1. Enhancing the quality of primary education
‘Engineering’ the primary education in India
Neeraj Babu C, Apurv Mittal, Anjaly T R, Roshan Sivanesh, Manu Velayudhan
IIT Bombay, Mumbai
Team Jyothirgamaya:

2. The primary education system in India fails to
build the foundational skills in students
Percentage of Std V students enrolled in
government schools unable to read Std II textbook
44.00%
46.00%
48.00%
50.00%
52.00%
54.00%
56.00%
58.00%
60.00%
2010 2011 2012
The concerns :
A) Reading levels and arithmetic skills of students are a
serious concern.
• More than half of std V students are at least 3 grades
behind where they should be.
Hypothesis:
• Large student teacher ratio causing less individual
attention.
• Poor quality of teachers
B) Lack of exposure to libraries, science labs, computer labs
and language labs.
• Almost all the primary schools follow a textbook
centered pedagogy.
• 24% of primary schools don’t have a library.
Hypothesis:
• Teachers lack time and motivation to learn technology
skills.
• Lack of infrastructure.
C) The quality of mid-day meal is very poor
• Lack of nutrition
Hypothesis:
• Lack of proof/ concrete data to prove that quality is
low.
• No committee to question and keep a check.
• No feedback to government.
Source: ASER 2012 main findings

3. Tapping the potential of educated youth of the nation
to address the challenges of primary education
Solution 1 in a nutshell:
• Every 2nd year undergraduate student of engineering colleges will be assisting in
pedagogy of the primary students. This will be mandatory for the fulfillment of
their degree course.
• Undergraduate students will teach in alotted primary schools every Saturday in
a supplementary role.
• A centralized, state level, online allotment scheme which assigns a particular
school, grade and subject according to the preference of the college student to
be setup.
• A goal based curriculum guideline to be developed by NCERT. Performance of
the primary school students will be evaluated at the end of the academic
session based on this guideline and the ‘visiting tutors’ will be graded based on
their student’s performance.
• Feedback of mid-day meal scheme to be given by these ‘visiting tutors’ to their
college which uploads it in an online repository.
• Large impact on quality of primary education with least capital investment by
roping competent youth.
• Improving the student-teacher ratio thus ensuring better attention to students.
• A fool proof mechanism to monitor food quality of mid-day meal scheme.
Engineering college
students as ‘visiting
tutors’
Implementation
model
Advantages over
existing system

4. Leveraging the infrastructure of schools during
vacations
Solution 2 in a nutshell:
• 3 week internships / exposure to good quality infrastructure like
library, lab facilities, study materials in centrally funded schools like
Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodayas during 2/3 month vacation
period.
• The target group is the students of std V to VIII from schools which
are deprived of above mentioned infrastructure.
• Demonstration and hands on sessions in science / math labs under
supervision of school teachers.
• These students will be introduced to various extra curricular
activities by utilizing resources available in the host schools.
• Exposure to good quality teaching environment and tools
responsible for the overall growth of the student without incurring
any major expenses.
Utilizing the
infrastructure of schools
during vacation
Implementation
model
Advantages over
existing system

5. Rationale of choosing
Engineering students
• Large distribution of engineering colleges across the country and talent pool of over 14
lakh available
• Proficiency in basic skillsets like arithmetic, reading skills with exposure to use of
technology in education
Method of Training
and Allotment
• A web Interface for allotment of tutors based on preferences of school, class and subject
submitted online
• Training programs to be organized during the semester break before the commencement
of the programme in respective colleges based on guidelines issued by NCERT
Development of
Curriculum Guideline
• A modular curriculum guideline to be developed by NCERT defining the basic skillset to be
developed in students for each subject at every grade level
• Curriculum guide will be followed across the country across education boards
• Visiting tutors have to ensure the fulfillment of this goal
Implementation Model
of Teaching and
Evaluation
• A subject will be divided among a pool of visiting tutors, who will have to ensure that the
basic skill sets are attained as per the guideline
• These tutors will maintain a slow pace for teaching so that even the weakest of the
students are taken care of
• Question papers to test the basic skills will be developed by state boards based on the
guidelines from NCERT
• The tutor will be graded on the performance of the students in her/his class
Mid day meal scheme
quality check
• These tutors need to review the mid day meal scheme and other infrastructure based on
standard metric developed by the state committee which will be kept confidential
• This review needs to be uploaded in an online repository by the college of the tutor
• Monthly evaluation of this repository by FQM Team of the state committee and actions to
be taken accordingly
‘Engineering’ primary education - The roadmap to
policy implementation of our solution

