SuperKidz

Issue 6: July 2011 Greetings from Eureka Superkidz!

Welcome to a new academic year in the Eureka Program. Various activities were conducted to encourage enrollment and more children have joined students from last year. Centers began with an initial evaluation of childrens skills. We also conducted a Joint Review Mission this month - Eureka donors and patrons visited Eureka SuperKidz centres and observed the program. The visits culminated in a feedback meeting and discussion of how children were benefitting from Eureka currently and what improvements can be made in this years program.

eureka

An AID INDIA Education Initiative

11 Districts
59 Blocks
871 villages

Community demonstrates ownership of the Eureka Program

Shubatha Devamanoharan and Ammie Singh, students at the York University, Toronto, spent two months interning with Eureka. They visited several Eureka villages to understand how low-cost high impact programs work. They report, Working with Eureka has introduced us to many stories of communities working together to support and encourage what they believe in. Pamparam Sutri village in Lalgudi block has one such story to tell. When we visited the village, we met the Eureka Teacher Karthik. He is a college student. To support his education, he cleans schools during his free time. He teaches children of his village at the Eureka SuperKidz centre in the evening. Coming from a poor family, it was hard for Karthik to find the Eureka children an appropriate place to study. The classes originally took place in front of his home. However the classes were frequently disrupted by passers-by and other village boys teasing Karthik for his efforts. On a Sunday afternoon, Karthik and a few other Eureka teachers visited the families of children enrolled in Eureka centers and shared the problem with them. Parents appreciated Karthiks effort in contributing to their childrens education and promised to do something about it. Within a week, parents spoke to a local womens group and found a small room where classes could run. They even got together to provide a fan and a light so that the children could study comfortably. Now children can continue to learn even after dark or on a rainy day. We were very happy to see how the Eureka program was getting parents and the community to take ownership to support their childrens efforts to learn. District Coimbatore Cuddalore Dharmapuri Kanchipuram Krishnagiri Pudukottai Sivagangai Tiruvallur Tiruvannamalai Trichy Vellore Total Blocks 4 4 4 6 6 1 6 7 7 6 8 59 Villages 53 66 60 79 86 10 90 130 107 117 73 871

Joint Review Mission: External feedback about our Eureka Program

Last June, the Eureka SuperKidz program started in 200 villages. Now at 817 villages, we soon aspire to reach in 1000 villages and provide quality education to 75,000 poor children in Tamilnadu. As we grow, we realize the need to focus on constantly improving the program to achieve better results this year. Continuous improvement is possible when we start with the acceptance that status quo is not perfect. Last year we focused on the basics village identification, teacher appointments and regular classes. This year we need to move to the next level focus on teacher training, teaching techniques, and better quality of delivery. We also need to get parents more engaged with Eureka and demand better quality for their children. For this we need continuous feedback about our program about areas that need strengthening. Since the Eureka Team visits frequently, we sometimes take things for granted and miss out on specific details that would be obvious to an external eye. To get this external perspective from donors, patrons and other people working in education, we organized a Joint Review Mission in July. A team of donors and domain experts visited Eureka villages and observed the program. The visits culminated in a meeting in Chennai on July 15th where the team gave their feedback and suggestions for next steps.

The Joint Review Mission team

Mr. Jayanth, Wheels India Ms. Chithra Ramesh & Ms. Meenakshi Ramesh, Pratham Village donors, Ms. Sumathi & Ms. Meera Menon Ms. Gayatri, Curriculum Director-Hippocampus Learning Centers Mr. Balaji, a professor of Mathematics from the US Ms. Kalyani, Education Consultant Mr. Rangarajan, India Literacy Project Ms. Shreya Krishnan, AID Austin. The team collectively visited 18 villages in 10 blocks across Tamil Nadu from July 11th -15th. The Eureka approach - Make a promise, measure and deliver. Well-researched and attractive learning materials Great enthusiasm among children and parents about the Eureka centers Eureka Teachers extremely motivated and interested in the teaching children of their village. Committed Eureka Block childrens skills meticulously Teachers tracking

JRM Findings: What are we doing well?

