Karunodaya

Karunodaya has worked on education since 2017. It has been working in Gaya since 2019. Before launching the Literacy & Library Program in government schools, we were focussing on enhancing students’ literacy skills through TLM and activity-based learning. We also collaborated with the District Institute of Education & Training (DIET), and Gaya-based students on practical aspects of teaching, TLMs, leadership, and presentation skills. 

In September 2021, we launched a Literacy & Library Program in 14 Government Schools. As part of the same, we focus on creating a library as a practical space to teach language effectively. It is also a space where students feel invested and motivated towards reading. The primary aim of this program is to increase students’ literacy levels through libraries. 

We set up 14 libraries in 14 Government schools as part of our initiative, focusing on Grades 1 to 5 in government schools, and trained 26 Teachers in the literacy and library program from 14 schools. We are also supporting 16 government schools that serve as lab schools for DIET, Gaya.

Karunodaya vision: Improving the quality of Language Learning at the elementary level in Govt. schools, to ensure reading habits, critical thinking, and leadership among children.

Karunodaya mission: We are developing the language teaching method and building primary students’ reading skills by creating library spaces and activities such as Read aloud, Book Talk, and Role Play. With these four pillars, Karunodaya focuses on all schools having a functional Baal Library and teachers as Library educators.

• Setup Library & Quality Books (Support to school)
• Capacity Building of teachers to improve teaching pedagogy 
• Regularly support teachers in schools, shadowing teachers, and undertake demonstrations in class
• System-level engagement and policy-level changes

Karunodaya’s strategy: Selecting the Government Schools to create the library spaces for developing the children’s library and selecting teachers for capacity building as well as providing hand-holding Support to the selected teachers in the schools by the Karunodaya team. We concentrate more on the process of library programs like Read Aloud and Book Talk. Using these indications, we evaluated the teachers’ skills in each library activity. In light of that evaluation, we created a strategy for working with teachers in the school. 

Location of work: The project is located in the Gaya District of Bihar, one of the least developed states in the nation, where the annual per capita income is one-third of the national average. Gaya is one such aspirational district, which despite having a grand history and high tourism, has been struggling with education and development. In the baseline ranking done under the Transformation of Aspirational District Programme, Gaya ranked 54 out of 101 districts, with a score of 35.14%. In terms of the education structure, Gaya has about 3000 schools organized into 24 blocks. The overall literacy rate is 66.35% with female literacy being at a concerning 55.9%.

Project updates

There are two Wipro-funded programs: (a) Literacy and library program, and (b) community-learning center, Gehlor. As part of the literacy and library Program, we are working in 13 government schools of Gaya, Bihar. We focus on sustaining the library program in these government schools through creating vibrant library spaces. We also provide quality books to the primary students of Grades 1 to 5. As part of the program, we impart capacity-building and hand-holding support to the teachers on library activities.

This literacy and library program is very important for students and teachers. We are not only setting up the children’s library but also providing good quality children’s literature that includes simple text, which is easy to read and comprehend, and interactive illustrations that fascinate students and create curiosity among students to read more books. 

We also aspire to create more opportunities for reading the books through inclusion of the library period for every grade in the school routine. In one year, we gave two workshops to 26 teachers on library activities. Every week our facilitators visited every school to support teachers on library activities by demonstrating with the primary students of grades 3 to 5. 

As part of the Community Learning Centre, Karunodaya has been running the Community Learning Center since 2019 in Gehlore village, in the Gaya District of Bihar. Gehlore village is famous for Dasrath Manjhi, who has been called Mountain Man, a social reformer who belonged to the Schedule Caste (SC) community. The main aim is to provide a good quality to the SC community and bring it into the mainstream. This Community Learning Center is led by Sifa Qutub.

Updates & process

• A total of 3 facilitators are in the Community Centre. They teach students in 3 groups.
• We focus on Anganwadi students (pre-primary students) to Grade 8 Students and the total number of students is 60.

• Every Saturday morning students get online English classes. 

• Every two days in a week, students are engaged in library activities and reading literature which helps them improve their reading skills and develop reading habits. 

• The weekly meeting is set up by Sifa Qutub, for sharing, learning, challenges, and discussion on the Weekly Plan. 

Learning

• A plan must be clearly defined for implementation on the ground. Before implementing on the ground, the plan must be clearly defined then only the program has a higher chance to achieve the goal. It is very important for us as we are now moving forward to achieve the bigger target so we must have clarity on the planning part. 
• For better results, team coordination must be good. Only then we can accomplish the goal. We are getting better at developing better team coordination. 
• The process must be Simplified. We observed that if the process is complex for the stakeholders, then the objective of the program will be hampered, and the target becomes unachievable. So, for an achievable target, we must set an easy process so that stakeholders and other external stakeholders can easily understand as well as easily execute and it is a high percent of chance for program success. 
• Regular follow-up with Stakeholders is crucial. Working with government teachers and staff is not an easy task, it carries a lot of challenges. Not infrequently, they inhibit. We learnt that we must develop a follow-up process and on a regular interval, we must follow up. 

Challenges 

Process of data collection: We faced huge problems in data collection. We were highly dependent on our stakeholders which became a setback for us. Now, we are collecting data as well as working on smoothening the process.

Internal Communication Process: One of the big challenges we faced in the last one to two years was the lack of effective communication. To minimize ineffective communication, we developed a process for better communication. 

Organizational Process: As a new organization we need to develop processes on HR, fundraising, and other processes.    

Plan of action

• • Increasing the number of Community Learning Centers to five (5). 
  • Develop a robust process for LLP and Scaling up the project to 100 government schools across Gaya.
  • Engaging with the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Gaya
  • Enhancing partnership and support with other NGOs.
  • Launching course on Children’s Library for government teachers of Bihar, NGO professionals, and private school teachers.
  • Working on the dissemination of books. 
  • Helping the learning ecosystem to select and purchase good books. 
  • Setting up libraries and creating an online crowdfunding platform for NGOs to purchase quality children’s books from different publishers.
  • Introducing mobile library in Gaya District. 

• Promoting the writing of articles and research papers based on our work.