, and should adopt measures that motivate them to work sincerely with a high level of intensity.
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Maintenance of ESP NFPE Project (s) Accounts
The NGO heads must maintain the ESP NFPE project (s) accounts properly. The statement of accounts should be prepared in such a manner as to make it possible to ascertain that the funds received from ESP for their NFPE project (s) have been utilized properly. Accounts should tally with individual items of accounts listed in the project (s) budget (s). Entry should be made in cash and ledger books regularly. At the end of each month, the NGO heads must ask their Program Organizers or Accountants to prepare the monthly receipt & expenditure statement of SRDS funded NFPE project (s). They should carefully and show it to the PO-Technical Support Specialist (PO-TSS) of ESP. They should also prepare the six-monthly financial statement of their NFPE project (s) and send the statement to the Program Manager, ESP with a bank statement. The NGO heads must remember that maintenance of accounts
and preparation of receipt & expenditure statements are critical for the financial discipline and transparency of their NFPE Project (s).
Solving Problems Caused by Fundamentalists or Touts
In the year 2005, the fundamentalists created enormous problems for NGOs, especially, for non-formal primary education program (NFPE). A few of them were politically motivated but most of them developed a negative attitude simply due to a lack of appropriate knowledge about NGO activities and their objectives. The village touts directed by small interest also try to create problems for NGOs with the bad intention to achieve their ill objective (s). The NGO heads must always be cautious about the danger of fundamentalists and touts and develop the ability to solve problems caused by them. We are fortunate enough that the heads of our partner NGOs are capable to tackle them efficiently. Most ESP partner NGOs are small working in a union, a thana or a district. Because most of the executive heads of these NGOs stay at their NFPE project areas and because they are not overburdened with other programs, they take care of their NFPE program very seriously and intensively and also invest a lot of energy and efforts to make the program successful. Moreover, the executive heads of the NGOs, their NFPE Program Organizers and the members of the executive committee belong to the same community they work with. The NGO heads try to provide all the community people including the so-called fundamentalists with appropriate knowledge about the program. All these contribute to their success in solving social problems efficiently. For example, from the very inception of ESP till now, no ESP-funded NFPE schoolhouse has been burnt by the fundamentalists nor have they been able to close any school during the course.
Attending the Orientation Program Organized by ESP
The Education Support Program (ESP) works in cooperation and consultation with its partner NGOs. Before implementing any program through its partner NGOs, ESP usually organizes a 2-day orientation course to provide the NGO heads with a clear understanding of ESP NFPE and to help them develop a positive attitude towards the Program. To incorporate their experiences and views in the formulation and modification of its strategies and to discuss the way to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its partnership for education with them, ESP often organizes discussion meeting for the NGO heads. The NGO heads should attend the orientation courses in person to enhance their knowledge, to share their experiences with others and to contribute to the smooth functioning of ESP NFPE. They should also bring with them the information and reports wanted by ESP while attending the orientation program.
A shortlist of 15 activities have been presented to the NGO heads. This list includes (1) selection of villages, (2) selection of potential teachers, (3) arranging accommodation, (4) procurement of materials, (6) preservation and utilization of materials, (7) to make the community participate in the program, (8) arranging teacher training, (9) to maintain liaison with important persons, (10) checking, filing and sanding the reports and plans prepared by Program Organizers, (11) surprise visit to schools, (12) motivating the teachers and Program Organizers, (13) maintenance of ESP NFPE project (s) accounts, (14) attending the orientation program organized by ESP, (15) solving the problems caused by fundamentalists or touts