· ¾ sir ratan tata trust – the funding agency, for making available a generous grant, and...

Six Monthly Narrative Report of the Early Literacy Project (ELP)

January – June 2008

Submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust

by

Keerti Jayaram Director Early Literacy Project (ELP)

Implementing agency Early Literacy Project (ELP) C1/4 Safdarjung Dev. Area, New Delhi 110016

Facilitating agency Social Work & Research Center Tilonia, District Ajmer Rajasthan 305816

ELP report January to June 2008 Submitted to Sir Ratan Tata Trust

ELP Content

Sl. No. Chapter’s Page No.

Acknowledgments Glossary Preface 1. Background 1 2. Objectives of ELP Phase II 2 3. The present status of ELP Phase II 2

4. Report of the ELP work within SWRC night schools Jan – June ‘08 4

- Background 4 - The context 5 - The night school children 6

- The night school teachers 11

- Enrollment of children 14

- Locating the night schools 15 - Interacting with the night school teachers 16 - Introduction of ELP methodologies 17 - Tracking the children’s performance 21

- The impact of social events on the functioning of the night schools 23

- The challenges 24

- Profiles of the villages and the night schools 29

Appendix – 1 School wise children’s performance across 3 assessments 35 Appendix – 2 Caste break up - Village and Night schools 37


ELP

Acknowledgments Sincere gratitude is offered to all the following without whose support this project would not have been feasible:

Sir Ratan Tata Trust – the funding agency, for making available a generous grant, and being sensitive to the situational variables which have required alterations in the work area, work plan, time frame of the project and reallocations of budget heads. This support has been invaluable. I would like to particularly like to thank Amrita Patwardhan and Bijita Devsharma for sustained, timely and valuable professional support.

Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC), Tilonia – for housing the ELP project grant. To the SWRC Director, Bunker (Sanjit Roy) for providing ELP with this opportunity for experiencing first hand the vision of the Barefoot College as it unfolds and actualizes itself through the fragile local talent, and more importantly for making us experience the need to nurture this vision with sensitivity and understanding.

SWRC Education Section – especially Tejaramji, Rameshwarji and Nauratji for invaluable support, advice and for the sharing of their wisdom, experience and talent. To Shivraj ji for happily driving us through the dark muddy tracks to the night schools.

Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC), Administrative Committee - for their constant support and advice, to Vasu for helping to process the proposal , and Ramswaroop ji (Accounts Dept).for assistance with the formalities for housing the grant.

Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC), Communication Section - to Mona and Mohan for capturing the spirit of the night schools in their photographs and filming

SWRC Kadmapura Field Centre – especially Kamala, Gopiji, Patelji, Bhaironji, Teju and Arjun for being on this journey with us like a family.

Government of Rajasthan, Department of Education – the Principal Secretary Smt. Veenu Gupta, the Deputy Secy Shri Madhu Sudan Sharma, for valuable support and for processing the permission to work in the Govt. Primary Schools with great promptness.

Department of Education, District Ajmer – DEO Shri Subhash Mishraji, BEO Silora Panhayat Samiti Shri Malakarji for providing valuable support and guidance

Rough Cut Productions- Anurag Singh and Raabiya Jayaram for being able to capture on celluloid the ELP varna samooha methodology, with a depth of understanding.

Night School teachers – Bhagchand, Harji, Jagannath, Kakaji, Kana Ram, Krishna, Mohan and Prem who are the pillars of this work

ELP resource pack team – Sushmita Banerji, Hitendra Upadhaya, Vijay Parashar, Maya Mrig of Taru Offset, Yogiraj Yadav - artist, Sanjida & BGVS team for stitching the bags

ELP supporters – Rajendra Gunjalji, Sister Mariola and Sister Jocelyn from Sophia College, Usha Sharma from RIE, Kavita Srivastava, Pappu, Meenu Banerji, Neha Awasthi, Arti Sawhny, Manoj and Ramesh Chandra for computer support

To Sanjeev Chopra and Co, Chartered Accountants for their professional support, and specifically to Praveen Kumar and Om Prakash

ELP Team – Kiran Dubey, Pukhraj Mali, the co partners in this work This project has been kept alive by the children of the night schools – who are the heart and soul of this work and from whose lives we have much to learn. This effort is dedicated to them Keerti Jayaram ELP Director (June 2008)


ELP

Glossary

Aankra Number Anganwadi Day care centre Ankikaran Evaluation marking Antakshari Song game based on ending sounds Baada Enclosure for cattle and goats Bageecha Garden Bajra Millet Chula Earthen fireplace for cooking Dadaji Grandfather Dal mill Mill for grinding lentils Dhan mandi Wholesale market for grain Dhani Hamlet on the outskirts of the village Dohas Couplets Dudhi Kapaas White cotton Halwai Seller of Indian sweets Jagir Estate Kavita Poem Keri Raw mango Kuccha Temporary Maandna Folk form of drawing Mohalla. Locality Navratras Nine days worship of the Mother

Goddess Panchyat Samiti Administrative division of a Block Pandit Brahmin priest Panghat Curb of a well Pataka Fire cracker Piao Drinking water kiosk Ravla A segregated area of the village where

the Rajputs live Sasural In-laws home Shiksha samiti Education committee Talaab Water tank or pond Teerath yatra Pilgrimage Thana Police station Yagya A prayer ceremony with fire


ELP

Preface The major thrust of Phase 2 of the Early Literacy Project (ELP) so far, has been an intervention

on reading and writing in Hindi with young learners in eight night schools which are being run by

the Kadampura Field Centre of the Barefoot College, Social Work and Research Center (SWRC),

located in the Ajmer District of Rajasthan; and the production of a Resource Pack with materials

to support the ELP intervention. This report will attempt to capture in some detail the nature of

the work with night schools, which is being undertaken in a world where social traditions,

entrenched in a long history, along with hostile natural forces, rub shoulders with more recent

socio-political frameworks, to weave a complex social fabric. The responsibility of putting

together this report entails compiling and collating insights, experiences and dedicated efforts of a

team for whom this work has meant an opportunity to touch the lives of children who are on the

margins. It also entails capturing both the richness as well as the starkness of the landscape within

which the night schools function. Work in the night schools with children from poor,

marginalized communities throws up a complex set of questions based on issues of equity, social

justice and child rights, many of which are enmeshed within the social and material realities in

which children’s lives are played out. Some aspects of these are briefly touched upon through the

ELP night school experience however deeper engagement with the complexities inherent within

these issues is beyond the scope of ELP’s work and the focus this report is to document the

process of setting up the ELP intervention within night schools.

For the ELP team this documentation is seen as an opportunity for tapping the wisdom and

insights of the more experienced and learned, as well as, those who can make a real difference to

children in the night schools. The ELP team has worked with dedication to try and understand the

multidimensional and complex nature of night schools. They have engaged with children in the

night schools, interacted with teachers, written diaries, prepared student profiles, tabulated data,

visited homes and held village meetings. The SWRC education section has offered valuable

support. It is with humility that I am presenting this effort, in the form of a narrative report. A

translation of this report in Hindi will be shared with those whom it has tried to represent.

Keerti Jayaram

Director, ELP

June 2008

ELP

1. Background Phase 1 of the Early Literacy Project (ELP) was implemented in two sections each of Classes

1, 2 and 3 in 6 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools located in South West Delhi for a

period of one school year, commencing from July 2006. It was designed as an exploratory project

seeking to find suitable ways to strengthen the foundations for reading and writing in Hindi for

young children within mainstream government schools. During Phase 1, the ELP methodologies

unfolded organically, through sustained engagement with children inside classrooms. These

included methodologies for developing the skills of word recognition and meaning construction

in Hindi for young beginning level readers and writers. In addition, an important aspect of the

ELP work in Phase 1 was to design ‘print rich classroom environments’ which are sensitive to

young children’s natural learning behaviours and individual differences. The walls of the

classrooms were used for displaying several interesting texts and written or pictorial material,

such as riddles, poems, and word walls. Activities based on these provided the children with

interesting and meaningful opportunities for reading and writing. The children learned to engage

with these displayed texts and written materials in a variety of ways, so that they “picked up’

reading and writing in natural ways which were purposeful and non threatening for them, in the

same ways that they learned to talk by using oral language in ways that are meaningful for them.

Within existing literature on early literacy, the relationship of the school to the social context of

the child has been found to be pivotal in the process of acquiring literacy. Based on this

understanding, ELP’s effort has been to allow methodologies for early literacy to emerge through

active and sustained engagement inside classrooms with children who come from varied

backgrounds, so that these methods and approaches for reading and writing in Hindi develop in

response to the diverse individual needs and learning behaviours of young children.

During Phase 2, the ELP methods are being implemented within government primary schools and

non formal night schools in rural Rajasthan where Marwari is the mother tongue of most

children, while Hindi is the medium of instruction in schools. This experience will provide ELP

with opportunities to actively explore the ways in which children in the rural context of Rajasthan

learn to read and write, and the role that school plays in their lives. Further, it is believed, that this

experience will equip ELP to adapt its classroom methods and materials, which evolved in the

urban context of schools in Delhi, to the learning needs of children from rural contexts; as well

as, to engage with classroom issues based on socio-cultural and linguistic diversity and home

school transitions. ELP Phase 2 began in Rajasthan in January 2008.


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2. Objectives of ELP Phase II 1. To explore the implementation of the ELP intervention within new contexts, such as with

children from rural, marginalized communities.

2. To activate the agency of regular teachers for implementing the ELP approaches within

classrooms in ways that are contextualized, sustainable and meaningful.

3. To explore mechanisms for incorporating ELP approaches as systemic interventions so as

to facilitate the future mainstreaming and up scaling of these approaches in a wider area.

4. To address the demand from teachers for material, support and capacity building through

the development of a resource pack, demonstration films, documentation and professional

sharing.

