Reimagining Education: Expanding learning to reach children in the last mile
SBCC Dhaara Webinar 6
16 July 2021

The years 2020 and 2021 have been extremely difficult owing to Covid-19 pandemic. In this period, millions of children across the country continue to be seriously affected due to school closure. Though education initiatives have been by implemented by the government and CSOs, the challenges to education continue, such as loss of learning, coping with digital learning and psychosocial disturbances because of missing school, and enhanced expectations/burden on parents and caregivers due to a sudden shift in degree of accountability, limited capacity and reduced priority.

As part of COVID-19 response, risk communication and community engagement (RCCE), a webinar on “Reimagining Education: Expanding learning to reach children in the last mile” was conducted under the SBCC Dhaara series on 16 July 2021. The aim of this webinar was to share the challenges and experiences of solutions/innovations for continued learning. This was the sixth of the Dhaara SBCC Webinar series, hosted by NCCDC through the SBCC Tarang Hub in partnership with UNICEF.

You can view the webinar here



Here is a brief on the webinar:

Session 1
The moderator from NCCDC welcomed all panellists and participants and requested the Chief of Education, UNICEF, India Office to provide his opening remarks.
Opening remarks – Terry Durnnian, Chief-Education, UNICEF India
The Covid situation has caused stress among children, parents, teachers and community resulting in many challenges. Despite remote learning initiated by the states through various media (TV, radio, printed media, online), about 40% children were reported as not attending the online classes as they did not have access to phone, smartphones or internet. Overall, children have faced a huge learning loss. The government, civil society organisations (CSOs) and UNICEF have tried various innovations including volunteer led classes, community learning opportunities, etc. Both parents and communities have risen to the situation to increase the opportunities to learn. However, there is miles to go.
It is therefore important for us to share with each other and learn from experience and together amplify our efforts to reach children in the last mile. This webinar is timely, and provides us an opportunity to strengthen the engagement between schools, parents and the education system. I am glad to see that the participants are SBCC practitioners who understand the importance of engaging parents and to encourage the parents to adopt new behaviours. At the same time, it is important to recognise the fact that parents are not teachers, and thus, they need support in enabling learning at home. This webinar is an apt platform to share experiences and findings from rapid assessment on children’s learnings conducted by UNICEF, and discuss the experiences of organisations who have worked with parents and communities, thereby amplifying the reach among each and every child in the last mile. I look forward to the deliberations from this webinar and the key takeaways to inform the work ahead of all of us.

Evidence and emerging issues – Sunisha Ahuja, Education Specialist, ECE UNICEF India
UNICEF conducted a phone-based, rapid assessment study in Aug-Sep 2020 around: access to learning during school closure due to Covid-19. The study was carried out in six states – Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, MP and UP – with parents and children aged 5-18 years, and also included teachers. The broad findings of the study are as follows:

• 41% children had no access to any kind of remote learning in rural areas and 31% in urban areas. Primary grade children were at a disadvantage.
• The government schools did have better access, owing to the efforts made by the state governments to ensure that all the children receive textbooks, though textbooks did not reach children in the last mile.
• There was a lack of awareness among students as to where they could access learning resources and non-familiarity with different digital tools.
• Around 97% children who had access, reported spending approx. 3-4 hrs a day in learning – a significantly less time compared to that in a regular school. Plus, this was more of self-learning, perhaps practising what they may have learnt.
• As per online data analytics, the students were accessing learning tools late in the evening, perhaps because they were supporting their families during daytime.
• 10% of students did not have access to any device including TV, radio and 29% had no smartphone, at home or elsewhere.
• Girls were at a disadvantage regarding access to learning device, owing to preference given to boys.
• Textbooks were considered an important learning material, and even those were not universally accessible.
• Though radio’s reach is in almost every nook and corner of the country, it was the least used platform for learning; even TV was highly under-utilised.
• WhatsApp and YouTube emerged as media platforms for learning. Teachers shared learning materials and YouTube links through WhatsApp, though its use varied across regions and in rural and urban settings.
• Parents did report spending more time, especially with younger children, in terms of supporting learning, providing an enabling environment, playful activities, and storytelling.
• Mental health was also an area of concern during this time – stress, anxiety were noticed more among older students planning and preparing for public exams, as they were unable to reach out to their teachers, engage with friends, engage in activities such as sports, and discuss their needs. We need to think how to provide the psycho-social support.

It is possible that the children may have forgotten some concepts learnt at school and may not have picked up new concepts from their curriculum. Parents, students as well as teachers have acknowledged that children are learning much less. Though not many studies are there to assess the learning loss, it is a known fact that children tend to forget a lot of things even after a long summer break. Therefore, once the schools reopen, things will have to be planned differently, focused more on blended learning, the system needs to know where the gaps are and it must be ensured that all the children come back to school and they are supported to catch up on their learning.

