SATH-E Report - Systemic Transformation of School Education

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Project SATH
(Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital - Education)
Project SATH-Education
Learnings for
Large–scale Transformation
in School Education 2Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 3Message from Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog
Message from
Vice Chairperson,
NITI Aayog
India has traversed a long journey in its quest for
ensuring near-universal access to primary school
education. It has been our endeavor, under the
leadership of hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi, to strive towards facilitating access to
high-quality education for all. In this context, NITI
Aayog’s initiative, Sustainable Action for Transforming
Human Capital in Education (Project SATH-Education)
was conceptualized as a key initiative for transitioning
to the next level of achieving quality education across
grades.
In 2017, the Governments of Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh and Odisha came together to collaborate
with the Union Government, NITI Aayog and select
knowledge partners (Boston Consulting Group and
Piramal Foundation for Educational Leadership) for
enhancing the quality of education services in their
respective States. Project SATH-E has showcased
an effective and scalable approach for catalyzing
improvements in learning outcomes by leveraging
data-driven micro-planning and strengthened
governance mechanisms.
Suman Bery
Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog
This report captures the lessons learnt from the SATH-E
Project. It details the reform efforts undertaken as part
of the initiative including academic (e.g., assessments,
teacher and leadership curriculum) and systemic
(e.g., addressing vacancies, optimizing the footprint of
schools, building stakeholder capacity) solutions.
I congratulate NITI Aayog’s Education Vertical for
synthesizing the lessons learnt and suggested reforms
based on the implementation experience of Project
SATH-E. I am confident that if the interventions
elucidated in the report are customized and adopted
by other States, they could play a key role in helping
transform India’s education system and ensuring that
we achieve the targets set out under Goal 4 of the
Sustainable Development Goals in a timely manner. 4Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 5Message from Member (Education), NITI Aayog
Message from
Member (Education),
NITI Aayog
Education is one of the most critical enablers for
any developing country. For India, it’s all the more
important to offer high-quality education to fully tap
into our demographic dividend. Education can act as
a catalyst to not only sustain but also to further boost
India’s growth.
NITI Aayog launched Project SATH-Education to
demonstrate the possibilities and challenges in making
bold moves to improve the quality of education.
The States of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and
Odisha, which were onboarded through a rigorous
selection process, have already commenced their
transformation.
With the collective efforts of the Hon’ble Education
Ministers, the Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries
and the Education Departments of all the partner
States, and of course our knowledge partners, Boston
Consulting Group (BCG) and Piramal Foundation
Dr. V. K. Paul
Member (Education), NITI Aayog
for Educational Leadership (PFEL), we were able to
identify the key challenges in every state’s education
systems. Accordingly, robust roadmaps were designed
and multiple initiatives have been implemented,
encompassing quality enhancements, governance and
digital education.
Through this report, we would like to share some key
practices from the partner States with a broader set of
stakeholders in the hope that they guide and support
other States in their educational metamorphosis. I am
positive that through such cooperative initiatives, we
will soon ensure universal access to quality education. 6Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 7Foreword
Foreword
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) was launched in 2001
to universalize school education in the country. The
subsequent passing and implementation of the
Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education
Act-2009 has made sure that India attains near-perfect
universalisation of school education. However, as we
were striving to pivot from access to quality education,
the nation was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic which
led to learning losses for millions of students.
The National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 aims
to address the growing educational development
imperatives of our country. The States/UTs now need
to adapt and pivot their strategies aligning to NEP-2020
in order to achieve its targets in a time bound manner.
This will ensure that each student in India gets quality
education that enables them to be agents of change in
our society. Project SATH-E is a landmark contribution
of NITI Aayog in this direction.
Project SATH-Education has been implemented in the
States of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
The Project enables a system-wide governance
transformation in school education. The objective is to
ensure that quality is not diluted even when we operate
on a larger scale. Project SATH-E, since its inception
in 2017, has been a true ‘sathi’ (meaning ‘a friend’ in
Hindi) to the educational system with students and
teachers at its centre.
The interventions of Project SATH-E are in
synchronization with NEP-2020. The State
Governments of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and
B.V.R. Subrahmanyam
CEO, NITI Aayog
Odisha have been resiliently working on the NEP- 2020
implementation roadmaps as the SATH-E States are
pioneering contextualised interventions for it, which will
help in attaining grade-level learning competencies.
Project SATH-E has ensured that our students not only
return to schools but also learn at an incremental pace
as per the recommendations of NEP-2020.
This report captures effective implementation
strategies across the three SATH-E States to address
the most pressing issues of the Government Schooling
System. The report has been compiled in collaboration
with partner States Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh
and Odisha and our knowledge partners - Boston
Consulting Group and Piramal Foundation.
I sincerely hope that other States/UTs and broader
stakeholders across India will use this report as a
guidebook for designing educational transformative
interventions and policies for NEP-2020 implementation.
I am positive that through such cooperative initiatives, we
will be able to achieve our goal in a time-bound manner
and gradually transition towards becoming a nation with
universal access to quality education. 8Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 9
Message from the Secretary,
School Education and
Literacy, Jharkhand
Our goal is that every child in the state should have
access to quality education. Our constitution has
ensured ‘Right to Education’, but we believe it should
be taken a step forward towards ‘Right to Quality
Education’. Under the able leadership and vision of our
Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Hemant Soren, we are now
on a mission to transform the entire school education
system of the state, and Project SATH-E has been an
excellent partner for this transformation.
The efforts made on this program have significantly
benefitted the state. For e.g., by following the
approaches laid out in this document, Jharkhand
has yielded success across multiple areas including
consolidation of ~4,400 subscale schools to improve
efficiency and access within the system; introduction
of Gyan Setu, our flagship remedial program which
was instituted with 90% schools implementing the
program daily and resulting in improvements of student
learning outcomes; as well as developing systems and
capabilities across assessments, teacher capability
enhancement and an MIS (eVidyaVahini) which has
been built to support the transformation journey. There
have been several other interventions and approaches
that we have implemented on this journey which are
captured in the subsequent pages.
I am delighted that the efforts made by all the States
participating in the SATH-E programs have been
succinctly captured in a pragmatic and usable format. I
am confident that these materials will be useful for other
States who may be on a similar transformation journey.
I am also thankful to NITI Aayog and the knowledge
partners of Project SATH-E for their relentless support
and dedication.
K. Ravi Kumar
Secretary, Dept. of School Education and Literacy
Govt . of Jharkhand
Message from Secretary to Govt. 10Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 11
Message from the
Commissioner-cum-Secretary,
School and Mass Education,
Odisha
The SATH-E programme has been in Odisha since
its inception in 2017, with students and teachers at
its center. Under this programme, NITI Aayog and
knowledge partners Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
and Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership
(PFEL) supported the state in enabling a system-wide
governance transformation in school education.
Many initiatives were initiated in a phased manner
both under SATH-E 1.0 and SATH-E 2.0 to ensure
quality of school education and make the education
growth process socially inclusive, regionally balanced,
and sustainable.
In 2018, Odisha launched District Scorecards as
a tool to improve outcomes in the education sector.
Scorecards give a holistic view of the district’s
performance in education, support the identification
and prioritization of weak areas, drive timely actions,
and enable effective tracking of progress.
Odisha School Monitoring App (OSMA) is a unique
initiative take by the State of Odisha with the result of
better monitoring and management of the Education
system in the State under the SATH-E programme,
which helped the State build up in-house capabilities
to monitor and sustain the transformation.
Montly District Review Meetings and Block Review
meetings were also conducted regularly to assess
gaps and accelerate achievements.
I am happy to express my pleasure that Odisha is one
of the three States chosen for implementation of the
SATH-E project and that our initiatives are placed in
this SATH intervention report. This report contains
effective implementation procedures to address
challenges in the government schooling system, which
will definitely help different planners and policymakers
design transformative educational interventions.
Ms. Aswathy S.
Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Dept. of School
and Mass Education
Govt. of Odisha
Message from Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Govt. 12Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 13
Message from the Principal
Secretary, School Education,
Madhya Pradesh
Over several decades, significant progress has been
made in improving access to education in India.
Enhancing the quality of education provided in schools
on a large scale is the next big goal. While multiple
interventions have been made in the domain, the need
of the hour is to take a systemic view to the challenge
and provide solutions that work for large and diverse
demographics.
Project SATH-E was implemented in three States in
India - Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
The project is a landmark achievement in governance
reform in school systems to enable quality education
on a large scale. It focused on areas of intervention
such as bridging learning gaps, innovations in
assessments, streamlining data governance, and
management processes amongst others.
For instance in Madhya Pradesh, the State focused
on the “Teaching at the Right Level” approach under
Dakshata Unnayan which encouraged teachers to
conduct lessons appropriate for the actual learning
levels of their students, rather than focusing on
completing a standard curriculum as mandated by the
grade and age. Over 67 lakh students were supported
by 2 lakh trained teachers under the project. It resulted
in a 20% - 30% improvement in learning outcomes in
AY 2018-2019. Similarly, the “Ek Shala Ek Parisar”
intervention resulted in improved teacher and school
leader availability, better resourced schools, enhanced
attendance, and reduced dropouts.
The state governments, alongside NITI Aayog, and
partner organizations BCG and PFEL were able to
assess the key challenges in big systems, create
strategic solutions and implement them through
multiple initiatives in order to produce a blueprint for
large-scale educational reforms in India. This report
captures the experiences and learnings of the same
from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha. I am
hopeful that this will provide meaningful insights to all
those involved in educational reform in schools.
Message from the Principal Secretary
Smt Rashmi Arun Shami
Principal Secretary, Dept. of School Education
Govt. of Madhya Pradesh 14Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 15Acknowledgement
Acknowledgements
Project SATH-Education was conceptualized to bring
systemic changes in School Education and put our
students on the path of sustained and successful
learning. I am deeply grateful to the Chief Secretaries
and Principal Secretaries (School Education) of our
partner SATH-E States - Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh
and Odisha - for being proactively involved in designing
the State Roadmaps and facilitating implementation
and monitoring of the interventions.
I am grateful for the leadership, motivation and support
from Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog,
Dr. V.K. Paul, Member(Education), NITI Aayog and
Shri B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog, who
provided their support and guidance.
I am also thankful for the foundational support and
guidance of Dr. Rajiv Kumar, former Vice Chairman,
NITI Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant and Shri Parameswaran
Iyer, former CEOs, NITI Aayog, and Dr. Prem Singh,
former Adviser (Education), NITI Aayog who helped to
synthesize and consolidate the learnings from Project
SATH-E into this Report.
The Report encompasses contextual interventions
from the SATH States and has the potential to support
other States/UTs in tailoring initiatives to their context.
The interventions of Project SATH are in synchronization
with the National Education Policy 2020 targets and
the Report is a ready-reckoner for States/UTs to
learn, implement and transform the School Education
Systems of their respective State/ UT.
I sincerely appreciate the efforts of my team members
of the Education Vertical, Shri Harshit Mishra, Deputy
Adviser, and Ms. Pushpamitra Das, Young Professional,
who have drafted and prepared the Report.
I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our knowledge
partners, Boston Consulting Group and Piramal
Foundation, for their role in the efficient execution
of Project SATH. I am sure this Report will act as a
catalyst for the other States/UTs in transforming the
School Education.
Rajib Kumar Sen
Sr. Adviser (Education), NITI Aayog w w Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Exhibits Table
1. Executive Summary: Project SATH-E Approach, Interventions and Learnings
2. Structural Interventions
2.1. Strengthening the School Delivery System - School Consolidation
2.2. Creating Model Leader Schools
2.3. Building a High-Performance Organization
2.4. Optimizing Teacher Allocation
3. Academic Interventions
3.1. Bridging the Learning Gap – At-Scale Remediation in Campaign Mode
3.2. Strengthening Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
3.3. Adopting Innovations in Assessments to Improve Instructional Design
3.4. Teacher’s Time on Academic Tasks
3.5. Developing Teacher Capacity
4. Governance and Accountability Interventions
4.1. Building a Strong MIS – Data-driven Decision Making in School and Administrative Offices
4.2. Driving Accountability – Data-driven Governance at State, District & Block Levels
4.3. Strengthening School Management Committees for Improved Service Delivery
... 18
... 22
... 26
... 36
... 36
... 53
... 60
... 64
... 70
... 70
... 84
... 89
... 102
... 107
... 114
... 114
... 123
... 133 18
ADEO
ASER
ATRs
AY
BCG
BDO
BEO
BLO
BRP/CRP
CAC
CBSE
CCE
CEO-ZP
CRC
CRCC
DBT
DCs
DEOs
DIET
DISE
DLOs
DMs
DoIT
DOSE&L
DPC
DRM/BRM
DU
ELTI
Assistant District Education Officer
Annual Status of Education Report
Action Taken Reports
Academic Year
Boston Consulting Group
Block Development Officer
Block Education Officer
Block Level Officer
Block Resource Person/Cluster Resource Person
Cluster Academic Coordinator
Central Board of Secondary Education
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
Chief Executive Officer - Zila Parishad
Cluster Resource Center
Cluster Resource Center Coordinator
Direct Benefit Transfer
District Collectors
District Educational Officers
District Institute of Education and Training
District Information System for Education
District Level Officers
District Magistrates
Department of Information Technology
Department of School Education and Literacy
District Planning Committee
District Review Meeting/Block Review Meeting
Dakshata Unnayan
English Language Teaching Institute
ABBREVIATION FULL FORM
Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 19Abbreviations
Ek Parisar Ek Shala
eVidya Vahini
Frequently Asked Questions
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
Gross Enrollment Ratio
Geographic Information System
Gram Panchayat
Head Master
High School
Higher Secondary School
Jharkhand Balika Awasiya Vidyalaya
Jharkhand Education Project Council
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya
Learning Enhancement Program
Mid-Day Meal
Multi-Grade Multi-Level
Management Information System
Member of Legislative Assembly
Ministry of Education
Member of Parliament
Middle School
National Achievement Survey
National Council of Educational Research and Training
National Education Policy
Non-Governmental Organization
National Informatics Center
National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration
National Institution for Transforming India
EPES
eVV
FAQs
FLN
GER
GIS
GP
HM
HS
HSS
JBAV
JEPC
KGBV
LEP
MDM
MGML
MIS
MLA
MoE
MP
MS
NAS
NCERT
NEP
NGO
NIC
NIEPA
NITI
ABBREVIATION FULL FORM 20
Odisha Educational Services
Odisha School Monitoring App
Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership
Performance Grading Index
Program for International Student Assessment
Project Management Unit
Primary School
Parent Teacher Meetings
Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Quality cum Cost-Based Selection
Request For Proposal
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
Right To Education
Summative Assessment 1/2
Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital – Education
Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe
State Council of Educational Research and Training
Student Database Management Information System
School Education Quality Index
State Institute of Educational Management and Training
State Level School Consolidation Committee
School Management Committee
Standard Operating Procedures
State Project Director/ Principal Secretary
State Project Management Unit
State Resource Centre
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
Teaching at the Right Level
OES
OSMA
PFEL
PGI
PISA
PMU
PS
PTMs
PTR
QCBS
RFP
RMSA
RTE
SA1/2
SATH-Education
SC/ST
SCERT
SDMIS
SEQI
SIEMAT
SLSCC
SMC
SOPs
SPD/PS
SPMU
SRC
SSA
TaRL
ABBREVIATION FULL FORM
Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 21Abbreviations
Teaching/Learning Materials
Unified District Information System for Education
United Nations Children’s Fund
Video Conferences
Virtual Field Support
TLMs
UDISE
UNICEF
VCs
VFS
ABBREVIATION FULL FORM 22Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 01: Examples of interventions undertaken in SATH states
Exhibit 02: Impact (PGI): Scores for all three states have shown improvement between 2017-21
Exhibit 03: Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha interventions and impact
Exhibit 04: Top 6 levels for large scale education transformation
Exhibit 05: Sub-scale schools identified in every Gram Panchayat
Exhibit 06: Four step mergers implementation process in Jharkhand
Exhibit 07: Real-time dashboards used to track and monitor consolidation process
Exhibit 08: External impact assessment of consolidation in Jharkhand
Exhibit 09: Enrollment status in primary schools
Exhibit 10: Geo analytics summary – distribution of 53,651 same campus schools across the
state and by type of merger
Exhibit 11: Major aspects around which integration guidelines were drafted
Exhibit 12: Excerpts from training collaterals
Exhibit 13: Snapshot of the different channels used for field engagement
Exhibit 14: Snapshot of an implementation tracker
Exhibit 15: Snapshot of the post mergers benefits for Madhya Pradesh
Exhibit 16: School enrolment scenario in Odisha in 2018-19 (before the start of consolidation
process under Project SATH-E)
Exhibit 17: Phases of school consolidation, Odisha
Exhibit 18: Workshops with District Level Officials & Block Level Officials for discussing
verification SOPs
Exhibit 19: Criteria used to shortlist the first set of ~15k CM RISE Schools in MP
Exhibit 20: Criteria used to shortlist the final set of 9.2k CM RISE Schools in MP
Exhibit 21: Sub-committees for driving critical work streams
Exhibit 22: Number of sanctioned and working teachers per 100k students across states
Exhibit 23: Falling NER and ANER in secondary and higher secondary grades across
SATH-E states
Exhibit 24: Subject and category wise teacher sanctions for high schools
Exhibit 25: Subject wise utilization of teachers increases significantly post revised sanctions in
high schools (grade 9-10)
Exhibit 26: The revised staffing norms can potentially increase both TGT and PGT teachers’
utilization
Exhibit 27: Overview of remediation programs in SATH-Education States
Exhibit 28: Performance of Madhya Pradesh in NAS 2017
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EXHIBITS TABLE 23Exhibits Table
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Exhibit 29: Brief summary of timeline of Dakshata Unnayan programme
Exhibit 30: Various activities conducted as part of Dakshata Unnayan implementation
Exhibit 31: Grouping tool used for Dakshata Unnayan
Exhibit 32: Subtraction using Straw Bundles, District Umaria
Exhibit 33: Students using Dakshata Unnayan Remediation workbooks in the classroom
Exhibit 34: Student Workbook and Teacher Handbook for Grade 6-8 Math
Exhibit 35: Glimpses of Parent-Teacher Meetings organized across the state
Exhibit 36: Scrapbooks developed by Mrs. Veena Tiwari to assist in remediation teaching
based on teacher handbook developed by the state has been picked by other teachers
Exhibit 37: In-class library in Primary School Laitra
Exhibit 38: High quality student and teacher learning material creation fast-tracked using
in-person workshops
Exhibit 39: FLN progress update for March 2021
Exhibit 40: School level metrics to be tested
Exhibit 41: School Certification Levels and Rewards
Exhibit 42: Rewarding positive efforts is a key ingredient to success
Exhibit 43: Charter of Roles for DLOs, BLOs, SCERT & DIETs
Exhibit 44: Garima School Certification coverage in the press
Exhibit 45: 8,700 schools certified Bronze and 2,800 certified Silver in 2019
Exhibit 46: Standardized list of competencies developed for Classes 1 to 5
Exhibit 47: SOP for Spot Testing
Exhibit 48: Easy to use mobile app for data entry
Exhibit 49: Learning dashboards created using Spot Monitoring data
Exhibit 50: Examples of data-driven decision making
Exhibit 51: Effective teaching days available per year in a particular state
Exhibit 52: Time on Task Notification Document
Exhibit 53: List of 60 holiday days for all districts in Jharkhand
Exhibit 54: Revised school and teacher timings, and time-table
Exhibit 55: Responses received & filtered for use of any unfair means
Exhibit 56: Example of training content for elementary and secondary process
EXHIBITS TABLE 24Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
EXHIBITS TABLE
Exhibit 57: Key features of the handbook
Exhibit 58: Purpose of Teacher Handbook
Exhibit 59: Impact of Shaikshik Samvaads
Exhibit 60: A best-in-class EMIS system should aim to deliver on three key objectives
Exhibit 61: eVV has three distinct sections with different user groups
Exhibit 62: eVV 2.0 timeline
Exhibit 63: eVV Execution phases
Exhibit 64: eVV modules and features
Exhibit 65: eVV: a result of commitment, collaboration, and investment
Exhibit 66: Sample district scorecard from Jharkhand
Exhibit 67: eVV highlights
Exhibit 68: eVV desktop portal – Officer login
Exhibit 69: Mobile-based eVV modules
Exhibit 70: Usage of eVV in the field
Exhibit 71: Overview of OSMA – Odisha School Monitoring App
Exhibit 72: Monitoring officer responsibilities and frequency of visits
Exhibit 73: VFS utilized to improve monitoring quality
Exhibit 74: Overview of District Scorecards
Exhibit 75: Snapshot of District Scorecard Dashboard
Exhibit 76: School Monitoring and Monitoring Dashboard Guidebooks
Exhibit 77: Review Meetings: Dashboards and Key Metrics
Exhibit 78: Overview Dashboard - Shows performance of state/districts/blocks/clusters based
on average school scores and survey results
Exhibit 79: School Coverage Dashboard - Shows % of survey completed, schools covered at
each level, officer compliance and % completion
Exhibit 80: Action Items Dashboard - Shows total number of action items raised/closed/pending
across the state with category-wise break up
Exhibit 81: Success stories from DRMs
Exhibit 82: Significant improvement achieved through Scorecard Sprints
Exhibit 83: SMC Training & Handholding Plan
Exhibit 84: SMC meeting action items
Exhibit 85: Sample SMC Meeting & Minutes
Exhibit 86: Snapshot of PTM Update
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136 25 26Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
1. Executive Summary:
Project SATH-E Approach,
Interventions and Learnings
Genesis of Project SATH-Education
Project SATH-E (Sustainable Action for Transforming
Human capital - Education) was started by NITI Aayog
in 2017 with the objective of supporting three states
to undertake a system wide transformation effort
with a central focus towards improving the quality of
education.
NITI Aayog followed a competitive process to identify
states that would receive the assistance. Of the 16
states that responded to NITI Aayog’s proposal,
officials from 14 states made a presentation on the
status of their education sector as well as their plans.
Jharkhand, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh were
selected through a Challenge Method process. Boston
Consulting Group (BCG) and Piramal Foundation for
Education Leadership (PFEL) were on-boarded as
knowledge of Project Management Unit partners. Their
teams were stationed in the states to provide technical
advice, and support implementation of the project.
Between 2017 and 2022, Project SATH-E impacted
more than 2 crore students in over 2 Lakh schools in
these 3 states.
Project Phases
The first phase of the project was from September
2017 till March 2020 in which a detailed roadmap
was created for each state. The diagnostic included
over 250 school visits and consultations with all
stakeholders, following which interventions were
launched in April 2018. All states launched programs
to bridge Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
(FLN) gaps along with structural and governance
improvement initiatives.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, the
states temporarily shifted all efforts towards enabling
digital and remote learning, several of which continued
even after schools re-opened.
At the request of all states to continue the effort, Phase
2 of Project SATH-E formally began in October 2020.
The roadmaps for this phase were conceptualized
keeping three factors in mind:
1. Incorporating learnings from Project SATH-E Phase
1 and institutionalizing those efforts
2. Continuing digital learning efforts given the repeated
school opening/ closing scenario as well as the need
to bridge severe learning losses post pandemic
3. Ensuring the priorities articulated as part of the then
released National Education Policy (NEP), 2020
were addressed 271. Executive Summary: Project SATH-E Approach, Interventions and Learnings
Project Governance
Project SATH-E has a carefully designed governance
model which could serve as a lighthouse example for
center-state engagements to deliver on outcomes. A
three level governance structure was defined as follows:
• A National Steering Group (NSG) that met every 6
months spearheaded by CEO, Niti Aayog and with
representation from Chief Secretaries/ Principal
Secretaries of the three states and their leadership
teams.