3. The present status of ELP Phase II 3.1. Mechanisms for incorporating ELP approaches as systemic interventions ELP Phase 2 had proposed to upscale the ELP work within MCD schools, and also focus on

incorporating the ELP intervention as a systemic intervention through the existing structures of

the MCD education system. Accordingly, a presentation was made to the MCD Education

Directorate and the District Education Officers (DEOs) of all the 12 Zones in Delhi in November

2007. CDs based on ELP’s classroom work were also distributed. This presentation resulted in a

positive response to the ELP approaches, subsequent to which a tentative work plan was

developed for extending the ELP intervention to approximately 40 schools in the Karol Bagh

Zone, New Delhi, after doing the necessary ground work, which included visiting the field area

and identifying the schools. The proposed plan included consultations and capacity building

sessions for MCD Education functionaries at various levels. In the mean time, however, there

were policy changes in the MCD, accompanied by changes in the senior level MCD Education

bureaucracy. On account of these changes the approval of ELP proposal for Phase 2 was delayed

and in fact, it is still under process. Since the ELP classroom intervention is contingent upon the

school academic calendar and time was running out, ELP decided to shift its work area

to government primary schools in Rajasthan. A revised work plan for this purpose was submitted

to SRTT for approval, following which permission was obtained from the Government of

Rajasthan for working in eight primary schools in District Ajmer from July 2008.


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3. 2. Work in Rajasthan

a) Night schools: ELP began work in January 2008 in eight non formal, rural night schools

which are run by the Kadampura Field Centre, under the Barefoot College of the Social Work and

Research Centre (SWRC), located in the Ajmer District of Rajasthan. These schools cater to the

educational needs of approximately 180 children from the poorest and marginalized communities,

who do not get an opportunity to attend mainstream day schools. The space for the night school is

provided by the by the village communities, while SWRC provides support in terms of teacher

emoluments, teaching learning material and teacher training. Efforts are made by SWRC to

mainstream some of these children who have been through a few years in a night school. The

ELP intervention within the night schools is being implemented through regular planning and

review meetings with the night school teachers and regular school visits. The children’s progress

is monitored closely through school based observations and regular learner assessments. In

addition to this, as and when the need arises meetings are conducted with Village Education

Samitis and community based groups, to discuss matters related to the functioning of the night

school. Systematic tracking of learner levels is being undertaken through special performance

assessment formats designed by ELP. On-going capacity building of the barefoot teachers, who

run these schools, has formed an important component of the project.

b) Government Schools in Rajasthan:

ELP has been given permission by the Government of Rajasthan to take up work in eight

Government Primary Schools in the Ajmer District, covering approximately 300 children. These

schools are located in the same work area as the night schools. Meetings for working out the

modalities of the ELP programme within these schools have been held with the District

and Block officials, along with a preliminary round of visits to the selected schools. Preparatory

work is currently in process. In July 2008 consultations with the School Managements and Block

Education Authorities will be followed with orientation sessions for teachers from the selected

schools. This will be followed by baseline reading and writing observations of children in the

selected classes of all the ELP schools. Work in the school classrooms will follow, with informal

and ongoing planning and review sessions with teachers, and regular tracking of learner progress,

forming an important component of the ELP intervention.

3. 3. Resource Pack

The ELP Resource Pack has been designed to include a package containing teachers’ guidebooks,

resource booklets, charts, posters, flash cards and a demonstration CD for implementing the ELP


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Varna Samooha methodologies for beginning reading in Class1. It also contains a special package

of materials for supporting the development of print rich classrooms. The ELP Resource Pack has

been field trialed and accordingly modifications were made to make it suitable for varied

contexts. This resource pack is currently under production.

3. 4. Film

A special demonstration film on the ELP Varna Samooha approach for developing beginning

reading and writing in Hindi, has been produced. This film is based on the ELP classroom

experience during Phase 1. A CD of this film will be included in the Resource Pack.

3. 5. Professional sharing

Professional sharing sessions were organized for the presentation of the ELP approaches and

classroom experiences to second year student teachers at DIET Moti Bagh and DIET R. K. Puram

in New Delhi. In addition to this workshops have been conducted for the SWRC education

workers in Rajasthan. More such sharing sessions are proposed in the near future. ELP has also

shared its work through a series of professional articles which are to be published shortly.

4. Report of the ELP work within SWRC night schools Jan – June ‘08

Background

The Early Literacy Project began work with night schools in Rajasthan in January 2008. This

work is being undertaken in eight night schools, in partnership with the Barefoot College of the

Social Work and Research Centre, (S.W.R.C.), which is located in Tilonia village, within the

Silora Panchayat Samiti in the Ajmer District of Rajasthan. The total number of children being

covered by ELP intervention is approximately 180. All the eight night schools in which the ELP

intervention is being undertaken are administered by the Kadampura Field Center of the

S.W.R.C. This is a Field Center within which the S.W.R.C. night school programme required

greater support, in comparison to some of the other field centers in which the night schools are

running well, and therefore S.W.R.C. had suggested this to be an appropriate work area for the

ELP intervention. The ELP methodologies were to be introduced in these night schools with the

idea of adapting the programme content of ELP intervention for S.W.R.C. These interventions

were monitored closely through regular meetings, field visits and school based observations.

Systematic tracking of learner levels was undertaken through special performance assessment

formats designed by ELP; and the capacity building of the night school teachers was ongoing and


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ELP

rooted in their school based interactions with children and in the actual transactions of the ELP

teaching and learning materials and content that had been planned for the particular time period.

While implementing the ELP programme in the night schools it has been important to try and

build a deeper understanding of the social and environmental frameworks which impact the

children’s learning, along with the perceived role of education and early literacy by the

communities. Most of the children who attend the night schools in this area are from the poorest

and marginalized communities, who exist on the fringes of survival. These children begin to share

a major part of the responsibilities and struggles of day to day life with adults in their families,

from a very young age. Most of the children work in the day, either at home, or in the fields. A

number of them spend a major part of their days grazing their goats and buffaloes.

The context The villages, in which these night schools are located, are situated within a drought prone area,

and are scattered within a 10 km radius, and at a distance of about 15-20 km from the town of

Kishangarh, which is part of a former princely state and currently the center of a large marble

industry. It is a growing urban hub, within which the modern and traditional coexist side by side.

All these factors have had a historical, social and economic impact on the development in the

villages in the hinterland, which include the villages under the S.W.R.C Kadampura Field Center,

in which the ELP work is being undertaken. Within these villages remnants of a feudal social

structure continue to define social structures and interactions. These villages are located close to

the new highway, but seem to be untouched by the development that it connotes. Many local

buses and jeeps in fact, take the longer muddy detours to by pass the toll taxes on the highway. It

is these overcrowded buses, jeeps or tempos with several people perched on the roofs that provide

the links between the global and fast developing world on the highway and the tucked away, and

struggling world of the night school villages. Although the distance between these two worlds in

real terms is a just few kilometers, the distance in metaphoric terms is much wider. Most of the

local population in these villages has been engaged in rain fed subsistence farming for centuries,

however, the dry, parched lands are mute evidence to the acute water shortage in the area, as a

result of which vast areas lie dry and uncultivated, and a large chunk of the population now

provides the work force for the marble and other industries that are located in and around the

town of Kishangarh. Others in the village meet their daily subsistence from work generated by the

famine works or else they periodically migrate to the larger cities in Rajasthan, Gujarat, or to

Delhi in their search for daily wage work. The rivers in the area have turned into myths and

abound in the lore of the elderly, and in the songs that have been handed down over the


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ELP

Pinky

generations. In an early experience within a night school the children were asked to draw a

“nandi”, which is the local Marwari word for river. To our amazement we found the river was

captured in almost all the children’s drawings as a thorny or rocky serpent, or as dotted blades of

grass along a dry length of land, with no trace of water whatsoever. These drawings have been a

telling reminder of the vastly different world in which the night school children grow up.

The night school children It is the children who are the soul of the night school, and no understanding of the night school

will be complete without getting a feel of the lives of these children. These case studies have

attempted to provide a glimpse of their role in the village society; their struggles and joys; their

responsibilities and the attitudes of the grown ups in particular the parents, teachers and village

elders towards them; their dreams and most importantly, their need to attend the night school. An

attempt has been made to delve into the lives of the children through these case studies in order to

get a deeper understanding of the complex fabric of their lives, and ways in which school can

address these. The four case studies that are being cited are not exceptional or out of the ordinary,

but are representative of the lives of the majority of the children who attend the night schools.

Case Study 1 - Pinky and Mamta

Pinky and Mamta are both sisters. Pinky is the

older one, she is approximately 15 years old and

Manta is around 12 to 13 years. They live in

Khandaach and have been attending

Ramswroop’s night school. They enrolled after

the house to house survey was conducted by

ELP in January. They lost their mother when

Mamta was about 6 months old. Their father is

an alcoholic and used to ill-treat and beat his

wife, so she committed suicide by jumping into

a well. The villagers quietly cremated her without registering a police case. Their paternal

grandparents live in the village and girls were brought up by their grandparents with a lot of love and

affection. So much so, that the girls fondly remember how their grandfather used to bathe them when

they were little and even spent time removing lice from their hair. Their father has four brothers, who

live with their wives and families close by. Pinky was about 12 years of age, when her grandfather

died. This was a turning point in their lives. At the age of 12 Pinky had to start working in the stone


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Mamata

quarry, spending the day breaking stones. Once she was past 14 years of age, she started working in

the “pataka” (fire cracker) factory located about 7-8 kms away, close to the highway. Their

grandmother is still alive and they all now live with their paternal uncle and aunt.

