Bharatmatha School building, Paralakhemundi

EDUCATION

Education has always been at the core of PREM’s development operations, from its initial work in improving functional literacy in 1980 to projects to promote non-formal and vocational education among Adivasi, Dalit and fisher people. In the early 1990s PREM conducted an evaluation study in 350 villages of its operational area which revealed that only about 30% of the children were attending schools and within two years about 50% were dropping out. In 1996, with the support of Plan International (now Plan India) it reorganized its educational policy with children’s education as the focal point, and since then its programmes have been targeted to promote:

Bridge Courses for dropout or non-attending children, to get them back to school.
Formal Primary and Secondary Education for children in remote areas, with 22 Hostels supported by PREM providing residential facilities for children to attend school in towns where it is not possible in their villages.
Scholarship Support for English-Medium Education in government Central Schools for more than 300 selected children from Adivasi and Dalit communities.

Preschool children begin the process of formal education in centres with stimulating, local-context learning materials and a supportive, mother-tongue environment; one of the education innovations of PREM.

School assembly at Bharatmatha School

Tribal children studying at an English Medium School

The School Improvement Programme, which aims to develop schools into stimulating and joyful learning environments for all children.
The Learn Without Fear campaign, which has as its goal the eradication of abuse against children in school and the wider community, whether in the form of corporal punishment, neglect, physical and emotional abuse, discrimination, child labour, child marriage or child trafficking.
Computer-Aided Learning with the support of Aircel, which facilitates computer labs and integrated learning programmes in the Chilika Lake area.
Child Participation through children’s/youth clubs in all aspects of their development, including educating their communities on Child Rights and the roles of each person in ensuring quality education for children.

The impact of these education programmes is that literacy is on the rise, more children are enrolling in school and fewer are dropping out, communities are more alert to protect their children from violence and abuse, and there is a great sense of hope for the future among children and their communities.

Since 2007 PREM has been working with the Bernard van Leer Foundation to develop Early Childhood Education. PREM has helped build and operate 350 Child-Based Community Development (CBCD) centres in remote tribal communities; these centres serve as preschool and nutrition/care centres. PREM is also working to strengthen existing government anganwadi centres in tribal villages and improve access for children from smaller hamlets to these centres as well.

Click here to watch a video: Education Programme of PREM at a Glance

Recently PREM began work on an innovative project to develop Mother-Tongue-Based Curriculum and other learning materials for these preschool centres. A study found that young Adivasi children were having difficulty making a successful transition to primary school, due to the fact that they know only their mother-tongue tribal language and do not encounter the languages of school instruction—Odia and English—before they arrive at school. PREM believes a supportive, multilingual preschool environment—where the teachers are from the same community as the children—is the key to ensuring young Adivasi children stay in school.

With the support of NEG-FIRE (New Education Group—Foundation for Innovation and Research in Education) New Delhi, PREM is implementing the Edu-Leadership Programme Initiative in 8 panchayats of Padampur block in Rayagada district, with a goal to ensure enrollment, retention and completion of quality education. The primary objective of this programme is to make primary education more accessible and effective, especially for young girls of marginalized communities and children with special needs. The programme also fosters the development of tribal-context education that calls attention to the ecological, cultural and psychological characteristics of Adivasi children, which is necessary for education to make a long-term impact.

PREM also works in Capacity Building of village organizations (Parent-Teacher Associations, Village Education Committees, Self-Help Groups, etc) and local government (Gram Sabha, Palli Sabha, etc) to get involved in monitoring and evaluating the quality and impact of education in their communities, so that everyone is working together to ensure a good education for all children.

English medium children are participating at Media Workshop Training

Students at an English Medium School