• A Central Project Management Unit (CPMU) which
met every quarter, wherein project progress and
strategic planning was undertaken with Principal
Secretaries of the three states.
• A State Project Management Unit (SPMU) which
met bi-weekly within the states, chaired by the
state Principal Secretaries/ State Project Directors
(SPD) along with their on-ground execution teams
to plan and execute the project.
Both the NSG and the CPMU forums were not only
effective forums for strategic planning and stock taking
but more importantly, they were highly effective in
enabling cross-learning across states and to some
extent also creating healthy competition.
Project Approach and Initiatives
Five key principles guided the design and
implementation of the transformation roadmap for
each state:
1. A holistic roadmap covering structural,
academic, and governance & accounta -
bility reforms — System-level change cannot be
sequential; multiple initiatives targeting fundamental
issues that lead to learning gaps need to be worked
upon simultaneously. At the same time, it is critical
to prioritize efforts given limited absorption and
execution capacity, both at the state level and in
schools. Project SATH-E’s phase-wise roadmaps
identified core 10-12 initiatives that each state would
focus on for maximum results.
2. Iterative design based on implementation
effectiveness — Though the program designs
were based on field insights, consultations with
experts, benchmarking etc., several learnings
and challenges emerged during implementation
at scale. A thoughtful balance was kept between
allowing sufficient time for the field to comprehend
and implement an initiative, while ensuring agility
with changes necessary to enhance implementation
effectiveness.
3. Institutionalizing data-based decision making
– A key goal of Project SATH-E was to create a
system-wide shift in orientation from inputs towards
outcomes. This was driven through a consistent
focus to gather and analyze data on inputs, outputs,
and outcomes, while ensuring the data was not
onerous to collect and establishing checks and
balances for reliability. Data relevance was ensured
through ongoing usage for governance and change
management of every initiative.
4. Bringing expertise to the state through strategic
partnerships – The design approach in Project
SATH-E was to bring the appropriate expertise on a
topic to the state. This resulted in several meaningful
partnerships across states. For instance, Bodh
Shiksha Samiti was a partner for designing remedial
workbooks, Center for Science of Student Learning
(CSSL) was onboarded to conduct third party
assessments for Certification, Education Initiatives
was brought onboard to strengthen the Assessment
Cell, etc. Some of these were pro-bono support
models while others were service procurements
through Request for Proposal (RfP) processes
suitably run by the states.
5. Building state ownership and capacity for
sustainability – Project SATH-E, since its inception,
was positioned as a state-owned, state-led initiative
with support available from knowledge partners and
any other organizations/ experts that the state may
wish to onboard. The roadmaps were owned by the
state-leadership teams and each initiative had an
assigned department ‘initiative-owner’ who would
present to the state leadership in SPMU meetings.
The department teams were intentionally at the front
and center of all execution to the extent possible,
even at the cost of pace and immediate outcomes. 28Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
In terms of the actual interventions, each state’s roadmaps had initiatives in 3 categories of
reforms: Structural Reforms, Academic Reforms and Governance & Accountability Reforms.
The artefact below illustrates select initiatives undertaken within these categories across the
states.
2
3
1
Improving state Management
Information Systems (MIS) systems
Institutionalizing data-based
governance and monitoring structures
at state, district, and block levels
Structural
Reforms:
Academic
Reforms:
Governance and
Accountability
Reforms:
Strengthening education
department organization
structure
Strengthening SCERT
School consolidation for
optimal enrollment
Teacher cadre restructuring
for efficient recruitment
Remedial learning programs
for elementary grades
Foundational literacy and
numeracy mission post NEP
Assessment reforms,
including spot assessments
Teacher rationalization to
reduce vacancies
Time-on-task policies for
focused academic activities
Establishment of 3rd party
school certification mechanisms
Teacher professional
development efforts
In addition to the above set of planned efforts, the
period of COVID-19 induced school closures saw all
three states pivot their efforts towards remote learning.
A digital learning program was launched targeting 1.4
crore students and 50 lakhs teachers across class
I-XII. As part of the effort, digital content was curated in
vernacular and sent over WhatsApp groups daily, with
the viewership monitored rigorously. 43 lakh parents
were added on WhatsApp groups with a structured
state-to-parent cascade within 8 weeks of schools
closures, and over 13 lakhs views were registered on
digital content within this period. Approximately 5-10
lakhs regular TV content viewers were also estimated.
WhatsApp or survey based quizzes were held to track
student learning outcomes. While very critical at that
time, these efforts were hugely limited by the available
digital penetration, issues with data packs, lack of
devices especially with girl students, etc.
Project Impact
Impact of Project SATH-E was tracked at an initiative
level on an ongoing basis. In addition, macro
performance of the states in various external measures
such as the NAS scores, PGI scores, performance
of aspirational districts of the states, etc. were also
tracked.
Performance in Performance Grading Index (PGI)
At an overall level, a consistent improvement is seen
in PGI performance of all three states. Between 2017
to 2021:
• Jharkhand has moved up 4 levels- from Grade V in
2017-18 to Grade I in 2020-21.
• Odisha moved up two levels- from Grade III to
Grade I+.
• Madhya Pradesh moved up one level- from Grade
III to Grade II.
Exhibit 01: Examples of interventions undertaken in SATH states 29
Performance on learning outcomes
Performance of the states was analyzed in National
Achievement Survey (NAS) as well as in the recently
conducted NIPUN Bharat Foundational Learning
study. While reading the subsequent results, it is
prudent to recognize that the design and administration
methodologies of the different assessments is variable.
The data seems somewhat inconclusive, as states
have done well in one measure but not so well in the
other.
As measured by the NAS, the learning outcomes
trajectory for all the three states remained flat between
2017 to 2021. While the absolute scores remained
flat, the relative ranks of the SATH-E states saw an
improvement. For example, Madhya Pradesh moved
up 18 places (from rank 22 in NAS 2017 to rank 4 in
NAS 2021 for grade 3 Maths) and Odisha moved up
14 places (from rank 21 in NAS 2017 to rank 7 in NAS
2021 for grade 3 Maths). However, Jharkhand saw a
drop in its NAS rank by 6 places (from rank 13 in NAS
2017 to rank 19 in NAS 2021 for grade 3 Maths). It
is important to note that all states incurred significant
learning losses during the pandemic which contributes
to this trend.
For Jharkhand, it is important to note that the state
was one of the top performers in the NIPUN Bharat
Foundational Learning study conducted in 2022.
With 68% students meeting or exceeding the global
minimum proficiency in numeracy (versus a 52%
national average) and 66% students meeting or
exceeding the global minimum proficiency in language
(versus a 54% national average).
Overall, the measures of learning outcomes require
further investigation and strengthening across the
country.
Intervention level impact
Impact of all interventions conducted was rigorously
tracked in each state. This allowed corrective measures
to be taken from time to time. Select examples of
intervention level impact for all three states are
captured below:
Exhibit 02: Impact (PGI): Scores for all three states have shown improvement between 2017-21
1. Executive Summary: Project SATH-E Approach, Interventions and Learnings 30Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Intervention JharkhandMadhya Pradesh Odisha
1
School
Consolidation
• ~4380 schools merged
• Estimated savings of Rs. 400
crores through reduced teacher
and infrastructure needs; 20%-50%
increase in subject-wise teacher
availability (IIM Ranchi study)
• IIM Ranchi study on overall impact
of mergers found to be largely
positive
• 35 thousand schools
merged into 16 thousand
same-campus schools
• 55% merged schools had a
HM/ principal (vs. 20% earlier)
• Only 21% merged schools
teach >2 grades in a class vs.
35% state-wide
• School monitoring load
decreased by 4 schools per
cluster officer, on average
• 600+ middle schools upgraded
to secondary schools in
access-less areas
• ~2000 small-scale and
same-campus schools
merged
• Transparent state
policy on school merger
norms approved to
guide subsequent
merger phases
2
Remedial
Learning
Interventions
(Learning
Enhancement
Program (LEP), FLN
mission)
• Gyan Setu: Daily remediation for
students in grades I-VIII launched
• 12% improvement in basic FLN
competencies Year on Year (AY
2018-19 & 2019-20); paused
subsequently due to COVID-19
• Dakshata Unnayan: Daily
remediation for students in
grades I-VIII launched
• 15-30% children found to
move across learning level
groups Year on Year (AY
2018-19 & 2019-20); paused
subsequently due to COVID-19
• Two remedial programs
– Ujjwal, Uthhan
launched
• SCERT assessment
shows 10-15%
improvement in
average student
achievement
• In addition, launched
specific FLN mission
for grades 1-3; 60,000
teachers exclusively
designated and trained
for FLN initiative
3
Assessments:
Learning data
tracking and
usage
• Gyan Setu: Daily remediation for
students in grades 1-8 launched
• 12% improvement in basic FLN
competencies Year on Year (AY
2018-19 & 2019-20); paused
subsequently due to COVID-19
• Spot Testing launched: High quality
data generated for ~2 Lakh students
on FLN competencies each month
and used for decision-making (e.g.,
expedite book distribution, improve
Gyan Setu compliance)
• Certification: Unique school
certification scheme launched with
3rd party assessors
• Secondary Assessment Cell
formed and capacity built
(post onboarding specialist
assessment firm); gradual shift
towards more competency
based assessments
• School certification
scheme (“Garima
Awards”) launched;
~8,700 schools
certified Bronze and
2,800 certified Silver in
Round 1
4
Teacher
Recruitment and
Rationalization
• Two new primary teacher cadres
created; grade-pays calibrated
• ~21 thousand new posts created for
Intermediate and ~29 thousand new
posts created for graduate trained
teachers
• Recruitment process initiated:
Roster clearances sought for all
positions, recruitment for 50% posts
in first round
• ~8 thousand teachers rational-
ized via a transparent online
teacher rationalization process
• 13 thousand+ teachers
recruited
• Online teacher transfer
& online teacher recruit-
ment policies approved;
online transfer portal
launched
• 10 thousand elementary
teachers recruited (<1%
vacancy left); 2500
(of ~5000 required)
secondary recruitment
was in process
Impact of select interventions across the three states 31
Intervention JharkhandMadhya PradeshOdisha
5
Teacher Capacity
Building
• Training of >1 lakh teachers on
remedial learning approach
• Shaikshik Samvaad: A peer to
peer learning platform initiated
for teachers with >95% teachers
finding it useful to improve
teaching-learning
• Teacher Needs Assessment
piloted
• Training of 2 lakh+ teachers on
remedial learning approach
• Training of English teachers
on English language and its
pedagogy prioritized; 3rd party
expert organization services
sought (currently ongoing)
• Shaikshik Samvaad – Peer to
peer teachers’ learning platform
strengthened
• Training of 1 Lakh
teachers on remedial
learning approach for
grades 1-8
• Training of 60 thousand+
teachers specifically on
FLN mission for grades
1-3
6
Management
Information
Systems (MIS)
and Academic
Monitoring
systems
• eVidyaVahini (or eVV) conceptu-
alized and launched covering
~16 modules including web
portals for generating learning
reports, scheme monitoring, civil
works etc.
• Shaala Darpan school
monitoring app launched
• >95% school visits compliance
and use of data to track real-time
progress of initiatives
• Odisha School Monitoring
App (OSMA) developed
along with District/ Block
level scorecards and
dashboards to allow data
driven outcome tracking
and improvement at all
levels
7
Governance and
Accountability
• DPMU/ BPMU (District / Block
Project Management Units)
constituted and monthly review
cadence established with
data-driven decision-making
leveraging dashboards from eVV
• DPMU/ BPMU (District / Block
Project Management Units)
constituted and monthly review
cadence established with
data-driven decision making
• Regular Collector-led
review meetings
instituted: 90% of
District Review Meetings
(DRMs) chaired by the
District Collector
• 99.5% schools monitored
every month
• Top 5 national rank in
PGI Governance section
with these measures
(2018-19)
8
Organization
strengthening
• Restructured Jharkhand Council
for Education Research and
Training (JCERT): internal
restructuring done by creating 45
academic posts (from previous
11) aligned to MoE recommen-
dations
• Recruitment initiated in JEPC
(SmSA implementation office):
~90% recruitment for 96
sanctioned posts at state office
complete
• Organization restructuring
proposal in place (across block/
district/ Head Quarter level
organization)
• Still in discussions in state for
final approvals and execution
• Restructured HQ and
district level organiza-
tion for better outcomes
- ~70% vacancies filled in
3 months
• Better field collaboration
via restructured District
Education Officer (DEO)
and District Program
Coordinator (DPC)
• Improved accountability
e.g., addition of Additional
District Education Officer
(ADEO) role allowed for
functional separation of
9
Leader Schools
• 4,400 schools to be made leader
schools by 2026 offering grades
1-12 along with high-quality
infrastructure and resources; to
be operationalized in 3 phases
– 80 in phase 1,324 in phase 2
and ~4 thousand in phase 3
• CMRISE schools conceptualized:
~9000 exemplar leader schools to
be developed over 10 yrs.
• Early signs of outcomes with
first set of 350 schools still under
development:
• 4% Year on Year enrollment
increase in CMRISE schools in
2023 vs. other schools.
• 30% increase in enrollment in
inaugural CMRISE school.
• CM Rise 10th grade students
achieved a 67% average passing
rate; 5% above the state average
• 100 CoEs conceptu-
alized; detailed
benchmarking of current
infrastructure, staffing
etc. completed and action
initiated; effort subsumed
into state’s wider high
school transformation
effort that is currently
ongoing
Exhibit 03: Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha interventions and impact
1. Executive Summary: Project SATH-E Approach, Interventions and Learnings 32Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Overall Learnings and Reflections
The journey of Project SATH-E offered a great
opportunity to reflect on the issues that are holding the
education system back for the longer term and must be
addressed for any large scale transformation to take
place.
Address the issue of
sub-scale, inadequately
resourced schools head-on
with strong political support
Enforce accountability
towards learning outcomes
via competency-based
assessment reforms and
linking outcomes to incentives
Solve for large-scale teacher
vacancies
(e.g. via Cadre restructuring,
rationalisation & recruitment processes)
(pre-service and in-service)
(e.g. MIS systems, SCERT/DIET strengthening,
school leader empowerment, etc.)
Top 6 Levers for large scale education transformation
Focus on Early Childhood
Education (ECE) and
contextualized Mother
Tongue-based Multilingual
Education (MLE)
Fundamentally re-think
teacher education and
trainings to improve teacher
quality and pedagogy
Strengthen the governance
structures in education
departments and hence their
ability to self-improve
A view on the top 6 issues that need to be critically
addressed and a potential path forward is as follows:
Exhibit 04: Top 6 levers for large scale education transformation
1. Address the issue of sub-scale, inadequately
resourced schools head-on with strong
political support
India continues to have 5 times the number of
schools than China for the same enrolment and
more than 50% of primary schools across many
states have an enrolment of less than 60. The
cost of such sub-scale schools in the form of
extensive multi-grade teaching, lack of a student
and parent community that can demand account-
ability, poor infrastructure, the same 1-2 teachers
also handling all administrative responsibilities in
the absence of headmasters/ principals, etc. is
very high. Thoughtfully executed school mergers
is one path forward. This has been executed
across SATH-E states with favorable results.
There is often a perceived risk around impact of
mergers on access. However, third party studies
in SATH-E have also demonstrated that when
executed rigorously the benefits of mergers are
largely positive and can lead to improved learning
outcomes.
Alongside undertaking mergers, states should
also look to develop a set of large schools (at least
10-20% spread across the state) as integrated
K-12 schools, and provide transport so that all
students can equitably access them. This has
been recommended in the NEP too with the call
to setup large school complexes. Details for how
school consolidation efforts were undertaken in all
three Project SATH-E states and their learnings,
along with efforts to develop leader schools have
been documented in this report.
1
4
2
56
3 33
2. Solve for teacher vacancies
India has a shortage of more than a million teachers
and several states have anywhere between
30-50% teacher vacancies. In addition, available
teachers are not distributed equitably with more
teachers available than required in urban areas and
disproportionately higher vacancies in rural areas.
Education systems of states cannot practically
transform and deliver much higher outcomes with
such high teacher vacancies.
However, this problem is also not easy to address
as it has a large financial burden which states do
not have the fiscal capacity to bear. In addition,
the complexity of recruitment processes as well as
legal challenges often come in the way of even the
planned recruitment efforts. Teacher salaries paid
to government school teachers in many states are
often twice as much as salaries paid to the best
of teachers teaching in private schools. There’s a
need to consider teacher cadre restructuring and
introduce additional cadres to de-bottleneck recruit-
ment at a larger scale. Further teacher rationaliza-
tion needs to be taken up to ensure teachers are
posted from surplus urban schools to rural schools
with deficits – this may need structured policies
around rural postings and necessary incentives.
3. Fundamentally re-think teacher education
and trainings to improve teacher quality and
pedagogy
India faces a significant challenge with approxi-
mately 2-5 lakh untrained teachers in primary
and upper primary levels, failing to meet the Right
to Education (RTE) requirements. Even those
who are trained, receive outdated pre-service
curricula (D.Ed/ B.Ed/ M.Ed) which are delivered
in a theoretical and not classroom practice
based manner. Further, the existing in-service
professional development systems in states
typically lack longer term goals and structure, are
not contextualized to actual teacher needs basis
surveys/ assessments, and are delivered poorly
through cascade based models.
Overall, both pre-service and in-service teacher
professional development need to undergo
substantial reforms.
Pre-service education requires much stronger
accreditation and recognition standards, along
with increased duration, rigour and relevance of
curricula. It also needs to be delivered a lot more
practically.
In-service trainings need to have a longer-term
3-5 year plan given the large gaps in teacher
capacity. Teacher needs assessments need to be
conducted to define this plan, including trainings
across content topics, pedagogy, mindsets etc.
The role of technology to enhance the duration of
these trainings without taking away from academic
hours in school and to allow direct interaction with
key experts as against cascaded models needs to
be considered. Finally, the outcomes need to be
rigorously tracked with classroom based follow-ups
as well as peer learning based mechanisms to
ensure they embed in day to day practice.
4. Enforce accountability towards learning
outcomes via competency-based assessment
reforms and linking outcomes to incentives.
The discourse on education in India has now
shifted from access to quality. However, the ability
to track outcomes with authentic, reliable data and
to continuously leverage data for decision making
is still missing. The focus in several reviews and
conversations in states still remain on the inputs
instead of outputs and outcomes.
Well designed and administered competen -
cy-based assessments would be a first step
towards generating high quality data. In addition,
a set of incentives need to be established
that link to delivery of outcomes (be it a part of
Samagra Shiksha (SmSA) funding linking to
state-level outcomes at the highest level, down to
a set of incentives for teachers linking to student
outcomes). Involvement of third-party assessors
on a sample basis should be considered to ensure
assessments data authenticity.
1. Executive Summary: Project SATH-E Approach, Interventions and Learnings 34Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
5. Focus on Early Childhood Education (ECE)
and contextualized Mother Tongue-based
Multilingual Education (MLE)
Majority students who enter the government
schooling system at the age of 5/6 have no
pre-school education today; hence have very low
school readiness and are behind from the onset.
The NEP places a strong emphasis on enhance-
ment of early childhood education and integrating
preschooling into the broader K-12 system. This
must be taken up by states as a top priority.
Implementing ECE effectively would also imply
offering context-specific mother tongue-based
multilingual education especially in tribal areas.
6. Strengthen the governance structures in
education departments and hence their ability
to self-improve
States need to consider decentralization of powers
to principals, district and block officers. This
includes providing them greater financial powers
and autonomy to take decisions in line with local
needs with necessary checks and balances linked
to outcomes. This needs to be supported and
balanced with strong data and MIS systems that
help build a culture of data based decision making
from state headquarters down to school level.
Lastly, key academic institutions such as SCERT
and DIETs need to be strengthened - In many
states, SCERTs/DIETs have high vacancies and
as a result these bodies are lacking in their core
functions.
All these efforts cannot be successful without
strong political will and involvement to take bold
decisions and drive actions. They also need to be
coupled with last mile empowerment and motivation
so that teachers and school principals feel inspired
to drive the change.
Finally, it is important to ‘Reimagine Education’
within today’s context and ask the bold and difficult
questions. The NEP, 2020 provides ample guidance
to the states to think in this direction, for example
the need for much deeper integration of vocational
skilling in school education to enable students to
be productive citizens of the workforce; the need
to reimagine secondary education to enable much
greater student choice and contextually relevant
teaching in grades 9-12th vs. the more rigid subject
and stream structures of today, etc.
The rest of this document describes the Project
SATH-E experience in detail through a set of
interventions and the journey of their strategic
design, implementation process and challenges
encountered thereof, the impact and learnings.
They provide opportunities for reflection and a
broader template for action for other states, suitably
contextualized to their needs and constraints. 35 36Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
In India, an average government school has just 50-60
students and 1-2 teachers, while its private counterpart
has about 265 students and 9 teachers. There are
nearly 400,000 government schools with less than 50
students and just one or two teachers.
• Lack of individual attention due to multi-grade and multi-level teaching.
• Limited time available for teaching due to administrative tasks handled by the same 1-2
teachers.
• Inadequate learning infrastructure.
• Limited monitoring and governance; small parent community that cannot demand
accountability.
This section covers the three different approaches
taken by the SATH-E States for school consolidation.
• Jharkhand’s learnings from mergers of 4,380
schools through a bottom-up analytics-led
approach covering analysis at a Gram Panchayat
(GP) level.
2. Structural Interventions
2.1. Strengthening the School
Delivery System - School
Consolidation
We consider such schools ‘sub-scale’, i.e. they do
not have the size, capacity, or resources to deliver
high-quality teaching. There is also near unanimous
agreement amongst stakeholders that it is not possible
to deliver high-quality teaching in these schools.
Among the many challenges are the following:
• Madhya Pradesh’s approach for adminis-
trative consolidation of 35,000 schools
in the same campus (i.e. within 150m of each
other).
• Odisha’s top-down phased approach through a
bold long-term consolidation policy.
The challenges of sub-scale schools: 37
Jharkhand – Merger of ~4,400 Schools
Resulting in Improved Academic Evironment
In 2016-17, of the ~39,000 schools under the Department
of Education in Jharkhand, ~18,000 schools had 60 or
fewer students (as per UDISE 16-17 data). These schools
had an average of 1-2 teachers per school. With a motive
to correct this, Jharkhand pursued school mergers on
a large scale during the academic years 2016-17 and
2017-18.
In 2016-17, a comprehensive consolidation exercise was
undertaken in which nearly ~1,300 sub-scale schools
were merged into nearby schools. Another exercise was
undertaken in 2017-18, resulting in further consolidation
of 4,380 schools.
The Panchayat of Parasi (in Tamar block of Ranchi District) has 19
schools within 17.1 km of area, of which 17 have less than 60 enrolled
students.

Nine of these were successfully merged into 4 schools (i.e. 5
additional schools were combined with 4 host schools) within RTE
distance norms.
The newly merged schools have an average of 72 enrolled students
each and are effectively optimizing their capacity and resources.
Exhibit 05: Sub-scale schools identified in every Gram Panchayat
The objective of the school reorganization exercise
was to identify and merge sub-scale schools where
alternative government schools were available for all the
students affected by this reorganization, within the RTE
norms of walking distance.
Several panchayats in Jharkhand had excess
under-staffed schools that were eligible for consolidation.
A comprehensive diagnostic was conducted to identify
sub-scale schools in every Gram Panchayat. Geo-ana-
lytics was used to map them to alternative schools within
the vicinity and a list of ~14,000 schools was then shared
with the field co-ordinators/officials for physical verifica-
tion to account for geographical barriers, infrastructure
issues and other on-ground concerns.