Both the girls are very simple. While Pinky goes for work to the “pataka” factory, Mamta does

all the house work. This includes tending to the animals, fetching water from the well, sweeping,

cooking, washing, as well as working in the fields. Pinky leaves for the “pataka” factory at 8am

in the morning and at 6pm in the evening the factory bus drops her home. After returning she

bathes, has food and then goes off to the night school to study, from where she returns around 10

pm at night. Their uncle and aunt have two children both of whom go to the day school. When

asked why these two girls were not sent to the day school, the Uncle replied that there was a lot of

house work for them to do.

Pinky and Mamta’s father is a vagabond and is

drunk most of the time. He wanders around to

different places and is not in the least bit

bothered about the two girls, and it doesn’t

matter to him whether they are dead or alive.

The only time he comes home is when he

needs money to buy alchohol. For all practical

purposes the girls have no mother or father.

Their entire day is spent in work and the only

respite is when they get some sleep at night.

When asked if they had any desires or dreams,

they were silent. There is no time to think about all this. The only form of entertainment they

have is if there is a wedding in the neighbourhood, or occasionally they watch CDs. Their

grandfather had 85 bhighas of land, which has been divided amongst the four brothers. There has

been no talk so far of getting the two married, however when the time comes their share will be

sold and the two will be married off, into an unknown destiny. Neither of them thinks ahead.

When asked why they went to the night school, and why did they want to learn to read and write,

they were silent, and then in subdued voices said “it will only benefit us, there cannot be any

loss”. They said they get tired of work and this gives some relief, but they also feel sleepy

because of exhaustion. They do not dwell on the past and live from day to day.


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Desraj and his Dada ji

Case Study 2 –Desraj.

Desraj is a student of the night school in Khandaach which is run by Jaganath. He has been

attending school since January, but in between he went off for a stretch of time and rejoined the

night school on his return.

Desraj is about 11 to 12 years old. He is a Gujjar, and he has three brothers and one sister. His

mother goes for employment to the famine works. He lost his father about eleven years ago.

Desraj was very small when his father died. The family believes that an evil sprit got into him

when he urinated at a forbidden site, and this resulted in his death.

Desraj grazes goats in the day. He said he

feels very happy when they take the goats

outside the village for grazing. For the last

three years he has been accompanying his

‘Dadaji’ (paternal uncle), when he takes the

goats for grazing to areas near Jaipur. His

Dada is attached to his goats and wants to

keep them separate from other flocks, so that

they can graze nicely. Since he is was unable

to tend to the goats alone, he asks Desraj to go

with him. In all they have 16 goats.

When they migrate with the goats, they start their day at 4am. Desraj gets up, makes tea for his

‘Dadaji’ and drinks goats milk himself. Then he goes to the Government Dairy to sell milk, and

after he returns he cooks rotis . They give the goats water to drink and get some butter milk from

the owner of the grazing fields. Then Dadaji and he both have their meal. They have the butter

milk with their rotis. Then they take the goats for grazing and feed them branches of ‘desi

babool’. They spend the whole day out grazing and at around 4pm. once again take milk to the

Government Dairy. After coming back from the Dairy Desraj cooks dinner. He makes roti’s out

of wheat flour along with a vegetable, which is usually ‘keri’ (raw mangoes). Once again he tends

to the goats; he fetches water for them to drink and settles them for the night, and then they go off

to sleep. The money that they get from selling the milk to the Dairy is used to pay the landowner.

For every ‘babool’ (which is called ‘kikar’ in Jaipur) they have to pay Rs 200/-.The remaining

money is spent on food and daily expenses. The Government Dairy makes weekly payments to

them. They migrate for two months every year. Desraj has now been migrating for the last three

years. He feels very happy when he his away with his ‘Dadaji’ and the goats.


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Supyar

When asked why he attends the night school, he said because he would learn the ‘aankra’

(numbers). He also likes playing and singing in the school. His studies however get disrupted

when he his away for two months and it takes him time to reconnect on his return. He is unable to

go to the day school as he grazes the goats during the day. When at home he tends to the

buffaloes and gets fodder for them. The family owns ten ‘bhigas’ of land and they manage to

make ends meet. They are a reasonably happy family and there is no major problem at home.

Case Study 3- Supyar.

Supyar is about 12 years old. She is a frail

child, who is very shy and withdrawn. It took

a long time to draw her out. She lives in a

‘kuccha’ mud house in Khandaach with her

parents and two sisters and three brothers.

They belong to the Gujjar caste, and there was

a time when her father was amongst the most

influential and respected people in the village.

It is said that no decision in the village was

taken without consulting him. However, with

time he changed his ways and took to drinking. He spends his entire day at the village tea shop,

and shoulders no responsibility. In fact, he is a drain on the family income. The family owns 35

bhighas of unirrigated land, which yield crops only if there is some rain. Her mother works at the

famine site. One sister works in the ‘pataka’ factory, and one brother works as a construction

labourer. The other brothers and sister are small and stay at home. Supyar’s responsibility is to

take the goats for grazing during the day. She said when the goats graze they give milk and the

family members are then able to drink milk. We happened to meet Supyar when she was

returning home with a load of fire wood on her head. Attempts at talking were of no avail, as she

was very shy and just turned her face away. It was only when we went to her home and spent

time with her mother that she became a little communicative. They live in a small kucha hut. Her

mother was making ‘rotis’ out of bajra on a mud ‘chula’ when we entered. This was astonishing,

as in the normal course of things ‘bajra’ which is very heating is eaten only in winter. Supyar’s

family was however; too poor and could not afford the wheat that is eaten in the villages at this

time of the year.


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Prabhulal

Supyar starts her day early. After fetching water and attending to other household chores, she has

a meal at 8 am, which comprises of half a ‘bajra’ roti and some buttermilk, and then she takes the

goats out grazing. She is out from 8am to 5pm.During this time she eats nothing. When asked if

she felt hungry, she said “no”. She goes quite a distance, sometimes up to 3 to 4 kilometers. She

said lots of children graze goats, including Desraj. While the goats graze they get together and

play. They make mud houses and other toys out of black soil and play. She is very keen on

studying but said she did not want to go to the day school because the teachers beat the children.

This did not happen in the night school. She said it was important to study as then one could

become a doctor, or get a job in the ‘thana’. When asked about what she wants to become she

remained silent. She likes going to the night school, though she is not a very active.

Case study 4 – Prabhulal.

Prabhulal a 13 year old boy lives in

Dholpuriya with his parents, three brothers

and one sister. They live in a mud hut. They

belong to the ‘Bairwa’ caste. His parents are

illiterate. His older brother has passed the 8th

class and the second brother Mahaveer is

literate, and had attended the night school

earlier. His older sister Umroa is married. The

family owns 24 bhigas of land. However when

the sister got married they spent a fair amount

of money on the wedding and on the girls jewellery. They incurred a substantial debt, and their

lives changed, and Prabhulal’s father and brother had to migrate in search of employment.

Prabhulal studied in the day school for two years. He was however, petrified of the school master

who would beat the children. He ran away from school very often and hated going to school. His

family tried very hard to convince him to attend regularly. However, when finally they realized it

was to no avail and he had learnt nothing in the day school, he dropped out of school. Once out of

school, he was given the task of grazing the goats, which had been entrusted to his brother

Mahaveer, who now started working as a construction labourer.

Prabhulal starts his day at 6am, once through with his morning chores he has his meal at around

8am and sets off with the goats. He is out the whole day. He says there are many children who

graze cattle. They often get together to play cards. In the afternoon he usually goes off to sleep


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under a bush, He even has a bath in a nearby field. He returns home in the evening at around

5pm, and then has his evening meal.

He has enrolled in the night school and has been attending for the past six to eight months. He

really likes the night school and is participating actively in all the learning activities. In fact his

desire to go to school has once again been stimulated, and he keeps talking about going back to

the day school. He is however apprehensive that this time his parents will not agree. At present

his father has stopped going to work and has begun to drink. His mother goes to the famine relief

work.

The night school teachers Getting a teacher for the night school is not

easy. There are very few educated youth,

especially those who have passed the tenth

class. The young men and women from most

of the villages go for employment to

Kishengarh, where they work on a daily wage

in the ‘marble’ area, or in the ‘pataka’ factory,

the ‘dal mill’ or the ‘dhan mandi’. Sometimes

even when there are enough out of school

children, it is not easy to start a night school, because of the difficulty of finding suitable teachers.

A brief profile of the eight teachers in the selected night school is given below:

Bhagchand Balai in Khandaach, is also physically challenged and uses a crutch to walk. He has

been recently employed at the famine work site in the ‘piao’ during the day, where he provides

water for the labourers. His father is very sick and mentally disturbed, and because of this he

sometimes disrupts the class. He had a brother who was considered to be highly intelligent but

who got a into a severe depression when he did not do well in his college exam. As a result he

drowned himself in a well. This was huge blow for Bhagchand and his family, and caused them a

lot of distress and grief. Ultimately Bhagchand married his brother’s widow. His son was recently

bitten by a dog and had to be taken to Kishengarh for treatment. Because of this the night school

remained shut for one week. Within the night school the line between day to day life outside the

school and life inside the school is very fluid, and daily life events become a part and parcel of

the night school.

ELP

Harji Gujjar is a very experienced night school teacher. He has been a night school teacher with

the SWRC since 1984. He has passed the eighth class exam, and is a dedicated teacher, who is

enthusiastic about trying out new methods of teaching children. Many children in his night school

are confident readers. His family owns 18 bhigas of land. In the day Harji works on his land and

also tends to his goats and buffalos.

Jagannath Gujar runs a provisions shop in Khandaach village in the day. He has passed his

tenth class exam. He has also recently been employed a mate (supervisor) at the famine works.

He has studied up to the tenth Class. He owns 15 bhigas of land. Jagannath claims that he is

drawn towards teaching young children, and that is why he joined as a night school teacher. We

got a glimpse of his involvement with children during a monthly review meeting in which he was

one of the few night school teachers who contested the conclusions arrived at during the first

reading and writing assessment of children, which was conducted by ELP in his school.

