It was a matter of great pride for IAS officer Ram Prasad Manohar, when, under his guidance and efforts, the Ballari district of Karnataka reached an all-time high, as it rose from the 30th rank to the 5th rank in the education sector within a couple of years.
As the Deputy Commissioner of the district at the time, Mr. Manohar adopted various methods and strategies to successfully improve the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) results, about which, he spoke exclusively with Indian Masterminds.
EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SSLC RESULTS
The SSLC results were seen varying over the past ten years, with the district average result being higher than the state average. Consequently, the District Administration decided to create a unique plan to improve secondary education quality. This marked the initial introduction of the Ballari Education Mission, in the district.
“When I took charge as the Deputy Commissioner in Ballari, I observed that the district stood on the last rank of SSLC results in the state. We believed it was due to post-mining operations that took place in the region. We then decided to build the education system and create a socio-economic change in the district using education,” Mr. Manohar told Indian Masterminds.
To do so, the officer first took note of all the prevailing issues regarding education and sat with his team and other stakeholders to devise methods through which they could help in flourishing the education sector of Ballari.
“We involved the teachers, headmasters, parents of students and others in the meeting. Together, we discussed the topic and came up with Mission Ballari Education under which we carried out various activities, primarily focusing on human resource improvement,” shared the officer.
DR. APJ ABDUL KALAM HONORARY TEACHERS YOJANA
The District Administration analyzed SSLC results since 2010 and observed that there are many schools where teachers’ posts were not filled, and the schools which were started after 2015-16 under RMSA were not having sanctioned teacher posts. The SSLC result was extremely poor due to the lack of appropriately trained teachers in the institution. The District Administration took action to solve this issue by appointing Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Honorary Teachers for the first time in the department’s history.
The qualified individuals were asked to submit an online application for this, and district-level entrance exams were held. Each Block underwent an examination. In a 2:1 ratio, only qualified candidates received calls for interviews. Talented educators were chosen and given three days of Taluk-level orientation training. They were then assigned to government-aided high schools in need.
These distinguished teachers received an honorarium of Rs. 8000/- each month. Block education officials credited this honorarium to their bank accounts directly.
“With this, we noticed a lot of improvement in SSLC results, not only in quantity but also in quality,” shared the officer.
NIGHT SCHOOLS SCHEME
Most of the kids at government- and aid-funded schools come from families who live in poverty. These residences weren’t appropriate for learning. The majority of households lacked a dedicated space for their kids to study. Thus, the district administration put the idea of night schools into practice. The pupils who didn’t have a conducive reading environment at home were asked to attend school in the morning from 5.30 am to 7.30 am and at night from 6 pm to 9 pm.
To supervise and direct the students during these study hours, all of that school’s subject teachers were deputed in shifts. From January to March, these specialised night schools are open year-round. i.e., till the start of the board exam. An honorarium of Rs. 5000 per month was granted to the teachers who oversaw the night class.
“We observed an interesting fact that the initiatives launched by us motivated numerous school SDMCs and locals. They stepped up and gave the students meals, snacks, tea, biscuits, etc. The majority of the village sections had schools where the kids were housed. Without a question, these have assisted us in improving the SSLC outcome on both a quantitative and qualitative level,” Mr. Manohar told Indian Masterminds.
VIDYARTHI BELAKU SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME
In comparison to elementary school, it has been found that the secondary level has a higher dropout rate and a higher number of pupils who attend class irregularly. Numerous conversations with the department of education and the honourable district minister also took place, regarding the matter. Finally, the district administration came to the conclusion that so many students are dropping out of middle school due to poverty as they are unable to afford basic books and writing supplies.
During the 2017-18 school year, the district administration launched a special incentive programme called ‘Vidyarthi Belaku’ in an effort to increase attendance and draw children to the schools. Each student participating in this programme, regardless of caste or religion, who has at least 75% attendance and is enrolled in the 10th grade at government- and privately-funded schools will receive a scholarship worth Rs. 2000.
Special software was developed at the district level in collaboration with NIC Ballari to distribute this scholarship. Each school’s headmaster was required to provide online information about qualified recipients, including student name, father name, bank account information, and attendance. At the conclusion of the school year, each qualifying student received this scholarship amount via RTGS.
“Many parents and students opined that this amount will help them to buy books, and study materials and to pay the fee for the next higher education also,” said Mr. Manohar.
CREATIVE CLASSES TEACHERS’ ENRICHMENT SCHEME
Each block had a different strategy in place to enhance the SSLC score. Another cutting-edge programme called ‘Creative Classes’ was implemented in the district by the District Administration to improve the teachers’ ability to teach.
A package addressing instructional techniques and student participation in the teaching-learning process is developed as part of this programme. Each kid received a workbook for creativity that was carefully created. These workbooks aided pupils in understanding topics in challenging subjects like science and mathematics. In addition, each teacher received two days of instruction on how to use these workbooks.
REWARD PROGRAMMES
The district management noticed that the teachers and students had put a lot of effort into raising the district’s SSLC rankings. The District administration announced a tour programme to commemorate the staff and students of those schools where the results were 100% and to inspire the other teachers and pupils.
“Those teachers, students, and the headmaster who received a perfect score were sent on a tour to New Delhi. Our teachers could learn more about the methods other states used to improve the standard of education by studying the tour programme. This tour programme has inspired students and teachers at other government schools to perform better in the future academic year.”
Mr. Manohar’s strategies bore fruits as Ballari district rose from the 30th rank to the 5th rank in the education sector within a couple of years after the new education system was put in place.