Context
2,097
2,234
713
114
21
0 - 5
Schools/GP
# of GPs
5 - 10 10 - 15 15 - 20 >20
Parasi
Panchayats
in Jharkhand4175
Population of the state of Jharkhand
Several Panchayats in Jharkhand had excess sub-scale schools
3.19
crore 38Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
1. Neutral cross-district ‘action teams’ were formed and
oriented on reorganization and inspection formats.
2. Inspections were conducted by field officials and
validated by the neutral cross-district action teams
to ensure local vested interests are tackled and
a rigorous fact-based inspection is executed.
6500+ proposals were found appropriate and
compliant with RTE norms and the same were
presented in appropriate fora for required approvals.
3. A two-tier committee was formulated at the Block
and District Levels. The Block Level Committee was
chaired by the Block Education Officer and elicited
views from teachers, children, communities and
respective MLAs. The District Level Committee was
chaired by the District Collector to address concerns
of teachers, MLAs and MPs of the District.
Approach
Exhibit 06: Four step mergers implementation process in Jharkhand
4. The committee conducted a final check for
quorum and consensus in proceedings across
key stakeholders and approved the final list
(4,380 schools) of schools feasible for merger and
reorganization.
5. Live tech-based dashboards, with real-time data
fed in by the field coordinators, were used to finalize
the schools, monitor the status of approvals, and
eventually track the movement of students. These
dashboards proved useful in driving state, district,
and block-level reviews of the consolidation process.
4
2
3
1


Feb ‘18
Feb – Mar ‘18
Mar – May ‘18

May’ 18
Potential opposition and
dealt with strategically
by Secretary & DCs
Team allocations
and
Orientation
Team allocations
and
Monitoring
Block and
District
Consultations
Final
Notifications
issued
Final process check by Regional Directors
e.g - checking for quorum and consesus
in proceedings
Inspections conducted
by local teams and
action teams
Proposals discussed in Block
and District Level Committees
headed by BDOs and DCs
Regular follow-ups
with DCs/DSEs/DEOs
Cross-district
“Action Teams”
allotted for inspections
2-day orientation workshops
conducted on reorganization
with all stakeholders 392. Structural interventionsLearnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 07: Real-time dashboards used to track and monitor consolidation process
Moreover, the school consolidation effort was estimated
to provide savings to the tune of Rs. 400 cores through
reduced teacher and infrastructure requirement, which
can be re-invested for providing quality education. As
many as 200 schools in Ramgarh, Hazaribagh and
Ranchi districts piloted bus transport to provide easier
access to students to nearby host schools that had
better facilities.
• Access to enhanced learning infrastructure such as classrooms, libraries, playgrounds, toilet
and water facilities
• Improvement in access to subject teachers and enhancement of time spent in academic
activities
• Improvement in delivery and quality of Mid-day Meals
The school consolidation exercise for academic year
2017-18 was successfully implemented. Around 98%
students shifted to host schools or other schools of their
Impact & Learnings
Dashboard - state view
The benefits of school consolidation:
However, the school consolidation exercise in
Jharkhand was not without learnings. A few key
learnings are summarized below:
1. Importance of ensuring buy-in from all
stakeholders in the system:
Jharkhand conducted state-level workshops and
weekly video conferences with all District and
Block Officials to seek the buy-in of stakeholders
at all levels.
choice. School consolidation provided multiple benefits
to the students such as: 40Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
2. Need for a Decentralized process of opening/
upgrading/ consolidating/closing schools
most efficiently:
Decision of consolidation may be taken by
the Prarambhik Shiksha Samiti at the District
Collector’s level without requiring cabinet approval.
3. Need to address Legal challenges in a
transparent manner:
Clear and simple official orders with close
compliance of RTE norms and a robust grievance
redressal process critical.
4. Robust field verification is critical to address
on-ground challenges:
Jharkhand ensured a slew of on-ground verifica-
tion initiatives including a 2-level field verification
process, comprising cross-district action teams,
a 2-level approval process with participation from
elected officials, and a State PMU team tracking the
daily status and personally visiting difficult cases.
5. Parents and students seek improved
Infrastructure:
The State was not as successful in improving the
infrastructure of host schools. Other states should
invest in improving basic infrastructure of host
schools in advance, including toilets, classrooms,
electricity, painting, etc. and also offer transport
allowance.
In addition to the actual consolidation exercise, an
external impact assessment was conducted to learn the
successes, and understand the improvements required
in the school consolidation exercise. IIM Ranchi was
onboarded through a tender for this purpose.
A study across 189 sample schools was conducted. The
sample had schools which were merged, and schools
which were not part of mergers. The assessment used
qualitative and quantitative surveys to collect data from
various stakeholders involved in reorganization around
the following key parameters:
1. Academic environment:
Impact of reorganization on the academic
environment was assessed. The impact was
measured on parameters such as pupil teacher
ratio (PTR), number of teachers per grade
per subject per school, time spent in a day
by teachers on teaching, and time savings in
administrative tasks by headmasters/ teachers.
2. Access to infrastructure facilities:
Impact of reorganization in the enhance -
ment of infrastructure facilities was measured
on parameters such as the availability of
classrooms, playgrounds, toilets, drinking
water, electricity, library, and computers etc.
3. Governance mechanisms:
This metric included parameters such as
time spent on data collection, distribu -
tion of monetary and physical entitlements,
and rolling out of government schemes.
4. Overall satisfaction level of stakeholders:
The study measured the satisfaction level
of stakeholders on classroom interactions,
quality of teaching, access to infrastructure
facilities, and preference in coming to school. 41
The findings from this study are summarized below:
Deep-dive: IIMR Impact Assessment of School Re-organization
Exhibit 08: External impact assessment of consolidation in Jharkhand
Intervention
Improved
Academic
Environment
Access to
Enhanced
Infrastructure
Governance
Mechanism
Overall
Perception
AssessmentKey Metric
PTR
MGML
Instructional Time Spent
Administrative Time Spent
Independent teacher per subject
Avail. of Classrooms
Avail. of Water sources
Avail. of Toilet
Avail. of Electricity
Travel Time to School
Time in Data Collection
Time in Transferring Monetary
and Physical Entitlements
Time in rollout of govt. schemes
Number of monitored schools
Classroom Interaction
Quality of Teaching
Infrastructure Access
Preference to attend School
Overall Satisfaction
Remarks
Marginal improvements for Host Schools
Significant reduction for Target Schools
~2 hrs/week increase for Teachers and HMs
~2 hrs/week reduction for Teachers of Target Schools
20-50% improvement compared to Target
and Subscale schools
Almost 2x improvement for Target School and Host Schools
Almost 1.5-2x improvement for Target and Host Schools
Marginal improvement for Boys and Girls Toilets
Reduced availability compared to Subscale Schools
30-40% increase in travel time in certain districts
Marginal improvements in time spent on governance
More time available per school due to reduced schools
> 85% satisfaction among parents, SMC, HMs, Students
(on avg.)
< 50% satisfaction across all stakeholders
> 90% satisfaction among students (more friends,
bigger playground)
> 75% satisfaction for students, parents, SMCs
(max for students)
~ 60% satisfaction for HMs, teachers
The external impact assessment study indicates
improvement in:
1. Teaching learning process: Stakeholders agreed
that there was improvement in teaching quality and
classroom interaction among students. There was
also improvement in time spent on teaching with
reduction in time spent on administrative tasks by
teachers.
2. Improvement in administrative processes: The
BRPs/CRPs tended to visit and spend more time
per school post mergers. There was a significant
decrease in time spent on data collection in these
schools. The school leaders also agreed that
there was a significant reduction in time spent on
Satisfaction
implementation of student welfare schemes in
schools.
3. Improvement in infrastructure and delivery of student
entitlements: Improvement in quality of mid-day
meals, delivery of cycles, computer labs, library,
availability of drinking water, playgrounds and toilets
was observed in the impact assessment.
Overall, the study suggests the need to improve
communication about mergers among stakeholders,
while noting that there had been significant
improvements in quality of teaching learning in the
schools post mergers.
2. Structural interventions 42Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Madhya Pradesh – Same Campus School
Mergers Under “Ek Parisar Ek Shala” Leading
to Reduced Student Dropout
Exhibit 09: Enrollment status in primary schools
In 2018, Madhya Pradesh had ~1.2 lakh public schools
under the School Education Department including
primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary
schools. Out of ~84,000 primary schools (classes 1-5),
There were more than 20,000 single-teacher schools,
and none of the schools had all the classes from I to
XII. As students progressed through grades, they found
fewer schools with senior grades, and with no integrated
schools, they often had to change schools thrice before
reaching Class XII (Primary to Middle to Secondary to
Senior Secondary).
Context
39,266 schools out of 84,553 are sub scale
Split of primary schools by enrolment
40 students (as per RTE norms)
~40,000 schools had a total enrolment of fewer than
40 students (RTE norms indicate 40 students as the
minimum number of students to open a primary school).
In this context, Madhya Pradesh planned to embark on
a school consolidation journey, with an aim to improve
academic quality through administrative and economic
efficiencies that would be gained by creating large
and vibrant schools, with adequate teachers and other
resources. 43
Approach
Initial GIS analysis suggested that out of the total 1.2 lakh
schools, approximately 53,000 schools were within the
same campus i.e. within 150m of one or more neighboring
schools; each being run as a separate school. Merging
these schools represented a quick- win opportunity, as
no physical movement of students and teachers was
required. So, the state decided to undertake an adminis-
trative merger of these same campus schools in the
first phase of school consolidation, titled “Ek Parisar Ek
Shala” initiative.
Exhibit 10: Geo analytics summary – distribution of 53,651 same campus schools across the state and by type of merger
53,651 same campus schools
to be integrated to 24,667 schools
PS-MS-HSS
Type of
Integration
PS-MS-HS
PS-MS
MS-HSS
MS-HS
PS-HSS
PS-HS
Total
4,446
No. of
schools involved
8,505
35.486
1,750
1,978
786
700
53,651
PS: Primary School
MS: Middle School
S: Secondary School
HS: Higher Secondary School
Identifying schools
GIS-based geo-analytics was carried out to identify a
list of schools that were to be consolidated in Madhya
Pradesh. Basis the GIS data, the distance of each school
with respect to all the other schools in the same block
was calculated, and all schools which were within 150m
of each other were identified as clusters. This list was
then sent for field verification.
2. Structural interventions 44Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Field verification of identified schools
A database-generated list is often far from accurate
and needs field verification. Parameters including real
enrolment, actual distance, terrain in-between schools,
socio-economic and demographic constraints like
language, need to be field-verified. To ensure rigor
and transparency, this entire list was sent to the District
Collectors for field verification. The Cluster-Level
Officials verified the list and shared the verified list with
the State-Level Officials, where the complete list was
compiled. To ensure a correct verification process, the
officials were oriented through a video conference. It is
crucial at this stage to communicate the plan and the
overall vision of the project with the field officers, so
they have a context as to why they are doing a certain
exercise and its expected benefits, and support its
execution going forward.
The output after this step was a field-verified comprehen-
sive list of schools within 150m of each other, which
could viably be merged into a single school. The final
list involved a merger of ~35,000 schools into ~16,000
schools. These new 16,000 schools included mergers
across grades i.e. 1-8, 6-10, 6-12 etc.
Exhibit 11: Major aspects around which integration guidelines were drafted
Obtaining necessary approvals for mergers
Once a field-verified final list of proposed mergers was
ready, cabinet approval was taken for its implemen-
tation. Post approval, the list was processed through
formal committees at the district level comprising the
District Collector, CEO-ZP, Assistant Commissioner-
Tribal Dept., District Education officer, District Project
Coordinator and DIET Principal. It is imperative to track
this process of approvals across districts. Once approved
by the committee, the final process of mergers could be
initiated.
Defining parameters and guidelines for integration:
Once the list was finalized and the field officials (both
district and block) were oriented about the state’s
vision for the initiative, a detailed implementation plan
for the smooth rollout of the initiative in the field was
defined by the state. The plan laid out exactly what all
an administrative merger would comprise of and how it
would be executed. The exhibit below lays down some
of the key aspects around which detailed guidelines
were drafted for integrated schools.
MAJOR ASPECTS OF INTEGRATION GUIDELINES
The role and authority of school principal (or the highest school head position) for the integrated school
Responsible for performance grade 1 onwards; should make school development plan or all grades etc.
The role of other HMs in such schools
e.g., role of middle school HM if school principal is also present, and how the two work together (division of
responsibilities)
Norms for resource sharing across schools
• Teaching staff
• Non-Teaching staff
• Infrastructure sharing as needed (classrooms, toilets, library, labs, tech infra etc.)
Plan for potential infrastructure upgradation in these schools
Guidelines around all academic and administrative aspects
(SMCs, assembly, MDM, timetables, attendance capture etc.)
Process for rigorous on-ground monitoring of implementation post official merger execution 45
Exhibit 12: Excerpts from training collaterals
Trainings Development of material:
To ensure smooth implementation of the mergers
on-ground detailed and comprehensive training content
was developed with examples. (see Exhibit 12).
Training plan:
Since the implementation would require action and
monitoring from officials across all levels (teachers,
principals/HMs, Cluster, Block etc.), a training plan
was created, with the State-Level Officials covering
all districts in-person. Subsequently, a regular training
schedule was established. Madhya Pradesh effectively
used the virtual classroom network which covers 90%
of the blocks to reduce the number of cascade levels in
trainings and directly explain the steps of implementation
to school heads and teachers of the selected schools.
(The correct process to build an integrated time table)
(Approach to using school infrastructure in an integrated manner)
2. Structural interventions 46Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 13: Snapshot of the different channels used for field engagement
Field Engagement and query/grievance redressal mechanisms
A robust, time-bound query and grievance redressal
process, where all stakeholders could get clarifications or
raise specific grievances that could be tracked, re-inves-
tigated and resolved at the District Level, was essential to
maintain transparency and take corrective action in case
of exceptions. In Madhya Pradesh, multiple channels
were used for this purpose. For example:
• A fortnightly video conference was conducted
with all districts where District Officials could
clarify doubts and raise concerns/ grievances.
• Face-to-face sessions were conducted by Senior
State Officials at the divisional level with the same
objectives.
• Multiple WhatsApp groups were created with all
school heads and Block/District Officials, where
merger related queries were addressed, official letters
were published, and success stories were shared.
• Monthly review meetings were facilitated in the field
at the District Level (in the presence of all the District
and Block Officials) and at the Block Level (in the
presence of the Block and Cluster Level Officials).
• All school heads were provided one-on-one support,
through a call center set up at the state level.
EPES focused divisional Training conducted by CPI
(Commisioner of Public Instruction)
Results of EPES Monitoring form being discussed at DPMUs
(District Project Management Unit Reviews) 47
Exhibit 14: Snapshot of an implementation tracker
Integrated
Infrastructure
Integrated
School Head
Time-Table/
Teacher sharing
• Different financers (for stock register)
• Infeasible due to distance/separate floors
(staff rooms, toilets etc.)
• Conflicts between HMs/ Principals/ In-charge
• Misunderstanding on seniority
• On-ground, EPES schools are not functioning as one yet
• Creation of time-table is a challenge – especially for
secondary schools
• Teachers from higher grades not teaching lower classes
• Schools running in two shifts
51.1%
50.6%
51.5%
MetricField Insights (Challenges observed)
Post-merger tracking
After being intimated about the implementation of Ek
Parisar Ek Shala mergers, school tracking was done
through the state’s school monitoring app.
Questions to ascertain whether the school had truly
integrated were added to the monitoring form e.g.:
• Whether an integrated timetable involving
sharing of teacher resources across primary
school, middle school, high school, higher
secondary-school had been made or not?
• Whether a single school head had been identified
and if the school head was now taking responsi-
bility for all the schools within the campus or not?
• Whether the available infrastructure and resources
e.g. staff room, library, toilets etc., were being
shared effectively among the merged schools?
• Whether one common teacher attendance register
had been created where teachers of all the merged
sub-schools would mark their attendance?
• Whether the stock of all the different
schools had been kept in a single room and
maintained through a common stock register?
• Whether a new school board displaying
the integrated classes in the merged
school e.g., 1-8, 6-12 etc. had been put up?
• Whether all students initially registered in all constit-
uent schools were now registered as part of the
combined school code in a common scholar
register?
Apart from monitoring done by state officials, regular
field verification in sample schools by representatives of
third-party organizations provided a check on monitoring
the data and gave insights on the actual on-ground
implementation.
2. Structural interventions 48Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
In Madhya Pradesh, post verification, a total of 35,113
schools were merged into 16,076 campuses, of which
~75% were elementary schools from grades 1 to 8.
Exhibit 15 shares the details of the number of schools
under different types of setup post the integration.
Merging sub-scale schools yielded immediate academic
and administrative benefits such as:
• Improved teacher and headmaster availability,
as well as better academic environment
Mergers optimize teaching resources and allow
subject-wise, grade-wise teaching that is likely to
result in improved learning compared to multi-grade
multi-level (MGML) teaching scenarios. In Madhya
Pradesh, teachers in only 21% of the merged Ek
Parisar Ek Shala schools are, on an average,
teaching more than 2 grades, as compared to
35% of the total schools in the State. Moreover,
post the mergers, 54.8% of the merged schools
came under the supervision of a headmaster/
principal as compared to only 20.4% of
schools earlier, leading to efficient functioning.
Impact and Learnings
• Better resourced schools
Larger schools are more likely to have better
infrastructure because of resource sharing e.g.
an integrated staff room, school-head room
and stock room, leading to more rooms being
available for academic activities. Moreover, larger
schools can afford support-staff like computer
assistants, mid-day meal supervisors, clerks,
helpers, etc. allowing teachers to dedicate
more of their time to in-classroom teaching.
• Improved governance
Fewer number of schools improve the rate
of monitoring and inspections, which as per
most studies, is correlated to improved school
performance. Obviously, it also reduces the time
spent by block and district officials on adminis-
trative processes. In Madhya Pradesh, Cluster
Academic Coordinators (CACs) are responsible
for monitoring the majority of elementary schools.
The mergers reduced the number of schools to be
monitored, on an average by 4 schools per CAC
per month.
Exhibit 15: Snapshot of the post mergers benefits for Madhya Pradesh
~75% schools
are 1-8
Ek Parisar Ek Shaala has helped create larger,
integrated schools serving ~35%students 49
• Ineffective teacher and resource sharing
across grades
Teachers sometimes experience challenges
primarily due to ego clashes (especially senior
grades’ teachers when mandated to teach junior
grades). To curb this, regular trainings through VCs
were organized for school staff along with frequent
reinforcements by School Education Department
Leadership mandating teachers to adhere to the
norms, recognition of exemplar practices, etc.
• Lack of understanding on making a merged
timetable
Initially, majority of schools did not have an
integrated timetable. To rectify this, sample
timetables for integrated schools were shared with
School Heads along with detailed process followed
in creating them – as a result, most schools have
now created a single timetable.
Challenges and mitigation strategies
• Monitoring for integrated Ek Parisar Ek Shala
schools
As of now, State’s monitoring systems are setup
separately for elementary and secondary grades.
With integrated schools, work is needed on
streamlining monitoring across parameters and
grades.
In addition, the following key success factors emerged
from the successful school consolidation exercise:
• Multi-level stakeholder engagement
There are various stakeholders involved in the
school consolidation process – teachers, students,
parents, elected officials, media, field officers, etc.
Each of these stakeholders needs to be constantly
engaged and communicated with, to ensure that the
process does not derail. A combination of interven-
tions such as video conferences, field visits, press
releases, field community engagement by officers
and a grievance call center can ensure that all
stakeholders are taken along in this process. Every
state may come up with different mechanisms,
but this process cannot be taken lightly.
• Live data updates and close tracking
As with all field interventions, the progress and
output of all steps of the process needs to be
tracked live on a day-to-day basis, to ensure data
validation, take real-time corrective action, and
ensure overall monitoring and accountability.
In States where mergers have been successful, the
senior department leadership personally reviewed
the on-ground implementation twice or thrice a
week. Live dashboards reflecting progress of each
district, along with a state-wide summary, helped
the State achieve a near 100% monitoring efficiency.
• Setting up of a cross-functional mission mode
team
School consolidation is a large and revolutionary
step for any State. It needs careful strategizing,
strong implementation rigor and large-scale
stakeholder management. For this, a dedicated
cross-functional team with senior leadership must
be created to manage the entire process. The
team should also have a set of junior persons who
can run a call center for grievance redressal and
visit the field for verifications and checks.
2. Structural interventions 50Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Odisha – Bold Large-scale Consolidation
Policy Following a Phased Approach
Odisha’s secondary school landscape mirrors that of the
country. Government school sizes were almost a third
of the size of private schools in terms of students and
teachers - an average of ~3 teachers and ~125 students
in government schools compared to an average of ~15
Context
Exhibit 16: School enrolment scenario in Odisha in 2018-19 (before the start of consolidation process
under Project SATH-E)
Government schools only
~55% of government schools in Odisha had <60 students (only ~19% of all students)
32203
15601
1232
1430
264
0
1163
203
148
18
2
-
-
-
-
-
761
24
15
2
2
2
-
-
13803
666
97
8
10
26
-
1
11754
2297
270
34
41
61
-
2
4149
3926
342
61
107
189
-
1
649
1725
120
40
73
131
-
3
527
2023
129
78
169
194
-
11
421
4922
257
1207
2238
560
7
185
Primary only
Primary with Upper Primary
Upper Primary only
Upper primary with Secondary
Primary with Upper Primary
and Secondary
Secondary only
Primary with Upper Primary and
Secondary and Higher Secondary
Upper Primary with Secondary
and Higher Secondary
ToTotatall< < 55 < 10< 10 < 30< 30 30-6030-60 <100<100 <120<120 <150<150 >150>150Category
Total number of schools
Total number of students
168
52269233124626248026846033013324214112720709 5072762
0.3%
~0% ~0% 6%6% 8%12% 13%54%
1.5%26.8% 26.5%16.1% 5.0% 5.7% 18.0% 7
806 14611 14459 8775 2741 3131 9788 54479
Enrollment
teachers and ~680 students in private schools. Addition-
ally, in Odisha ~55% schools have enrolment less than
60, and approximately 29% schools have enrolment less
than 30. 51
In March 2020, the Government of Odisha approved
a bold large-scale merger policy and set an ambitious
vision for the State – which laid out distance and
Exhibit 17: Phases of school consolidation, Odisha
School consolidation was being carried out in a phased approach in Odisha since 2017.
School consolidation exercise divided into 3 phases
Approach
Phase 1
Merging same campus
schools / schools within
100 meters
Completed in 2018
• Policy issued in May
2018
• 2000 schools merged
Status in 2020
• Policy issued in March
2020
• 15,000 schools identified
for consolidation
• ~7000 school in final
stages of consolidation
Phase 2
Large scale merger for
schools with enrolment
<20 and, 20-40 with <1km
Current Progress
• Merger plan
prepared by districts
• Guidelines to be
issued
Phase 3
Merger of S&ME
and SSD Schools
School
Category
Non-Scheduled
Area
Enrollment criteria
Scheduled
Area
Distance of nearby
Elementary/
Secondary School
Any Primary/Upper Primary/
Secondary School
Any
Enrollment
Any
Enrollment 100 meters
Primary SchoolLess than 40 Less than 25 1 km
Upper Primary School (VI-VIII)Less than 50 Less than 40 2 km
Upper Primary School (I-VIII)Less than 60 Less than 45 1 km
Secondary School (VI-X) Less than 50 Less than 45 2 km
Secondary School (I-X) Less than 80 Less than 45 2 km
Secondary School (IX-X) Less than 60 Less than 40 3 km
enrolment norms for consolidation for eight different
school scenarios. For 2020-21, the State opted to pursue
consolidation of schools in Phase 2.
