Jammu and Kashmir Association of Social Workers (JKASW)

Vision, Mission and Strategy 

The organization envisages the comprehensive development of children as a paramount factor for the development of society. This necessitates a focus on the education, protection, and positive participation of children. However, given the dynamic nature of child rights, this entails a context-based approach and enhanced focus on the rights of children. 

Considering this as the foundational reason for its establishment and goal, the organization endeavors under various projects on child rights with the mission of: Enhancing participation in education; Enhancing focus on ECCE; Enhancing child protection; Meaningful and constructive adolescent engagement; Enhancing capacities of systems; Creating indigenous structures. 

Location of work

For systemic support, JKASW is collaborating with the Education and Mission Poshan Department on two thematic areas ECCE and OoSC across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. For Implementation JKASW is intervening in five districts across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir namely Ramban (Gool & Banihal), Anantnag (Breng), Pulwama (Tral, Awantipora, Kakapora,Rajpora, Shadimarg,Tahab), Bandipora (Hajin & Bandipora) and Baramulla (Narvaw, Pattan, Palhallan,Sopore). 

Learning

Some of the learnings are encapsulated below:

• Working directly with the school was a new learning experience as earlier JKASW had engaged in AWCs, CFS, and CACs all are informal settings. 
• During winter vacations, to have persistent engagement with pre-primary children, a new strategy was adopted by the field team to accommodate the accessible children at CACs and collaborate with the six Anganwadi centres to engage the children who are not accessible to CACs. So, the team managed to engage the children at AWC as well as CAC to ensure consistency in engagement. 
• The capacity-building workshops improved the level of understanding of the team about the latest findings of the research studies on foundational years and knowledge of competency-based pedagogy as per the developmental goals of NIPUN Bharat guidelines and NEP 2020. 
• The team improved the understanding of competency-based learning. 
• Creating a nonpolitical atmosphere in the SMC meetings helps to coordinate its meetings in an effective manner. 

Challenges

• Even though JKASW had received approval from the Directorate for designing child-friendly classrooms at schools the zone-level official reverified the permission and again was challenging to get approval. 
• Shortlisting 5 classrooms out of 25 schools for establishing child-friendly ECCE classrooms was tricky. 
• It was requested on and again by Zonal educational officer and Nodal officer to nominate the designated teacher for the training workshop but still only 21 teachers were from the target teachers. 
• There is a need to work on the attitude of the teacher as most of the trained teachers are not motivated to teach pre-primary children. This seems challenging to motivate. 
• It is challenging to involve the communities in meetings in schools because of their involvement in labor activities. 
• Girls’ education remains a challenge as they are involved in sibling care and domestic chores.

Project updates 

The organization envisages interventions that will be sustainable and replicable. The objective will be to ensure the indigenous mechanisms and responses to the issues of children. Additionally, capacitated systems are fully functional and impart effective transactions and interactions will children. The plan of intervention will constitute the following measures: 

Special measures for OoSC: The organization will strive to capacitate teachers, educational volunteers, and HOIs to ensure mechanisms of imparting special measures for OoSC are in place. 

Quality Education: Efforts will be undertaken to ensure there is improvement in the quality of education in schools which translates to better infrastructure, innovative and stimulating pedagogy, due consideration to the rights of children, adherence to the provisions of RTE Act 2009 and NEP 2020 provisions, and an enabling atmosphere in the schools. 

Foundational years-ECCE initiative: Five Model child-friendly classrooms will be designed that will be replicable for other schools. SMCs and parents will be sensitized to the significance of ECCE and school readiness as they are the key stakeholders in this intervention. 

Capacitated and Indigenous Structures: Efforts will be made to ensure the creation of indigenous structures in the communities that are capacitated to endeavor effectively in schools and communities striving for the rights of children. 

Spaces for engagement of children and adolescents: Children and adolescents will be imparted life skills and linked with pertinent platforms to realize their potential and skills. 

Plan of action

Intervention in 2023-24 will focus on myriad components and interventions for children. Taking the learning from the past year the interventions will give due emphasis to the areas that need added focus for effective implementation of the program. The plan for intervention will focus on the following:

• Establishment of Special Training Centres: Six STCs will be established in the selected schools of the communities of intervention. 
• Remedial support to mainstreamed children: The mainstreamed children will be imparted educational support to eradicate any difficulties in their education and ensure their retention in schools. Children will be availed remedial support at the CACs and new admissions will be made under this component. Special learning classes for children with low learning levels will be undertaken which will focus on improving their learning levels in Mathematics and English. 
• Capacity building of teachers and HOIs: Capacity building of teachers on quality education will be undertaken. Training will be also imparted for an enhanced understanding of the modalities of OoSC and provisions for such children.
• Project team capacity enhancement workshops: Project team skills need to be enhanced for effective implementation of program. Developing the competency-based activity framework: A guidance document for teachers and field teams to carry on the activities as per the developmental domains and focus on the competencies to be developed with these activities.
• Meaningful Engagement with adolescents: Youth clubs constituting adolescents will be created which will focus at enhancing their life skills and provide career guidance and counselling.
• Interventions in the pre-primary space: Existing classrooms will be modified by designing them to make child-friendly as per ECCE guidelines. That will be used as an effective tool for engaging with the children of pre-primary grade. Teachers need bi-annual capacity enhancement workshops for effective transaction of daily routine for holistic development of children, and for behavioral change while engaging with pre-primary grades. An assessment tool for pre-primary grades will be designed to keep track of each child’s progress for the required skills developed.