Responses to the queries from Asha Foundation:

a) What is the existing teaching materials & physical infrastructure at the CRCs and BRCs?   From your proposal we understand that a building with poor infrastructure was all that was completed.   Was there any material at all, as part of the DPEP program, and if so what was the material?

Please refer to table below:

Statement of materials at BRC / CRC centers

Sl No.	Materials	OBB scheme		DPEP		SSA		EDUSAT
		BRC	CRC	BRC	CRC	BRC	CRC	BRC	CRC
1	Library; Books			supplied	supplied	Rs.10 K	Rs. 5 K
2	Globe / Charts / Models			supplied	Nil
3	Lab equipment / Science kit	One science kit	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
4	Office infrastructure	Nil	Nil	supplied	Nil	supplied	supplied	Nil	Nil
5	Overhead projector	Nil	Nil	supplied	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
6	Television / tape recorder	Nil	Nil	supplied	Nil	supplied		supplied	Nil
7	Contingency grants	*	*	*	*	Rs. 5K	Rs. 2K	*	*

b) How many CRCs / BRCs do you plan to work with?
Given the experiences from the first phase of our work, we would like to concentrate on the BRCs, and experimentally with some CRCs, in terms of building them as Resource Centres (CRC’s would be developed into ‘library’ type facilities, from where teachers could borrow materials to be taken for use to the school.

We would strengthen the objective of using the CRC as a forum for teacher’s meetings and local level trainings.

Proposal:

2: BRCs for 2004/5 – 2005/6 (Kollegal, Gundlupet, and Yellandur with Karuna Trust)

3 CRCs for ‘resource library’ idea in association with our School and Community Contact Programme.

The BRC development may be later extended to Hannur and Chamarajanagar depending on how things work out.

c) Do the CRCs span primary, middle and high schools?
The CRCs span only the primary schools and middle schools i.e. till standard 7. For high schools, Subject Inspectors from the DDPI’s office are deputed for school visits. The academic work of the CRPs at present, however, comprises only about 20 percent of their work time, the rest being spent on administrative work – data collection, implementation and monitoring of schemes, etc.

d) Who support's a CRP's and a BRP's salary?  Is it the government?
As these positions were created through the project DPEP funded by the World Bank, they continue to be supported from the project as continued under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). However, in a recent meeting with the SSA, it was informed that the Govt of Karnataka would create the posts of BRPs and CRPs in the DPEP districts from the next financial year.

e) Where will the materials be acquired from?   Are there enough materials in Kannada (in other projects we have found that it can be difficult to get materials in the local language)
Most teaching – learning materials are acquired from local sources including in – house materials developed by the Regional Institute of English, The Promise Foundation, Sutradhar, and Suvidya, all in Bangalore. Relevant materials have also been sourced from other non-profits and educational resource institutions across the country like Eklavya (Madhya Pradesh), Dhwani Trust (Bangalore), National Book Trust, Navnirmiti Trust (Mumbai), and Centre for Learning Resources (Pune).

In terms of the concern on availability of materials in the local language, the project has invested a lot of energy and resources to translate any relevant materials into Kannada, either in – house or through consultants specifically engaged for the purpose. A list of some of the translations undertaken is attached herewith (Ref: table below).