Session 2: Panel Discussion
Moderator: Begur Ramachandra Rao, Education Specialist, UNICEF India
Key questions posed to the panellists were:

• In the current context, could you share key strategies and steps in ensuring continued learning?
• Issues, barriers and challenges, possible solutions
• Suggestions to the system, nature of partnerships and what can be done to move forward in the field

Presentations by panellists on strategies
Early years and parental involvement - Shubhra Chatterjee, Director, Vikramshila
The work by Vikramshila focused on 3-6 year old children who were attending the Anganwadi till the lockdown started. They started the programme early on, by developing packages. The organisation worked in major states of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Assam and UP at two levels – state-wide dissemination through CPOs, BDOs, supervisors, AWWs, caregivers and also in specific districts to derive ground-level understanding of what works, what doesn’t. The programme was designed using some strategies that involved:

• simple technology like YouTube and WhatsApp which parents are comfortable with;
• data-light and resource light material as recharging for heavy download had cost implications. It included a pictorial calendar, audio files and two activities per day – one story and one rhyme per week;
• dynamic package that was revised on the basis of feedback received from the parents; and
• capacity building and counselling of grassroots level functionaries (AWWs), to prepare them for the new situation that arose due to the pandemic.

The programme really worked, leading to a significant change among parents and children.

Challenges and possible solutions

• Severe movement restrictions in Maharashtra and UP due to a high number of corona cases impacted the work.
• In focus districts of Pune which is urban and Palghar rural and some parts tribal, despite high access to devices, not all children used them. The parents did not feel the need for young children, especially girls, to study. This attitude was an impediment to the programme.
• The mothers were not so conversant with technology. The situation was totally new and they had to be trained on little things. They lacked confidence on how to teach and engage with their wards. Switching to a new mode of functioning without any physical training was difficult. They needed counselling also.
• Another barrier was lack of time. In Pune, 99% mothers are working. Around 35% reported that activities are good, but there is no time to teach.

We derived insights and worked to find the most appropriate solutions. Home based learning will continue; we have to be realistic in our expectations. Continued mentoring, engagement, counselling for parents and service providers will have to be provided. Don’t send material that will overwhelm them. Materials have to be engaging. For each location, we need different approach, one thing that works may not work everywhere.

School years - Dr Kailash Brijwasi, Director, Jatan Sansthan
Covid-19 gave new learnings and helped us to develop new strategies. The work can be summarised in three stages:

• Volunteers were identified and developed from among the local, educated youth to teach children at home for which the time, place and expectations were set; and the availability of learning materials for students was ensured.
• Dialogue between teachers and parents was initiated. Efforts were made for stable connectivity with teachers, so that the parents could seek teachers’ support to address challenges faced by their children. WhatsApp groups of parents were formed; teachers’ support was solicited for home visits; and the migrant students were linked with regular studies and efforts made for their enrolment in schools.
• Schools were prepared in terms of Covid appropriate behaviours (CAB) before reopening them, and safety related knowledge was imparted to students. In addition, a checklist was prepared for SMC to ensure that they carry out their role.

Challenges faced and possible solutions

• Finding (selecting) volunteers in remote villages was difficult as most people migrate, women are not much educated, and in such areas, retired govt or non-govt people are also not available. Plus, upon an evaluation, it came to light that there was lack of clarity and understanding in teaching and learning concepts, and not much teaching can be expected from them. However, they did work as a bridge between teachers and children.
• Under the set-up of teaching 3-4 children gathered together at one place, as linking those who stayed in faraway areas was difficult.
• After getting trained as a volunteer, there were monetary expectations. In addition, they joined as a volunteer for a short period that affected the programme.
• The parents refused to send their children due to Covid-19 scenario, especially girls as they were mostly involved in household chores. So, meetings were held with regular teachers, parents to convince them and ensure the participation of girls.
• Some parents opined that when paid tuitions are unable to help children learn, then how can a free programme teach them quality education. They had to be convinced that the volunteers will only connect them with teachers, and provide access to workbooks provided by the government.
• People of certain castes refused to send their children. Local people, teachers and parents did not cooperate with volunteers in many places. Many were not aware of the SMC, not even of the fact that their name existed in the committee. So, making them work actively was a challenge.

To meet all the above challenges, we had to put in a lot of extra effort to mobilise, convince, and build the bond that is necessary. We also sought the support of district officials also. To change the situation in terms of discrimination against girls, we worked on gender sensitisation among groups of boys, so that they could support and start the work of gender norms.

Area-based approach for continuing learning and ‘ensuring back to school’ - R. Venkat Reddy, National Convener, M.V. Foundation
The current hybrid model that includes online mode of teaching is really damaging, especially for first generation learners. The M.V. Foundation worked on an area-based approach under which the gram panchayat (GP) is seen as a unit. This helped them in identifying where to involve the GPs, SMCs, child rights protection committees, and during Covid times, the mothers’ groups were also added for quality education. These groups helped us reach and verify children in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They tracked every child on what they were doing during the pandemic. For example, we tracked 80,000 children in Bihar.

