Preliminary discussion with Hostel Wardens, Experiential sharing by HRE teachers and contact with Teachers’ Unions on 20th Feb. 2021 in Trichy Three day orientation training for all facilitators from 10 organizations in 16 districts @ Trichy on 21 – 23 September 2021. 70 facilitators from 10 CSOs across the state actively participated. Three day orientation training for all facilitators from 10 organizations in 16 districts @ Trichy on 21 – 23 September 2021. 70 facilitators from 10 CSOs across the state actively participated. Meeting with the Member of the State Human Rights Commission. Meeting with the Chairperson of the State Minorities Commission. Mr. Abdul Samadhu, MLA from Manaparai and General Secretary of Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi, raised the demand during the Tamil
Nadu Assembly debate on School Education in the last Budget session on 26.08.2021.
The Project team had a series of meetings with Rev. Fr. Don Bosco, Secretary, TANCEAN (Regional Education Commission of Tamil Nadu Catholic Bishop’s Council), Chennai. The project team had an opportunity to make a presentation to TANCEAN members on 20.03.2021 at Chennai. Meeting with CSI synod General Secretary. One day State level Consultation and Planning meeting for TANCEAN and CRI Education Coordinators held on 13.11.2021 at TASSOS Training Centre, Trichy.
Four short promo videos in Tamil have been prepared so far by our team and widely circulated among different CSOs and other groups to highlight the importance of our CRE Programme and announcing to the public (through social media). The project team is also widely circulating handouts / visibility materials on CRE Programme and E-Posters on our events to the public.
The CRE Module 1 (We the people of India) has been translated from Tamil to English. This has been given to other State Partners in Odisha and Karnataka, who are engaged in the translation in their own regional languages. The design of the English copy is going on and the same might be used for Matriculation and other English medium schools, where CRE Programme will be taken up. All the translated versions will be uploaded in the website, when the final draft is completed. Some modifications according to their regions and languages are needed for their modules.
Vaan Muhil continues to strengthen the relationship with the School Education Department at state level and two of the project team attend all state level advisory committee meetings (mostly online), organized by the Commissioner and the Director for School Education to take up to the special Programme “Illam Thedi Kalvi” (Education at door steps) and actively participated in the three day state level physical meeting on strengthening School Management Committees and School Development Plans from 18th to 20th November at Musiri, wherein 80 Master Trainers were trained for district level training Programme. In fact, our team played a major role in finalizing the three days Programme schedule and designing the entire Programme for the master trainers.
The Government of Tamil Nadu released the State Children Policy – 2021 on 20th November, after eight years of National Children’s Policy. Though there are some gaps in the policy, on the whole it is good and our demand of introducing CRE syllabus in all government and government aided schools in Tamil Nadu has been incorporated in the Policy, for which Vaan Muhil is thankful to the Social Welfare Department. This will help us to push our agenda with the School Education Department to introduce CRE syllabus in all schools for the next academic year.
A total of 300 school principals/HMs of Middle Schools, High Schools, Higher Secondary Schools, and Matric Schools attended a one-day orientation on Constitutional Rights Education Programs in the three states and the Union Territory of Puducherry during the second half of 2022. As for as Tamil Nadu is concerned, this includes the Principals/HMs of the RC Diocesan schools (TNCEAN) from Thoothukudi, Kanyakumari, Sivagangai, Dharmapuri, and Salem districts and TNCRI congregation schools from Servite Convent, ICM sisters, Holy Cross Sisters, St. Anne’s – Madhavaram Sisters, St. Anne’s – Trichy Sisters, Brothers of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sisters of St. Aloysius Gonzaque, Carmelite Sisters, Salesians Sisters, Capuchin Fathers and Jesuit Fathers (Details of these orientation programs are attached as annexure-2).