Children are extremely enthusiastic about the Eureka classes. I was surprised to find that some of them were walking more than 1km to study at Eureka! Balaji
I found that the Eureka Teachers were very strong in the Std. 4-6 class content. Content for Std. 1-3 and Std. 7-8 needs more focus Rangarajan The Eureka Teacher needs to be able to handle variations in childrens skill levels better in the class. If a particular method has not worked with a child, she must be able to come up with a different one - Gayatri Eureka Teachers in villages are really motivated. In the village I visited at Vandavasi, we came across a teacher who had refused to move to Chennai when her husband got transferred, so that she could continue teaching children of her village Meenakshi Although focusing on a specific goal every month is good, 1 month seems to be too narrow a focus and there is not enough time to deliver outcomes. Teachers should understand and deliver on a quarters outcomes - Chitra The Eureka Block Teacher is instrumental to the center quality. Wherever he/she is aligned to the Eureka goal and methodology, centers are of much better quality - Kalyani

Evaluation & measurement is a key focus at all levels

What do we need to do better?

Poor infrastructure lack of space and proper lighting decreasing class effectiveness. Blackboards needed for all centers Better training needed for Eureka Teachers on content and Class management Simpler English content and better training on pronunciation Better communication with parents on Eureka Goals and methodology

We are discussing each of these aspects and will address these issues in the next few months.

Eureka Report for AID Tempe

5 villages each in Manaparai,Trichy District and Vandavasi,T V Malai District
Supported by AID Tempe Eureka SuperKidz Project Report, July, 2011

Total children reached this month: 515

This Month's Focus Activities in the Villages

Subject Tamil English Maths Science For Children in Std 1-3 Reading all letters Reading three letter words 2 Digit Number For Children in Std 4-6 Reading sentences with 2-3 letter words Reading three letter words 3 Digit Addition and Subtraction Mechanics Experiments For Children in Std 7-8

Reading three letter words Mental Arithmetic Mechanics

Vandavasi Block Eureka SuperKidz Data

Children Enrolled 48 17 27 68 61 Class Working Days 25 21 22 23 20 Children Attended Regularly 48 17 27 51 55 Initial Child Performance Index % Results Awaited Results Awaited Results Awaited Results Awaited Results Awaited

Village Keezh seesa Mangalam Sempur Athippakkam Ammaiyappattu Ilankadu

Vandavasi Block - Additional Details

Village Keezh seesa Mangalam Sempur Athippakkam Ammaiyappattu Ilankadu Eureka Expert Teachers Teacher-1 K.Parvathi,M.Kumaran P.Ranjeetha S.Shoba,S.Umasankar A.Divya S.Shoba,S.Umasankar M.Sundhari S.Shoba,S.Umasankar P.Punitha S.Shoba,S.Umasankar R.Narmatha Eureka Teacher-2 S.Rajeswari V.Lavanya G.Shakila R.Abirami N.Uma Eureka Teacher-3 M.Amutha Matching Donor AID Tempe-Full Village Support H.Suganya AID Tempe-Full Village Support R.Thamaraiselvi AID Tempe-Full Village Support S.Viji AID Tempe-Full Village Support K.Lakshmi AID Tempe-Full Village Support

Manaparai Block Eureka SuperKidz Data

Children Enrolled 61 56 46 85 46 Class Working Days 21 22 25 25 23 Children Attended Regularly 61 56 46 85 46 Initial Child Performance Index % Results Awaited Results Awaited Results Awaited Results Awaited Results Awaited

Village Puthanatham Pichampatti Samuthiram Thoppam patti Kannudayan patti

Manaparai Block - Additional Details

Village Puthanatham Pichampatti Samuthiram Thoppam patti Kannudayan patti Eureka Expert Teachers Teacher-1 S.ManimegalaI,R.Subramani,Muthu Sivagami lakshmi S.Manimegalai,R.Subramani,Latha Mariyammal Eureka Teacher-2 Inrani Akila Eureka Teacher-3 Vijaya rani Geetha Priya Savithri Vishnu priya Matching Donor AID Tempe-Full Village Support AID Tempe-Full Village Support AID Tempe-Full Village Support AID Tempe-Full Village Support AID Tempe-Full Village Support

S.Manimegalai,R.Subramani,Pichaimani Ilavarasi Revathi S.Manimegalai,R.Subramani,Josepin Dhanalakshmi irudhaya mery Manimegalai,Subramani,Leela Sathiya Kasthuri manonmani Sangeetha

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