Jagannath meticulously went through each child’s performance sheet and gave his feedback,

while capturing each child’s individual strengths. In many cases he felt the children had not done

well because of the unfamiliarity of the situation, and he was eager to have a reassessment.

Kana Ram Bairwa, the present teacher in Dholpuriya is a young student who has just passed his

tenth class Board exam from the government secondary school in Deenhwara, which is at a distance

of about 8 – 10 kms from Dholpuriya. He was appointed by the village ‘shiksha samiti’ in February

2008, in place of his older brother Hanuman, who was the earlier night school teacher. He belongs

to a very poor family and since they could not make ends meet Hanumaan migrated to Jaipur in

search of employment. Kana Ram belongs to the Bairwa caste, and most of the children in his

school belong to the same caste, in fact his school functions in a baada in the Bairwa mohalla. He is

a conscientious student and a motivated teacher. Despite being physically challenged with a bent

spine, he attends day school regularly, covering the fairly long distance on a rough mud track on his

bicycle. He has to take time off for some days every time he has exams. He tries to get his brother to

come and hold fort during these days, so that the children of the night schools do not miss school.

Krishna Sharma is the teacher from Tehri village. She is a Brahmin. She belongs to a very poor

family and is burdened with an alcoholic husband, so the entire responsibility of bringing up her

three young children has fallen on her shoulders. Her older daughter is grown up. Krisha’s family

does not own any land and so she works in the ‘pataka ‘factory in the day. She leaves early and

only returns to the village around six in the evening. After a quick evening meal, she straight


12

ELP

away makes her way to the night school. She has responded well to the ELP programme. In fact

she has blossomed. She was amongst the least involved teachers earlier, but now hers is the most

regular and effective night schools in the area. When asked the reason for working as a night

school teacher, she responded by saying that she wanted to bring about the betterment of children.

Mohan Singh Jat has been appointed as the night school teacher to replace Ramswaroop. He has

studied up to Class 4. He is physically challenged, and uses a crutch to walk. He does not work in

the day. His family owns 10 bhigas of land, and when the rainfall permits they do subsistence

farming. He has the reputation of being a sincere and earnest worker. He joined as a night school

teacher in the month of May 2008.

Prem Devi Gujar is the night school teacher in Almaas. She is Harji’s daughter. She has small

children. Her husband is also an alcoholic and so she has to bear the responsibility of supporting

her family. She works at the famine site in the day, and also works on a small patch of land that

her husbands family own.. She is a night school alumnus and learnt to read and write in the

SWRC night school in Sargaon, which is her parental home.

Ramswroop was the teacher in one of the three Khandaach night school. He is the owner of a

barbers shop; he also ran the village ration shop and did videography for weddings to earn an

extra buck. Due to his other commitments his school was irregular and the performance of the

children was not up to the mark. Since all teachers are appointed by the village ‘shiksha samiti’,

they can be dismissed and changed only by this committee. Here the local village and caste

politics often comes into play. In Ramswaroop’s case even though his performance was poor, it

took a couple of months to replace him, after he had been issued several warning, to no avail.

Finally, the committee approved Mohan (who is physically challenged), who also belonged to the

Jaat caste and a new location was found for the school in the Jaat mohalla.

Shrawan Singh Purohit- the elderly teacher in Deendhwara is commonly referred to in the local

area as Kakaji . He belongs to the Rajpurohit caste. He works in a private school in the day and is

also the mate at the famine works. Earlier he has worked in SWRC as an education worker. He is

a religious man and in-between goes off on ‘teerath yatras’, once for about 3 weeks and the

second time for about 5-6 days. During these times the school remained shut. After being

confronted by ELP and the Kadampura field center, he has given an assurance that in future he

will ensure that his absence does not become a reason for the school not functioning.


13

ELP

Enrollment of children Table 1. : Village wise number of school going and out of school children

Source: Local informal sources, during ELP village surveys

School going

children No of children

Out of

school

Children

Vill

age

No

of h

ouse

s

Popu

latio

n

0-6 yr 6-14yr Gov

t. sc

hs

Pvt.

schs

Tot

al

No

of c

hild

ren

in

nigh

t sch

ools

B G T

Khandach 250 1650 219 346 160 88 248 64 34 47 81

Tehri 176 1055 176 268 137 77 240 22 20 45 65

Dholpuria 223 1250 157 234 91 58 149 26 24 16 40

Deendwara 354 3063 323 476 280 189 473 22 4 37 41

Sergaon 194 1835 167 264 124 84 208 23 7 13 20

Almaas 72 436 65 39 39 22

The village wise data for the number of school going and out of school children is presented in

the table given above. These numbers were arrived at through local village sources and have been

treated as approximate numbers. Getting the ‘out of school children’ to attend the night school

can be a very challenging task. Initially we found that out of the 25 odd children who had been

enrolled in each night school many were in fact children from more affluent village families, who

attended the regular day school. They were also attending the night school to support their day

school learning or complete their home work. In two night schools in Khandaach village out of a

total of 30 children on the rolls, 12 were found to be from the day school. In Tehri Village out of

10 children who had been enrolled, 8 went to the day school. As long as school going children

from the upper caste groups come to the night schools, the ‘out of school’ poorer children from

the socially backward sections of village society, will not come to the school. For the night school

teachers who are not powerful keeping the school going children away can get problematic. Thus

the initial focus of the ELP work was to ensure that each night school enrolled 20 to 25 ‘non

school going’ children. For this purpose house to house surveys were carried out in all the six

villages in which ELP was working. to get an idea of the total number of ‘out of school’ children.


14

ELP

Although Deendhwara Village had an enrollment of 23 children, regular attendance was a

problem as almost 50 percent of the children went off to watch TV in the neighborhood. The first

challenge that ELP encountered within the night schools was the uncertainty of student

attendance. We quickly realized that getting the children to attend school regularly is difficult

task. Within this milieu the functioning of the night schools is to a large extent determined by the

factors affecting the lives of the people in the village, and concepts of regularity, continuity,

punctuality at times seem non existent. Therefore, just to keep each night school running

everyday is not easy. It poses a completely different set of dynamics to the day schools and

requires major adaptability. On our part we have had to rethink our planning strategies, do away

with weekly planning meetings and allow for processes to evolve at their own inherent pace. We

have also had to get used to working out our schedules within the local priorities and have learnt

to take disruptions in our strides. All these pose major challenges for the night school teachers.

Locating the night schools The village surveys provided ELP with an opportunity for interacting with the local community and

resulted in motivating several families to enroll their children in the night schools. They also helped to

identify children who were attending the day school, since it had been a few years since such a survey

had been conducted. The surveys also helped to provide insights as to why children in some villages

were not attending the night school. For instance the night school in Tehri was found to have a very

poor attendance. Through the survey it was discovered that there were 34 children in the adjoining

‘dhani’(hamlet on the outskirts of the village) who had never been to school. These were mostly from

the ‘Bairwa and the ‘Bagriya’ castes, who formed the poorer and marginalized section of the village.

The night school teacher found that the families of these children were keen to send their children to

the night schools, since the day schools were not within their access and the night school provided

them with a ray of hope. The children too, were eager to learn and become educated, and were found

to be enthusiastic about attending the night school. The existing night school however, was located at

a fair distance and in the upper caste section of the village called the Gujjaron aur Thakuron ka

mohalla. It was unsafe for the children from the ‘dhani’ to reach this school at night, especially since

most of the children were older girls. A decision was taken to relocate the school from it present

location to the ‘dhani’. This has proved to be beneficial, as the school now has a highly motivated

group of children who attend regularly. Similarly in Deendwara after the survey it was decided to shift

the school to the scheduled caste ‘Balai’ mohalla, where there was a much greater need with many

more ‘out of school’ children than at the existing location of the night school in the Jaat mohalla. .As

a consequence there is now a larger number of children who attend regularly.


15


16

ELP

Caste has been an important factor for deciding the location of a school. In Khandaach the Village

Shiksha Samiti had selected Manju , who was a Vaishnav, as the teacher to replace the Jaat

teacher Ram Swaroop. The school was to be relocated in more suitable accommodation in the

Jaat mohalla. However, the house owner refused the offer to make available accommodation for

the night school, when he discovered that Manju, a Vaishnav, was to be the teacher. There was

much argument and persuasion by the village elders, but it was only when Mohan, who is a Jaat ,

was selected as the teacher, that the house owner agreed to give the premises. Further, it was only

after assurance was given by the Village Shiksha Samiti, about the safety of their children, that

parents from other castes agreed to send their children to this new location. In a later incident a

fight between two caste groups in Khandaach led to the withdrawal of a night school girl

Interacting with the night school teachers The first interaction with the night school

teachers and education workers from SWRC

was undertaken in early January 2008, before

starting school based interventions and drew a

mixed response. On the one hand while

existing problems were shared and the need

for a child friendly approach was expressed,

on the other hand, there was a slight

apprehension to change, as patterns of

functioning had by now got entrenched and accepted. Despite this there was an enthusiastic

response to ELP’s ‘Varan Samooh’ methodology for introduction to beginning reading and

writing, and to the activity based learning. The general feeling amongst the teachers was that

children would enjoy learning through these methodologies and actively participate in the ELP

processes. It was also felt that these methods would help to maintain a greater regularity in school

attendance, which has by now become an issue of concern. During these interactions an effort to

draw upon the local strengths and cultural forms was made by the teachers and in this context a

range of folk songs, poems, dohas and stories were shared. The richness of the cultural forms was

revealing and that it existed as a living tradition amongst very ordinary people was very

heartening. At one point during a workshop, it was decided to play the game of ‘Antakshari,’ and

ELP

we were amazed at the rich store of ‘dohas’ and folk songs that were available to the night

schools teachers and education workers of SWRC.