2. Structural interventions 52Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 18: Workshops with District Level Officials & Block Level Officials for discussing verification SOPs
Workshops held with
DLOs and BLOS
The actual process of implementation in Odisha was
similar to the processes described for Jharkhand and
Madya Pradesh previously including use of GIS data
to identify prospective schools for mergers, on ground
Impact and Learnings
• Odisha has a government approved
consolidation policy with norms clearly
identified, unlike most other states. The
current government school count stands at
~45k and the vision is to get 40,000 schools.
• Similar to learnings in Jharkhand and Madhya
Pradesh, well defined processes and guidelines
and pre-emptive identification and review of red
flag cases was very critical.
Reflecting on the three case studies, one can see
that the approach taken by each of the three states has
been very different
• Jharkhand focused on a bottom-up analytics-
based approach, covering all Gram Panchayats
from the outset. As the first SATH-E State to
undertake school consolidation, it managed to
set the tempo and template for other states.
• Madhya Pradesh pursued mergers of
same-campus schools. These were effective
quick wins, as they were relatively easier
mergers primarily of an administrative nature
(For example: Teachers had to only move from
one building to another in the same campus).
They were also significant in number with respect
to the state’s starting context – nearly 35,000
schools were merged into 16,000 campuses to
reduce the school footprint by 17,000 schools.
• Odisha focused on a policy-led phased approach,
prioritizing getting a top-down buy-in across the
State. This, coupled with the momentum generated
through quick win consolidation of nearly 2,000 low
enrollment and same-campus schools helped the
State proceed towards pushing for distance-based
mergers directly.
While the approaches may have been different, some
of the learnings with respect to ensuring multi-level
stakeholder buy-in and communication, implemen-
tation rigor, close monitoring and tracking, effective
grievance redressal processes are common critical
success factors across States which can be seen
across the three case studies.
verifications & host school mapping, detailed guidelines
& learning workshops and grievance management
system. 53
2.2 . Creating Model Leader
Schools
Context
The SATH-E states are all quite large, with each state
having 40,000 - 100,000+ schools. A key discussion
in all states was that while efforts are made to
improve outcomes across all schools, an effort should
also be made to develop a subset of schools as
exemplar leader schools with a set of disproportionate
investments made towards those schools. At least
~10% of the total number of schools in a state should
be developed as exemplar leader schools, and it is
important to select these schools in a manner that
they’re equitably distributed geographically across
the state. Both these aspects are important to
ensure that at least one high-quality leader school is
accessible by all students in vicinity through provision
of transport.
Such Leader schools can bring in new momentum
to the public education system by demonstrating
the art of the possible and drawing-in students from
other sub-scale public as well as private schools.
These schools will provide a comprehensive learning
environment to their students through state-of-the-art
infrastructure, competent teaching staff, high-impact
academic initiatives, and a welcoming environment
for all students, parents and school staff.
These lighthouse schools will also serve as school
complexes in line with the recommendations of
National Education Policy 2020 and act as resource
centers providing the feeder schools of that
panchayat with inspiration, mentoring, and shared
resources to improve the education quality in other
government schools.
Approach
As part of the SATH-E program, in Madhya Pradesh,
the School Education Department conceptualized ‘CM
RISE Schools’ – a set of 9,200 government schools
(~3 schools per cluster of the state) developed as
world-class schools that offer high-quality education.
These will be resource-rich K-12/K-10 schools that
would provide outcome-oriented holistic education
to all students, especially to those belonging to
economically and socially weaker sections and from
remote/rural areas of the state.
Other states in India have also embarked on this
journey:
• The Rajasthan Government initiated an Adarsh
Vidyalaya Scheme in 2015 to upgrade one school
each across 9894 gram panchayats over three
phases. Under the scheme, the state undertook
the development of large integrated schools with
qualified teachers and infrastructural facilities like
computer labs, libraries, playgrounds for students,
boundary walls, sufficient classrooms, and
separate toilets for boys and girls. This initiative
resulted in increased enrolment and improvement
in learning levels across Rajasthan.
• Delhi Government has identified 54 schools as
‘model schools’ for transformation and it plans to
develop all ~1000 schools as model schools over
time. The focus has been on improving infrastruc-
ture, training of teachers, extra-curricular activities,
and vocational education for these 54 schools.
• Similarly, in Odisha “Centre of Excellence” schools
project was initiated with a vision to provide access
to model government schools to students across
all districts. These 100 schools would provide
quality education in the State and act as model/
lead schools for other schools in their districts.
Gradually this initiative came under the umbrella
of the state’s 5T High School Transformation
program where the ideology has been to upgrade
all high schools in the state.
• Lastly, the Government of Jharkhand has launched
the Leader Schools Initiative to a create leader
school in every panchayat of the state to offer an
easily accessible high-quality learning environment to
every student of the state. The three-phased program
identified 80 district-level (phase I), 325 block-level
(phase II) and 4036 panchayat-level schools to be
transformed into leader schools over the next 5 years.
2. Structural interventions 54Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 19: Criteria used to shortlist the first set of ~15k CM RISE Schools in MP
Identification of a subset of schools
Before embarking on this journey, it is critical to
identify and select the right subset of schools that
are well spread across to ensure equitable access to
students covering the maximum student population.
In Madhya Pradesh (MP), a preliminary shortlist
of 15,405 schools was prepared. This shortlist
was based on two parameters. Schools with
high enrollment and those already having basic
infrastructure in place were given preference. This
approach aimed to ensure that the funds invested
impact the highest number of students in the shortest
possible timeframe, as illustrated below.
Basis the above two parameters, schools were scored
out of total 20 marks and accordingly, five schools
were identified for every Jan Shiksha Kendra (cluster)
in the state to create the initial shortlist of 15k schools.
Further verification of the 15,000 schools was
conducted in the field by Cluster Principals and Cluster
Academic Coordinators based on the parameters
mentioned. Comprehensive field verification of this
list was undertaken by SED officials and a final list
of 9,200 schools was finalized, post approvals from
various administrative and political committees. A
similar exercise has been undertaken by the Education
Departments of other states as well.
Goal-setting for Leader Schools
The success of leader schools needs to be defined
via ambitious, measurable goals, such as – increase
in enrollment, increase in attendance, improved
rank in upcoming NAS, PISA Readiness, improved
board exam results, and increased proportion of
students clearing NEET, JEE, CLAT, and NDA - while
ensuring the school’s overall consonance with NEP
(specific achievement targets for each goal have
been outlined by school education departments). In
Jharkhand and MP, these schools’ learning outcomes
will also be evaluated through the state’s Certification
programs where schools will be externally assessed
and rewarded upon achieving the specified learning
outcome criteria.
MP School education department identified and
formally constituted 18 sub-committees to drive
strategic planning and execution of critical workstreams
to achieve the goals.
Selection stage 1: Of the ~1 Lac govt. schools in MP, initial list of ~15k potential CM RISE schools
finalized basis infra and enrolment 55
Exhibit 20: Criteria used to shortlist the final set of 9.2k CM RISE Schools in MP
I. Infrastructure
Establishing state-of-the-art infrastructure was a key
priority in MP. This was considered necessary to
provide a high-quality learning environment and instill
a sense of pride amongst staff and students within
these schools. However, this is both an expensive and
a slow process. Hence, the entire effort was looked at
in two parts.
A set of basic but critical improvements could be
initiated across a relatively large number of schools
– including critical building repairs / exterior paint,
providing functional boys’ and girls’ toilets, building
ample handwashing platforms, and drinking water
facilities, providing a continuous supply of water &
electricity, and good quality desks & backboards in
classrooms etc. To ensure these basic amenities were
in place in the shortest possible time, the considered
path was devolution of power to SMCs and Principals
to incur expenses on minor infrastructural upgradation
for school repair & maintenance.
The main state level focus, in parallel, was to provision
full-fledged facilities in a subset of ~350 Phase 1
CMRISE schools (with the objective do the same for
all 9K schools over 10 years over 3 phases). Basis
aspirational end-state student enrollment for these
schools, 9 archetypes, denoted as “Models” were
created for CM RISE schools. The smallest Model
schools, designated as Model 1, were planned to have
capacity of 1170 K-12 students, while largest Model
7 would have ~4000 K-12 students. All models would
have different number of classrooms, increasing as
per increase in enrollment. However, all models would
have broadly similar facilities in terms of laboratories,
libraries, STEAM education and extra-curricular activity
rooms. Large scale sports facilities (e.g. gymnasium,
multiple courts etc.) were planned in district/ block level
schools. Various other critical infrastructure priorities
were finalized e.g. boundary wall with concepts of BALA
(building as learning aids), ample open and built spaces
available for free movement with designated spaces
for assembly, canteens, dining rooms, and appropriate
furniture for staff and students, science and computer
Details of actions undertaken in eight prioritized
areas to begin with are further described below.
Selection Stage 2: Of~15K schools, 9-9.5K CM RISE schools finalized basis blended scoring of the
below parameters (validated via field visits)
2. Structural interventions 56Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Infrastructure
Transportation
Extra-curriculars
Staff Management
School Academic
& Administrative
Processes
Physical Education
& Sports
Monitoring &
Governance
Pre-Primary
Education
Vocational
Education
Academic Initiatives
(21st-century skills, PISA Readiness,
STEAM, FLN, Spoken English
program and entrance exam
preparation for secondary grades
etc.)
Teacher Availability
Community
& Parental
Engagement
Science Education
Teacher Professional
Development
Setting Quality
Benchmarks,
Evaluation / Appraisal,
& School Certification
Digital Education
Communications,
launch &
documentation
School Leadership
(Selection & Capacity
Building)
Exhibit 21: Sub-committees for driving critical work streams
labs along with co-curricular infrastructure such as
an arts & crafts room, music room with the required
set of instruments, creative thinking areas, sports
infrastructure etc. allowing an opportunity for children
to develop their personality. Financial estimates were
prepared for various models of schools.
Incorporating the above principles, School Education
Department of Madhya Pradesh kickstarted renovation
of existing buildings and construction of new,
integrated buildings and campuses across the state
in 2022. In Phase 1 of the project, construction was
planned for 274 CM RISE schools across the state,
for which budget of more than Rs 10,000 crores has
been approved for ~269 schools till date. The work
was ongoing as the SATH-E Project ended in 2022
and the first fully equipped new building of CM RISE
Schools was inaugurated by Hon. Chief Minister in
July 2023. Going ahead, in Phase 2 of the project, the
complete set of ~9,200 schools shall be earmarked for
archetyping and construction.
II. Adequate Staff provisioning
Two key areas were actioned to begin with – defining
a staffing set-up for the CMRISE schools as well as a
process for teacher/ school leader selection to initiate
recruitment.
1. Staffing set-up
An integrated staffing set up was defined for CMRISE
schools in line with PTRs recommended in RTE, 2009
and stage-wise academic setup recommended in NEP,
2020. The setup proposed identified 5 types of school
staff:
1. Leadership staff (School leader, Vice Principal,
Middle and Primary Headteacher)
2. Core-academic staff (Subject teachers from
6-12, primary and pre-primary teachers etc.)
3. Co-curricular staff (art teachers, music
teachers, sports teachers etc.)  57
4. Administrative staff (librarians, accountants,
estate managers etc.) 
5. Support Staff (cleaners, gardeners, security
staff etc.) 
The role differentiation in this new staffing setup was
to ensure that teachers are freed from administrative
and  general school-upkeep-related tasks, such that
they can spend more time inside classrooms, in lesson
planning, assessment development and engaging with
students one-on-one.
The variations in staff set-up basis CMRISE school
model type (1 to 9) was also articulated
2. Teacher selection process
To ensure high-quality staff in schools, MP executed
a merit-based selection strategy. Teaching staff were
selected via a domain-specific written test. School
leaders were selected on the basis of past performance
and testing for motivation (through 1-to-1 interviews).
A streamlined selection process alongside continuous
training and handholding via the central team has
created a cohort of highly motivated and competent
teachers in CMRISE schools.
III. Transportation
To ensure equitable access and better attendance in
schools, providing transportation was a key priority. The
Government plans to provide bus service to students
at no cost. To enhance safety and monitoring, it was
also planned that all school buses will be equipped
with functioning GPS systems and CCTV cameras,
in accordance with recommendations from the State
Transport Department. Additionally, for the safety
and real-time tracking of students, the department
has planned to select an agency to implement
school monitoring software. Mobile applications for
Android and iOS platforms will be made accessible
to faculty and parents, facilitating real-time tracking
of school buses, enhancing overall safety measures.
Procurement processes to initiate some of these
services are currently ongoing.
IV. Academic and Administrative processes
To meet the vision and mission of CM RISE schools,
it was critical to define the expected academic and
administrative processes that must be followed in the
schools. To this effect, two handbooks were drafted with
detailed SOPs for various areas of school functioning
– one handbook was drafted for school leaders
(completed during the SATH-E project), and one
for teachers (completed post closure of the SATH-E
project). The handbooks detail processes such as how
school leaders should conduct school and classroom
walkthroughs, how to conduct effective staff meetings,
how to reflect back on a school day post school hours,
how to effectively engage with parents and SMCs etc.
A set of processes were also prioritized and incorporated
in live trainings conducted with principals and school
leaders. To ensure the processes are followed, a
compliance tracking mechanism has also been set-up
for select processes (e.g. school leaders report
conducting the classroom and school walkthroughs).
Additionally, OICs (officers-in-charge) responsible
for respective Divisions undertake necessary follow
ups and conduct school visits to monitor as well as
motivate the schools to follow the articulated academic
and administrative processes.
The Handbooks for both school leaders and teachers
can be found on the following links:
School Leader Handbook
Teacher Handbook
V. Teacher and School Leader capacity building
School Leader capacity building efforts started during
the SATH-E Project itself e.g. a 5 days induction
training was organized for all principals at IIM Indore.
In addition, exposure visits were undertaken for them
with excellent schools both within and outside of
Bhopal.
Teacher capacity building efforts were yet to begin in a
significant manner when the Project SATH-E duration
ended. Since then, the state has been conducting
trainings for both teachers and principals periodically
on various aspects e.g. growth mindset, pedagogical
issues, academic and administrative processes to
follow etc. In addition, Shikshak Sabha sessions have
been initiated in all districts to connect 10,000+ CM
Rise teachers to the vision, mission, and values of CM
RISE. Intervention specific trainings are also being
conducted for teachers e.g. on career counselling by
UNICEF, 21st century skills etc.
2. Structural interventions 58Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
VI. Integration of Pre-Primary Education
Integrating Pre-Primary education with 1-12 grades
in the CMRISE schools was taken up as a priority.
Work was initiated on various fronts including building
new, activity based KG curriculum, staff recruitment
/ training, ECE-friendly class infrastructure with
dedicated play corners/age-appropriate furniture,
TLM kits etc. Efforts have continued to stabilize this
very critical initiative that can have large scale impact
on improving student learning outcomes. The state
intends to provide a helper (on an honorarium basis)
in each pre-primary classroom along with a full time
teacher. In-service trainings is also a key focus since
this is a new area, with due involvement of external
ECE experts as required.
VII. 21st century skills
21st century skills offerings in India are in a relatively
nascent stage and the term itself is loosely and
inter-changeably used to refer to a wide range of skill
sets (life skills, social emotional skills, new-age skills
etc). Madhya Pradesh had several ongoing efforts in
this area (e.g. Umang program, Value-based education,
Bal Sabha etc.) although somewhat siloed and lacking
a holistic view for what all should be covered in a life
skills/ 21st century skills offering.
Extensive benchmarking of various relevant programs
in this space, both in India and abroad, was taken up
during the SATH-E project, and an overall framework
was articulated for skills/ competencies that should
be covered in a phased manner through grades 1-12.
Some of these were competency-based skills (the 4
C’s – critical thinking, communication, collaboration,
and creativity), literacy skills (scientific, digital, financial
literacy) as well as character qualities/ life skills
(Adaptability, Leadership, Mental well-being & ability
to express, Civic, moral & environmental awareness,
Growth mindset, and Health & hygiene).
By the close of the SATH-E project, the State had
formed a point of view on the overall framework and
competencies to target and decided to dedicate ~70-90
hours annually per grade towards 21st century skills to
ensure CMRISE schools offered a holistic education
to students.
Since then, the state has progressed on the effort.
A draft life skills curriculum has been prepared
for grades 1-8 leveraging projects/ activity-based
pedagogy. In addition, the state is also thinking through
how to integrate the delivery of these skills through
existing subjects/ ongoing programs along with their
pedagogy (e.g. in the teaching of science, language
etc.). Comprehensive teacher training initiatives
are underway across all participating schools.
Simultaneously, the development of assessment
procedures and a monitoring framework is in progress
to ensure that the program effectively enhances
student outcomes.
VIII. Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)
Under the aegis of NIPUN BHARAT, Madhya Pradesh
launched “Mission Ankur” in 2020, prioritizing FLN
initiatives to bridge the learning gap. The mission
focused on:
• Providing comprehensive in-person training for
over 1.7 Lakh teachers (Grade 1-3) on FLN skills
• Developing innovative teaching learning materials
based on structured pedagogy to enable teachers
with detailed and competency focused 30 weeks’
lesson plans,
• Designing an overall FLN assessment architec-
ture including formative, summative and system
level assessments aligned with NIPUN learning
outcomes.
• Developing the capacity of Headmasters of
primary school as Mentors of FLN grade teachers
This mission is ongoing across the state, including
in CMRISE schools. However, materials have been
suitably customized for CMRISE schools as they do
not have any multi-grade teaching.
1. Impact and Learnings
The CMRISE project conceptualization and cabinet
approval happened during Project SATH-E. In addition,
by the end of the Project, various foundational elements
were established e.g. 59
1. Civil Infrastructure:
• Sanction was received for funding & develop-
ment of 146 CM RISE schools with a budget
of over Rs 5600 crores by the end of 2022.
• Bhumi Pujan was conducted by Hon. CM for
69 CM RISE Schools.
2. Staffing:
• Approximately 6000 teachers from existing
schools were posted to 274 CM RISE schools
based on qualification tests.
• Additionally, approximately 1400 new teachers
were hired for 274 CM RISE schools in 2022.
3. Training & Capacity Building (2022):
• Exposure visits were conducted to South
Korea for key administrators.
• 274 School Leaders (SLs) were sent for
leadership training to IIM Indore.
• Shikshak Sabha, involving 10k teachers and
900 SLs, was organized in each of the 52
districts to orient teachers with the mission and
vision of CM RISE and improve engagement.
4. Soft Infrastructure Procurement:
• By the end of 2022, soft infrastructure procure-
ment worth over Rs 14 crores was completed
for 274 CM RISE schools. This included
interactive panels, smart TVs, and primary
classroom furniture.
Subsequently, within the first year of its launch, the
CM RISE program has significantly improved access
to quality education in the state across several key
parameters:
• Enrollment increased by nearly 30% in the
inaugural CM RISE school, while the overall
year-on-year enrollment increase from 2022 to
2023 was 4% higher in CM RISE schools than in
traditional schools.
• More than 8,000 CM RISE school teachers
received training in the last year through in-person
and digital training programs.
• The percentage of 10th-grade students with
average passing grades at CM RISE schools is
nearly 67%, which is 5 percentage points higher
than the state average.
• Progress in Civil Infrastructure: Further approvals
for Rs 4400 crores have been received for the
remaining 123 CM RISE schools.
We recommend that states looking to initiate reforms
via leader schools ensure that key enablers mentioned
below are institutionalized within the delivery framework
to achieve the best possible success in the earliest
possible timeframe:
1. Constituting the central team that will lead the
effort with appropriate number of resources
across critical functions (infrastructure, procure-
ment, finance, academic functions, tech / data
systems, media and communications etc.)
2. Setting up tech systems and governance/ review
mechanisms to define and track the right set of
metrics for each workstream.
3. Ongoing project management and coordination:
systems and tools for the state-level management of
all the workstreams (from design to execution) and
coordination with other critical funding sources and
activities of the dept. e.g., STARS project, SmSA,
PAB, etc.
4. Procurement and financial planning: processes to
manage the procurement of materials and services
and financial management of the program.
2. Structural interventions 60Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
2.3. Building a
High-Performance Organization
The Education Department is the largest employer
in most state systems. For example, in Odisha, the
Department of School and Mass Education employs
nearly 2.5 lakh teachers, thousands of administrators
in 16 Directorates, 30 District Offices and 314 Block
Offices, with a budget of almost Rs. 15,000 Crores. Not
only does this department manage the administration
of about 60,000 schools and 3-4 lakh people but also,
and arguably more importantly, the academic matters
of about 58 lakh students.
Context
Our vision for the Education Department of any State
Government is for it to have a well-staffed organization
that has oversight over all academic and administrative
matters. This organization will have the right number of
people, distributed across key functions in line with the
strategic priorities and workload and a clear pyramid
ensuring there are enough people to supervise as well
as to execute. There will be a clear functional separation
of academic and administrative responsibilities to
ensure a consistent focus on academics.
The organization should have a performance - oriented
culture with individuals having clear accountability for
outcomes, quality and a focus on results. Traditional
barriers and silos will be minimized, and strong
cross-functional teams put in place, where required,
with good communication at all levels. This will also
ensure the needs of the system for monitoring and
mentoring schools, implementing academic programs
and managing establishment matters and grievances
are addressed in a timely and effective manner. The
State of Odisha has made significant in-roads towards
achieving this vision, and the following case study
details the journey undertaken.
Vision: A Lean Organization with a Clear
Purpose and a Performance Mindset
Managing such a large organization and budget
needs very strong management structures and clear
processes. However, year on year, we see an increase
in per-capita expenditure on education without a
commensurate or significant increase in learning
outcomes – in fact, outcomes are declining in many
cases.
In 2018, a comprehensive proposal for restructuring
the Education Department in Odisha was put together
and submitted for approvals. The objectives of this
restructuring were stated as:
• Improve administrative efficiency, drive synergies
and convergence by the merger of related directo-
rates
• Separate administrative and academic functions
to drive greater focus on quality education
• Ensure compliance with MoE guidelines
• Extend the department to include higher secondary
and vocational education to enable seamlessness
of schools and student learning pathways
• Create a forward-looking organization focused on
the delivery of outcomes 61
This restructuring involved four key action areas:
1. Combining 16 Directorates into 11 Directo-
rates, with the overall objectives of reducing
overlaps and increasing functional alignment.
a. Merger of SSA and RMSA project offices:
While this was required given the merger of
the central schemes into a single scheme of
Samagra Shiksha, it also serves the purpose
of more cohesive and coherent governance
of integrated schools. Given the vision of
ensuring every secondary school in the state
has Grades 1 to 10, merging the project offices
that manage the implementation of programs
and schemes in the schools enabled the
administration to ensure that there is consist-
ency across the elementary and secondary
branches.
b. Merger of SCERT, ELTI (English Language
Training Institute) and SIEMAT (State Institute
for Educational Management and Training) and
the abolishment of the SRC (State Resource
Centre for Adult Education). All these institu-
tions were responsible for pedagogy and
training at various levels: SCERT responsible
for the overall elementary curriculum, ELTI for
all English language curriculum and training,
SIEMAT for leadership training for administra-
tive officers and SRC for Adult or Continuing
Education. Merging them enabled the state to
reduce the overlap in roles and responsibili-
ties and enable better coordination for similar
activities. The merged entity or SCERT was
also restructured internally to incorporate the
new posts and the new requirements (e.g.
training of middle managers) and ensure the
merger was not simply set up as the sum of
the parts but took into account synergies.
c. Merger of the Higher Secondary and
Vocational directorates into a single
directorate within the Department of School
and Mass Education was done to ensure a
singular approach to continuing education in
secondary and higher secondary schools. This
would enable better integration of vocational
curriculum into secondary schools and a
logical continuation of vocational education
from K-10 schools into higher secondary
institutions (whether schools or +2 colleges).
