Jaipur, Aug 18, 2022: Leading NGO Sampark Foundation has partnered with Rajasthan Council of School Education (RCSE) to improve the learning outcomes in primary education in government schools.
The NGO has signed a 5-year MoU with the state government to improve the quality of learning of 37 lakh children in around 65,000 primary schools of Rajasthan. As per the MoU, in the first phase of the program, a total of 8 districts will be covered including 5 Aspirational Districts. These districts are Dholpur, Sirohi, Baran, Karauli, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner & Jaipur.
Sampark Foundation is expected to spend up to Rs 40 crore, to increase the learning outcome of children enrolled in the government schools in the 33 districts of Rajasthan in subjects such as Math, English for classes 1 to 5 and Science in classes 6 to 8. According to the NGO, the target is to increase the learning outcome by 10% during the first year and a 30% increase by the fifth year.
The NGO at its own cost will provide Numeracy and Language learning kits and resources, train teachers and monitor and evaluate the program in the government schools of Rajasthan. The NGO will also equip schools with TV and Sampark TV plug and play devices. It will provide schools lesson plans – Class wise, Subject wise, Chapter wise. The lesson plans are mapped to SCERT Textbooks and aligned with Rajasthan state teaching schedule. This program will be made keeping in mind the syllabus, methods of teaching and textbooks of the state of Rajasthan.
On the occasion of signing the MoU, Rajasthan Education Minister B. D. Kalla thanked Sampark Foundation and its Founder-Chairman Vineet Nair for developing this innovative program and expressed the hope that the Education Department and Sampark Foundation would work together to further improve the learning outcomes of the children of the state. He said that Sampark Foundation's latest innovation "Sampark TV" will provide an interesting and innovative learning environment to the students of the state.
On the occasion, Vineet Nayar, Founder-Chairman of Sampark Foundation said the partnership will take the learning outcome program in the state to the next level. “Quality primary education creates the foundation of a sound education ecosystem that nurtures our future generations. We are fully confident that the Rajasthan Council of School Education will work with us, to make the program a huge success and make a difference to the lives of lakhs of students. Sampark will bring its latest learning innovations such as the highly successful Sampark TV and English Speaking program to the children of Rajasthan and by actively participating with the state stakeholders will ensure substantial enhancement in learning outcomes.”
Sampark has developed a unique approach to the teaching of Mathematics, English & Science, through its Sampark Smart Shala program, which aims to improve learning outcomes and to make learning interesting, meaningful, and effective for children, through its tech-enabled program. It also aims to strengthen the capacity of the state’s resource groups in the pedagogy of Mathematics, English & Science through a collaborative process involving direct field-based experiences and create a basis for the sustainable improvement of the quality of learning in the schools of 33 Districts, which includes 5 aspirational districts of the state Impacting 37 lakh children.
RCSE is responsible for education in the state of Rajasthan, across the schools and has taken various initiatives to improve the quality of education in the primary, upper primary and secondary schools. Sampark Foundation will work closely with RCSE, Directorate of Education, Bikaner and all other government agencies including RSCERT.
Sampark will provide the print ready files of worksheets/workbooks to incorporate in the state workbooks for primary classes, developed based on the state curriculum framework. There will also be active engagement of Sampark in the training programs arranged by RCSE/RSCERT for teachers.
Sampark will also provide 500 FLN teaching resources in the form of animated videos and audios mapped to SCERT Textbooks, 150 print-ready workbooks mapped to SCERT textbooks, 100 print ready worksheets for 100-day bridge program, 500 plus children interactive gamified assessments and question bank mapped to SCERT Textbooks, over 30 print rich material for the classroom such as Posters, online dashboard for State/District to monitor resource utilization and one Sampark Resource (Spark) in every district and one Sampark resource at the State level to implement and monitor the program. Sampark will also train teachers on SS pedagogy over 6 days per teacher in each block, over 10 E-Learning modules for self-learning for 22,862 teachers to gain certifications and awards and over 50 refresher digital training sessions will be conducted on a monthly basis.
Sampark Foundation was founded by Anupama Nayar and Vineet Nayar. Mr Vineet Nayar is the Former Vice Chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies and author of Harvard Business Press bestseller "Employees First, Customer Second".
Currently, the Sampark Smart Shala program is impacting over 1 Cr children through its implementation in 84,000 primary government schools in 6 states (Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand). Many third-party surveys have shown that in the schools where the Sampark Smart Shala has been implemented, there is a marked increase in the number of children who answered grade level questions in Math and English. For example, according to Feedback Consulting, a research organization, in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana, there has been a 34, 39 and 61 percent improvement respectively in performance of children in 2019-20.
