'Chilipili Cheela' Steals lad's hearts!

By B Jayakishore

The process of learning becomes more effective when it becomes enjoyment rather than punishment. It is the fact that most of our rural children are facing foundational problems in learning the language due to lack of scientific approach in the regular curriculum.

But is there any supplimentary methods to make children learning more creative, informal and enjoyable? Isn't it possible?

The combined efforts by the Promose foundation and National institute of advnced studies(NIAS) made this possible. Moreover, this was the main intention behind the unique project called 'Chilipili cheela'.

Chilipili cheela is a distinctive kind of project to make rural lads to learn kannada in a more enjoyable manner, visualised by the Language Development Programme team from the Promise foundation and NIAS, Bangalore, as a small part of a larger project called Kannada Kalika Kosha.

Chilipili cheela is a set of creative kannada learning cards for children in classes three to five. The development of these cards has been supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust,Mumbai and Sarva shiksha Abhiyan, Karnataka as part of the District Quality Education programme(DQEP).

Chilipili cheela: The chilipili cheela is a set of 101 cards with which lads can learn the kannada language in a more enjoyable manner, which in turn stimmulates their imagination power, creative instintcts. Each card has text of kannada poems, essays, short stories and dialouges to comics on one of its sides. In the other side it has series of pictures/ illustrations pertaing to text. The cards are graded for children at different levels of kannada reading.

According to project coordinator Dr.Sonali Nag, 'Using chilipili cheela, children can learn the language happily of their own without much adult supervision. As each card has beautiful illustrations for the text it has, which makes childrens to learn the subject quickly as well as grasp the matter more effectively'

Initially, children will be given the cards with simple content. As they progress and start developing vocabulary in their mind, more complex cards are given. 'Interestingly, the cards also have many language exploratin activities. These range from art and craft work to speaking and listening activities, and from different writing and comprehension activities'says Prof. A.R.Vasavi, NIAS.

Over the past three years,the promise foundation and NIAS have worked on conceptualizing, devoloping, implementing and monitoring an innovative kannada learnig programme in chamarajanagar district. 'During this time we have learn't that most of the government school children donot have access to reading material other than text books. We felt there is an urgent need for children to have variety and fun in the materials they read. We know that more children read, more their reading skills will improve. When they become mature readers, it will boost their writing skills as well' opines Dr.Sonali Nag.

Chilipili cheela can be treated as a tiny library inside the classroom, and children can have access to it to learn during their free time. Since the settings in the stories and texts in the cards are 'Localised', children won't feel alienated. They learn what they see around. Also, cheela has set of cards which contains story/text set in urban contexts as well, which will introduce children to a world that they have seen in television or through other media. Some cards have even fantasy contents.

In most of the rural primary schools, reading activity has become mere 'Mechanical'. Most of the time children don't know what they are reading! But 'Chilipili cheela' make them understand what they are reading and can give spark to their thinking proccess.

'Our Pilot project, which we carried out in 28 schools of chamarajnagar district, has received a positive response from the children. They enjoy cheela. They often ask their teacher for the cheela! For example in Kolipalya Ashrama shala, near chamarajnagar town, children ask for the cards to read after school hours. The teacher also encourages children to pick cards whenever there is free time. The Headmaster of Kolipalya Ashrama shala, S.Basavanna says -'Chlilipili cheela keeps children busy and happy'' Says Dr.Nag.

However,cards replicated with 'Localised contents' can be used in other districts as well. The chilipili cheela has been written by a team of twelve writers and is illustrated by a team of three artists. The project has been coordinated by Dr.Sonali Nag, Associative director,Promise foundation and a team of three teacher trainers K.Latha, Roopakishen and Mahendra.

'Sarva shiksha Abhiyan, which supports the project in the state, can take it to the other regions as well' hopes Prof.Vasavi. The project was formally launched by Dr.Kasturirangan, NIAS director.

For more details:
Visit-http://www.thepromisefoundation.org/ OR

http://www.iisc.ernet.in/nias/site/vidya.html

Telephone:080-2218 5122(NIAS)/080-2571 1129 (Promise foundation).

Wither higher education?

By Shashikala Sitaram

My friend’s son, who is studying at the Harvard University, computer science, for a PhD was in Mysore. He works with two advisers, both graciously agreed to give him the autonomy to work from “home” — Mysore.

During his five-month stay, he wanted to do some “good”, especially to the students of his alma mater — the National Institute of Engineering. He volunteered to teach a course, “From NAND to TETRIS in 12 Steps”, which in simple term means the elements of computing systems.

Initially, the course was appreciated for its novelty and was considered relevant by the faculty and the students. Prashanth was overwhelmed with the response as 265 students enrolled. But soon this number reduced to 200 to 140 to 100 to 70 to 37 to 17. Finally, only two students were interested in completing the course.

What use is a course which does not get a student an IT job? The question on the lips of every student was — will you give us a certificate, will this increase our prospects of getting an IT job? This, of course, is the ultimate dream and luxury of the present day right-thinking, educated individual.