These initial professional interactions and sharing sessions were followed up with regular

monthly meetings. These were day long planning and review sessions with the teachers. They

were designed as collective interaction sessions, during which teachers from all the eight night

schools shared their experiences, discussed their problems, and sat with the ELP team to review

the past functioning of their schools and plan their future programmes. It was through this process

of review and planning that the ELP Varna Samooha methodology was introduced, gradually and

organically. These sessions proved to be useful in building a relationship of mutual trust and

sharing, as well as the starting of a dialogic process, towards contextualizing the ELP intervention

and addressing the challenges that the teachers faced. They also brought out areas of resistance

from the teachers. After the initial spell of enthusiasm, the teacher’s interest in these meeting

began to dwindle and the ELP team found that teachers were more receptive to school based on

going interactions. ELP is working out a balance between the two, since an important aspect of

these meetings is an opportunity for the teachers to share and respond to each others efforts. In

the month of April, a two day residential workshop was conducted in Tilonia, for a more detailed

exposure to the ELP approaches. The SWRC Education Workers and some senior SWRC

members also participated in this workshop. ELP films were also screened during these

interactive and participatory sessions.

Introduction of ELP methodologies Approaches to beginning reading and writing Through the ELP varna samooha methodology,

beginning level readers and writer are exposed to selected groupings of Hindi alphabets and

matras, which are called varna samoohas. These groupings have been designed to help children

to understand the linkages between alphabets, syllables, words and texts. The methodology based

on the varna samoohas introduces young learners to Hindi alphabets (varnas and matras)),

syllables (akshars), words and text simultaneously, in interrelated ways, so that alphabets do not

remain as meaningless symbols which are just rattled off, but instead children are able to relate to

these as parts of meaningful words. This classroom approach uses a combination of akshar charts,

word walls and poem posters, along with a range of activities to enable children to link their day

to day spoken language with the written forms of language.


17


18

ELP

The Varna Samooha Methodology While

introducing a varna samooh each alphabet

within it is written on the black board, one at a

time. The children are asked to copy it on their

slates and trace its shape with their fingers.

They follow the teachers hand movements and

write the shape of the alphabet in the air. This

helps the children to understand the direction

flow to be followed while writing each

alphabet. The children then asked to provide words that began with a particular alphabet, thus

learning to connect the written shape of the alphabet with its sound. Children in all the schools

responded enthusiastically to provide a variety of words starting with the selected alphabet. These

included many words that were in Marwari. For example, some words starting with the letter / ke/

which were given by the children included ‘kakri’, ’kaledi’, ‘kaagla’’ kankar’, ‘kaka’ ‘kanchere’

etc, which are words from the children’s daily language.

All the alphabets and matras within the varna samooha are presented to the children through an

akshar chart. This akshar chart is in fact a briefer version of the traditional barakhadi chart.

Recitation of the akshar chart is practiced daily in a variety of ways, so that children master the

sound and symbol relationship for each akshar. We found that the teachers had begun to devise

their own innovative ways for doing this recitation. For example in Tehri the teacher combined it

with actions; while in Dholpuriya, the young teacher jumbled up the akshars to recreate new

charts which the children recited. Some teachers changed the directions for the recitation, from

right to left or bottom to top etc, and in this way made the recitation more challenging and

interesting. In most schools the recitations follow the traditional sing song patterns that children

are familiar with. This is followed by single children coming up to the chart and identifying

random akshars. Some children participate only in the larger groups and being singled out

seemed to be threatening for them. Such issues are discussed from time to time in the teacher’s

review and reflection meetings, so that teachers are sensitized to the different learning needs of

children. On the whole the teachers and children have responded well to the akshar chart. Some

teachers are however, stuck with the traditional system of dealing with matras separately,

especially since the learning of matras is challenging. There are deep conditionings and changing

them is often not easy. From time to time the ELP team innovates while demonstrating teaching

strategies in a school. Such exposures help to communicate new perspectives to the teachers..

ELP

Responses to the Varna Samooha approach During the teachers meetings the teachers have on

several occasions been positively inclined towards the Varna Samooha approach, as they found it

provides the required support for beginning readers and writers. Bhagchand, the Khandaach

teacher felt that by allowing space for children to use their own words, the children feel less

inhibited and learning becomes easier for them. He found the systematic structure which was

provided by the akshar chart was useful for children such as Ramchander, Shravani and Kali,

who had migrated for almost two months. The akshar chart provided them with a useful support,

when they returned, and they were able to get back to where they had left off. Within the transient

world of the night schools, a structured approach was found to be useful.

As mentioned earlier, within the varna samooha approach emphasis is laid on getting children to

relate alphabets, written words and written texts with words in their day to day spoken language,

so that these written forms of language become meaningful for them. Plenty of opportunity is

provided for children to combine akshars to make their own words, and then to draw these words

in their own free ways. During such activities the children’s spellings and drawings are not

“corrected”, so that they feel a sense of inner connection with these written words and their

drawings. This helps the children to realize that reading and writing are another form of language

and are connected to them. Further through specially developed little rhymes they learn how these

words from within the varan samoohas combine to form larger texts. The idea is that children are

helped to systematically engage with different forms of the written language in ways that are

meaningful, non threatening and interesting. In all the schools the children are now working on

the second varna samooha grouping. Most of the children have mastered the sounds and symbols

of the first varna samooha and acquired the

skills of combining akshars to form

meaningful words. They have learnt to

visualize these words through meaningful

drawings. A host of Marwari words have been

created by children in different night schools

by combining the akshars from the akshar

charts. These have included words like aapa,

neeka, leepna, pala, makka, pali.

The responses of the schools have varied. In Jagannath’s school the children are very involved in

the process of drawing their words and have produced interesting drawing for each word that they

wrote from the akshar chart. In Dholpuriya, on the other hand, while some of the older girls make


19

ELP

drawings for their words, many of the boys have been dismissive and have responded by claiming

that “maandana” (the local form of drawing) is something that only girls do. This gender bias

towards drawing still persists in this particular school. We are now planning to photocopy some

of the word drawings of children form different night schools and share them across schools to

help children open up and become receptive to the idea of drawing freely. ELP believes that

drawing is a very important step in the process of learning to read and write meaningfully as it

helps children to express their inner worlds through symbolic forms. It has not been easy for the

teachers to hold back and let the children “find their own words” within the akshar charts.. This is

something that does not come easily to teachers, who are ever ready to give the children a whole

lot of words, and in doing so denying the children the exciting process of discovering their own

hidden words. For some teachers the issue of accepting words written in children’s home dialects

is confusing and goes against their notions of school. There are many such complex layers that

define the world inside the night schools. Stories and songs have been an important part of the

night schools. They also form a part of the world that the children grow up in. The children have

many stories to share. We plan to compile these into a collection for the children. In the days to

come we also propose to work much with the children’s own rhymes and stories.

One fleeting moment of success Sanju attends the Dheendwara night school. Her house is close

to the school. She is a timid and quiet little girl who sits sile ntly and does not participate in the

night school work. This is the case with a few children in all the night schools. Some children

take their time to open up. On one occasion after sitting next to her, I slowly took her through the

akshar chart. She followed with her eyes, but when I began to quiz her in a playful way, she

slowly began to open up. We then recited a varna samooha poem with the small group that sat

close to her, while I pointed out the text of the poem from the poem poster. One by one the

children began to look for the “kavita” words and then spontaneously began to find them in the

akshar chart. Sanju remained attentive and focused, although she did not open her mouth even

once, she seemed quite absorbed. Gradually I asked her to look for the word ‘mala ’in the poem

poster. We broke it up into /ma/ and /la/ with word claps. After her initial reluctance, she

managed to find /ma/ and suddenly realized that this was a part of the word ‘mala’. She was then

helped to locate /la/. She then painstakingly copied these onto her slate. I helped her to read them

separately and then combine them to make the whole word ‘mala’. I noticed that all this while

Sanju was completely engrossed. Then, with some amount of patient coaxing I got her to repeat

the poem “Mala Lana”after me. We spoke about “malas”, in a monologue, with me doing all the

talking in my rather threadbare Marwari, while not being quite sure how much of my broken


20


21

ELP

Marwari registered with Sanju. Ultimately, after some

amount of encouragement from me, Sanju very hesitatingly

drew a miniscule little “mala’ in a tiny corner of her slate.

All through this entire time her face had remained

completely expressionless. To an outsider it would have

appeared as though this little girl was not absorbing

anything. Yet, there seemed to be an active mind working

away somewhere deep inside her. It therefore came as a no

surprise for me when in a quiet voice I overheard her tell her

older sister, as she was leaving for home, “manne padba

aagiyo” (“I have learned to read”). Although, I was

eavesdropping, it was a privilege to be apart of this quiet

moment of success. Deep inside I prayed that the spark that had been lit would be kept alive.

There are many such stories of challenges and triumphs that fill the spaces of the night schools.

Tracking the children’s performance The children’s progress has been monitored regularly in all the night schools. For the first two

months (Jan / Feb) assessment was done through individual reading and writing assessments for

each child, based on predetermined ELP assessment formats. Such individual assessments helped

to provide insights about each child’s reading and writing processes, which are useful for

teachers.. The SWRC education workers were involved in this exercise, and have also found this

a useful exercise, which they plan to extend to all the other night schools which are being run by

them. The first two assessments, i.e. Ankikaran 1 and 2 were based on varna samooha 1, while

Ankikaran 3 was based on varna samooha 2.

Based on their performance, the children have

been grouped into two levels, Level 1 and

Level 2. The individualized observations

provide a close look as to the reading skills,

like alphabet and word recognition and the

mastery of sound symbol relationships

required for this purpose. They are however,

difficult to administer as they are labour and

time intensive. ELP has therefore subsequently modified its assessment strategies and developed

more feasible whole class assessment formats.

