Vibha in association with Sikshana conducted a 4 day outreach workshop from 8th to the 11th of July 2010. The main objective of this workshop was to create an opportunity where the Sikshana model could be demonstrated as a learning model to other like-minded players in the field of education. The intended strategy was to showcase and discuss all aspects of working of the Sikshana model keeping focus on its unique selling point. A total of 29 people from 21 organizations participated in the workshop.
Vibha played a major role in identifying, selecting and inviting development projects from across India. Vibha also coordinated with Sikshana on all the logistics, the agenda, the time schedule and the methodology of the workshop sessions considering the profile of the participants and co-funded 50% of the total cost. Sikshana took care of the venue, lodging-boarding of the participants, local transportation and invited experts for the workshop.
Both Vibha and Sikshana employed certain criteria in selecting participants for the workshop. Some of them being; organizations already working with local / state governments in the field of education, well established organizations with a strong belief in public education , research organizations working with public education, organizations from Karnataka who wanted to be a part of the workshop and so on. The training workshop was held at the Discovery Village, Bangalore (http://www.discoveryvillage.in/) and the workshop participants were accommodated at Elin resorts.
- Day 1 of the workshop began with the formal registration process and a kit was handed out to the participants. The day began with a brief welcome by Mr. Ramamurthy and saw the participants getting acquainted with each other and talking about their organization, work, achievements and future plans followed by a brief presentation by Mr. Prasanna about the sessions to follow in the coming days. The evening was an informal tour of the Discovery village letting the participants enjoy life away from the city for a change and was followed by a dinner hosted by Mr. Prashanth, chairman of Sikshana which brought the session to a close the first day.
- Day 2 of the workshop began with a presentation by Mr. Ramamurthy, founder of Sikshana about the ‘Role of Philanthropy in Education’. He emphasized on the fact that Sikshana will build on the strength of the Government and do things that they are unable to do. Mr. Ramamurthy also talked about the common factors affecting the quality of public education and how it can be brought down through decentralization and empowerment through ‘venture philanthropy’. The second session talked about Sikshana addressing the pitfalls of the public education system and achieving success in doing so. The headmasters from schools that have Sikshana interventions shared their experiences and this was followed by a mentor session and a discussion about the use of technology in Government schools.
- Day 3 consisted of school visits in groups to see the direct implementation of the model in schools and also project activities. The groups witnessed an overall improvement in the learning level of the children which is an important yardstick to measure the success of the Sikshana model. This was followed by a feedback session. Even though the participants had concerns of implementing the whole model, they definitely had some takeaways like the reading program through libraries, writing practice, spot prizes, technology usage and learning level assessment. The participants were deftly encouraged by the Sikshana team and were motivated to try their best in using the model.
- Day 4 of the workshop was mainly used for one-on-one sessions with the participants and a few guest speakers from APF, Akshara and Association for India’s Development shared their experiences with the members on the working of the Government. A vote of thanks brought the 4 day workshop to a close.
The Vibha-Sikshana Outreach workshop was a very informative and constructive one and an important step in the knowledge disbursal approach adopted by Vibha. Similar workshops were also conducted in Kolkata and Jaipur. Vibha and Sikshana look forward to staying in touch with the workshop participants in the future and following up with them on their implementation of either some of the components, or the whole Sikshana model itself, in their respective organizations.