The involvement of children and parents was high, largely because of the GP members.
Hundreds of people joined to engage with children and through them, the M.V. Foundation conducted remedial classes for which 100 book titles were provided in each centre, i.e., small library books. The children enjoyed, narrated their own stories, even wrote them. Worksheets were printed, and thousands of children accessed them. The textbooks given by the government were also of great help.

In this area-based approach, we reached all children – private and government, and even non-poor children going to low budget schools who are being missed out in the entire debate. Young people innovated, teaching maths, for example, through food items at home.
The children learned, conceptualised and this even prevented them, especially girls, from going to work. The acceptance from the community was quite high.

Challenges faced and possible solutions
With the onset of Covid-19, an effort was made towards building a social norm in favour of children so that child labour is reversed. Major challenge was the huge demand for child labour. With the closure of schools, the demand for child labour increased and it became difficult to bring them back to learning. During this phase, sadly, the education and labour departments played no active role in protecting children.
Second, material-wise, these young students are not trained properly, still the remedial material helped immensely.
Lastly, Covid cases played spoilsport. Even if one corona case was reported, all the centres had to be closed down. There were no proper mechanisms to address corona related issues.

We tried to overcome the challenges, government teachers were coming, so our dialogue was with the government teachers. At the same time, bonding with children and parents.

Panelists on Moving Forward
The current situation requires newer strategies as also partnerships at all levels to promote learning and reach all children. Some of the points include:

• All children should be tracked and reached to ensure they are not missing out on learning. Once the schools reopen, their joining must be ensured.
• Every Panchayat must have a record of children below 18 years.
• Map across the country all the good work, and recognise the good work that has been done.
• Take district as a unit to demonstrate the progress.
• As parental engagement with children will continue in the days to come, a nuanced approach will be needed.
• When rolling out any strategy or programme, the family context must be considered as it will vary across the country and from location to location.
• Though home-based learning is going to continue, the onus of teaching should not be shifted on to parents; instead, they must be provided with the required support to aid in teaching.
• The emotional well-being of functionaries (AWWs, Teachers) must be ensured to prevent mental breakdown and to promote mental wellbeing.
• Promote digital equity – Buying a phone is easy, but sustaining it in terms of recharging it with data has cost involved. The governments may think about providing free wifi through corporate houses, in such places that have limited data availability.
• Will there be a positive relationship between children and teachers once the schools open?
  The pre-Covid times will not be seen once the schools reopen. The attachment and connect between teachers and students will need to be brought back.
• At local level, decision making capacity needs to be developed. What activities can be continued can be decided by the panchayats, SMC, etc.
• How to use the phone effectively must be taught to the children.
• To bring back the comfort level, one-to-one meeting with children and talks between teachers and parents will have to be promoted. Also, they should be provided material from time to time for easier use and understanding.

Key Takeaways – Alka Malhotra, C4D Specialist, UNICEF India
Based on the discussion, the important takeaways that emerged were as follows:

• As the schools are closed, parents/children often do not know where to reach out for learning. All those working in SBCC can contribute to make that connect with the teacher by making the teacher’s contact available or providing the links. Make the connect happen.
• Reach of technology is limited as also its use. Getting parents to know about technology and its usage is important.
• The print material is important for learning. The government has made all efforts to send textbooks to students’ homes, and worksheets have also been provided. In addition to technology, it is important to have textbooks and learning materials.
• It is important to find out that in the absence of parents, who is there at the community level to make the connect happen – is it a teacher or a volunteer or the unemployed youth. The parents must have the know-how of what to do, where to reach out and how that connect will happen. It is our task as behaviour change specialists to understand how this connect can happen. Therefore, we will have to understand the role of schools, community volunteers, and how do they reach out to parents, support that can be given to working parents, and how to make that connect happen.
• During the pandemic, parents have tried their best in terms of providing an enabling environment. This momentum needs to be sustained. However, they can only play a supportive role. Hence, they must be provided with support either by demonstration or other possible ways. Parents need to know that there may be a bridge course.
• Key message could be “keep the child engaged with learning always”.
• The Education ministry has launched guidelines last month for parents’ participation in home-based learning during school closure and beyond. It shows we are looking at an understanding that the parents are a key stakeholder in continuing the learning for children. And this recognition is logical and timely. These guidelines can be used for community strengthening.
• It will be important for those in the school and in the community to act as a bridge between the school and the parents to ensure the reach of learning materials, support them and ensure that the government system knows where the gaps are so that there can be more focused efforts to reach the vulnerable and marginalised groups.

In a nutshell, reach each and every child in the last mile.