ELP

Table 2: School wise performance scores across 3 assessments (Ankikarans)

ANKIKARAN – 1 Jan/ Feb 2008

ANKIKARAN – 2 April 2008

ANKIKARAN – 3 June 2008

Level 1 Level 2 Level 1 Level 2 Level 1 Level 2

NIGHT SCHOOL

Mea

n Sc

ore

(20)

Mea

n sc

ore

(20)

Mea

n sc

ore

(42)

Mea

n Sc

ore

(4

2)

Mea

n sc

ore

(3

5)

Mea

n sc

ore

( 3

5 )

marks % marks % marks % marks % marks % marks %

Khandach A 2.4 12 19.5 97.5 9.6 22.8 39.8 94.7 24.4 69.7 34.2 97.7

Khandach B 1.5 7.5 19.5 97.5 12.2 29 40.1 95.4 24.6 70.2 33.3 95.1 Khandach C 2.4 12 - 16.5 39.2 41.2 98 31.2 89.1 -

Tehri 3.8 19 14.2 71 19 45.2 40.2 98 - - 29.9 85.4

Dholpuriya 2.9 14.5 17.7 88.5 16.1 38.3 38.9 92.6 16.4 46.8 34.2 97.7

Deendwara 1.9 9.5 19 95 6.1 14.5 37.3 88.8 27.8 79.4 -

1 5 15.2

76 Almaas* 27.4 78.2

- -

Sargoan* 10.6 30.2 -

An important component of the ELP intervention is this regular monitoring of children’s

progress. This is done by closely tracking the children’s individual progress in reading and

writing through the use of specially designed assessment formats. These are then shared and

discussed with the teachers during review meetings .The table given above provides evidence

of the forward movement of children in the night schools in both the level 1 and level 2

categories, across the three assessments that were done in the months of January/

February, April and June 2008.


22

ELP

The impact of social events on the functioning of the night schools The night schools exist as a part and parcel of the social fabrics of the villages in which they are

located. Caste based communities form an important part of the social fabric and support systems

in these villages, within which social events play a predominant role. For the night school

children these often attain primacy over attending school. Within the short span of six months

with the night schools, the following social events have competed with the functioning of the

school, either because there was a drastic reduction in school attendance, or because the school

shut down.

Religious functions From the 13th to the 21st of May ’08 a “Shanti Yagya” was organized in

village Dholpuria through community contributions by the entire village. The entire village

participated and people from several of the surrounding villages also came. Every household gave

a donation towards its organization. At the site of the Yagya, though community contribution a

Shiv mandir and a bageecha is being made During the Navratras every night the “Ram Lila is

enacted, and all he children go to see it. In some villages the night school remained shut for the

entire duration..

Death Two children who attend Jaganath’s school in Khandach lost their mother in a motorcycle

accident. The family lived in a house opposite where the night school is housed. They are also

related to Jaganath (the night school teacher).The night school shut for about a week, as the

tradition in the village is that the entire mohalla partakes in the mourning.

Marriages At the time of “Akhateej” several marriages take place in every village. This is

considered to be the time of akshaya tritiya which is an astrologically auspicious day, when the

permission of the pandit is not required. Some of the night school children were married during

this period. In Bhagchand’s school in Khandach a student, Sardar got married. All the children

from the night school participated in the singing and festivities, so the school was closed for a few

days. Maya, Sonu, Santya, Mahinder, and Norti are other children from Bhagchand’s school who

were married this year. They all missed school for about a fortnight and have now returned.

Similarly in Dholpuriya- Kali and Gulab, who study in the night school, got married on the 20th of

June. They are at present in their ‘sasural’ and will return after sometime. Then they will

probably start attending the night school once again. In the Deendwara night school, Mangli who

had been married off in her childhood, had been a regular student of the night school, was sent off

to her ‘sasuraal’, when she turned fourteen, and has stopped attending the night school.


23

ELP

The issues of child marriage and child labour are complex, and beyond the scope of the ELP

work, therefore it is an issue that ELP has looked at only in relation to its impact on the school,

and other dimensions have not been touched upon.

Festivals In Dholpuriya at the time of “Makar Sakranti” (harvest festival) all the children play

“Ghoti Ghari” (rural hockey) in the moonlight for ten to twelve days. The night school remains

shut during this time.

In Deendhwara at the time of Holi this year Doondh Gyaras celebrations took place. These

celebrations take place at the birth of a first child. On the eleventh day of the month of Holi, gifts

are given to the child by the paternal aunt. The child is bathed, songs are sung and there is all

round celebration.. Quite a few of the night school children absconded and attended the

celebrations which took place in Deendhwara.

Local disputes Recently in Kandaach there was a fight between members of two different caste

groups from two different mohallas. Since Bhagchand’s school is in this area, and several

children belonged to the affected castes, the children did not come to the school for two to three

days and the school remained shut. Thus the night school is constantly impacted by the social

environment within which it exists.

Gender based factors The night schools provide many experiences of girls not being allowed to

continue to study. In Tehri, Sita who was a keen student is over fourteen and so was not allowed

to attend night school, as she is now “big”. She will be sent to her “sasuraal”. There are many

such instances.

The challenges The work for introduction of the E.L.P. methodologies in the non-formal night schools of rural

Rajasthan has been quite an uphill task. Apart from having to adapt to the local language and

culture, it is the sheer day-to day ness of existence that has posed several challenges. In an area

with poorly developed agriculture and industry, where survival is the focal point around which

lives of the people revolve, life is existentialist, insecure and often at the mercy of forces over

which those on the margins have very little control. In this situation of uncertainty and

vulnerability, caste identities have got entrenched and have become a means of deriving some

security. Life visions are usually orthodox and fatalistic and are reflected in the attitudes towards

education, as well as towards women and children and the gender biases. Some amount of

exposure to modern development and communication technology has managed to build

awareness for the need to educate, and in our interactions with villagers we found that education

has now come to be valued, both in terms of providing access to an informed world, as well as, it


24


25

ELP

being viewed as a means for the attainment of a livelihood. This need is catered to by the

government schools and a few private schools that have mushroomed in the larger villages. Night

schools therefore draw those children who have to contribute towards the family income during

the day; or from those families where literacy is a low priority but who have now got motivated to

give it a try. Needless to say majority of these children are from homes with oral traditions with a

not-so-serious attitude towards literacy and education. A few concrete situations are being sighted

to illustrate some of the difficulties and challenges we have been faced with, and to bring to light

the forces which shape the regular running of the night school, the attendance of the children and

performance of the teachers.

1. Migration: Several families migrate in search of livelihood to big towns and cities, during the

early summer months. In most case the children accompany their parents, and this disrupts their

school attendance. In Bhagchand’s in Khandaach Kali, Shrawani, Nanda and Ramchander were

away for along spell of time. Ramchander has recently returned after a month, and is now finding

it difficult to re-start from where he left in school. Such examples of children who have migrated

with their parents can be found in all the schools. We found a few cases, such as Sunita and Teju

Jaat from Jagannaths’ school in Khnadaach, who did not accompany their parents, as they had to

look after their goats and other live stock, and so were left behind. Their relatives and community

members keep on eye of them. The parents leave behind rations for their children. Is sometimes

gets difficult for the children as they have to cook and fend for themselves

2. Physical space All the night schools are run

in spaces / rooms provided by the village

community i.e. the ‘village shiksha samiti’.

This varies from a tiny room to a shed or even

an open ‘baada’, (enclosure for cattle and

fodder). Some of the difficulties faced on this

score are:

Tehri – the night school runs in an open ‘baada’. The school runs well in this space. The children

sit in the open, and share their school space with the owner’s family and their goats and buffalos.

There are two solar lamps, which provide the lighting. In the bitter winter cold and during the

rainy season there is a lot of difficulty and the school is compelled to shift into the only available

alternative, which is a close by empty shop. The shop space is inadequate and right on the road,

ELP

where it is not safe for the older girls, who are reluctantly come in groups. In the baada there are

no walls, and hanging the ‘Akshar chart’ and posters pose a problem, since these often get blown

away when there is a strong wind. Sitting on the ground, on mats is also at times problematic as

there are snakes and scorpions. A couple of times the school has had to shut because there was a

scorpion and all the children ran away. The school is thus at the mercy of natural forces and the

weather Gods, and often battles to remain open during the summer sand storms, the rains and the

bitter cold winter. The children are however, an enthusiastic and confident bunch who doggedly

attend the school, and are eager to share their learning whenever we visit the school. On one

school visit we found the teacher had been unable to open the school for a day or two due to some

personal problems. The children were upset as they had not been informed and expressed their

unambiguous disapproval to their teacher.

Dholpuriya- the night school is held in a shed with a thatch, meant for goats. In the summer

months the school shifts to an open space just outside the thatched shed. There is enough space

for a group of 20-25 children. There are however children whoa re at different levels and

providing adequate lighting to all the groups thought the solar lamps is problematic. The lamps

have to be constantly shifted to light up the board or wall charts. Although the home next to the

school has an electricity connection, they are not willing to share this connection with the night

school. All efforts to tap this resource have failed .This school also faces the same challenges as

the one in Tehri.

Khandach- There are three schools in Khandach. Two of the schools have access to indoor

space. Jagannath’s school has the reverse problem of not having any open space, and in the

summer months, it becomes rather stuffy for the children. Bagchand’s class runs in a thatched

shed and faces similar problems to the night schools in Tehri and Dholpuriya. The space is

cramped and there is very little space for the children to move around. During the rainy season

there is a lot of slush around the school, which makes it challenging for Bhagchand and the

children.

Almaas- the school runs in the verandah of the anganwadi room. It is very small and the children

are cramped. Some of the children have to sit in the thorny, muddy area around the verandah, and

are unable to see the black board and charts. Efforts to get permission to use the anganwadi room

at night have not borne results. A meeting was held with the village community to find alternate

space for the school. These efforts are still on. In between the school was shifted to an open


26

ELP

baada close by. However the neighbourhood TV and CD players were a huge distraction for the

children, many of whom just ran away. The school was brought back to its earlier location.