Approach
2. Restructuring the field organization to
seamlessly govern schools from Grades 1 to
10.
a. The entire field organization (district and
block offices) was reorganized in line with
the new central structure of OSEPA. The
DEO and DPC offices, which were previously
separate due to differences in the funding
sources (state and center) and responsible
for secondary and elementary education
respectively, were merged to ensure a single
administrative authority for all schools with a
clear balance of staff across elementary and
secondary levels. This especially benefits the
administration of integrated 1-10 schools.
b. The DEO would be the de-facto head of the
district administration for school education
and under him would be three ADEOs. The
creation of an extra ADEO post enabled the
separation of responsibilities into Establish-
ment matters, Programs, Schemes and
Academics/ Quality. The entire district and
block office was then reorganized into these
three branches to ensure complete functional
separation and focus.
c. The field organization manpower sanctions
were then varied based on the number of
schools or size of the districts to ensure that
larger districts have more manpower and
smaller districts have fewer people, in
keeping with the difference in workload.
3. Restructuring key Directorates to better
deliver against their mandate; for example,
restructuring SCERT and DIETs to ensure
they are better equipped to enable academic
quality in schools.
a. Several directorates were internally restruc-
tured in order to rebalance team sizes
and hierarchies in line with their expected
workloads and outcomes.
2. Structural interventions 62Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
b. Most notable was the proposed restructuring of
SCERT, in line with the MoE guidelines, which
strengthened the academic core of the department.

The SCERT restructuring proposal enabled
the separation of academic and administrative
responsibilities within the organization, created
teams to manage all key academic responsibili-
ties – from curriculum design to book preparation
to assessments to teacher training – and ensured
that people with specific academic skills could
be on-boarded from within school education and
higher education.
The impact of these change has begun to reflect in
the ways of working of the Education Department -
1. Increased efficiency
• Merger of SSA & RMSA brought in a stronger
focus on developing and driving integrated
strategies for elementary and secondary
sections within the School & Mass Education
Department. Accountability with a single
project office reduced time spent on approvals,
coordination and alignments between offices
and helped the state focus more on the actual
delivery and impact of initiatives.
• The single authority also helped drive the
strategies of the Directorates of Elementary
and Secondary in a more cohesive manner. In
2020, the two Directorates together conducted
an extensive analysis of HM, teaching staff
and non-teaching staff in-position and require-
ments for 100 Center of Excellence Schools.
Over a period of 3 months, the state managed
to ensure 70% of vacancies identified were
filled in a priority manner through rationali-
zation, and subsequent vacancy filling of the
long-tail is ongoing.
Impact & Learnings
4. Restructuring the Odisha Education Services
(OES) cadre to align the expected skills,
qualifications and authority across various
parts of the organization to enable effective
working, engagement and promotional avenues.
a. The entire process took six months to design
and the financial implications of the restructuring
were presented to the Finance Department
and other authorities. Most interventions were
implemented, while a handful were awaiting
approvals for implementation and/or further
guidelines from the Ministry of Education on
account of recommendations in the National
Education Policy 2020 (at the time of closure
of Project SATH-E).
2. Greater field collaboration
Restructuring of the field offices of the DEO
and DPC ensured that the benefits accrued
to the state administration also accrued in the
field. DEOs and DPCs now work together on
the state’s education priorities and have been
able to unlock many synergies through this.
Given the state’s emphasis on decentralized
administration, the district level officers have
been able to coordinate and execute large
programs more effectively at scale. Notably,
the state’s digital education program “Shiksha
Sanjog” launched in May 2020 was conceptu-
alized and implemented by each of the district
offices independently with support from the
state.
3. Increased accountability
• The creation of an extra ADEO post enabled
the separation of responsibilities into
Establishment matters, Programs, Schemes
and Academics and this helped the district
administration to provide dedicated leadership
for academic initiatives like LEP, Garima
School Certification, Spot Assessments, etc. 63
A few critical success factors need to be put in
place in order to ensure the exercise is feasible and
impactful.
1. Political alignment from the outset is critical.
It is critical to ensure strong support
from the political leadership in order to
successfully restructure the education
organization. Alignment from the outset
is critical – both on the vision as well as
the extent and phasing of the changes.
2. Structures need to be set up for the
longer-term
Organizational changes cannot be done every
day. These are expensive, slow to implement
and require a significant amount of effort and
thought. Therefore, it is critical to ensure that
the changes are bold and visionary and meet
the long-term needs of the education system.
3. Guidelines and legislations need to be
thoughtfully adhered to
There are several guidelines around what the
education department should look like and
several orders and notifications that need to
be adhered to. It is critical to be able to identify
which ones are set in stone and where there
is autonomy for states to deviate to better suit
their requirements. Additionally, there needs
to be a strong legal lens in order to ensure that
the changes are in line with the various rules
around cadre structures, etc. to avoid litigation
and other issues once the process is underway.
4. Open and transparent communication through
the change is essential
There needs to be a clear and transparent
process for arriving at the changes, consulting
stakeholders along the way. Changes need to
be clearly communicated, repeatedly if
required, and there needs to be a firm
system in place to implement them. A
strong grievance redressal system is
essential in order to ensure two-way
communication throughout the process.
5. Capacity building and supporting the
transition is critical for success
In addition to communication, there also needs
to be enablement and a period of handholding
to ensure smooth and seamless transitions so
that the long-term benefits are not overshad-
owed by initial teething troubles. 64Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
2.4. Optimizing Teacher
Allocation
Context
Adequate and fully staffed schools are the bulwark of a
strong education system. A healthy Pupil Teacher Ratio
(PTR) is essential for effective teaching learning in
schools. As states strive for achieving RTE mandated
PTR norms, there are challenges at the secondary and
senior secondary level. A glance at secondary teacher
sanctions across states indicates the challenges with
recruitment of teachers.
Exhibit 22: Number of sanctioned and working teachers per 100k students across states
Jharkhand has fewer number of working teachers
among comparable states
S: Secondary teachers
HS: Higher secondary teachers
There are acute shortages of teachers, especially at the
secondary and higher secondary levels. For states like
Jharkhand and Odisha – the higher secondary PTR¹
was as high as 57². For primary and upper primary
schools, the shortage of subject specific teachers is
usually mitigated by combining multiple grades and/
or making a teacher of an allied discipline teach the
class (E.g., Physics teacher teaching mathematics).
However, in higher grades, the expertise required is
high, rendering workarounds ineffective. This is one of
the reasons due to which Students drop out in high
numbers at the secondary and higher secondary
grades, leading to a sharp dip in NER³ and ANER⁴ at
these levels.
¹PTR or Pupil Teacher Ratio is defined as the number of students per teacher in an educational institute
²Source: UDISE 2021-22 Report
³NER (Net Enrollment Ratio) for a grade is the % of students of the official age group enrolled in that grade
⁴ANER (Adjusted Net Enrollment Ratio) for a grade is the % of students of the official age group enrolled in any grade. 65
Exhibit 23: Falling NER and ANER in secondary and higher secondary grades across SATH-E states
Source: https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/statistics-new/udise_21_22.pdf;
https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#/reportDashboard/sReport
A long-term solution to this issue is hiring teachers
for these subjects and levels. Across SATH-E states
recruitment & rationalization efforts were undertaken.
However, overall the complexities and challenges
around hiring teachers, the supply and demand of
teachers across various subjects, and the logistics of
hiring in huge numbers make many state government
education systems understaffed. In such understaffed
systems, it is important to optimize the deployment of
teachers to ensure access to teaching staff.
Approach
The school education system of Jharkhand was
understaffed with PTR⁵ of 57 at the senior secondary
level and 35 at Secondary level (National PTR is 27 at
Senior Secondary Level and 18 at Secondary level) .
As a result, the secondary and higher secondary NER⁵
were below 45%.
Government schools in the state had 11 PGT sanctions
for higher secondary grades (i.e., grades 11 and 12) and
10 TGT sanctions for secondary grades (i.e., grades 9
and 10), agnostic to enrollments. Sanctioned teacher
positions were not commensurate with PTR norms
and subject based teacher allocation norms which led
to sub-optimal utilization and distribution of teachers
across the state. Following were the challenges arising
due to the sanctioning approach:
1. Low enrolment schools over-staffed & high
enrolment schools under-staffed: Standardized
sanctioning norms across schools resulted in low
enrollment schools (for e.g., 79 out of 510 schools up
to grade XII had a total 9-12 enrollment of less than
100) having surplus teachers sanctioned while high
enrollment schools (for e.g., 245 out of 510 schools
up to grade XII had total 9-12 enrollment of greater
than 500) faced an acute shortage.
⁵PGT Subjects: Hindi, English, Sanskrit, History, Geography, Economics, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Commerce
⁶TGT Subjects: Hindi, English, Sanskrit/Urdu, Math+Phy, Bio+Chem, History+Civics, Economics, Geography, Regional Lang, HS/PE/Music.
Net Enrolment Rate (NER) by Gender
and Level of School Education, 2021-22
82.5
70.3
90.1
65.965.5
70.7
49.4
41.841.3
25.4
30.4
26.9
97.598.9
85
77.1
83.7
64.7
54.5
53.6
25.4
30.5
26.9
80.6
Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate (ANER) by Gender
and Level of School Education, 2021-22
Primary
OdishaMadhya Pradesh Jharkhand
PrimaryUpper
Primary
Upper
Primary
SecondarySecondaryHigher
Secondary
Higher
Secondary
100
80
60
40
20
0
2. Structural interventions 66Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
2. Lack of teacher sharing between secondary
and higher secondary grades leading to PGT
under-utilization: As separate sanctions had been
defined for secondary and higher secondary grades,
PGTs were severely under-utilized in schools with less
than 4 sections across grades 9 - 12. For example:
Assume a school has 1 section each of classes 9
and 10, and 1 section in classes 11 and 12 studying
math. Assuming 5 periods/week for secondary and
6 periods/week for higher secondary, there would be
a total of 22 math periods in a week. This could be
taught by a single PGT teacher (maximum load: 36),
however, existing norms would sanction 1 TGT and
1 PGT for this school resulting in their sub-optimal
utilization.
3. PGT Commerce teacher sanctioned in every
Senior Secondary school irrespective of
student demand/ enrollment: 190 of 510 schools
had reported students appearing for board examina-
tions in commerce in the academic year 2019-20.
However, given the standard sanctioning norms
across schools, there were 300+ schools where
commerce related teacher sanctions were present
albeit unutilized.
4. Lack of representation for electives that are
desired by students: Arts electives such as Political
Science and Sociology had ~36,000 and ~24,000
students appear for board exams in 2019-20 . There
was a dearth of specialist teachers for these subjects
due to existing sanctioning norms.
These limitations warranted restructuring of PGT
and TGT sanctions in High Schools and +2 schools.
To mitigate these challenges, new set of teacher
sanctioning norms were proposed premised on the
following principles:
1. Enrollment-based teacher sanctioning
Schools were organized into 4 categories based on
their enrolment in secondary and higher secondary
grades. The categorization was done considering an
average of 50 students per section.
Higher secondary schools
with Grades 9-12 Enrolment
Secondary with 9-10 enrollment
0-1990-99Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
200-499100-199
500-999200-499
>1000>500Category 4
Teacher sanctioning for each subject and category was
determined based on the maximum number of periods
a teacher could teach in a week. (E.g., for Jharkhand
34 periods are assumed to be the threshold)
2. Offering of streams on demand basis
At the time, all three streams – Arts, Science and
Commerce, were offered across all schools irrespective
of enrollment or interest. However, ~67% of students
opted for the Arts stream as per board examinations
enrollment. Hence, it was proposed to rationalize the
streams across schools. Rationalization was based on
three principles:
1. Minimum of 20 enrollments required to continue
offering a stream in a school.
2. At least 1 stream is offered per school.
3. Every stream is available in each block. 67
4. Sharing of TGT teaching load by PGT teachers
in schools with vacancies
Several schools had teacher vacancies where either
TGT and/or PGTs were unavailable. Since teaching
PGT subjects require post-graduate specialization,
they could not be taught by TGTs. However, PGTs
were qualified for teaching TGT subjects. Hence, in
the case of TGT vacancies, the teaching load was
proposed to be shared by PGT teachers, subject to a
maximum of 34 periods per week.
Impact and Learnings
These recommendations on revision of Teacher
Sanction norms for Secondary and Senior Secondary
schools were made to the state before the closure of the
SATH-E Project. For the sanctions based on the above
Exhibit 24: Subject and category wise teacher sanctions for high schools
Illustrative Sanctionary Matrix:
3. Demand-based offering of electives within
each stream
There were several high-demand subjects like
computer science and political science with low
sanctions. On the other hand, low-demand subjects
had mandatory sanctions. To mitigate this, a
demand-based offering of electives was proposed.
Additional sanctions were introduced for high-demand
subjects like political science and computer science.
Further, larger schools were permitted sanctions for
an extra elective.
principles, a detailed sanctioning matrix was prepared.
This matrix defines the number of teachers sanctioned
for a subject, for a given category of school. Some
illustrative sanctioning matrices are shown below for
both secondary and higher secondary grades.
Implementing these norms has the potential of
reducing the secondary teacher sanctions required
in the state significantly. Moreover, it would lead to a
significant improvement in teacher utilization across
both TGT and PGT grades.
Teacher rationalization is a great lever towards
enabling more effective teaching-learning at the
school level by balancing resources across districts,
blocks and schools.
Throughout the development of the optimization
model for teacher sanctions there have been a few
learnings and suggestions from stakeholders involved
in process:
1. Frequency of teacher sanction revision:
Currently, In Jharkhand the teacher sanctions norms
are fixed as per the classification of schools. While
the current model keeps the sanctions dynamic
based on enrollment, there is a need to recognize
the administrative challenges arising from frequent
change of sanctions. To mitigate this the state can
select the frequency at which the teacher sanctions
are to be revised.
2. Structural interventions 68Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 25: Subject wise utilization of teachers increases significantly post revised sanctions in high schools (grade 9-10)
Exhibit 26: The revised staffing norms can potentially increase both TGT and PGT teachers’ utilization
2. Access to course combinations and streams:
While the model recommends the offering of stream/
course combinations based on student demand,
implementation guardrails to ensure that all course
combinations and streams are offered at block level
are to be kept. 69 70Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
3.1. Bridging the Learning Gap – At-
Scale Remediation in Campaign Mode
Context
There is overwhelming evidence to show that India
has a gaping divide between what a student knows
and what a student is expected to know. International
(PISA) and Indian surveys (NAS and ASER) repeatedly
corroborate this fact with data. The common practice
among teachers today is to tend to focus on curriculum
completion. So, even if there are 20 out of 30 students
in Grade 5 who are at competency levels of grades
2, 3 or 4, the teacher focuses on completing Grade 5
curriculum. However, this is a futile exercise. Anecdotal
evidence suggests that children are unable to grasp
at-grade syllabus until serious bridging is done. This
necessitates the creation of an effective and scalable
learning enhancement program that can help quickly
bring those students who are behind, to grade or near
grade-level competence.
3. Academic Interventions
Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) encourages
teachers to conduct lessons appropriate for the actual
learning levels of their students, rather than focusing
on completing a standard curriculum as mandated by
the grade and age. This concept of TaRL has been
further developed into concrete large-scale academic
interventions and implemented in all 3 SATH-Education
states over 2018-2020 through different programs.
• Jharkhand – Gyan Setu
• Madhya Pradesh – Dakshata Unnayan
• Odisha – Ujjwal & Utthan
This section will entail a deep dive into Madhya
Pradesh’s Dakshata Unnayan program, with best
practices deployed and learnings from the same. 71
Exhibit 27: Overview of remediation programs in SATH-Education States
Note: Remediation program for Grades 1-8.
Remediation Programs
Madhya PradeshJharkhandOdishaCustomized
remediation
programs
Grouping by
learning level
Primary
Grades (1-5)
Upper primary
grades (6-8)
Secondary
grades (9)
Subjects
covered
Grade 9 students
• Grade 3-5 level
• Grade 6-8 level
(for Hindi, English and
Math)
Grade 3-8 level:
Hindi, English, Math
Grade 9 students:
English, Hindi, Math,
Science, Social Science
Grade1-2, 3-5 level:
Hindi, English, Math
Grade 6-8 level:
English, Math, Science
Grade 1-2 level:
Odia, Math
Grade 3-5 level:
Odia, Math, English
Grade 6-8 students:
Odia, Math, English.
Science
Dakshata
Unnayan
Grade1-2 students
Nirmaan
Grade1-2 students
Level 1
Grade 3-5 students
• Grade 1-2 level - Ankur
• Grade 3-5 level - Tarun
Grade 3-5 students
• Grade 1-2 level - Lakshya
• Grade 3-5 level - Pragati
Grade 3-5 students
• Grade 1-2 level - Level 1
• Grade 3-5 level - Level 2
Ujjwal
Utthan
Utkarsh
bridge course
Grade 6-8 students
• Grade 1-2 level - Lakshya
• Grade 3-5 level - Sugam
• Grade 6-8 level - Subodh
Grade 6-8 students
• Grade 1-2 level
• Grade 3-5 level
• Grade 6-8 level
Grade 9 students
• Grade 3-5 level - Sugam
• Grade 6-8 level - Subodh
Grade 9 students
• Grade 1-4 level - FC
• Grade 5-8 level - SLP
Grade 6-8 students
• Grade 1-2 level - Ankur
• Grade 3-5 level - Tarun
• Grade 6-8 level - Umang
Gyan
Setu
Ujjwal + Utthan 72Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 28: Performance of Madhya Pradesh in NAS 2017
Dakshata Unnayan (Learning Enhancement
Program in Madhya Pradesh)
Several studies indicate that a significant proportion
of primary school students in Madhya Pradesh are not
at grade-level competence (51% of grade 3 students
not at grade level - NAS 2017). According to the NAS,
conducted by Ministry of Education in 2017 which
tested 1,40,363 students across more than 8,566
schools in Madhya Pradesh, it was found that the
state was below the national average in most of the
categories. (Exhibit 21)
Research has proven that learning gaps continue to
compound for students who lack foundational learning
in their early years. In addition, in the absence of
a strong pre-primary education system, it is also
EVS
0
20
40
60
6565
70
68
62
64
56 56
57 58
53
55
57
48
40
42
43
44 44
44
EVSLanguageLanguage
Class 3Class 8
LanguageMathMathMathScienceSocial Science
Class 5
MP Performance National Performance
important to address critical pre-primary competencies
in grade 1 to ensure appropriate school readiness for
children.
Approach
To address both these issues, the state decided to
launch a remediation program titled Dakshata Unnayan
for grades 1-8. The program was designed keeping
in mind the well proven Teaching at the Right Level
(TaRL) methodology, where children are grouped by
learning levels, in order to ensure targeted classroom
instructions are provided to each group, and associated
teaching-learning material is prepared keeping the
grouping in mind. 73 3. Academic interventions
Madhya Pradesh decided to operationalize the program within school hours to ensure sustainability and scalability.
This ensured adequate student and teacher attendance, allowed the program to get focus and priority at every
level, starting from teachers and parents, up to the district and state administration (should not be seen as an
‘additional’ voluntary program).
In Madhya Pradesh, the program was implemented
through an intensive remediation booster month at the
beginning of the academic session, in which 2 hours per
day were dedicated to Dakshata Unnayan. The initial
booster period helped in building critical momentum in
the initial months and allowed for a significant chunk of
time to be spent on bridging gaps before proceeding to
teach the regular syllabus. However, owing to the fact
that attendance is often very low in the initial month
post vacations, concentrating the whole program
One-time booster where the whole day is focused on remediation for a specific
duration (1-1.5 months)
Multi-year on-going program that continues through the entire academic year
PROGRAM DURATION
Multiple choices exist for designing various aspects of the remediation program. For designing the program in
Madhya Pradesh, the state studied all these options in detail and made the following strategic choices based on
applicability and suitability in the local context:
Key design features of Dakshata Unnayan Program in Madhya Pradesh:
Option 1
Option 2
In-school: Time is carved out for remediation from the existing school timetable.
Outside of school hours: Additional time, outside of the regular school day,
is identified for remediation (such as stay-back after school/holidays, etc.).
OPERATIONAL DESIGN
Option 1
Option 2
in the initial months risked resulting in a significant
percentage of students missing out on the program
– likely the ones who need it the most. Hence, the
booster month was followed by 1-1.5 hours of targeted
remediation per day throughout the rest of the year.
This also allowed time for the program to settle in a
large state like Madhya Pradesh, and left scope for
ongoing course correction. 74Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
In a typical classroom, students not only span over a
range of different learning levels but are also at different
grade-levels. If they are taught uniformly or made to
read the same pages of a textbook irrespective of their
ability, the learning of the student is compromised.
The benefit of homogenous grouping is that students
of one learning level are grouped together. However,
a perceived risk is if the students will feel labeled
into a category. In contrast, heterogenous grouping
could facilitate peer learning, however, it is a far
more complex model to implement. It requires highly
skilled teachers to be executed well. Teaching at the
Right Level (TaRL) model, which is a homogeneous
grouping-based method has strong evidence of
delivering outcomes, and hence was chosen as the
preferred option.
In order to address the problem of students feeling
labeled into a category, sensitization and communication
trainings were conducted for the teachers to ensure
that such a message is not conveyed to the students
and that they feel valued. Additionally, names of the
groups (i.e. Ankur, Tarun, and Umang) were chosen
in a way that does not reflect any kind of segregation
done among students. With this, the students of the
highest learning level group were also asked to aid
those in other groups during the remediation hour once
their own practice worksheets/topics were completed,
which facilitated peer learning in classrooms as well.
Additionally, the state chose the model of grouping
students within classrooms rather than across
classes. This was done to avoid mixing students of
different age groups - even if there were children in
grade 5 at grade 2 level, their ability to learn grade 2
content would be much faster and will need a different
approach as compared to a child at grade 2. Also, the
concerns around labeling of children were higher if
they were made to move out of their regular classroom
as opposed to grouping within a classroom. Hence this
decision was taken.
The model had to be designed in a way that it could
work in 2-teacher constructs, which is how most
schools are in Madhya Pradesh – typically one teacher
teaches grades 1 and 2 and one teacher teaches
grades 3 to 5. Hence, all grade 1 and 2 students were
suggested as one set for re-grouping and grades 3 to
5 as another set for re-grouping. When some schools
had more than 2 teachers, then groups with different
learning levels were managed by different teachers,
within the given set of classrooms.
Under the program, students were grouped basis their
learning level into 3 categories
• Ankur (learning level of grades 1 and 2)
• Tarun (learning level of grades 3 to 5)
• Umang (learning level of grades 6 to 8)
Option 2
Option 4
Re-organize all classes into groups on the basis of their learning levels (i.e. student
across all grades 1-5 for example are grouped as L1, L2...L5 basis learning level and
not grade
Pull-out behind-grade students during school hours and teach them separately
Create heterogeneous (mixed learning levels) groups of students and use
peer-learning as a way to improve learning outcomes of behind grade students
GROUPING CONSTRUCT
Option 1
Option 3 Group students in two or three groups within each class based on learning
levels. The teacher facilitates teaching for these groups using content created
for multi-level teaching 75
Exhibit 29: Brief summary of timeline of Dakshata Unnayan programme
Exhibit 30: Various activities conducted as part of Dakshata Unnayan implementation
Material preparation
with inputs from
NCERT, UNICEF
Material
distribution
End line assessment
for all students
from Gr 1-8 in Dec.
Mid line assessment
for all students
from Gr 1-8 in Oct.