TRANSLATIONS UNDERTAKEN UNDER THE PROJECT TILL DATE

Name of the book	Name in Kannada	Author	Translator
How Children learn	Makkalu kaliyuvudu hege	John blackie	Vasudev sharma
My pedagogic creed	Nanna shaikshanika siddanta	E.L.Kellog and co	Hameed
Child’s language and the teacher-A hand book	Makkala bhashe mattu shikshakaru-ondu kaipidi	Krishnakumar	Vasudev Sharma
Understanding child centredness	Shishu kendra vyavastheyannu artha madikolluvudu	Child Resource centre	Vasudeva sharma
Child centered education	Shishu kendrita vidyabhyasa	Jane sahi	Vasudeva sharma
Schooling for a new society	Nootana samajakkagi shikshana	A.R.Vasavi	Usha Narasimhan
Childhood and schooling in an Indian village	Bharatiya halliyondaralli balya mattu shale	Padma.M.Sarangapani	Vasudeva sharma
CRP Handbook	Gucha sampanmula vyaktigaligagi...puraka sahitya	CPI’s office	Usha Narasimhan
Samajik Adhyayan Shikshan	Samajika Adhyayana shikshana	Ekalavya	N.S.Kale
Seekhna Sikhana	Kaliyuvudu-Kalisuvudu	Ekalavya	N.S.Kale
How children learn mathematics	Ganitavannu makkalu kaliyuvudu hege?	Palmella Liebeck	D.R.Baluragi
Unesco Source Book Part II			Baluragi
Unesco Source book Part I Chapts- 1,2,3,4,6,7,8			Vinutha
Unesco Source book Part I Chapts-			In process
Mentoring	Margadarshana	Indira vijaysimha	Usha Narasimhan
Constructivism	Rachanatmakate	Padma.M.Sarangapani	Sahana
Motivation-Personal factors	Prerane-Vaiyaktika amshagalu	IGNOU Series	Usha Narasimhan
Force Field Analysis	Force Field Analysis	Leena	Latha
Compass Rose	Diksoochi nakshatra	Leena	Latha
Assessing What they have learned	Makkala kalikeya moulyamapana	Warwick .B.Elley	Baluragi
What...When assessing children	Makkala maulyamapanadalli namma nirikshe enu?	Leena	Baluragi

Name of the book	Name in Kannada	Author	Translator
Guidance	Margadarshana	IGNOU Series	Sahana
Block Summary	Kalika moolatatvagala saramsha	IGNOU Series	Latha
On learning difficulties in the classroom	Taragatiyalli makkala kalikasamasyeyannu kuritu		Latha
Numeracy	Ganitagnate	UNESCO-UNDP-1995	Ed: Sheila .M
Mathematics and real life problems	Ganitha mattu naija jeevanada samasyegalu	From Education for all	Baluragi
The role of the teacher in an inquiry centered class room	Anveshana kendra taragatigalalli shikshakara patra	Dorothy.J.Skeel and Joseph.G.Decaroli	Divya
Class room observations	Taragatiya avalokana	Padma.M.Sarangapani and Leena	Latha
Rubric for self assessment	Rubric-svamaulyamapana	Ramkumar	Latha
Quality Specifications in schools	Shalegalalli gunamattada namoonegalu	UNICEF	Sahana
Hoshangabad Science Learning programme	Hoshangabad vignana kalika karyakrama	Ekalavya Group	Baluragi
Prashika- An Ekalavya experience	Prasika-ekalavyada oMdu anubhava	Ekalavya group	Baluragi
Prism-a turning point for Mumbai Govt Schools	Prisam-mumbai shalegaligomdu tiruvu	Prakash Burte	Baluragi
Learning for life-Lessons from vignan ashram	Badukigagi kalike-Vignana ashramada pathagalu	Amrita Patwardhan	Baluragi
Happy Reading: the organic way	Anandadayaka odu-omdu jaivika patha	Prakash Burte	Baluragi
The multigrade schools of Rishi valley	Rishivyaliya bahuvarga shalegalu	Anjali Noronha	Baluragi
A quiet Transformation	Omdu shanta roopamtara	Sharmila	Baluragi
The motivation of learners in the classroom	Taragatiyalli kaliyuva makkalige prerane	Richard Paul Tisher	Baluragi

Name of the book	Name in Kannada	Author	Translator
The need for drama as an integral part of school curriculum	Srujanatmaka natakavannu samagra bhagavagi shalegala pathyakramadalli serisuva agatyate	K10 quarterly	Sunanda
The how and why of reintroducing art education in school	shalegalalli kala skikshanada marupravesha	K10 quarterly	Sunanda
The need for modern physical education	Adhunika daihika shikshanada avashyakate	K10 quarterly	Sunanda
Class room drama-Bringing learning to life	Vidyabhyasakke chetana tumbuva nataka kale	Class room drama-Bringing learning
Compendium		A collection of 13 readings
lesson observation and feedback formats	bodhanakramavannu avalokisalu mattu himmahiti nidalu namoone		Latha
Discussion on motivation	abhipreraneyannu kurita charche	IGNOU series	Latha
CCD’s community based education	Si.si.di.ya samudaya adharita shikshana	Glynis Ann Cooper	Baluragi
On learning mathematics-Activities and learning tasks			In process (Baluragi)
My Education	Nanna shikshana	Karuna Futane	Baluragi

f) Who are the resource people who will train the CRPs (in other projects it has often been hard to get good experts who can teach/train in the local language)? What are the their qualifications?

