PREVENTING DROPOUT Schools and Communities Champion Retention through Joyful Learning | August 2015 1 | School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program | India Awareness Leads to Support for Education in India he ceiling fans whir on and off with the pilot project to keep children in class is cre- Tpower as 12 school headmasters sit on ating a tighter bond between parents and cushions against the salmon colored walls schools and showing teachers how to iden- of Chakbahuddin Upgraded Middle School tify and support children at risk of dropping sipping tiny paper cups of hot chai. out using an Early Warning System. The educators are used to the blinking The Early Warning System uses existing electricity, used to the dragging heat. They school data on attendance, behavior and are also accustomed to managing schools performance to identify students at risk of where a quarter of the children leave after dropout, enhances the capacity of schools the free government-provided lunch, and to address the needs of at-risk students where 16 percent of India’s fifth graders and strengthens the partnership between never return for their sixth grade year. schools and families. An Enrichment Pro- Here in Bihar, one of the poorest states gram also increases the attractiveness of of India, 26 percent of Grade 5 students education to motivate student attendance. leave school to help with farming, work in Funded by the U.S. Agency for Interna- family shops or even get married. Some tional Development, the School Dropout leave because they don’t do well in class- Prevention Pilot Program was implement- es, and with no additional help to succeed, ed by Creative Associates International in are pulled out by parents who don’t see the 113 schools in Bihar’s Samastipur district, point of more schooling. where 4,213 fifth graders are at risk of After all, for many of them, a day spent dropping out. in school is a day spent not contributing Anecdotal evidence from meetings like to their families’ livelihood. It’s a very real these suggests the pilot’s interventions are tradeoff. working to dramatically reduce absentee- But, as the headmasters are discussing ism, a key predictor of school dropout. today, things are changing. “At my school, the students in the pro- While the poverty that churns as an gram seem really happy compared to other underlying driver of school dropout isn’t go- students,” says a headmaster wearing an ing anywhere, there is promise in the air. A orange sari. >> USAID 2015 | 2 Equally dubious were the parents. Many first generation learners themselves, they had no idea what was going on at the schools and at the same time worried the schools weren’t doing enough for their children. “A lot of illiterate parents say ‘we send our children to school but they don’t get any monetary benefits,’” explains one Community Champion, a young volunteer working with the program. “We have to ask them if they send their children to school to learn or to earn.” Monitoring and home visits are breaking down these barriers, and in their place, building understanding. Teachers and the Community Cham- pions meet with families to emphasize how important school is for their children. Parents also have the opportunity to ex- plain why their children have been missing classes. These visits enable schools to learn more about each student’s home life “I’ve seen positive changes in the children who have been absent for multiple children’s development,” another head- school days and reach out to families to and to strategize with parents how they master says. “After the midday meal about ask why their children weren’t in class. can prioritize their child’s education. 25 percent of kids would leave. But now,” Such outreach is critical to building trust For one Class Five girl who was already because of the afternoon Enrichment where earlier there was none. Teachers married, her parents at first refused during Program, “they are staying and they enjoy need to understand their students. And, a home visit to return her to school, insist- themselves.” so too, parents need to understand the ing she was needed at home to help her schools. mother with housework. Seeing those at risk Some teachers in Samastipur doubted But repeat home visits gradually result- Using an Early Warning System, these that their students were truly interested in ed in a changed mindset by offering an headmasters and their teachers are able to learning, notes Neha Parti, an education alternative solution that met both parties’ monitor student attendance and zero in on specialist with the program. interests. 3 | School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program | India literacy. Using this readily available data, teachers are able to identify children at risk of dropping out, track their progress and trigger actions to address problems when they occur. With these new skills, teachers are approaching their classrooms with re- newed determination to help their students “We told the parents ‘Don’t make your succeed. daughters work during school hours. Make them work after school, if you want,” re- That dedication appears to be the result calls Community Champion Swarna Rani. of making teachers stakeholders in the program’s – and their students’ – success. Parents are not only encouraged to send their children to school, but also to “They plan and set targets for achieving become more involved in their children’s a goal,” says Principal Virender Jha of academic achievement. Through the pro- his teachers at Madh Vidayala Bishanu- gram, parents have the opportunity to meet pur Baande. “They want to achieve their with teachers at quarterly Open Houses objectives.” held at the school and are welcome to stop by regularly. “Parents’ involvement has increased, Toward a promising future along with our phone calls and, home During a visit to one school, a headmas- visits. The gap between the teachers and ter pulls out the attendance log for Class the parents has been bridged,” observes Five. He displays the current academic Shahid Ahmad, a monitoring officer with year results, which followed the implemen- the program. He sees teachers realizing tation of the program. Attendance tipped their responsibilities and parents becoming toward 90 percent. He then flips back the more involved in their children’s education. pages to show the previous year, when the students were in Class Four, before the program’s implementation. Those same students came to school only 60 percent to Training engaging teachers 65 percent of the time. Training teachers in observation and Locally, the pilot program is known as engagement techniques has made a differ- Anandshala, which translates from Hindi ence both in the classroom and in motivat- to “a place of joyful learning.” Teachers, ing students to come to school. headmaster, community champions, One aspect of the training, Focus Child parents and students tell us how much Identification, trains teachers to assess Anandshala has changed the education the students’ progress through a compre- atmosphere in Samastipur for the better. hensive approach, making note of such A school director wearing a bright yellow indicators as: class attendance; behavior; sari puts it this way: “it has created hope subject comprehension; early departure; for the children that they will learn and be degree of responsibility; and parents’ successful in life.” n USAID 2015 | 4 Joyful Learning Keeps Indian Classrooms Full ihar, India—Rahul Kumar is not a ten days of school every month. 42 percent of primary students regularly basket weaver. He is supposed to be attend school. B If school were different, he says, he in school. But today he is helping his family would go despite the work that must be Their absences are not without con- weave fronds into traditional trays used done. Rahul says he would attend class sequence. Attendance is one of the most to offer rice to the sun god to sell for an more regularly if students learned more telling indicators of how likely a child is to upcoming festival. In a lackadaisical line from the classes, and if there were sports. drop out of school. And here in Bihar, 26 under trees bearing pink and white offer- He especially loves playing cricket. percent of the children in fifth grade never ings to a different deity, they cut and pull make it to the sixth. For children in Bihar, the poorest state the dried leaves expertly so that no light in India, Rahul’s simple request for more “Students will stay in school when they shines through. interesting classes and a little fun is famil- can study in a joyful and happy environ- Rahul’s practiced fingers belie his claim iar. Due in part to an unattractive school ment,” says Sivnath Chaudhry, a fifth that he is missing school because he is environment where teachers use beatings grade teacher at the Utkarmit Urdu Vidya- sick today. In fact, Rahul misses at least and criticism to ensure compliance, only laya School near Samasitpur, India. 5 | School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program | India Chaudhry’s students used to show up shy children moving around and breaks Daily attendance used to be abysmal, to make roll call and then bolt, he said, or the ice for nervous teachers. according to Vice Principal Prasan Kumar Paswan, who says up to a third of his stu- stay until the government-provided midday “They’ve never facilitated a session like dents were dropping out after fifth grade. meal which, for some, is the only one this before,” explains Program education they’ll eat. But a program being tested at specialist Neha Parti. Paswan runs a finger over the fourth his school has started to foster a happier grade attendance records of last year’s The last class of the day is reserved environment.