Periodic
refresher trainings
as required
Formal launch of
program across all
districts in July
Ongoing academic
monitoring & reviews
throughout the year
Training of teachers
and field officials
from May to Sept
Baseline assessment
for Gr 1-8 in June; + used
for grouping students
by learning level
.
Extension of Dakshata
Unnayan for Class 8th behind
grade students only
3. Academic interventions 76Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 31: Grouping tool used for Dakshata Unnayan
Grouping Tool
Madhya Pradesh wanted to use a tool where the
evaluation is filled by the teacher, through interaction
and/or observation of the student. Thus, Madhya
Pradesh decided to opt for a tool similar to what was
developed by Pratham for ASER surveys, which was
effective for grouping purposes.
(Assessment Sheet)
This kind of re-grouping facilitated the teachers as they
did not have to tackle huge variances in learning levels
of students in the same class. Students also benefited
because teachers were able to focus more on those
students whose learning levels needed to be upgraded
most, thus reducing the accumulated learning deficit.
Option 2
The State designs, prints and provides specific content for the
remedial program (lesson plans with activities for teachers, worksheets
for each student)
No prescribed content, thereby allowing teachers to create lesson plans by
themselves for different groups of students
DEVELOPMENT OF TLM FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS
Option 1 77
Remediation programs in several states function
with dedicated remediation hours. However, many
did not provide specific learning materials but only
broad guidelines suggesting teachers should focus on
behind-grade students during this time.
In Madhya Pradesh, it was considered essential that
each learning group was given its set of dedicated
learning material so that first, a common goalpost was
defined, i.e. all basic competencies that the students
at each level must attain at the end of the program,
and secondly, to provide a set of practice worksheets
for each of those competencies. A teacher handbook
Exhibit 32: Subtraction using Straw Bundles, District Umaria Exhibit 33: Students using Dakshata Unnayan Remediation
workbooks in the classroom
was also considered important to apprise teachers on
various activities, through which these competencies
could be delivered. To assist the teachers in Teaching
at the Right Level (TaRL) as per the Dakshata
Unnayan grouping, the state developed student
workbooks focusing on literacy (Hindi) and numeracy
for each learning group. The student workbooks were
supplemented by teacher handbooks, which served
as a guide for teachers to implement the program and
ensure that the student workbooks were used in an
appropriate manner.
The pedagogical interventions under Dakshata
Unnayan were supported by a strong system of
capacity building for teachers and field staff.
• Intensive five-day trainings were conducted for
teachers at district and block levels, along with
trainings for department officials including District
Education Officer/District Project Coordinator,
Block Academic Coordinator and Cluster Academic
Coordinator at the beginning of the session.
• These were supplemented by periodic refresher
trainings at the ground level for various
stakeholders.
Capacity Building for all Stakeholders
• Pre-written modules and digital content were
leveraged across all these workshops to ensure
minimum transmission loss in a cascade system.
The trainings were also refined in the second year of the
program, based on inputs received from the teachers
along with key challenges seen in implementation.
3. Academic interventions 78Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 34: Student Workbook and Teacher Handbook for Grade 6-8 Math
The state also ensured regular monitoring of execution and tracking of learning outcomes through
various methods:
Ongoing Monitoring & Support
• Midline/Endline Assessments
The change in learning levels was monitored
through a midline and an endline assessment
conducted after every cycle.
• Student Competency Trackers
Student competency trackers were used at the
school level, which teachers had to fill for getting
a status-check of their own classrooms, without
having to report it to the state.
• Shala Darpan
Additionally, the Shala Darpan school monitoring
system was leveraged to ensure remediation
program focused monitoring across all schools with
a dedicated section on Dakshata Unnayan. 40% of
schools were covered each month to ensure each
school was visited at-least once every quarter.
• Report Cards and Video Conferences
The state also shared monthly report cards with
the district leadership to support in implementation,
and performance of the districts was reviewed
through weekly Video Conferences with the state
leadership.
• Parent-Teacher Meetings
To ensure downward accountability and engage
parents, practice of holding regular PTMs was
instituted in all schools.
• Virtual Field Support Call Centre
This was supplemented by setting up of a Virtual
Field Support (VFS) cell at the state level with both
inbound and outbound calling to track execution,
get feedback and handle grievances as well as
questions. 79
Exhibit 35: Glimpses of Parent-Teacher Meetings organized across the state
Simplifying Mathematics - How a Teacher Improved Learning Levels in just a few months!
Exhibit 36: Scrapbooks developed by Mrs. Veena Tiwari to assist in remediation teaching based on teacher handbook developed by the state
were picked by other teachers
Mrs. Veena Tiwari, one of the teachers at Govt.
Middle School, Block- Fatehgarh, District-
Mandsaur has been running the state’s flagship
program - Dakshata Unnayan in Classes 6th –
8th.
Before Dakshata Unnayan started, students in
Mrs. Veena’s school had trouble understanding
basic mathematical ideas and lacked an
understanding of practical application of concepts.
With the help of Dakshata Unnayan student
workbooks and teacher handbooks, Mrs. Veena
could introduce an activity-based learning
approach. Mrs. Veena used these activities to
teach complex concepts to her students. She
also maintained a separate scrapbook to record
various activities performed by students in
her class. Additionally, she prepared videos of
students working on various activities which were
also showcased as a part of workshops at the
district level.
Owing to these efforts, additionally, 30% of
students from class 6th-8th transitioned to the
highest learning levels in a period of just 2-3
months.
3. Academic interventions 80Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Bridging Learning Gap by Innovative in-class Interventions and Engaging Students
Exhibit 37: In-class library in Primary School Laitra
In Government Primary School Laitra, Datia District,
the attendance of Ankur students used to be extremely
low. Additionally, only one teacher was dedicated to
grades 1 and 2. As a result, the students in this school
were lagging behind their peers in terms of their
learning levels. To counter this, Mr. N K Dubey, one of
the teachers in the school made several interventions:
• Students of the Ankur Group (students who were
1 or 2 levels lower than the expected grade) were
taught using the peer learning method. This was
executed by assigning few students from the Tarun
Group (students who had reached their grade level)
as buddies to the Ankur Group. Students from Tarun
Group were tasked with assisting students from the
Ankur Group in understanding various concepts.
• A school level progress report was created to
keep track of monthly student progress
• The classrooms were made to look attractive
with various TLMs, posters etc. to create a
visually appealing environment for the students
• One of the walls in the classroom was turned
into a library by innovatively stringing a rope
across the wall and hanging books on the rope.
Through Mr. Dubey’s efforts, the attendance in the
school increased from 40-45% to 80%. This also
resulted in an improvement in the learning levels, and
only 3 students out of 38 remained in the Ankur group.
Additionally, due to the presence of an in-class library,
the kids felt encouraged to just walk to the library wall,
pick up a book and start reading. 81
In 2018-19, over 67 lakh students across Grades 1 to
8 underwent the Dakshata Unnayan Program in nearly
1.1 lakh schools in the state. The state also trained
over 2 lakh teachers in conducting remediation classes
and associated pedagogical concepts.
To assist in program execution, a network of 6000+
mentors was leveraged, along with ~2600 District
Institute of Education Training Staff, District Resource
Groups and State Resource Groups. Additionally,
The success of the Program continued in the academic
year 2019-20 (Pre-COVID timeframe), by which time
Dakshata Unnayan became a part of the everyday
vocabulary of schools and gained acceptance among
Impact and Learnings
32% students moved from Ankur to Tarun in Grades 3-5 (Maths)
25% students moved from Ankur to Tarun in Grades 3-5 (Hindi)
24% students moved from Ankur / Tarun to Umang in Grades 6-8 (Maths)

18% students moved from Ankur / Tarun to Umang in Grades 6-8 (Hindi)
28% students moved from Ankur to Tarun in Grades 3-5 (Maths)

22% students moved from Ankur to Tarun in Grades 3-5 (Hindi)
17% students moved from Ankur / Tarun to Umang in Grades 6-8 (Maths)

15% students moved from Ankur / Tarun to Umang in Grades 6-8 (Hindi)
Parent-Teacher Meetings were organized in 99% of
the schools and discussions on Dakshata Unnayan
profiling, worksheets and results were held with 34
lakh guardians.
As per data self-reported by the schools, there was a
significant improvement in learning outcomes across
the districts during the academic year 2018-19:
the teachers, with most teachers reporting the program
to be a useful tool for addressing learning gaps. In
the academic year 2019-20, 15-30% of additional
elementary students attained basic competencies:
3. Academic interventions 82Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Despite successful implementation of the Program
across nearly two full years, several challenges
emerged from the field during implementation:
Delayed Material Distribution:
Distribution of workbooks and handbooks was delayed
leading to loss of initial months. For subsequent years,
timely printing and distribution was ensured, through
early planning and regular reviews with the department.
Missing Academic Reviews:
‘Academic’ conversations were often missing in district
review meetings; additionally, lack of involvement from
DIET staff was also observed. Potential mitigation
strategies were to strengthen DIET-CRCC linkages
for academic governance and integration of results
from “Wall of Fame” Learning Outcomes-based school
certification program into regular district and state
level discussions.
Modifications in content:
Changes were made in content based
on inputs received from the field. For e.g.
• Snippets of teacher instructions were added to
student workbook itself since teachers were not
seeing the guidebook as much while continuing to
push guidebook usage in parallel.
• More content was developed for certain
competencies on which student performance was
continuously poor while content was reduced for
some competencies.
Change in scope:
Grades 1-2 were dropped from the program and the
state launched a dedicated FLN mission for these
grades in the academic year 2021-22.
Streamlining of trainings:
Trainings under the program were streamlined to
focus on key challenges and issues being faced by the
teachers in implementation:
Key Challenges and Mitigation Strategy
Key Revisions in Year 2 basis feedback from the field
• Hands-on activities were added as part of the
training curriculum.
• More focus was laid on providing a integrated picture
to teachers on various elements of remediation
and classroom teaching process (assessments,
tracker, grouping, handbook, workbook etc.).
• Training on “how to facilitate trainings’ were
organized for facilitators.
Development of app for efficient data entry:
An app was introduced to allow schools to enter
their results of the baseline / endline assessments
themselves as against having to give hardcopy results
to a CRC to enter.
Revamping the Monitoring Process:
Monitoring process around Dakshata Unnayan
execution was split into cycles to prevent overburdening
of monitors in each visit; select key focus areas were
identified and tracked in each quarterly cycle.
Inadequate Capacity of Cluster Academic
Coordinators:
Cluster Academic Coordinator’s understanding
and ability to mentor schools was low, leading to
inadequate support to schools. This required significant
effort towards training & capacity building of Cluster
Academic Coordinators.
Low Compliance towards collateral usage:
Low compliance with respect to student trackers,
parents’ signature on worksheets, teacher handbooks
and checking of workbooks observed initially was
addressed through multi-level stakeholder workshops,
refresher trainings and school-level monitoring 83
This process of review and revision of the Dakshata
Unnayan Program is taken up every 1-2 years,
ensuring that the focus on learning outcomes remains
intact and learning is effective.
Further, while the impact assessment of the Program
currently happens through self-reported data, the state
began work on a robust third-party verification based
certification system, such that FLN attainment of the
schools post 2 years of rigorous Dakshata Unnayan
implementation could be ascertained in a robust
manner. The certification plan was delayed owing to
the COVID-19 induced lockdown. School closures for
long periods of time have led to significant learning
loss. Considering this fact, the program has been
suitably modified and continued, keeping in mind the
baseline levels observed post reopening of schools.
3. Academic interventions
The long-term goal of remediation, rightly so, is to
eliminate itself – this calls for a gradual phasing out of
the remediation program as more and more students
reach learning levels appropriate for their grades. A
key enabler of this, along with the school certification
program, would be an effective foundational literacy
and numeracy program, which is understandably
a major focus area of the National Education Policy
2020 and an initiative all three SATH-E States worked
towards. 84Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
3.2. Foundational Literacy &
Numeracy
Context
The National Education Policy 2020 raised the
concern: “The ability to read and write, and perform
basic operations with numbers, is a necessary
foundation and an indispensable prerequisite for
all future schooling and lifelong learning. However,
various governmental, as well as non-governmental
surveys, indicate that we are currently in a learning
crisis: a large proportion of students currently in
elementary school - estimated to be over 5 crores in
number - have not attained foundational literacy and
numeracy, i.e., the ability to read and comprehend
basic text and the ability to carry out basic addition
and subtraction with Indian numerals.”
NEP also acknowledged the importance of FLN: The
highest priority of the education system will be to
achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy
in primary schools by 2025. The rest of this policy
will become relevant for our students only if this most
basic learning requirement (i.e., reading, writing, and
arithmetic at the foundational level) is first achieved.
Keeping this guidance of NEP in mind, the SATH-E
States initiated FLN missions. The approach and
learnings of the state of Odisha are described in this
section.
Approach
To drive the FLN program, Odisha took the following
measures:
1. Setting up the core team
The first step was anchoring the program. The
project was anchored by the School and Mass
Education department and 2 departments were given
primary responsibility for planning, designing and
implementation:
a. Odisha School Education Program
Authority (OSEPA): Responsibility for
implementation and monitoring. Key responsi-
bilities included:
• Identifying and appointing point (Nodal) FLN
teachers in all primary schools
• Printing and distribution of FLN materials
including workbooks, TLM kits etc.
• Monitoring of material distribution
• Executing and monitoring teacher training via
virtual and physical modes
• Designing and implementing awareness
campaigns
• Overall monitoring of Learning Progress
• Establishment of Monitoring framework and
structures 85
b. State Council of Educational Research
and Training (SCERT):
• Developing Odisha-specific FLN materials in
partnership with content partners
• Identifying and appointing dedicated State
Resource Group teams for classroom
teaching design, material development,
vetting, revision, and designing teacher
training and support
• Designing key assessments and establishing
an FLN assessment cell
• Developing content and question bank for the
state
Once the key departments and roles were decided,
the State entered into a partnership with Language
and Learning Foundation and Akshara Foundation
as content partners for Literacy and Numeracy
respectively. Further, the SATH-E team was driving
the program management of the entire initiative.
2. Creating FLN content
A key role for the content partners was not only to bring
their expertise in curriculum, pedagogy, and content,
but also to support the State team in building capacity
for content creation. With any translation, it is important
to not do a simple word-to-word translation, but also
factor in the local context, literature, and grammar.
Hence, SCERT along with the content partners set up
capacity and teams to develop State’s own contextual
FLN content.
• SCERT identified and appointed 20 State Resource
Group members each for Literacy and Numeracy
to work along with the content partners. These
members were subject experts and teachers from
across the State
• The SRGs were trained by the content partners on
the basics of FLN and even taken on learning visits
to other States where the partners were already
working
• Regular week-long content development
workshops were held by SCERT in phases where
the SRG members and SCERT worked collectively
to develop FLN content. This included Student
materials and Teaching Learning Material Kits for
all schools
Literacy and Numeracy in-person workshop held at SCERT to fast-track material finalization process
3. Academic interventions 86Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
3. Dedicated Teacher selection and capacity
building
• Basis the number of primary teachers in a school,
1 or 2 teachers were appointed as Point (Nodal)
teachers for FLN in their schools. A notice was
issued from the School and Mass education
department to ensure that FLN teachers are not
given any admin work but are dedicatedly allotted
to the FLN program. A total of 59,399 dedicated
FLN teachers were identified for close to 47,000
schools in the State
• Once the training structure and plan was ready,
240 SRG and 900+DRG members were identified
for training. In the first phase, training on basics
of FLN was completed for SRG, DRG, State and
district officials and teachers over zoom, because
of COVID. Face to face training was subsequently
done via DIETs.
Illustration of the nature of TLMs that were made for each grade is as follows:
Exhibit 38: High quality student and teacher learning material creation fast-tracked using in-person workshops
4. Multilevel and regular monitoring
• State formed a Dedicated State Steering
committee, FLN SPMU (FLN State Project
Management Unit), and 30 DPMUs (FLN District
Project Management Unit) at the district level
for strategic planning and monitoring. The State
Steering Committee was headed by the Principal
Secretary of the Education department and
met once every 2 months. The FLN SPMU was
co-chaired by Director-SCERT and SPD, OSEPA,
and reviewed the progress monthly. The DPMUs
were headed by the District Collectors who
reviewed progress monthly.
• Existing tools like Odisha School Monitoring
App and monthly District Review Meetings were
leveraged to monitor implementation
• Sample program tracker via which reviews were
conducted is illustrated below.
ResourceResourceStatusStatus
TLM Material- Literacy : Grade 1
Story Cards*Collected poems33 SCs per school1 per class
Big BooksWorkbook10 BBs per school4
Poem PosterTeacher Posters set105 per school
Picture PosterTeacher Handbook101 per teacher
Reading Book 1 per class
Grid Calendar 1 per class
Akhyara- Maatra Set 1 per class 87
# of Primary teachers in a school Teachers assigned to FLN program, Class 1-2
1 teacher - teaching combined class
1 teacher - teaching combined class
1 teacher for grade 1,
1 teacher for grade 2
1 teacher for grade 1,
1 teacher for grade 2
1 teacher for grade 1,
1 teacher for grade 2
1 additional teacher assigned for every
additional section
2
3
4
5
6 and above
Exhibit 39: FLN progress update for March 2021
Rubric for assigning dedicated FLN teachers
Sample Progress Tracker
3. Academic interventions 88Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Impact and Learnings
• Classroom resources, workbooks, and TLMs
prepared for each grade and distributed to students
and schools (including 6 sets of student workbooks
for literacy and numeracy, teacher handbooks,
kits with 17+ manipulatives aligned to NCERT
guidelines, 30+ materials as part of Literacy kits,
etc.)
• ~60,000-point (Nodal) FLN teachers appointed
and underwent training
• Student workbooks were sent to close to 13 lakh
children across grades 1-3 during the pandemic
and community classes were conducted by
teachers
As other states think about designing and
implementing their own FLN program, it will be critical
to proactively address some of the below points:
• Coordination with multiple partners: It is important
to ensure the design of a unified FLN program.
This needs clarity on the roles and deliverables for
all stakeholders including development partners
and the department.
• Generating awareness at all levels: Awareness
of the State Department, District officials, SMCs,
HMs, teachers, and community members is very
important to make the program a success. 89
3.3. Adopting Innovations
in Assessments to Improve
Instructional Design
For a long time, the dialogue in Indian education
was focused on access, and most of the data quoted
was related to enrolment numbers. However, as the
system matures and slowly begins to focus on quality,
student assessment – the measure of the quality of
any system – is increasingly becoming an integral part
of the dialogue.
The State managed to build significant momentum in
2017 & 2018 through two key initiatives – Learning
Enhancement Program (LEP) that focused on
remediation and Odisha School Monitoring Application
(OSMA), an app-based school monitoring system
which formed the basis of block and district level
reviews. Building on this, to recognize and reward best
performing schools in terms of Learning Outcomes and
motivate the rest to improve performance, the state
decided to launch the School Certification Program.
The Garima School Certification program was designed
to motivate HMs and teachers to bring students to
achieve grade level competencies.
The following were the key objectives of the program:
• To identify well performing schools basis academic
performance
• To encourage schools to help students to
accomplish grade level Learning Outcomes
• To generate healthy competition amongst schools
in the block/district
Context
Approach
Learning Outcome-based School
Certifications in Odisha – Garima Awards
• To recognize and reward these schools’ HMs and
Teachers
• To recognize and reward schools, clusters and
blocks that are ensuring students are achieving
appropriate learning outcomes
Key highlights of the approach & implementation are
given below:
• Metrics for certifying schools were based on
Learning Outcomes
Schools were assessed only on learning outcomes
to get certified & rewarded. There was a pre-cer-
tification exercise to check accurate reporting of a
few important data points in the School Monitoring
App.
• Engagement of all Stakeholders
All elementary (primary + upper primary section of
secondary) schools were eligible to get certified.
When a certain percentage of schools get certified,
the relevant cluster & block would also get certified.
That said, it is essential that assessments do not
become a process that is undertaken for the sake of
it. Rather, the data should be used to make relevant
decisions, and help continuously move the system
forward. This section covers two such examples from
SATH-E states, the first being a competency-based
school certification system in Odisha and the latter,
tech-led spot-testing of students in Jharkhand.
3. Academic interventions 90Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 40: School level metrics to be tested
Category Academic Parameters
• 80% Class II-III at Grade-1 competencies
• 80% Class IV-V at Grade-2 competencies
(Language, Math)
• 80% Grade VI-VIll at Grade 3 competencies
(Language, Math, English)
• 70% Class II-III at Grade 2 competencies
• 70% Class IV-V at Grade 3 competencies
(Language, Math)
• 70% Grade VI-VIll at Grade 5 competencies
(Language, Math, English.)
• 70% of ALL students at grade level
competencies (Language, Math, English.)
Non-Academic
Parameters
Criteria for
Cluster/Block
Successful
pre-verification of
all parameters
>70% Avg. Teacher
attendance (in last
30 working days)
>70% Avg. Student
attendance (in last
30 working days)
>70% Schools in
Bronze Category
>70% Schools in
Silver Category
>70% Schools in
Gold Category
SCHOOL LEVEL PARAMETERS
gold
silver
bronze
• 3 levels of Certification
Certification was given at three levels- Bronze,
Silver, and Gold, with increasing levels of difficulty.
Three levels were kept to help the state:
• Keep motivation up by making schools see
quick successes
• Break down the goal into clear benchmarks
resulting in a clear pathway
• Identify high performers early, and handhold
them to achieve a higher level of certification
Category Criteria for Cluster/Block
>70% Schools in or above Bronze/Silver/Gold Category Bronze
Silver
Gold
>70% Schools in or above Silver/Gold Category >70% Schools in or
above Gold Category
• Unbiased assessment – Certifications were
provided basis a centrally prepared assessment
for the nominated school. This assessment was
conducted by a team comprising of DIETs and
its faculty of the same district, as an unbiased
assessor for the Bronze and Silver levels, and by
a third-party assessor for Gold level certification.
• Standard Operating Procedure followed for
certification
There were 3 rounds of Certification planned
in a year- August, November and February.
The process and key dates for each Round were
as defined below: 91
Phases in
each cycleDeadline
Example for
August
By 15th of the certification month 16th AugustNomination
Pre-Verification
Assessment
By 25th of the certification month 26th August
By 7th of the next month7th September
By 10th of next month10th SeptemberAnnouncement
of Certification
• Rewards & incentives – In order to motivate
officials, it was proposed that tangible rewards
be linked to each level of Certification. While
certificates & letters of appreciation were
considered sufficient for Bronze certification,
physical & monetary rewards were considered for
Silver & Gold levels. The proposed list of awards
were not finalized at the time of closure of Project
SATH-E.
Level School Level RewardsCluster and Block Level Rewards
• Certificates & Felicitation at District level
• Three stars outside school
• Included on Block Hall of Fame
• Certificates & Felicitation at SPD
and/or PS level
• Four stars outside school
• Included on District Hall of Fame
• School Grant Award additional
INR 20,000
• Certificates & Felicitation at Principal
Secretary level
• School Grant Award additional
INR 50,000
• Five stars outside school
• Included on District Hall of Fame
• Media articles in local newspapers
Certificates for CRCC
and Block Office
Certificates for CRCC and
Block Office
SPD grant of INR 50,000 to
Block Office
Felicitation of CRCC & BEO by
Principal Secretary
SPD grant of INR 100,000 to
Block Office
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Exhibit 41: School Certification Levels and Rewards
3. Academic interventions 92Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
A four step process for certification was
defined:
1. Self-Nomination
When a school feels that it has achieved the
targets defined for a particular level of certifi-
cation, it may choose to nominate itself for
that level of certification by informing the same
to their CRCC, who will fill out the nomination
form. The application will automatically be
forwarded to the next level. A school must
nominate itself by the 15th day of the month of
certification; nomination forms open 30 days
before the deadline. Nominations received after
that deadline will be considered in the next
cycle. School HM and CRCC should ensure the
following before self-nomination:
• All nominations should first be for Bronze;
application to Silver directly is not allowed.