The other important reason for the students’ indifference was that the course was not recognised by the Visvesvaraya Technological University. The knowledge-building aspect of learning is obviously absent in a system, which emphasis on churning students for the IT industry and affiliated jobs.

Students get into these institutions either by management quota or the CET. This year, the management quota gets 45 per cent of the seats and requires an up front payment of Rs 8 lakh or more. A fee of Rs 1.25 lakh every year for four years is to be added, making “this” education equivalent to, if not higher than, what is offered in some of the states like Texas in the US. But the quality of education does not anywhere come close to US standards.

For the rest of 55 per cent CET seats, the quota system is applicable, there are so many categories included, over time, that what is left is 9 out of every 100 as “merit” seats. We have reached a stage where there would be a quota for merit.But who is interested in merit or quality of education? Not the politicians. Creating an enabling environment for the students is obviously of low priority. The bureaucracy — in this case an interested one — gets little time in changing curriculum, teaching techniques — as the attention is diverted. The law governing universities in Karnataka keeps the control with bureaucrats/government and not with academic bodies in the university. Even then the university bodies are filled with nominees of politicians.

Given this scenario, is it possible to talk about quality or can we think of competing in the global market? Many of the students with potential get excluded in such a system. We continue to gloat about students like Prashanth, who are with the best of universities in the world, while we should actually be feeling bad that our system isn’t producing more students like him.

(I thank MALATHI BHAT for forwarding an thought provoking article by Shashikala Sitaram, which was published in DECCAN HERALD.Thank you ma'm!)

Innovation is the only way

By Sunita Narain

Some innovations change lives. A favourite of mine is the village milk collection system, a cooperative model. There's a dairy in the village, people bring in milk, the dairy in-charge places a sample on an instrument, checks the fat content, prints a receipt that tells the seller the fat content and the price. Once a week, the milk-seller encashes receipts. As most villages do not have electricity, instruments and computers work on diesel generators. Every day the co-operative's van arrives to take the milk for sale in the nearby town.

In villages I visited last week, in arid Rajasthan, I saw this system at work. In the evening young girls, women and men streamed into the dairy. Their milk was checked, they collected their receipt. I asked them if they could read the numbers, written in English. They did not know the language, but could read their receipts. Just consider the economics:one buffalo gives roughly 5 litres of milk each day; people earn, depending on the fat content, Rs 15 to Rs 25 per litre. Even the poorest-one-buffalo owners-earn. The money reaches them directly, in their village.


Consider also that this village, Laporiya, has seen a back-breaking drought for the past nine years. Meteorological data shows the last goodmonsoon was in 1997; it rained 700 mm. Since then rainfall has varied from 300-400 mm, it comes in a few cloud bursts. It is in this situation animals become the mainstay of the economy. Animal care is much less risk-averse than agriculture.

The dairy is the vital link inadversity-it links people to the market. It helps them cope with scarcity. Market and retail proponents must understand this system is simple butnot simplistic. It provides for the poorest and most marginalised, by investing in improving the productivity of common grazing lands. Acritical move, for livestock need fodder, usually desperately short during -peak droughts. Lesser the fodder, lesser the milk. This is investment in hard-core infrastructure, critical for markets to function.

But today, across India, fodder is desperately short. Where there is land but no water for irrigation, farmers cannot cultivate crops, and so cannot use the bonus of residues for animals. The common lands-village grazing lands and forest lands-are over-exploited and under-productive. In most regions, villagers have told me they spend Rs 12,000 to Rs20,000 per year of their meagre earnings, on an average, to buy fodder. But this economy is underground.

There is no fodder policy in India, nointervention to protect the grazing lands or improve the productivity of forestland for food for our livestock. This is the 'other' food crisis. It must be understood that livestock is not wasted or inefficient. It plays a critical role in the village agricultural and livelihood economy-from manure to enhancing soil productivity and nutrition. But its food is nobody's priority.

The pastures-reserved for animal grazing-have shrunk over the years; forestlands are the only remaining commons. Foresters say animals are biotic pressures; they suppress regeneration of forests. They want domestic livestock out of theselands. Their concerns may be valid. But it is equally important to note that domestic animals will need forests, as much as wildlife. We need anexplicit policy for this food crisis. We need to find answers.

For instance, the dairy in Laporiya works even in severe drought because it is connected to the common grazing land. In this village and itsvicinity, the NGO Gram Vikas Navyuvak Mandal has spent huge energies tovacate encroachments from common grazing lands. These lands are administratively under the gram panchayat, but over the years most have been taken over-not by the poor but by the powerful.

It is a tense battle within the village to reclaim the commons. Laws to protect such lands are weak, the administration helpless. But without the supportive common pasture, there can be little private gain, particularly for the poor. Reclaiming the commons is the first step towards regenerating these lands.