However, a meeting has been held with the villagers on the TV problem and they have promised

to cooperate, so the possibility of shifting back to the baada is currently under consideration.

3. Lighting. Most of the night schools do not

have electricity. They use solar lamps

provided by S.W.R.C. There is one lamp per

school, and the light is often not sufficient if

the number of children increases. Also these

lamps get spoiled from time to time.S.W.R.C

now has a policy of providing one solar lamp

for a group of 10 children. Since there are

approximately 20 odd children in each school,

most of the schools are entitled to two lamps. There is a problem of these being misused by the

teachers and we find that although most of the night schools have two solar lamps, in most cases

one is has been sent to Tilonia for repair, and for large periods of time the schools function with a

single light, which is not adequate. In most of the schools the lamps are shifted from the wall to

the gr ound, depending on the need. The children work in groups, sitting around the lamp. In the

rainy season these lamps attract clouds of insects and mosquitoes, making it almost impossible

for the children to work, and yet we were moved to find many children doggedly defying the

insects in their concerted efforts to learn to read and write.

4. Transport. The villages of Deendwara, Khandach and Tehri are located along the road which

connects these villages to Kishengarh, and a few overcrowded private buses, tempos and local

jeeps, with people clinging on to the footholds or cramped on the roofs, ply on this route during

the day. Kadampura is about a kilometer off this road, and it is here that the ELP team resides in

the S.W.R.C. field centre. The villages of Almaas, Dholpuriya and Sergaon are in the interior and

are connected with ‘kuccha roads’ which pass through stretches of desolate area, with thorny

scrublands. Reaching these night schools was initially challenging for the ELP team who was

dependant on the SWRC Field Center for transport. Often when the SWRC workers were

involved in some other tasks, the ELP team got stranded. This problem was temporarily resolved

by appointing Radhey Shyam, a resident of Khandach as the ELP field assistant, and by making

use of his motorcycle. However very soon it was found that Radhey Shyam was continuing his


27

ELP

work in the Kishengarh marble industry alongside and this began to affect the night school work.

So his services were discontinued, and the ELP team was back to square one. The SWRC

administration was however, responsive to this problem and agreed to put a motorcycle at the

disposal of the ELP team. It was also considered unsafe to visit the night schools of Almaas and

Dholpuria on the motor cycle. The Kadampura Field Center also has a tractor which is used for

the purpose of these visits and also when the whole team visits a school for individual

observations of children. From time to time SWRC has made available a jeep, especially in the

bitter winter moths and rainy weather. In the meanwhile ELP has also got into an arrangement

with a local jeep, and so the challenge of transport seems to have been resolved.

5. Safety. Safety has been another area of concern, both for the ELP team as well as for the girl

students who attend night schools. There is always a slight nagging fear lurking in the sinister

dark, as the team returns back from the night schools to Kadampura at around 10pm, on isolated

roads lined with a thick growth of thorny bushes. This becomes more palpable when on a motor

cycle. On one particularly dark night, while returning from Dholpuriya on a tractor with the rest

of the ELP team along Gopiji and Arjun, the Kadampura Field Center group, we were on the

receiving end a stone which was hurled from the darkness, and although we were all shaken ,

luckily no one was injured. Since then the trips to the more distant night schools in the villages of

Dholpuriya, Almaas and Sargaon are undertaken only by jeep, and when it gets too late then a

long detour along the highway is considered advisable for the return journey. We are constantly

peppered with accounts of incidents where thieves or drunkards have attacked travelers. Recently

a local doctor was attacked by six men while going to Dholpuriya on his mobike. In another

incident a ‘Halwai’ was attacked. An attempt is made for the ELP team to be accompanied by a

group from the Kadampura Centre, but this is not always feasible. As mentioned earlier now an

arrangement has been made with a local jeep owner for going to Almaas and Dholpuriya, and this

problem of the safety of the ELP team has been taken care off to a large extent.

6. The safety of teenage girls attending night schools is also an issue in some night schools, as

they. As a fallout of the industries in the area, many booze shops have cropped up in villages such

as Deendhwara. Nathi, a sixteen year spoke about her dreams of learning to read and write, and

how she the night school provided her with this option, since it is just not possible for her to get

away in the day. The expression on face confirmed her eagerness to come and learn at the night

school. However, Nathi along with her friends Saroj have become very irregular, despite this

eagerness to attend, and the main reason for this is the unruly, drunk men who lurk about the area


28

ELP

at night, making it unsafe for these girls, and making their families reluctant to send them to send

them out of their homes at night. In some of the other villages such as Khandach, the innocuous

local provision shops, have now started selling liquor. Thus the fear being teased or molested by

drunkards at night is a very real one for teenage village girls. This is the reason why a couple of

schools girls after the age of fourteen have stopped attending the night school in Deendhwara,

Khandach and Tehri even though they were making reasonable progress, and were extremely

keen to learn to read and write in the night school.. Rekha, from Bhagchand’s school in Khandach

and Sita from the Tehri School have been recent dropouts from amongst the older girls.

Profiles of the villages and the night schools ** Table 3: .Gender Based Caste Profile of Children across the 8 Night Schools

Source: Local informal sources, during ELP village surveys

Caste Category Girls %age Boys %age Total %age SC 43 32.3 15 30 58 31.6 ST 11 8.2 8 16 19 10.3 OBC 78 58.6 24 48 102 55.7 GEN 1 0.75 1 2 2 1 Others - 2 4 2 1 Total 133 50 183

ELP is at present being implemented in eight night schools which are located within six villages

falling within the S.W.R.C. Kadampura Field Centre Area, located in the Silora block of Ajmer

District, Rajasthan. These villages are – Khandach, Tehri, Deendwara, Dholpuriya, Almaas and

Sargoan. As the Table above shows, a majority of the night school children are from the socially

backward caste groups. There are also many more girls than boys, since the boys are sent either to

the government day school or to the local private school. Thus girls from the socially deprived

caste groups continue to remain as the most vulnerable group within the villages, for whom night

schools is perhaps a ray of hope. It is because of the night school experience that Prem, the

present night school teacher in Almaas has been able to find a new identity as a “teacher”.

1. Profile of Village Khandaach Total No of households: 250 Population 1650 Total No of children: 0 to 5 years – 219 6 to 14 years - 346 Total No of children in government school: 248 Total No of children attending night schools – 63 Total No of school age children not receiving education - 81 * *Source: Local informal sources, during ELP village surveys


29

ELP

Khandaach – A –Night School (Gujjar Mohalla)

Caste categories

No of Households % Caste categories

in night school

% of caste categories in night school

SC 10 4 ST - OBC 210 84 22 95.6% GENERAL 19 8 1 4.4% OTHERS 11 4 TOTAL 250 23

Khandaach – B –Night School ( Jat Mohalla)

Caste categories

No of Households

% No.Caste categories in night school


SC 10 4 5 22.7% ST - OBC 210 84 17 77.2% GENERAL 19 8 OTHERS 11 4 TOTAL 250 22

Khandaach – C- Night School ( Jat Mohalla)

Caste categories

No of Households

% Caste categories in night school


SC 10 4 ST - OBC 210 84 19 100% GENERAL 19 8 OTHERS 11 4 TOTAL 250 19

Khandaach - A special feature of Khandaach is that all decisions regarding village matters or disputes are taken by the village elders and matters are resolved in the village itself. For such decision a meeting of the elders takes place in the ‘Bada Darwaza’.The owner of R.K .Marble (the business magnet in Kishengarh), belongs to this village, and thus the village had a special identity. The village owns 76 bigha of land in the name of pigeons. Income from this land is used for purchasing grain for pigeons.Khandaach has an active youth group which functions with support from the Nehru Yuvak Kendra and has undertaken the upkeep of the village park and planted a hundred trees. The park is in the centre of the village on the banks of the ‘talaab’. The village has a government health sub- centre and 2 government primary schools, with one located in the dhani. A number of the youth are employed as contract labourers in the marble area in Kishengarh and commute daily. Many families of the Bagriya caste migrate for 6 to 7 months to Delhi or Jaipur for work.


30

ELP

2. Profile of Village Tehri Total No of households: 176 Population 1055 Total No of children: 0 to 5 years –176 6 to 14 years -268 Total No of children attending government schools- 214 Total No of children attending night schools – 34 Total No of school age children in the village not receiving education – 43 Tehri– Night School ( Bairwa Mohalla)

Caste categories

No of Households %

No. Caste categories in night

school


SC 54 30.6% 12 52.1% ST 6 3.4% 3 13% OBC 78 44.3% 8 34.7% GENERAL 38 21.5% OTHERS TOTAL 176 23

3. Profile of Village Dholpuriya Total No of households: 223 Population 1250 Total No of children: 0 to 5 years – 157 6 to 14 years - 234 Total No of children government school: 149 Total No of children attending night schools – 26 Total No of school age children who are not receiving education – 40 Dholpuriya- Night School ( Bairwa Mohalla)

Caste categories

No of Households % Caste categories in

night school


SC 74 33.1% 26 100% ST - OBC 109 48.8% GENERAL 40 17.9% OTHERS TOTAL 223 26


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ELP

Dholpuriya village was originally established by the Tada family, who wereJjats. Later on the Rajputs came to settle and they built a ‘Ravla’.In the centre of the village is the ‘Takhur ji ka mandir”. The village elders meet here to discuss village matters and settle disputes. Even now very few cases go to the thana. The temple has 60 bhigas of land. There is a ‘panghat’ well in the village, from where all the villagers fetch water. The Berwa and the Bhambi castes have separate wells. There is a ‘Teja ji ka mandir’ as well as a ‘Sitla mata’ mandir. Agriculture is the main occupation. There are very few educated people in the village.