15 one-day training programs were organized by the core team for school teachers from the RC Diocesan Schools and TNCRI congregation schools from different parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and nearly 300 teachers have been given inputs on Constitutional Rights and Values from June 2022 to December 2022. Similarly, 50 school teachers in Karnataka and 50 teachers in Odisha have been trained. Though the core team insisted on two days training programs for the teachers who would handle the CRE program in their respective schools, most of the school management could not spare their teachers for two full days for our program, as their priority was to set right most of the routine things within the school framework after the pandemic. It was their main and major concern to put things in order, since the schools were reopened after nearly one and a half years due to continuous lockdowns. Therefore, the core team was able to negotiate for only one-day training programs on CRE for school teachers in 2022.
Copies of Module -1 were distributed to all Principals/HMs during their orientation programs and to all school teachers during their one-day trainings. The participants were explained in detail about the design of the CRE program and Module -1, which is an easy-to-understand textbook for children with lots of illustrations, case studies, real stories, group exercises, pictorial presentations, quotes and facts, and provisions of Constitutional Rights and human rights laws. Copies of Module -1 in English version were also printed and distributed to the Matriculation schools where they handle the CRE program. The copies were also distributed to education officials at the state level, TANCEAN leaders, TNCRI representatives, mainly Major Superiors of the congregations and Provincials, some of the Education Institutions, College Principals, eminent personalities and CSOs working in the areas of child rights, child participation, child protection, women empowerment, labour rights and human rights education.
Another milestone has been achieved after the inclusion of 37 Government Schools (SC/ST Development Department) and 10 AWC schools in Jhasuguda district in Odisha, where school dropout ratio is on the increase. The state chief trainer established contacts with the district collectorate of Jhasuguda and obtained written permission to conduct two days of residential training for teachers of SC/ST residential schools in the district. The rapport building with the district collectorate, women child development department, DWO, and DSW in the district yielded desirable results in taking up the CRE program in these schools. The CRE program is effectively being carried out in 50 community clubs and 44 residential hostels in Kandamal district. The headmasters and teachers were given proper orientation and training before starting CRE clubs in their schools.
The Project team engaged a team of Digital Curriculum experts to bring out the digital format of the CRE Module in a professional manner. All eight lessons have been digitalized and the form is very attractive to children. Some of the CRE teachers were involved in the presentation of the lessons in digital mode. Each of the lessons lasts for 10 to 12 minutes and the presentation is very creative. A series of review meetings were held with the technical team and digital experts to fine-tune the content and the form before the final product came out. The sittings with the digital experts in Chennai and in Madurai were useful to the team in shaping the digital format of the module. As this digital version was to be handed over to the School Education Commissioner (with the aim of taking this digital product to all the government schools in the next academic year), extra care was taken by the project team to bring out the best output.
The printed copies of the translated version of Module -1 into English have been distributed to many Matriculation Schools in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry who show a keen interest in taking the CRE program in their schools. The teachers were also trained along with other CRE teachers in their respective districts before starting the CRE program in their schools.
The project team took extra effort to take the CRE program to some of the colleges and their outreach centres in Tamil Nadu. Two colleges of education (St. Ignatius College of Education, Palayamkottai, St. Aloysius College of Education, Rayappanpatty, Theni) and St. Joseph’s Arts and Science College, Trichy and Causannel College of Arts and Science, Muthupettai, Ramnad, invited our team to initiate CRE program in their campuses during the reporting period.
The first Curriculum Development Committee meeting was held on 19.03.2022 and at United Mission College, Bangalore and seven experts took an active part in the meeting to discuss the contents of the first Module in Kannada, based on the Tamil Module-1. The second and third Curriculum Development Committee meetings were held on 01.04.2022 & 26.05.2022 to incorporate the additional points taking into account the Karnataka context and to finalize the Kannada Module. The Curriculum Development Committee members include Mr.Rabbi Puthran, Principal, United Mission College, Ms.Sweety Kalanjali, former “SADPI”, Mr.Rajendra Prasad, Kannada Lecturer, United Mission College, Ms.Nisarga Priya, Central College, Bangalore University, Ms.Pushpa Rani, translator, Ms.Shamanatha and Ms.Nirmala, women activists.