Saakshar Bharat Programme is a mission and determination of the Government of India to make all non-literate women literate before the end of the Eleventh Plan (2011-12). The President Pratibha Devisingh Patil herself emphasized female literacy and in her address to the Joint Session of Parliament underlined the need to bridge the yawning gender gap in literacy. Keeping the Government's declaration and firm intention in mind, the National Literacy Mission Authority of the Ministry of Human Resource Development has conceptualized Saakshar Bharat Programme.
Saakshar Bharat Programme
Saakshar Bharat, a centrally sponsored scheme of Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), was launched by the Prime Minister on the International Literacy Day, September 8, 2009.
Saakshar Bharat Programme (SBP) aims to further promote and strengthen Adult education. It aims at covering those who missed the opportunity of formal education earlier, and now feel a need for learning of any type, including basic literacy, basic education (equivalency to formal education), vocational education (skill development), physical and emotional development, practical arts, applied science, sports and recreation.
Within next three years, the Saakshar Bharat Programme will cover 70 million non-literate adults (60 million of them, women) in 15 plus age group in 365 low female literacy districts. This would redress the gender, social and regional disparities in literacy.
The Programme's main focus group would be women and adolescents from socio-economically disadvantaged sections like the SCs, STs, Minorities and other disadvantaged sections in rural areas of low female districts.
In SBP, all its programmes including Basic Literacy, Basic Education (linked to Equivalency with formal education system), Skill Development and Continuing Education will be taken up in continuum, without break. With respect to Basic Literacy, a flexible approach would be followed, including Volunteer-based literacy center, appointment of Resident Instructors where educated Volunteers are hard to find locally, Residential Camps, part-residential and part-volunteer-based approaches.
Lok Shiksha Kendra
In each Gram Panchayat a Lok Shiksha Kendra (Adult Education Centre) would be established to take up various types of continuing education programmes. Each Adult Education Centre would be manned by two Preraks (at least one of them, woman).
The gender perspective would permeate all different core aspects of the programme including the approach, strategies, planning, management structures, TLMs, T-L processes and monitoring and evaluation. This could reinforce women empowerment.
The overall aim of the programme is to promote and strengthen adult education in the lifelong learning perspective and create a literate society. To this end, it seeks to establish adult and continuing education as a permanent and institutionalized set up parallel to formal education system. This would strengthen the right perspective for adult education.
The Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) would be the main implementing agency at the district, block and gram panchayat levels, with the State Literacy Mission Authority(SLMA) and the communities at the village level as valued stakeholders.
Especially at the Gram Panchayat level, the programme is envisioned as a programme of, for and by the people, under the auspices of the village panchayat. All stakeholders, especially at the grassroots level would have a due say and role in the planning and implementation of the programme. The role of National Literacy Mission Authority and State Literacy Mission Authority will be that of catalytic agencies, facilitators and resources providers.
The programme has conceptualized the Adult Education Programme in the right perspective of lifelong education, and seeks to build it as a permanent and institutionalized system, alongside and parallel to the formal education system.
This has devised a regular and uninterrupted fund flow system directly to the Panchayats through banks, cutting out the delays.
ILD Celebrations
In the International Literacy Day celebrations, for the first time, the SLMA Directors, SRC and JSS, besides their Chairpersons, Volunteer Teachers and neo-literates participated in large numbers, and heartily welcomed the launch of Saakshar Bharat.
To infuse new energy among neo-literates and literacy activists, NLM organized a special interactive programme with the President. About 100 women from States and Union Territories participated, dressed in their traditional costumes.
For the first time in India, the celebration of the International Literacy Day was combined by a week-long celebration of Adult Learners Week (ALW) in all states and districts.
In connection with the finalisation of the strategies and approach to implementation of Saakshar Bharat Programme, consultative meetings were held with representatives of State Governments, NGOs, literacy practioners, administrators, SRCs, universities, etc. More than 20 Task Forces under SRCs, & NLMA Members elaborated strategies and implementation modalities on various core aspects of Saakshar Bharat programme.
The Programme was launched on October 1, 2009. In view of the changes envisaged the strategy and approach of the programme, with special focus on women, designing a state of the art teaching-learning materials became imperative. Accordingly, based on national consultations involving experts, state-specific primers were prepared by each SRC, and kept in readiness for printing and distribution in time for the programme.
Capacity Building of Key Resource personnel is the first step for launching the cascade training strategy for a programme like Saakshar Bharat, which deploys a massive number of Volunteer Literacy Educators – something of the order of seven million for a target of 70 million non-literates. All the SRCs have undertaken one or two rounds of capacity building of the key resource personnel and in some cases, even the orientation of the PRI members.
In the adult education system envisaged in lifelong learning perspective, Equivalency Programme is one of the salient facets, whereby equivalency with formal education system in respect of III, V, VIII levels and even beyond is planned. Democratisation of education system and increase in the educational level, through the aegis of adult education system is on anvil, which would significantly raise the educational level of Gram Panchayat. For the first time, authentication and certification of prior knowledge of adults is planned.
Jan Shikshar Sansthans
The Jan Shikshar Sansthans (JSSs) are a unique creation of the Government with the challenging mandate of providing vocational skills to non-literates, neo-literates and rudimentary level education. The priority groups of Jan Shikshar Sansthans are women, SCs, STs, Minorities and also other socio-economically backward sections of the society. For the first time, a proforma was developed that could, at glance, reveal details of courses, beneficiaries, duration, programme expenditure, etc. This made possible the review of the progress in Annual Action Plan.
In adult education, motivation and mobilization of the non-literates as well as volunteers are critical for their participation. The changed context of rural areas, with the penetration of IT, ICT, including radio, TV, mobiles, would call for changes in strategy of motivation and mobilization. Thus, the Strategy Communication Group for implementation zeroed in intensive use of Radio and outdoor print message medium for launching environment building for Saakshar Bharat programme. For the next phase, a combination of the traditional environment building based on kalajathas as the dominant mode with the modern technology-based communication strategy could be used.
Based on the broad National curricular Framework for Adult Education, Primers for Saakshar Bharat programme have been prepared by the SRCs in respect of various languages. These have been scrutinized at national level review meetings by the Quality Assurance Committee. After receiving the Quality Assurance Certificate, these primers could carry NLM logo and would be eligible for printing and distribution.
The National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, has been commissioned by NLMA to conceptualize and articulate the strategy for the Orientation of the PRI members and its administrative functionaries at panchayat, block and district levels. NIRD, in collaboration with SIRDs and their district counterparts, have worked out the strategy for PRIs orientation, to be completed by March 2010.
The NLMA has taken up, in a series of four-five states, the orientation of the SLMAs, to launch Saakshar Bharat programmes in their respective states. In such orientations, the SLMA members, State Education Secretaries and Directors of Adult Education would receive orientation on different core aspects of Saakshar Bharat programmes.
Posts