The training for the CRPs as well as the other Master Resource Persons will be facilitated by NIAS in collaboration with other consultant groups, Institutions and individuals. These include collaborative arrangements with:

§ Regional Institute of English, South India for subject expertise in English. (http://riesi.kar.nic.in/)

§ Regional Institute of Education, Mysore for subject expertise in English. (http://www.mylibnet.org/rie.html)

§ Dr. Gananath, Director: Suvidya, Bangalore, for subject expertise in Mathematics. (http://www.ashoka.org/fellows/viewprofile3.cfm?reid=97284; http://www.learningnet-india.org/lni/data/groups/gsp/suvidya/index.php)

§ The Promise Foundation, Bangalore for subject expertise in Language (Kannada). (http://www.thepromisefoundation.org)

The project has also collaborated and will seek to collaborate with other Resource Persons as and when required for different components of the Training Programs. Some of these associations have been with:

§ The non – profit Sewa – in – Action for sharing their training planning and management experiences with government functionaries on Integrated Education for the Disabled (IED) (website: http://www.sewainternational.org/ka-sa.html), and

§ Dr. Pradeep (Dept. of Maths, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) on the subject area Mathematics.

All the Resource Persons (except for some in the areas of subject expertise in English) have facility with the local language. Most of the Resource Persons have a Ph. D in the relevant discipline and substantial years of experience of facilitating training in the specific subject areas, for both government and private institutions.

g) What is the role of DIET vs. DPEP?

The District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) were established in 1993. Consequent to the National Policy on Education (1986), these institutions of training were effected in all districts to address the need for academic support at the school level. However, even at the time of introduction of the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in 1994, the DIETs were functioning unsatisfactorily with a number of vacant positions and inadequate use of existing facilities.

With the DPEP came new institutional structures to enable in-service training for teachers at a decentralized level; that is near teachers' places of work. The prominence accorded to teacher training within the programme saw the creation of a cascading structure of teacher support centres. In the state of Karnataka this structure has assumed the form of a Block Resource Centre (BRC) to support around 8 – 10 Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) with each CRC expected to provide academic support to a group of 20 – 30 schools. Along with the new academic support structures, provisions were also made for strengthening the capacity of existing training institutions like the DIETs by providing them with additional personnel, equipment and vehicles to improve mobility. Their staff members were given special orientation programs to familiarize them with the vision and renewal processes launched by DPEP.

However there is a lack of systemic interlinkages between the DIET and the DPEP. This has resulted in a lack of leveraging mutual strengths to effect a decentralized training approach that would result in capacity building at the school – level. While on the one hand the DIET faculty were not well oriented to elementary education, on the other the DPEP programme structures did not require the involvement of the DIETs (there is no mention of their role even in the DPEP guidelines, MHRD 1995). The block and cluster centres by and large have implemented programmes conceptualised at the State Project Office/DSERT. Institutional strengthening for decision making and planning at the district level has not taken place.

A situation, akin to the above, continues even post the introduction of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The SSA operates on almost the same terrain as the DPEP. The fallout of the above systemic issues is most evident in Teachers’ Training. Modules produced by the DSERT at the state – level and the DIET at the district – level, are simply applied on an arithmetic proportional basis, depending only on the numbers of schools and teachers to be covered. The effectiveness of training is judged not by training outcome parameters reflecting teacher practices but by quantitative dimensions signifying outreach only. There is no attempt to assess effectiveness of the training programmes through empirical evidence. Neither are training programmes or school support planned adequately vis a vis implementation requirements. This is manifest in diverse issues – from absence of decentralized data management, field level monitoring and mentoring, inadequate travelling allowances, and even role clarity among the mid – level academic support functionaries in the district (the BRPs and CRPs).