The study "Modalities of the Workplace Training of Rural Bridge School Teachers for Dropout and Nonstarter Girls" done by Jaipur based educator and researcher Dr Lalit Kishore suggests that vertically organized small schools require in-house training, material development and back-up support for quality education.
The study was done with a sample of 25 single teacher small schools run by CULP-NGO in Rajasthan.
The abstract of the study is as follows.
A workplace training and academic support system was developed and transacted for the teachers (N=25; All female; 80 % Graduates; Age: 25-45 years) of out-of-school girls (N=560, Age: 9-14 years, Dropouts and nonstarters) to peruse two-year community-based bridge courses through multi-level learning strategy.
After an initial teacher training of forty days to the teachers in multi-level learning, the bridge schools were raised by the joint efforts of the teachers, an NGO, and local communities by providing the spaces for the schools and the accommodations for the teachers.
Since the non-conventional instructional strategy was used, the continuous workplace trainings were organized through academic support staff (N= 4) by fortnightly one-day visits to the schools followed by monthly review and planning workshops. The two-year course had resulted into the certification of all the students and mainstreaming of 50% of them in formal schools.
The three stage learning in the strategy included the teacher-directed learning followed by group and individual learning. The parents (N=50) reacted significantly favorably (p≤0.05, DF=2) to the system of workplace support system. The intervention was technically supported by an NGO and UNICEF in Chaksu block of Jaipur.
Keywords: Academic support, multi-level learning, small school, workplace training.
End note: The autonomous small schools and home schools (25- 200 students) in the west are working as well-organised communities of learners with specially trained teachers using a customized learning material and an in-house support system. Even, many big schools are being divided into small schools within the same building to provide individual attention and guidance to students. The study by Kishore [1] validates the effectiveness of small schools in India organised with multi-grade and multi-level teaching strategy, and best example is that of rural satellites schools run by Krishnamurti Foundation in Andhra Pradesh.
Currently, in India too there is a need for well-organized small schools that can impart education with inclusion and continuous progress system that permits freedom of style and pace of learning.
Reference
[1]
Kishore, L. (2003). Multigrade Teaching in India: A study of selected practices. Unpublished research paper. New Delhi: UNESCO
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