When teachers organise group study in classrooms, these are usually led by the students who get better grades and who have a better understanding of the concepts taught in class. These smarter students share their understanding and knowledge in study groups and help other students bridge the knowledge gap. This is the practice that i-Saksham Education and Learning Foundation is building upon through digital technology to develop sustainable education models in rural areas.
i-Saksham is a for-profit non-government company incorporated in March, 2015 and is an initiative of Prime Minister Rural Development Fellows (PMRDFs) which provides in-situ education, skill development, and information services in unreached areas. i-Saksham uses digital technology and content to train and skill local youth so that they can run sustainable community learning centres. They employ a very simplistic yet ingenious model to do so. A tablet loaded with content on elementary education and IT skills is leased to a young tutor who in turn uses it to tutor local kids and youth and charges them a fee for the service.
This innovative model has been implemented in two districts of Bihar affected by Left-wing extremism – Munger and Jamui and has provided the following benefits:
Poor children get access to best quality education material. Backed with systematic lesson plans, quizzes and regular assessment tests, children aim to attain grade appropriate learning level.
A skilled youth gets livelihood opportunity within his/her village by providing education.
S/he also gets access to quality self-coaching to prepare for competitive examinations.
Youths get access to lessons on various vocational courses.
Communities get access to desired information.
i-Saksham is led by 3 young men, two of whom are from the two affected districts in Bihar. Ravi Dhanuka is from Munger district while Shravan Kumar Jha is from Jamui. Both are MBAs and have worked with BASIX and SKS Microfinance respectively, before participating in the PMRDF fellowship. The third fellow of i-Saksham is Aditya Tyagi from Arunachal Pradesh. He has a Masters in Computer Applications from JNU, Delhi and worked with McKinsey & Company & i3 Consulting.
i-Saksham uses 50+ tablets, which are crowdfunded, to reach out to more than 2500 students in the interior-most areas of these affected districts. The content on the tablets is taught through android apps, video lectures as well as simulations and can be taught in classrooms, study circles as well as tutor groups by the youth tutors. Content from the tablets is also shared with the students on their multi-media phones. i-Saksham ensures that the mediators and tutors are trained in the pedagogy and how to use the technology to run their ‘Saksham Kendras’. They provide guidance and monitor the service delivery through evaluations and provide feedback to the tutors. They also endeavour to involve local panchayat and community blocks in the saksham kendras.
The i-Saksham model of education delivery is innovative in the sense that:
The tablet replaces the PC and provides a more mobile delivery platform
Non-requirement of internet as the content is uploaded offline onto SD cards.
Electricity to run the tablets is provided by solar panels.
Early this year the company shared their achievements for the year 2015 which included expanding their tutor network to 50 youth as well as starting digital literacy training for more than 100 youths from very poor families under the govt. sponsored program, National Digital Literacy Mission. They also partnered with READ India to build community tutorship skills of 10 adolescent girls at Deo Block of Aurangabad District, Bihar.
There are bold plans to increase the reach of education delivery. By 2017-18, i-Saksham plans to reach 235,000 students through 2350 tutors using a 1000 tablets. While they are currently crowdfunded and self-funded they are looking to the NSDA for financial support to aid their 2017-18 budget of Rs. 1.3 crore. One hopes they are able to secure this support for the sake of the thousands of children and youth who depend on this education delivery model to access better opportunities in life and escape the stifling local conditions.
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