Similarly, application to Gold is not allowed
before Silver has been achieved. On
attainment of one level of certification,
schools will have to wait for next cycle
before they can apply for the next level of
certification.
2. BEO/Block team pre-verification
Schools nominating themselves will be pre-ver-
ified by a Block Team headed by the BEO. In
this phase, CRCCs of an adjoining cluster
will be used to verify the list of pre-verification
parameters, BEO will have to coordinate the
process such that no CRCC is pre-verifying
their own school, and conduct sample checks
to ensure quality. A checklist for this process will
be provided such that there is no discrepancy.
This will include:
a. List of academic parameters as defined for
each level of certification
b. Teacher attendance register for the past 30
days to verify attendance criteria (>70%)
c. Student attendance register for the past 30
days to verify attendance criteria (>70%)
This verification must be completed by the 25th
of the cycle month (example - 25th August
for the August cycle.). If the school doesn’t
meet the criterion, then the application will
be summarily rejected at this level. The DPC
should coordinate the process in the district
and ensure that the nominations are verified
within the timeline. If a school has a grievance
with the pre-verification conducted, they may
submit an appeal to the DEO with a letter
stating their reasons to believe otherwise. On
appeal, the school will be re-verified by district
level officials.
3. Assessment by District team
Only schools passing the above pre-verifica-
tion, will then be eligible for the assessment
as per the level of certification applied for. The
assessment will be conducted by a District Team
consisting of DIET faculty & students, DEO (or
his/her representative) and BEO of another
block. This team will conduct the assessment
from the question paper prepared by the DIETs,
and DEOs/BEO will ensure smooth implemen-
tation. DIETs will prepare the question paper
using the centrally prepared guideline/rubric for
Bronze and central question bank for Silver.
The test will be conducted for all present
students. If the student attendance on the day of
the test is <70% the test will not be conducted,
and school’s application is deferred to the next
cycle. The test will be evaluated by DIETs and
results of the test will be used to check if the
academic certification criteria is met or not. All
answer sheets should be collected, scored,
and retained at the DEO/DPC level. Schools
not meeting the certification won’t be eligible
to apply in the next cycle. This activity should
be completed by the 7th of the following month
(example- 7th September for August cycle).
4. Approval /Rejection
After the assessment is completed, data will
be analyzed and a list of certified schools will
be announced before the 10th of the following
month. This activity is completed by DIETs and
the list is communicated to the DEO office. If
approved, the school will get certified and avail
the associated rewards. It may now apply for
the next level of certification in the next cycle. If
rejected, the school will not be able to nominate
itself for the next cycle. 93
Exhibit 42: Rewarding positive efforts is a key ingredient to success
Certified Schools felicitated by
District Collectors and
MPs/MLAs in all Districts
1. Accountability & Public Recognition
• One of the key aims of Garima School Certifi-
cation was to shift accountability from tracking
inputs to tracking learning outcomes – and it
managed to push that change in mindset from
the first year of certification itself in 2019.
• The first cycle initiated a Jan Andolan on
Learning Outcomes and created genuine
excitement in the field. Multiple schools
and blocks were seen doing mission-mode
preparation for the tests. Many BEOs (e.g.
Ambhabhona, Subdega, Barapalli) were
helping all schools prepare which resulted in
>75% of nominated schools getting certified.
• It was a commendable job that nearly ~24,000
schools over a period of a few weeks were
evaluated entirely by the state machinery, i.e.
Impact & Learnings
• Completely online process
The entire application, pre-verification and
result reporting were done through an online
portal, developed by the Government with the
through the respective DIETs supported by
CRCCs and BEOs. Another key ingredient to
this successful implementation was ensuring
sufficient role clarity and buy-in from all
stakeholders in the field. Multiple meetings
and training workshops were held, and
detailed SOPs for each stakeholder helped
drive concerted efforts across stakeholders at
state, district and block levels.
• Rewards and recognition played a key role in
fueling the Jan Andolan. All Bronze schools
were felicitated by the Collectors and DMs in
the district and immense press coverage and
public excitement followed, as captured in
the exhibits.
help of NIC, Bhubaneshwar. The charter of roles
for all entities involved were also clearly defined.
2. Field Ownership
A key design consideration during the
conceptualization phase of Garima Awards
was to identify who will be tasked with
conducting the on-ground assessments at
school-level. From experience, it was noted
that deputing CRCCs or BEOs to conduct
assessments of their own cluster/block could
lead to bias in reporting as they have a vested
interest in the success of their areas. Moreover,
in Odisha a majority of DIETs were functional,
and typically DIET faculty & students have low
involvement in the administrative setup of the
Education Department of the State, and thus a
decision was taken to constitute district teams
3. Academic interventions 94Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 43: Charter of Roles for DLOs, BLOs, SCERT & DIETs
DEOs/DPCs to lead pre-verification and assessments, ensure strong implementation
Create awareness
about the certification
program at block,
cluster level
Mobilize funds
(TA/DA/Honorarium)
for pre-verification
and assessment
Coordinate
pre-verification and
assessments,
ensure deadlines met
DEO/DPC to formulate
assessments team
comprising of BEO,
DIET Principal and Self
BEOs to drive nominations via CRCCs, lead on-ground execution of pre-verification
Create awareness about the certification program at block,
cluster level
Drive CRCCs
to gather school
nominations
Dividing pre-verification tasks among CRCCs/ ABEOs, ensuring pre-verification data updated on portal
Assist DEO, DIET Principal in executing school assessments
SCERT leadership is essential throughout the process
Develop competency list, guidelines for Bronze level
Prepare evaluation parameters for gold/silver (Central Question Bank)
Coordinate & conduct
assessment process through the DIETs
Collect final results
from DIETs & publish
list of certified schools
DIETs to lead on-ground execution of the program
Formulate bronze paper, gold/silver paper (using central question bank)Verify if academic
parameters for certification are met
Recommend list of certified schools to
DEO, SCERT, OSEPA
Conduct assessment
and evaluation of
question papers
Clear Charter of roles defined 95
Exhibit 44: Garima School Certification coverage in the press
Exhibit 45: 8,700 schools certified Bronze and 2,800 certified Silver in 2019
23,660 8,769 2,843
Multiple schools and blocks were in mission mode and prepared for the
tests focused at improving student learning outcomes.
Immense
excitement in
the field
about
the program.
Over 23,000
schools
self-applied.
Schools
self-nominated
Qualified for
Bronze
Qualified for
Silver
comprised of respective DIET faculty and
students, along with a BEO of a block different
to the block being evaluated. This ensured
unbiased assessments and was evident from
anecdotal reports from the field assessment
teams.
3. Resource Management
Another challenge faced during the implemen-
tation was the limited capacity of state
machinery (district officers and DIETs) to
evaluate all 50,000 elementary schools in one
single cycle – thus a decision was taken to
evaluate a maximum of 15,000 schools in one
cycle to ensure resources are both utilized
effectively and at the same time are not
over-stretched to impact certification quality
adversely. Thus, three separate cycles were
proposed to be run over August, November
and February in each academic year.
4. Planned Independent Assessment
• The state was also planning to conduct
Gold certification through an independent
third-party assessor, which was paused due
to COVID-19.
• Going ahead, the state plans to refine the
assessments for Bronze certifications, which
test for foundational level competencies, on
the lines of recommendations made by the
NEP 2020. This was taken into consideration
under the state’s new FLN curriculum in the
2021-22 session.
3. Academic interventions 96Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Spot Testing of Learning Outcomes in
Jharkhand
Like most states, Jharkhand used to conduct
annual learning assessments (SA1/ SA2) as per the
requirements of CCE. However, the quality of data
generated by these assessments was poor and was
rarely shared back with the field. There were several
shortcomings:
1. Incomplete data
Assessment data from some blocks and districts
was often missing. It was discovered that the
capacity of the blocks to do large scale data entry
was severely limited due to the shortage of data
entry operators & bottlenecks in data collection at
school level.
2. Poor quality of data
Most of the collected data was not analyzable, with
basic logical errors such as characters in place of
numbers and scores higher than maximum scores.
3. Lack of disaggregated data
Most of the data available was only in the form
of aggregate scores. There was no granular data
on student performance on a competency-wise or
student-wise level.
Context
4. Inflated data
Several schools showed results which were highly
improbable (>90% scores) and inconsistent with
ground reality. Teachers usually corrected their
student’s scores and marked them highly because
they feared negative consequences. Overall, the
data from SA2 did not tally with other external
assessments such as NAS and ASER.
5. Poor quality questions
Most of the questions used in the assessment
were rote-learning textbook based questions which
did not give insights into the competency level of
students.
In order to address these challenges and build a
learning assessment ecosystem that delivers high
quality learning data for decision making, Jharkhand
developed a unique model of Spot Testing where
BRP/CRPs randomly assess students during school
inspections and generate learning assessment data
for over 2 lakh students every month.
Spot Testing system was set-up where BRP/CRPs
would randomly assess 3 students during school
inspections. The assessment would be undertaken
for 3 subjects (English, Math, and Hindi). The
implementation of spot testing had 5 essential
elements:
Approach
1. Standardized list of competencies: The SCERT
defined a standardized list of competencies with a
focus on foundational competencies up to Class 5
level. Each student was evaluated for competen-
cies up to their class level. 97
Exhibit 46: Standardized list of competencies developed for Classes 1 to 5
Class 1
English Reading
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4 - 5
• Can identify, differentiate, & read alphabets
• Can read simple words
• Can read complex words
• Can read simple sentences
• Can read complex sentences fluently
• Can read full paragraphs fluently with correct
pronunciation and punctuation
• Can read, comprehend, and answer simple questions
• Can read, comprehend, and answer complex questions
Class 1
Mathematics
Class 2
Class 3
Class 4
Class 5
• Counting till 99
• 1 digit addition/subtraction
• 2 digit addition/subtraction without carry over
• 2 digit addition/subtraction with carry over
• 1 x 2 digit multiplication
• 2 x 2 digit multiplication
• 2 digit by 1 digit division
• 2 x 2 digit multiplication
• 3 digit by 1 digit division
• Recognition of fractions
• Addition/Subtraction of fractions
3. Academic interventions 98Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
2. Simplified Standard Operating Procedure
In student assessments, the feedback loop for
teachers needed to be quick to effectively implement
remedial teaching practices. The process was
defined such that BRPs/CRPs start the assessment
of a student from the middle of the competency
list and then move up or down (i.e. test higher/
lower competencies) based on whether the student
answers correctly or incorrectly. For instance, if
a student is in Class 4, the BRC/CRP would start
testing with the highest competency of Class 2.
Process of Spot Testing
Exhibit 47: SOP for Spot Testing
Starting in the
middle allows
us to determine
the highest
learning level
by asking the
least number
of questions
Keep checking for higher competency till the
student cannot answer the question
This is the highest learning level of the student
Keep checking for lower competency till the
student can answer the question
This is the highest learning level of the student
Class 1Class 1
Class 2Class 2
Class 3Class 3
Class 4 Class 4
Class 5Class 5
• Counting till 99
• 1 digit addition/subtraction
• Counting till 99
• 1 digit addition/subtraction
• 2 digit addition/subtraction without carry over
• 2 digit addition/subtraction with carry over
• 2 digit addition/subtraction without carry over
• 2 digit addition/subtraction with carry over
• 1x1 digit multiplication
• 2×1 digit multiplication
• 2 digit by 1 digit division
• 2×2 digit multiplication
• 1x1 digit multiplication
• 2×1 digit multiplication
• 2 digit by 1 digit division
• 2×2 digit multiplication
• 3 digit by 1 digit division
• Recognition of Fractions
• 3 digit by 1 digit division
• Recognition of Fractions
• Addition/Subtraction of fractions• Addition/Subtraction of fractions
If the student answers 2 out of 3
questions, the student is assumed
to have grasped the competency
If the student does not answer 2 out of
3 questions, the student is assumed
to not have grasped the competency
If a student is in Class X, choose the highest competency of Class X/2
[If X/2 is a fraction, we should round downwards]
For example: If a student is in Class 5, choose the highest competency of Class 2
Thereafter, if the student would keep answering
correctly, the BRC/CRP would keep asking questions
linked with higher competency till the student cannot
answer the question. The same was attributed to be
the highest learning level of the student. Similarly, if
the student keeps answering incorrectly, the BRC/
CRP would ask questions testing lower competency
levels, till the student can answer a question. The
same would be attributed to be the highest learning
level of the student. 99
4. High Quality Training
Each BRP-CRP was given sustained and
continuous support to execute spot testing inside
classrooms
a. Zero-cascade state level training – Each BRP/
CRP was individually trained at state-level
over a period of 1 month to ensure no dilution
in training and perfect understanding of
assessment tool and methodology
b. FAQ Documents & Manuals – distributed in
printed and electronic form
c. Clear & Consistent Messaging – The
most important element was the consist-
ency in messaging from the state through
letters/WhatsApp/workshops/CCC etc. that
Exhibit 48: Easy to use mobile app for data entry
3. Easy-to-use Digital Interface – A mobile applica-
tion was designed with a highly simplified user
interface. Under this interface, the learning levels
of a student in each subject could be captured with
just a single touch. Data recording & digitization was,
therefore, not a chore.
By selecting the highest
competency of the child,
the lower competencies
automatically get filled
the assessments would not be used for
any form of accountability either against
teachers or BRP/CRPs. This sustained
and consistent messaging created the
necessary incentive for field officials to report
this data accurately without fear or favor.
5. Immediate Usage & Dissemination
Every month, the spot testing data was analyzed
at a district level and competency level and shared
with blocks and districts. This data was then
made a mandatory part of the review process.
Every month, officials could see trends in learning
across subjects/ grades/competencies and act on
it accordingly.
3. Academic interventions 100Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
There are different types of outcomes that have
resulted from the implementation of Spot Testing in the
state:
• High quality, accurate, and consistent data
For the first time, the state had access to high
quality learning data. It was cross-verified at the
school level and proven to be an accurate reflection
of learning outcomes in the state. The consistency
of data was remarkably accurate, as can be seen
from the image below where differences in data
collected at 3 separate time-periods in October
2018 was found to be within a 1% range. This level
of consistency is not possible to manipulate across
2L students and 3000 BRP/CRPs.
Impact & Learnings
Exhibit 49: Learning dashboards created using Spot Monitoring data
Most importantly, the data was not just accurate but
also:
a. Frequent: Unlike annual assessment data,
this data was available at a high frequency
(daily/weekly/ monthly). This allowed the state
to even analyze month-on-month improve-
ments including the impact of summer holidays
or teacher strikes on learning, and detect poor
implementation immediately.
b. Granular: The data was available at a
disaggregated subject level, grade level,
and competency level allowing for a range of
complex analytics.
• Use of data for decision making
With the availability of data, there were a range
of decisions that were then planned to be taken
based on it.
Jharkhand: Vast repository of accurate learning data
covering 2L students available each month
67.2
14.6
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
87.6
90.0
17.2
4.9
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
93.9
80.6
53.0
29.6
18.5
9.7
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
96.8
91.1
74.4
56.1
42.4
30.5
11.2
18.5
6.0
1.0
0.0
98.3
94.2
82.9
68.4
47.4
25.7
34.8
16.4
3.4
2.1
57.6
98.6
96.2
90.0
80.3
60.8
40.7
49.7
32.0
12.8
8.4
70.4
Recognises 2 digit numbers and sequences up to 99
Can add & subtract 1 digit numbers
Can add & subtract 2 digit numbers without carry over
Can add & subtract 2 digit numbers with carry over
Can multiply 1 digit numbers by 1 digit number
Can multiply 2 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers
Can multiply 2 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers
Can divide 2 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers
Can divide 3 digit numbers by 1 digit number
Can recognise fractions from images & vice-versa
Can add and subtract simple fractions
1. Decimal point consistency
in data collected across
by 3000 BRP/CRPs over
30 days is impossible to
manufacture.
2. Variation in data also consistent with
on-ground realities & qualitative
understanding. Trends hold true
across all subjects - Math/English/Hindi.
3. Accuracy of Spot Testing
driven by low conflict of interest
in BRP/CRP cadre (which is
separate from teacher cadre)
Grade
Competencies
1 3 52 4 6 1 3 52 4 6
1
st
– 10
th
October
Consistency data across
competencies and grades
over time with only
incremental growth
11
th
– 20
th
October
66.9
16.7
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
86.7
90.4
17.0
4.2
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
94.7
83.0
56.6
31.7
19.0
9.8
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
97.8
92.6
78.3
58.6
44.0
31.8
12.4
18.9
7.1
1.1
0.0
98.4
94.8
84.7
70.4
49.8
27.0
36.2
18.0
3.9
2.3
59.8
98.9
97.6
90.7
80.9
62.5
41.7
50.2
30.0
11.0
7.9
71.6 101
Exhibit 50: Examples of data-driven decision making
Large gap in division
between Class 4,5 likely
because students learn it
towards the beginning of
the year through curricular
teaching
Overall 15
Mathematics 7
English 13
Hindi 16
Best and worst performing subjects in
Lohardaga
Improvement in 3/1 digit division (Sugam) is also
significant
Best Subject:
Mathematics
Worst Subject:
Hindi
Change in learning levels btw Oct & Mar
Mathematics:
Multiplication of
2 digit numbers
Best
Competency
Worst
Competency
Hindi:
Reading
complex words
Worst Transitioning
Competency
English:
Writing simple
words to sentences
Rank (out of 21)
Class 7 outcomes
(Feb) already
matches class 8
(Oct) outcomes
These are result of spot
tests, determining the LO
of 3digit division by 1 digit
division in time frame of
Feb 19 and Oct 19.
Out of the students tested
%Students were able to
solve the problem correctly
a. Impact Evaluation
Spot-testing learning data (because of its
accuracy and granularity) began to be used
to judge the impact of any intervention in the
state (NGO interventions, state-academic
programs etc.).
b. Decentralized academic decision making
This led to monthly discussions on trends
in learning and decentralized decisions
to improve learning in specific competen-
cies/subjects through innovative training
mechanisms, peer-learning etc.
c. Teacher Training
The state used the data to highlight specific
competency gaps which have shown low
growth over longer periods of time, and
designed training modules to address them.
• Changed narrative around learning outcomes
As a result of daily spot testing and its subsequent
usage in regular decision making at all levels of the
system, the narrative around learning outcomes in
the state was found to change at:
a. School level
Teachers were aware that the focus of
inspections had shifted from inputs to
outcomes. Children will be tested on whether
learning levels are improving on a regular
basis.
b. Block/District level
All officials had open access to the learning
data available at a granular level and engaged
with their district’s learning data every month.
This led to a consistent and evolving conversa-
tion on assessments, outcomes, and improve-
ment.
c. State level
Access to high quality learning data led to
the evaluation of every initiative by state or
non-state actors, primarily based on learning,
thus bringing quality education and learning
outcomes at the center of administration.
Examples of Data Driven Decision Making
Class
4
Math Eng Hindi
Class
7
Class
8
Class
9
Class
6
Class
5
0
0
2010
2
4
6
4030 6050 8070
7
17
32
39
46
55
20
36
45
51
59
8
3. Academic interventions 102Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
3.4. Teacher’s Time on Academic
Tasks
Context
Ensuring the availability of teachers in terms of their
physical presence at school, and use of that time for
academic purposes is critical for the provision of quality
education. The Right to Education Act prescribes a
minimum of 800 hours of instruction
1
and 200 working
days for primary classes per academic year. For
upper primary grades, the minimum requirement is
1,000 hours of instruction and 220 working days per
academic year. According to a study report released
by the World Bank in 2014
2
, in an academic year of
220-225 days, on average, at least one-seventh (14
percent) of the school calendar days went unutilized
for instruction. Some of the reasons stated were:
• Teachers undergoing training, attending meetings,
or performing functions outside of the education
department for, on average, 25-30 days of
teachers’ duty days.
• Teachers’ personal and sick leave reduces the
teacher time available to the school by at least an
additional 12 days.
• Around 3-4 days of each school’s prescribed school
calendar was lost on account of local festivals,
events of national importance, and campaigns.
• Non-academic activities such as compilation and
provision of data, maintenance of records, and
supervision of mid-day meal distribution accounted
for 20-25 percent of the weekly working hours.
• On average for around one-fifth of the classroom
time, teachers were not on any teaching-learning
tasks; they were either in organizational tasks or
on tasks completely unrelated to teaching and
learning.
1
Instructional time deals with allocated and available time: allocated time means the prescribed number of days in the school calendar, while
available time is that number of prescribed days when the school is open (and not closed due to local festivals, for example)
2
Source: How much and what kind of teaching is there in elementary education in India? Evidence from three States: Report 67, World
Bank, February 2014
3
(Updated 2016), Kanchan Srivastava, Schools in northern states have more working days than rest of India, DNA India, https://www.
dnaindia.com/india/report-schools-in-northern-states-have-more-working-days-than-rest-of-india-2253609
It has been observed that UDISE data of different
states provides the number of instructional days,
however, it does not reveal the various external factors
that prevent these instructional days from being
translated into productive teaching hours. The Exhibit
below shows the effective teaching hours available in
a year for a particular state.
Taking the example of Jharkhand, according to
the UDISE data for the 2014-15 academic year,
Jharkhand had 249 instruction days
3
. It was seen that
while Jharkhand met RTE’s standard requirement
for the minimum number of instructional days, and
consequently the instructional hours, there were
various external factors due to which these instructional
days did not translate into productive teacher–student
classroom transactions. State-led field visits, MIS data,
and interviews with on-ground stakeholders revealed
that on a large majority of instructional days, academic
time or teaching time was interrupted due to various
external factors such as a non-standardized holiday
calendar, time teachers spend on non-academic
activities, etc. OECD
4
countries not only measure
instructional days but also the number of hours/days
effectively spent teaching and engaging students with
academic content; States in India have no such data.
Approach
To understand the scale of the problem of inadequate/
ineffective teacher time, observation and analysis
were conducted to measure how a teacher’s time is
spent in the state. Three dimensions of teachers’ time
were considered. First, the number of school days
prescribed by the calendar and the days the school
functioned. Second, the amount of time that teachers
were physically present in school and its distribution
across various functions within the school; and third, 103
4
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
5
2016-17 UDISE; National Curriculum Framework 2005; RTE Standards; global Standard NCEE;
Exhibit 51: Effective teaching days available per year in a particular state
teachers’ time in the classroom and the distribution
of that time across various learning (‘on task’) and
non-learning (‘off task’) activities. This was also
benchmarked against various states and centrally
functioning schools, which revealed that teaching days
and available teaching hours in Jharkhand schools are
only 80% of the NCF benchmark
5
.
The proposed solution was to (i) create a common
state-wide holiday calendar, (ii) regulate the conduct
of celebratory/special days, (iii) eliminate inefficiencies
during a regular school day, and (iv) establish
governance systems to track ToT (Time on Task).
A Time on Task (ToT) document was drafted and
released on November 2, 2021, with a detailed list of
interventions and monitoring responsibilities. This policy
document focuses on academic time spent in schools
to ensure student learning is increased and prescribes
clear guidelines to ensure that the adequate number
of instructional days as well as an adequate number of
teaching hours per instructional day is as per national
and international standards for quality education.
Principal Secretary, School Education, Jharkhand
specified the minimum number of instructional hours
for schools and working hours for teachers. As per the
letter, working hours for teachers were set at 45 hours
per week. Guidelines were prepared in line with RTE
and Kendriya Vidyalaya norms and in consultation with
representatives of Jharkhand’s teacher unions and the
Parivartan Dal.