6. Schools with excellent infrastructure will open up their
gates for students of schools with inadequate facilities
Implementation
model
• The national level committee for the programme issues guidelines for opening up the
infrastructure of KVs and Navodayas to the upper primary students of schools lacking
infrastructure
• The list of primary schools with limited infrastructure will be available with the state
committees
• Internship programs will be floated for 2 to 3 weeks during which the students can utilize
the facilities of the host school
• Teachers of the host schools will conduct the workshops / internships which will widen
the student’s horizons in pursuit of knowledge
Training methods Internships will be aimed on -
• Familiarization with labs and conducting basic science / math experiments
• Exposure to extra curricular activities
• Vocational training

7. Management Mapping
MHRD
CENTRAL
COMMITEE
STATE
COMMITEE
General Education Dept. Technical Education Dept. (DTE)
DEO Engineering Colleges
Schools
CBSE/NCERT
Schools managed by
Central government
• Creation of management
committees for the programme at
central and state level
• Central committee to interact with
MHRD, CBSE/NCERT, state
committee and the schools
managed by Central government
for policy implementation
• State committee to implement the
programme at the state level

8. The organization team consists of a central body of 19
members and each state body having 17 members
w
CHAIR PERSON
MEDIA TEAM
2 FTEs
IT TEAM
4 FTEs
LOGISTICS TEAM
3 FTEs
FINANCE TEAM
3 FTEs
COORDINATION
TEAM
6 FTEs
L
CHAIR PERSON
FOOD QUALITY
MANAGEMENT TEAM
3 FTEs
IT DEPT
4 FTEs
LOGISTICS TEAM
3 FTEs
FINANCE TEAM
3 FTEs
COORDINATION TEAM
3 FTEs
Central Committee
State Committee
Media campaigns, PRO,
corporate interactions
IT infrastructure like
databases, websites
Transportation, Office
management, Logistics
management
Fund management
Coordination between NCERT,
Central school managements
in various activities
Complaints from midday
meal scheme and redressal
IT infrastructure like
databases, websites,
online allotment system
Transportation, Office
management,
Logistics management
Fund management Coordination between
technical education and
school education dept. to
implement various activities

9. This organization model will require around INR 60 Cr.
Per annum as funding from government
AnnualOperationalCosts
Organization costs
Central Chair Person
(1 FTE * 10 lakh p.a )
Central Team
(18 FTE * 6lakh p.a)
State Team
(16 FTE* 5lakh p.a* 34)
State Chair Person
( 1FTE * 8 lakh p.a *34)
Technology costs
IT Hardware & Maintenance
Software and Maintenance
Logistics costs
Allowances to Students
Incentives to performing schools
Funding for teacher training
Establishment Costs
3.11 Cr.
INR per
annum
50 Cr. INR
per
annum
3 Cr INR
per
annum

10. The program will impact lives of 135 million primary school
students and create 14.7 lakh teachers every year!!
IMPACT
• Improvement of fundamental skills of students like reading, arithmetic at
primary level
• Ensuring maintenance of adequate infrastructure in school and quality of
mid-day meal
• Significant improvement in student - teacher ratio
• Access to better infrastructure like libraries and labs for students
• Large pool of talented, knowledgeable and young teachers created
• Social connectivity and student community interaction creating more young
leaders
REACH
• 6,58,871 govt. primary schools and 135 million children studying there
benefited across India
• 14,73,727 teachers created throughout the nation
• Reaching across India in all states, districts and gram panchayats

11. Key challenges faced by the policy and it’s mitigation
factors
Challenges & Implementation Risks
1. College students may not be well equipped with
the prescribed teaching standards
2. Feedback related to Mid day meal scheme and
infrastructure can be subjective
3. Allocation of schools located far from the
visiting tutor’s college can cause
difficulties in transportation and will
require funding to meet the tutor’s
expense
4. Access to schools in far flung tribal areas is
challenging
5. Opening up of infrastructure may incur
operational costs to the host schools
Mitigation Factors
1. Design of good quality teacher
training programs for college
students
2. Development of standard metrics to
grade the mid day meal scheme and
the school infrastructure
3. Mechanism to reimburse travel
expenses to the students, if needed
4. Clusters of tribal schools should be
taken for internships
5. Incentives for the host schools to
meet their operational costs during
vacations

12. 1. Annual report of statistics of school education ,2011 – MHRD
2. Annual report 2012 – AICTE
3. National Curriculum Framework – 2005
4. Inside primary schools – Pratham foundation
5. Annual status of education report 2012 – Pratham foundation
6. http://mhrd.gov.in/schooleducation
7. http://www.education.com/ on 3rd Sept. 2013
8. http://dfpd.nic.in/ on 3rd Sept 2013