In these villages a fascinating technique has been evolved, called the 'chauka' system, to trap the little rainfall they get and improve the grasslands. The villagers dig rectangular trenches-less than1 feet deep-to temporarily hold rainwater before it flows into the next trench and then the next and so into the tank. With this system inplace, the village common land has become a grand water collection area. The aim is to make the entire village a rain collection system, to recharge the aquifer, withstand drought.

In neighbouring Sihalsagar village, every bit of land has been re-crafted for water-villagers have dug three big nadis (ponds), 25 small ponds and made chauka in theirgrazing land. Every field has a bund; every drop of rain is trapped and harvested. As a result, the village has water even as its neighbours donot. Since work began on water conservation, the village has never seen bountiful rain. But it still has some water.

In other words, even meagre rain, if harvested, can provide sustenance.The issue then is to increase the productivity of each raindrop. If that scarce water is used for crops, it will benefit some and not all. It will also deplete the groundwater table, for farmers will dig deeper to get water for their fields. The economy will not be sustainable.

On theother hand, if that water is used to turn it into milk, it will add value to that scarce resource. If that milk is processed locally, so that more value is added, it will make the economy prosper. The market will work, but only if this politics of scarcity is understood. In the dingy dairy of Laporiya I learnt: last year, after nine years of persistent drought, when it rained less than 300 mm, the village of 300 households sold milk worth Rs 17.5 lakh. It was a valuable lesson. I will not forget it easily.

(I thank GANADHALU SHRIKANTA for forwarding an thought provoking article by Sunita Narain, Editor of Down to Earth magazine.Thank you sir!)

KSPs Nonsense Act!

By B Jayakishore

YES. I think its Absolutely nonsense act by Kannada sahithya parishath members to start agitation campaign against the implementation of English from the standard one from this month. My point is Can we find any thing logical in their protest? In which Era the so called protectors of Kannada living in?

In the Era of liberalization and gliobalization, It is the fact that English has become the language to earn bread and butter. As years will pass, when our world will be further shrinked into one single entity, comman language of communication and criteria for getting job becomes ONLY English, Where will these Kannada pupil will go? Can Kannada create such huge employment opportunities for them? Activists should look into this matter more seriously.

I Agree that that learning the mother toungue is mandatory. But It is also true that, as gandhiji said, the education we receive should give us confidence to face the world. Simply, Look at present situation. What is happening is that those who studied in kannada medium schools (may be private run or government run)are struggling every day and moment to earn a decent living in these highly driven English Atmosphere. Every moment they feel inferior to their counterparts who were from top rated english schools, even if they are equally competitive and intelligent.Only thing they lack is that they dont know how to express a 'Good English'!

One of my friend said.'Hey,You can come up in life and create opportunity for yourself in this high phased race,even if you came from a kannada school, If have a zeal in you to do so. Look at Prof.U R Rao, He studied in kannada medium, look at other such personalities...I can give you so many examples!!'

'I Agree. How many suceess stories can you give? 10?100? 1000? Man, There are lakhs of students. All of them can not become like U R Rao or such others. For the sake of them there is a genine need of a English curriculum which atleast prepare them to face the competition' I Said.

Leave it. See the facts. Nowadays children already familiar with about 200plus english words well before they join 1st standard. Experts who prepared curriculum say that based on these only the curriculum have been prepared. Emphasis will be given only to 'listening and understanding' the foreign language, there will be no writing till standard 3 and there will be no exams. cool !!

Interestingly, it looks like this learning this newly to be implemented curriculum will be a fun learning. As the methods adopted to teach english are like story-telling, simple songs and rhymes, listening to instructions and carrying them out and short dialogues. English will be taught five periods a week or 100 hours a year so that students should not be burdened.

Then what is the problem with kannada activists who look English as a untouchable language? Ironically, It is the hard fact everybody know, that childrens and grandchildrens of such activists(Oratagararu!) are studied in top rate english schools and are now working in top MNC's. Then why should rural students are be deprived of the opportunity as, If this curriculum is introduced successfully, they will be prepared to learn hardcore real english in more effective maner from 5th standard onwards. Which will also give a boost to their morale, as things learnt in the early ages are more effective.

Kannada is our mother tongue. So, protecting the interest of our language, culture is also most important. But at the same time we should move along with the time. India witnessed such an economic growth in recent years only because we have plenty of english speaking youth with us than any other country in the world. Now, China, Europian countrys also are into the race to make their youth to be compititive in english to compete in world market.

Obviously, Competition is inevitable in the era of globalization. Shall we remain behind in the competition? Isn't it true that our education must produce 'competitive youth' to be remain in the race? (Leave the other aspect of the issue such as education should not be job oriented..etc) When this is the real situation, the' ACT' of our KSP, in which most of our literates, thinkers are members, is highly ridiculous and irrelevent.

However, It shows their intolerance towards an evolution. Intolerance towards adopting new beginings. Which would eventually harm the future of our intelligent needy rural mass and make our growth stagnant.