The ShikshaKarmi Project (SKP) literally means ‘education worker’ and aims to transform dysfunctional schools into more efficient ones through the provision of quality education with the help of locally available youth albeit with lower qualification. The programme was formulated on the basis of a successful project of an NGO called the Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC) which was situated at Tilonia in Rajasthan. During a pilot project in 1984-86, SWRC ran three experimental primary schools using local teachers and providing continual in-service training. The curriculum and textbook design related directly to life in a rural environment, and the education outcomes were impressive. When the project was evaluated, these schools compared very favourably with government primary schools. The Strategy The project identified teacher absenteeism as a major obstacle in achieving the goal of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE). It realised that a primary school in a remote village that has a non-village- resident teacher tends to become dysfunctional, and parents as well as children fail to relate to such an institution, leading to high drop-out rates.
Objectives
- Some of the objectives of the SKP were to achieve the following:
- Universalization of primary education in remote, socio-economically backward villages in those blocks of Rajasthan where the existing primary schools have been dysfunctional
- A qualitative improvement of primary education in such villages by adapting the form and content of education to local needs and conditions.
- Improvement in enrolment of all boys and girls in the age group 6-14 years
- Building of a level of learning equivalent to the norms of Class V The project also strives to bring about a qualitative improvement in the delivery of education.