4. Profile of Village Deendhwara Total No of households: 354 Population 3063 Total No of children: 0 to 5 years – 323 6 to 14 years – 476 Total No of children government school: 473 Total No of children attending night schools – 22 Total No of school age children in the village not receiving education – 41 Deendhwara- Night School ( Balai Mohalla)

Caste categories


in night school


SC 66 18.6% 17 77.2% ST 4 1.1% - OBC 201 56.7% 2 9% GENERAL 24 6.7% 1 4.5% OTHERS 7 1.9% 2 9% TOTAL 354 22

According to information collected from the village elders Deendhwara was established 525 years ago. The original village was not at its present location, but was built where the ‘Chamoron ka nada’ is today. Even today there is a well at the ‘nada’ and ruins of earlier settlements can be seen. Ancient cooking vessels have been found in the area. The ‘Nekati Gujjars,’ are said to have come and settled here. However due to famine conditions the village was uprooted and the people left, only to return later. This process continued for a while. The local villagers believe that they fell victim to disease epidemics and today (after 260 years) there is no trace of the ‘Nekati Gujjars’ in the entire area. This area, it is believed had thick jungle. Today most of the agricultural land is located in the southern part and extends up to Kadampura (which was initially a part of Deendwara).Later the ‘Doondh Jats and Balais came to settle in Deendhwara, but they settled a little far off. The story goes that there was severe water shortage. A buffalo was set free to locate water. After roaming around the buffalo return covered with slush. This continued for some days.


32

ELP

It was decided to follow the buffalo, and a small pond was found where the buffalo spent the day. The people moved to this spot, which is where the present Deendhwara village is located. People started cultivating ‘Dudhi Kapaas’ (cotton) and the village was named ‘Dudia’. The jats were prosperous .They cultivated land and bred cattle. About 150 years ago the Rajputs came and settled in the southern part of the village. They took permission from the Kishengarh Darbar and begun cultivating large stretches of land on the southern side. Later this part of the village came to be known as Surajpura. Even today Surajpura is marked on the map. At present Surajpura has only agricultural land belonging to the Rajputs, and the Rajputs live in the village. Later two’ talaabs’ were dug by Maharaja Madan Singh and Jai Jingh of Kishengarh. These still provide water for irrigation to five villages in he area Today, Deendhwarwa.it is a fairly large village consisting of various caste groups. The story goes that many years ago there was fight between the Rajputs of Dholpuriya and the Purohits and the latter of won. They were then given Deendhwara as a ‘jagir’ by the maharaja as a reward. This is known as ‘doliyon ka goan’. Kadampura, which is now a separate village, was earlier a part of Deendhwara

5. Profile of Village Almaas Total No of households: 72 Population 436 Total No of children: 0 to 5 years – 65 6 to 14 years -39 Total No of children government school: 39 Total No of children attending night schools – 23 Total No of children in the village not receiving education – not available Almaas- Night School –( Bhilon ka Baas)

Caste categories


in night school


SC 12 ST 19 21 91.3% OBC 33 2 8.6% GENERAL 8 OTHERS TOTAL 72 23


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ELP

6. Profile of Village Sargaon Total No of households: 196 Population 1835(approx) Total No of children: 0 to 5 years – 167 6 to 14 years -264 Total No of children government school: 208 Total No of children attending night schools – 26 Total No of children in the village not receiving education – 20

Sargaon- Night school –( Jat Mohalla)

Caste categories


in night school


SC 20 10.2% ST - - OBC 154 78.5% 22 100% GENERAL 16 8.16% OTHERS 6 3% TOTAL 196 22


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ELP

Appendix 1 School wise children’s performance across 3 assessments TABLE 1: Mean scores for Levels 1 and 2 across eight night schools for ANKIKARAN – 1 ( Baseline) Jan/Feb ‘08 Sr No.

Night School

Total No. of children

Level - 1 Level -2

Total No of children

Mean % Score on

20

No. of children

Mean score on

20 1 KhandachA 23 13 2.4 8 19.5 2. Khandach B 23 9 1.5 7 19.5 3 Khandach C 22 14 2.4 - - 4 Tehri 20 8 3.8 10 14.2 5 Dholpuriya 26 16 2.9 7 17.7 6 Deendwara 19 17 1.9 2 19 7 Almaas 20 15 1 5 15.2 8 Sargoan 22 Note- Absentees have not been included in the mean scores.


35

ELP

TABLE 2: Mean scores for Levels 1 and 2 across eight night schools for ANKIKARAN - 2 April ‘08 Sr No.

Night School


Level - 1 Level -2

Boys Girls Total No of children

Mean % Score on

42

No. of children

Mean score on

42 1 KhandachA 5 18 23 6 9.6 11 39.8 2. Khandach B 6 17 23 9 12.2 11 40.1 3 Khandach C 4 18 22 12 16.5 4 41.2 4 Tehri 1 19 20 6 19 10 40.2 5 Dholpuriya 9 17 26 15 16.1 10 38.9 6 Deendwara 7 15 22 15 6.1 6 37.3 7 Almaas 10 13 20 - - - - 8 Sargoan 4 18 22 - - - - Note- Absentees have not been included in the mean scores. TABLE 3: Mean scores for Levels 1 and 2 across eight night schools for ANKIKARAN - 3 July’08 Sr No.

Night School


Level - 1 Level -2

Boys Girls Total No of children

Mean % Score on

35

No. of children

Mean score on

35 1 KhandachA 5 18 23 12 24.4 11 34.2 2. Khandach B 7 15 22 11 24.6 11 33.3 3 Khandach C 1 18 19 19 31.2 4 Tehri 2 21 22 - - 23 29.9 5 Dholpuriya 9 17 26 19 16.4 7 34.2 6 Deendwara 7 15 22 22 27.8 - - 7 Almaas 10 13 23 23 27.4 - - 8 Sargoan 4 18 22 22 10.6 Note- Absentees have not been included in the mean scores.


36

ELP

Appendix 2 Caste break up - Village and Night schools KHANDAACH

Night School Village No of

houses Castes Caste categories

No of caste

households %

A B C Kandach 250 Bagriya OBC 30 12.2 Bairwa SC 6 2.4 3 Bhambi SC 2 Damami OBC 1 0.4 Daroga OBC 2 Dhobi OBC 4 1.6 Gujjar OBC 75 30.7 18 15 Harijan SC 3 1.2 Jat OBC 70 28.6 4 19 Khati OBC 2 0.8 Kumhar OBC 1 0.4 Mahajan OBC 2 0.8 Mali OBC 4 1.6 Muslim ORS 7 2.8 Rajput GEN 16 6.5 Rana GEN 2 0.8 Sadhu GEN 1 Sen OBC 5 2 Vaishnav OBC 16 6.5 244 23 22 19 Source : ELP village survey

TEHRI

Village No of houses Castes Caste

categories

No of caste

households % Night School

TEHRI 176 Balayi SC 19 10.7 Bairwa SC 32 18 12 Bhambhi SC 2 1 Bheel ST 6 3.4 3 Daroga OBC 5 2.8 Gujjar OBC 18 10.2 4 Jat OBC 32 18 Khati OBC 2 1 Kumhar OBC 4 2.2 Lauhar OBC 1 0.5 1 Mali OBC 11 6.25 3 Nayak OBC 1 0.5 Rajput 37 21 Rana GEN 1 0.5 Regar SC 1 0.5 Veshnav OBC 4 2.2 176 23 Source – ELP village survey


37

ELP

DEENDWARA


categories No of caste households % Night School

DEEND-WARA

354

Bagriya OBC 9 2.6 Balayi SC 14 0.2 16 Bairwa SC 5 1.4 1 Bhand OBC 1 0.2 Bhat 39 11.3 Bheel ST 1 0.2 Brahmin GEN 8 2.3 Damaami OBC 2 0.5 Daroga OBC 3 0.8 Dhobi OBC 3 0.8 Goswami OBC 2 0.5 Gujjars OBC 45 13.1 Harijan SC 2 0.5 Jain GEN 3 0.8 Jat OBC 102 29 1 Kalbeliya ST 3 0.8 Khati OBC 8 2.3 Khatik SC 27 7.8 Kumhar OBC 9 2.6 Lauhar OBC 1 0.2 Muslim 7 2 1 Nayak OBC 1 0.2 Rajpurohit GEN 4 1.1 1 Rajput GEN 9 2.6 Regar SC 18 5.2 Veshnav OBC 8 2.3 Yadav OBC 9 2.6 354 Source – ELP village survey


38

ELP

DHOLPURIYA


categories

No of caste

households % Night School

DHOL-PURIA

223

Bagariya OBC 5 2.2 Balayi SC 19 8.5 Bairwa SC 55 24.6 26 Jat OBC 86 38.5 Khati OBC 11 4.9 Nayak OBC 2 0.8 Rajput GENERAL 32 14.3 Sharma GENERAL 8 3.5 Veshnav OBC 5 2.2 223 Source – ELP village survey

ALMAAS



AL-MAAS

72

Bairwa SC 7 9.7 Bhambi SC 1 1.3 Bhil ST 19 26.3 19 Brahmin GEN 1 1.3 Dholi OBC 2 2.7 Goswami OBC 3 4.1 Gujjar OBC 7 9.7 2 Jat OBC 5 6.9 Khatik SC 3 4.1 Kumhar OBC 2 2.7 Nayak OBC 12 16.6 Rajput GEN 7 9.7 Rebari OBC 2 2.7 Regar SC 1 1.3 72 Source – ELP village survey


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ELP

SARGAON



SAR-GOAN

194

Brahmin GEN 8 4 Doli OBC 4 2 Gujjars OBC 100 51 14 Khati OBC 14 7 Meghvanshi SC 10 5.1 Muslim 6 3 Nut SC 4 2 Prajapath OBC 21 10.7 12 Raidas SC 6 3 Rao GEN 8 4 Sen OBC 1 0.5 Vaishnav OBC 14 7 196 Source – ELP village survey


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