The details of the interventions are as follows:
• Standardized holiday calendar: Significant
variations in holidays were observed across
various districts, each with its own unique holiday
calendar based on local celebrations and events.
This led to districts exceeding the maximum
number of annual holidays (60 days). Seeing this,
a standardized 55-day calendar was prepared with
5 days’ flexibility handed to districts.
3. Academic interventions 104Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 52: Time on Task Notification Document
• Revised school timing & timetable: Inadequate
learning hours (5 hours as opposed to 6) and high
student absenteeism were observed for the period
of April-June owing to early school hours. Going
forward, a standardized school timetable with
defined activities was created and teacher working
hours were increased from the current 6 hours a
day to 7 hours 15 minutes a day. Moreover, every
2nd, 4th, and 5th Saturday was deemed as a full
academic day which was not the case before.
• Regulation of celebration of events/days: It
was observed that a lot of academic time was
being invested in the celebration of special days
such as Jayantis, celebrations conducted by other
departments such as Cleanliness drives, and
Rallies. To reduce their effects on academics, 90
minutes were now fixed as the maximum time
allotted for celebrations whereas Rallies and
Prabhat Pheris were prohibited during academic
hours. 105
Exhibit 53: List of 60 holiday days for all districts in Jharkhand
6
State MIS
Exhibit 54: Revised school and teacher timings, and time-table
3. Academic interventions 106Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
• Teachers to focus on academic activities:
To increase focus on academics, all teacher
deputations (except election duty) now required
the permission of the Secretariat, Department
of School Education & Literacy, Jharkhand.
Moreover, no teacher training programs were to
be conducted during school hours.
• Rigorous monitoring: To ensure that in the
time allotted for academics, students are 100%
engaged in learning 100% of the time, some
monitoring processes were put in place, such
as: spot testing by CRPs, tracking attendance
of teachers on eVidyaVahini (eVV)
6
, creating
a ToT cell at the state level to track holidays
in all districts, no. of special events, etc.
Impact and Learning
Frequent data collection, analysis, and reviews were
necessary to ensure the implementation of ToT policy
elements. Given COVID-19 and ensuing school
closures, the actual implementation and impact
couldn’t be rigorously tracked. However, the expected
outcomes and impact due to the implementation of the
policy note are as follows:
Major outcomesGoalImpact
Rallies may be restricted16 academic days savedRegulate
conduct of
celebratory/
special days
Implementing a
defined school
timetable and
ensuring academic
No celebrations/competitions organized
by other departments without DoSE&L,
Jharkhand permission
No teacher deputation during academic
hours without DoSE&L, Jharkhand
permission (except for election duty)
10 academic days saved
10 academic days saved
5 academic days saved
No letter/notification from state and
district to celebrate events/special days
during academic hours (except for
National Holidays)
Revised school timetable being followed
2nd, 4th and 5th Saturdays observed as
academic days (except for 2nd half of 1st
and 3rd Saturdays in which teachers can
undertake non-academic tasks)
No block/district/state review meetings &
trainings during school hours
6 academic days saved
12 academic days saved
10 academic days saved
Saturdays
Eliminate/ reduce
teacher deputations
and non-academic
work
As states adhere to RTE-mandated academic days,
there arises a heightened necessity to track the
time allocated to academic activities. In Jharkhand,
DoSE&L, through JEPC, has been diligently gathering
data on the time spent on academic activities through
CRP/BRP questionnaires. By closely monitoring this
data, states can proactively implement measures to
reduce the time allocated to non-academic activities. 1073. Academic interventions
3.5. Developing Teacher Capacity
Context
Teachers have one of the most demanding vocations
in the world. To achieve their potential, teachers need
training, motivation, and regular mental and emotional
rejuvenation. While many efforts have gone into
building the capacity of teachers, there’s potential to
make teacher training a top-of-mind initiative across
levels.
The number of ‘untrained’ teachers is ~2.75 lakh in
Primary and ~40 thousand in Upper Primary schools.
The pre-service training curriculum followed in the
country is often outdated and does not equip teachers
to handle the challenges of their roles innovatively.
Given this scenario, in-service teacher education and
professional development are some of the greatest
challenges in ensuring that the RTE Act not only
provides cursory access to education to all children
but also ensures its quality.
Approach
Teacher training across SATH-E states, like any
other state, was found to be fragmented and largely
dependent on national missions, and delivered through
a cascade model without appropriate need analysis
and contextualization to local needs. Teacher capacity
building needed improvement on several fronts such
as identifying and understanding teachers’ gaps and
needs, conducting customized training programs, and
using data and feedback to monitor progress.
Various efforts were made across the three states
towards Teacher Professional Development.
1. Intervention specific trainings:
Trainings of all elementary grade teachers on the
large scale ‘remedial programs’ launched across the
three states were rigorously conducted. This included
ensuring teachers understood the criticality of focusing
on FLN competencies as against syllabus completion,
understood the TaRL methodology and dedicated
remedial materials etc. These trainings were also
accompanied with various teacher training compliance
and impact tracking measures, Master Trainer cadre
re-selection and capacity building across states.
Source: UDISE 2021-22
1. Details of Teacher Needs Assessment (TNA)
1.1 TNA for elementary teachers
The first ever TNA was conducted for elementary
teachers in 2018 and was designed to evaluate
teachers’ pedagogical ability and subject/content
knowledge. Moreover, teachers were also asked to fill
out a survey to explain their training preferences.
Holistic question Design: Sample MCQ questions
from 5 sections were prepared by a group of expert
State Resource Group (SRG) members for the TNA.
2. Holistic stepback of Teacher Professional
Development (TPD) approach:

Given the very large gaps in Teacher’s content and
pedagogical capabilities, a need was felt across states
to revisit the TPD process overall - Conduct TNA
(Trainings Need Assessment) and basis that support
the states to build out a blended Teacher development
model along with peer learning circles & support
materials (e.g. Teacher handbooks).
The details of efforts in Jharkhand to this end are
described below:
1. Training Needs Assessment (TNA): TNA was
designed and conducted to identify common
strengths and weaknesses among teachers.
Accordingly, the teacher enablement program was
designed to bridge the most significant gaps.
2. Teacher Professional development: Basis the
gaps identified in teacher’s subject and pedagogical
expertise, potential areas were identified where
support from the state could help increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of the teachers. This
was done in the following two ways:
a. On-going support through Shaikshik Samvaad
(group discussions amongst teachers)
b. Creation & dissemination of teacher
handbooks 108Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Gyan Setu
Training (Learning
Enhancement
Program)
General Ability
Advanced
Subject
To assess
whether the
teacher has
absorbed the
training content
that was delivered
To assess basic
knowledge
(primary level) in
English, Hindi,
Math, Logic, &
GK
To assess
upper-primary
level subject-
specific
knowledge
Before teachers appeared for the TNA, they were
trained on smartphones with a simple MCQ interface
to ensure that they did not face any technological
challenges. Teachers were asked to solve 45-50
multiple choice questions on their mobile phones
after they were trained in the Block Resource Centre
for the student-remediation program, Gyan-Setu.
Consequently, around 89,000 elementary teachers
attempted the TNA in Jharkhand.
Pedagogical
Ability
Self-
Assessment
To assess
understanding
and grasp of
core pedagogical
skills & classroom
transactions
To understand
the needs,
requirements, and
subjective opinions
of teachers
A robust analysis was then conducted to further shape
the teacher enablement and capacity-building program
after adjusting for inflation in performance due to the
use of unfair means.
The program helped improve the pedagogical practices
of teachers. However certain challenges also existed
(e.g., limited uniformity of tests across rounds, use of
malpractices, etc.). In response to these challenges,
the state with the support of UNICEF, onboarded the
Centre for Science of Student Learning (CSSL) to
design and conduct a scientifically valid and reliable
TNA for all the elementary teachers in Jharkhand’s
government schools.
The design and implementation of this TNA addressing
all the above-mentioned challenges was finalized
during SATH-E but was yet to be executed.
Exhibit 55: Responses received & filtered for use of any unfair means
5 Sections part of the TNA for elementary teachers 109
2. Details of efforts taken towards improving
Teacher Professional Development (TPD).
During SATH-E, two efforts were picked up towards
improving TPD. Firstly, the state decided to initiate
decentralized teacher-teacher interactions named
Shaikshik Samvaads to re-iterate the learnings from the
TPD courses and provide ongoing support. Secondly,
the state decided to develop teacher handbooks to
enable teachers to have proper lesson plans. Both
these interventions are described below.
1.2 TNA for secondary teachers
In December 2020, a pilot TNA was conducted for
teachers in 80 Schools of Excellence which saw
participation from ~90% of teachers. This was
collectively planned and rolled out by JCERT and
JEPC. Secondary teachers were assessed on two
aspects – Pedagogical expertise and subject expertise.
State Resource Groups (SRGs) were oriented and
questions were designed centrally to conduct the TNA.
The entire exercise was completed in 1 month. The
details of the pilot were as follows:
• Participation: A total of 723 teachers participated
in the secondary TNA with representation from all
24 districts of Jharkhand.
• Testing Logistics: The test was hosted on the
Kobo toolbox platform.
• Methodology: Teachers were called to the
district headquarters, and they attempted their
respective subjects’ TNA on their smartphones
under the supervision of 4-5 district/block
officials. 24 subject-specific test papers
were prepared by a group of expert SRGs.
Outcomes/Findings: It was observed that secondary
and higher secondary teachers scored an average of
~56% across general pedagogical and subject-spe-
cific questions. They performed better in subject
areas compared to pedagogical areas, which, in
turn, recognized the need to enhance classroom and
teaching skills. The learnings from these assessments
were incorporated in the State’s future training efforts.
2.1 Shaikshik Samvaad
Idea Generation & Synthesis: Around Oct 2019, the
idea of teacher discussions/interactions originated as
part of the SATH-E project while a few trainings were
being designed for teacher capacity building. Through
Shaikshik Samvaads, teachers came together in
groups of 25-30 in each cluster and discussed/shared
their ideas around the training courses uploaded on
Math, Language, and pedagogy on the DIKSHA app.
This practice consistently continued till the end of
March 2020.
Synergy with NISHTHA training: The second
round of Samvaads started around the month of
Dec’21. These Samvaads were conducted along
with NISHTHA training for both elementary as well
as secondary teachers. A teacher was expected to
complete a package of NISHTHA training and virtually
participate in a Samvaad every 15 days. This gave
time for teachers to reflect on what they had learned
from the courses and share effective techniques to
incorporate into daily classroom activities.
Orientation & training: To successfully implement the
Samvaads, orientation was conducted in a cascaded
manner which varied for elementary & secondary
teachers. The orientation was focused on the why
and how of Shaikshik Samvaad. Exhibit below shows
training details for elementary as well as secondary
teachers.
Similarly, for secondary teachers, JCERT trained
DRGs who in turn conducted the Samvaads with the
teachers.
3. Academic interventions 110Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 56: Example of training content for elementary and secondary process
2.2 Creation & dissemination of teacher handbooks
The initiative of teacher handbooks came out of the
need for teachers to have proper lesson plans and
clear objectives & outcomes for each of the concepts
taught.
TNA established that there was a severe gap in teacher
knowledge and pedagogical practices. Lesson plans
could help to close both these gaps.
The format, layout, and principles were decided after
analyzing the products of several leading large-scale
teacher resource development organizations.
Key design features: The handbook were designed
for grades 4 to 8 to ensure effective classroom
teaching practices. They had 4 key features – an
annual coverage plan, how to break down the chapter
into sub-components, prerequisite knowledge needed
before starting any chapter, and a well-defined,
implementable lesson plan for all learning outcomes.
Digitization, publication and printing of Teacher
Handbook was complete and distribution was ongoing,
at the time of closure of Project SATH-E. 1113. Academic interventions
Exhibit 57: Key features of the handbook
Exhibit 58: Purpose of Teacher Handbook 112Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Impact and Learnings
Shaikshik Samvaad gained a lot of positive responses
from the field. The success of Shaikshik Samvaad
was also partly recognized through a significant
improvement in teachers’ content knowledge, as
evidenced by a 62% increase in Midline Survey results
across the two assessments on TNA.
Exhibit 59: Impact of Shaikshik Samvaads
Positive field response from Shaikshik Samvaads
It was also observed that Samvaads acted as a
platform to learn best practices from each other,
re-visit the learnings from earlier trainings conducted
by the state/Centre, and get a hands-on experience by
learning while doing.
Overall, one key learning was that while TNA was
conducted by an external agency, the states need
to develop internal capacity to design and conduct
TNA. This capacity can be further utilised to develop
customized training programs for other use cases (for
e.g., Teachers at Early, Mid and Later Career Stages).
It is also worth noting that the efforts to onboard
external agencies for the development of
comprehensive digital teacher training content,
encompassing topical subjects, instructional
techniques, and addressing common student
misconceptions, encountered limited success across
states.
This was primarily attributed to challenges in identifying
external partners capable of delivering high-quality
content and navigating procurement processes,
particularly in the post-COVID time. 113 114Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
4.1. Building a Strong MIS –
Data-driven Decision Making
in School and Administrative
Offices
Context
Over 50,000 schools, with over 200,000 employees
(teachers, officers) and touching the lives of over
5,000,000 students – this is the scale of a typical
mid-sized state’s education system in India, an
operation that is much bigger than most large
corporations. Considered cumulatively across states,
the school education system would be one of the
largest employers in India, larger than the Indian
Railways.
4. Governance and
Accountability Interventions
Implementation of a best-in-class EMIS system
requires careful consideration of starting points
and constraints – Greenfield vs brownfield, vendor
selection, contractual policies, point of access, data
entry, to name a few.
The SATH-E States worked on the design,
development, and rollout of an integrated MIS system
during the Project duration. The case study below
highlights Jharkhand’s example. Jharkhand has been
instrumental in developing a comprehensive integrated
education MIS platform called e-Vidya Vahini which
incorporates all the multiple aspects of information
gathering, processing, validation in the Department
and facilitates data backed decision making at state,
district, block, and school level. 1154. Governance and Accountability reforms
Exhibit 60: A best-in-class EMIS system should aim to deliver on three key objectives
Performance against
outcomes
• Student learning levels
• Enrolment
• Drop outs
Status of key inputs
• School footprint
• Teacher vacancy
Real time view of key
‘Outcomes’ and ‘Inputs’
VIEW OF
‘STATE OF EDUCATION’
Governance and
data driven decision making
FOCUS ON
PERFORMANCE
Governance and accountability
• District/ block ranking
• School inspections
Data driven decision making
• Planning for large scale initiatives
e.g.: staffing rationalization,
school footprint optimization
• Budget allocation and planning
• Day to day activities
Seamless processes
and communication
EMBEDDED
EFFICIENCY
Simplify and enable process
• Schools: enrolment tracking,
automated report cards
• District, block: service record
mgmt., fund utilization
• State: Staffing, budgeting
Communication, feedback channel
• SMS/ WhatsApp / email
• Scheme information
• Grievance redressal
A best-in-class EMIS system should aim to deliver on three key objectives
The Jharkhand Public Education System comprises
~35 thousand schools, ~1.2 lakh teachers and ~46
lakh students under the ambit of the Department
of Education. Each of these schools undertakes
multiple activities in addition to providing education to
students including, but not limited to provision of the
mid-day meal, child entitlements such as textbooks,
maintenance of school infrastructure, grievance
redressal, ensuring compliance to RTE norms, etc.
However, multiple challenges have historically
hampered effective monitoring:
• A large number of schools makes it difficult to
monitor with limited monitoring infrastructure.
• Increased time spent in data collection and
analysis by teachers and field officers.
• No comprehensive real time centralized data for
the Department to allow data backed decision
making and ensure effective accountability at all
levels of governance.
• Lack of a two-way communication platform
available across multiple levels for grievance
redressal.
Given this scale, it was imperative for the state to
have a robust MIS system which provides integrated
databases for accurate data reporting, minimal physical
flow of information and automated processes running
in the field, thereby increasing accuracy and efficiency. 116Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
In a first-of-its-kind effort, the Department of Education,
Government of Jharkhand, launched an ambitious
state-wide program called e-Vidya Vahini to build a
fully digitized ecosystem for school education. e-Vidya
Vahini was planned to serve as a single centralized
dynamic platform for monitoring all key parameters
to ensure effective delivery of quality education to
all the schools and children in the state. e-Vidya
Vahini currently maintains an accurate database on
Jharkhand schools, teachers, and students. It has
both a web portal and an Android mobile application
designed with three distinct sections with different user
groups:
1. School and teacher modules (teacher-facing): eVV
has a host of mobile-based modules that enable
digitization of processes that teachers undertake
such as teacher attendance, student attendance,
student progression, grievances, etc.
Approach
2. Monitoring modules (field-facing): eVV also has a
monitoring module that captures key parameters
related to Time on Task, student spot-testing, school
certification, MDM reporting, school infrastructure,
delivery of schemes, etc.
3. Dashboards (administration-facing): e-Vidya
Vahini’s web-based application has reporting and
dashboarding features across all key modules.
These provide state, district, block and cluster
level aggregate information to officers on critical
parameters readily available for identifying areas
requiring immediate attention, crafting timely
response and better coordination of initiatives.
Both the mobile and web applications have logins for
various levels of users ranging from State Officials to
teachers.
Exhibit 61: eVV has three distinct sections with different user groups
Monitoring Application
Resource Persons
~ 3000 BRP/CRP
~ 300 Field Officials
School Application
School Teachers
~1.2L Teachers
from ~35k schools
Dashboard & Portals
~ 325 District and Block Offices
~ 10 State Education
Department Officials
There are three parts in e-Vidya Vahini - each has a different planned user base 117
Exhibit 62: eVV 2.0 timeline
An RFP for a new vendor was issued
and CSM was onboarded
eVV 1.0 was developed by NIC but
underwent a change of vendor due
to following reasons
• Database design errors invalid
entries got accepted (class 13, -1 etc)
• Lack of manpower within NIC team
• Enhanced requirements
Therefore, an RFP for a new vendor
was issued and CSM was onboarded
Feb ‘19
CSM
onboarded
Oct ‘19
Deadline of Phase II:
Launch of eVV 2.0
May ‘19
Deadline of Phase I:
Development began
Oct ‘18
RFP for
new vendor
Mar ‘20
Deadline
of Phase III
No. PhaseActivity
Implementation Phase I
Implementation Phase II
Implementation Phase III
Maintenance & Support
1.
2.
3.
4.
SRS finalization & legacy data management
Development of Priority 1 modules
Development of Priority 2 modules
Maintenance & Support
Exhibit 63: eVV Execution phases
The development of eVV was structured into 3
• RFP and Vendor selection
In the endeavor to further improve upon eVidyaV-
ahini 1.0 developed in early 2018, the Jharkhand
Education Project Council issued a fresh RFP
for the development of a revamped eVidyaVa-
hini 2.0. A 70-30 QCBS evaluation criteria was
adopted and CSM Technologies was onboarded
for the development, implementation and 5-year
maintenance of eVV. The timelines of onboarding
are represented in the exhibit below.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms
implementation phases and a maintenance phase as
summarized below: 118Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
• School monitoring and field activation
One of the biggest unlocks for the success of the
MIS was the availability of mobile devices at the
ground-level to enable field monitoring. As part of
this initiative, the Government of Jharkhand distrib-
uted 44,000 tablets, spending a total of ~70 Cores
on tablets and an additional 15 Cores on biometric
devices, Mobile Device Management software and
sim cards. In this unique initiative to strengthen
data-based decision making and accountability at
Major Modules
Teacher
School
SDMIS
User Management
School Monitoring
DigiSchool
Spot testing
Leave Management
Certification
Scheme monitoring
Reports & dashboards
MDM
Grievances
Infra/Civil works
Learning material
Phase 2
Phase 3
Features
• Teacher basic and detailed profile database built at 90%+ accuracy
• Live biometric/manual attendance feature
• School database built at ~100% accuracy with geo-tagging features
• Student database built at ~100% accuracy with year-on-year progression
• Access control features for officers at State/District/Block levels
• Mobile-based monitoring module for field officers
• Mobile-based dissemination of quizzes and content during COVID-19
• Mobile-based spot-testing module for field officers
• Mobile-based leave management module for teachers
• Mobile-based school certification module
• Scheme monitoring module with flexible target setting for administration
• Reports and dashboards available under each module
• Mobile-based MDM monitoring module
• Mobile-based grievance redressal module with automated escalation matrix
• Civil works monitoring module with flexible target setting for administration matrix
• Learning material sharing portal for teachers
Exhibit 64: eVV modules and features
• Module definitions
The key modules required as part of the MIS were
prioritized and developed as part of implementation
scale, all ~3000 BRPs/ CRPs, ~50 field officials
and ~35,000 schools in Jharkhand received
state-of-the-art tablets.
These tablets were loaded with a mobile monitoring
application for field officials (CRP/BRP/District
officials). BRPs/CRPs began to use e-Vidya Vahini
to collect live data on the status and performance
of a school in real time. Each school in the state
phases II and III. The below table lists the key
modules and their features: 119
Exhibit 65: eVV: a result of commitment, collaboration, and investment
Department of School
Education and Literacy
(DOSE&L)
e-Vidya Vahini
~INR 85 cr
Investment in the project
by Department of SchoolEducation and Literacy
DolT & e-governanceNIC. Jharkhand
~ 3,000
Tablets providedto BRP/CRP officials
~ 41,000
Tablets and biometric devices to be provided to schools
Result of State Government commitment, interdepartmental collaboration and investment
Each District and Block was individually ranked
on all the parameters as well. It helped Districts
to identify the weakest parameters for themselves
and take corrective action accordingly. In addition
to District level ranking, each Block was also
scored and ranked both within the district as well
as among the ~260 blocks in Jharkhand.
These scorecards were widely shared with all
the stakeholders by the State leadership, and
was visited at least every 2 weeks and geo-tag-
ging was used to ensure that monitoring visits
were genuinely taking place. The monitoring tool
collected and analyzed data ranging from DBT
schemes, MDM, and infrastructure conditions, and
learning levels of students.
• Governance and Training
With the objective of tracking regional performance
and driving eVV usage, Jharkhand also rolled out
a comprehensive performance scorecard ranking
districts and blocks on a monthly basis to create
an atmosphere of constructive competition. The
parameters were decided on the basis of phase
of implementation of any initiative with the overall
aim of driving districts and blocks towards action.
month-on-month progress was tracked and
reviewed for all the districts. This acted as an
effective motivation for the district leadership
to work towards a particular goal in a dedicated
manner. This also acted as a platform for high
performing districts to share best practices across
different initiatives/ parameters and thus led to
collective improvement in implementation on
ground.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 120Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Godda
Paschimi Singhbhum
Dhanbad
Purbi Singhbhum
Jamtara
Deoghar
Garhwa
Ramgarh
Khunti
Saraikela
Kodarma
Lohardaga
Bokaro
Ranchi
Latehar
Pakaur
Palamu
Giridih
Gumla
Dumka
Hazaribagh
Sahibganj
Simdega
Chatra
Gyan
Setu
(25)
17.9
22.7
13.5
15.1
16.6
19.6
20.0
23.6
13.6
14.8
18.3
11.6
17.3
14.3
18.9
19.2
16.8
15.7
16.7
13.6
17.9
17.8
17.6
11.0
Average
BRP/CRP
visits (25)
14.4
19.2
16.9
18.2
25.0
16.9
24.4
20.5
16.6
20.4
16.7
13.5
15.0
20.7
8.9
11.2
20.7
20.1
4.6
14.3
8.3
12.4
14.4
13.1
Total
Score
(100)
76.4
73.0
71.0
70.9
69.5
68.0
67.7
67.3
66.6
65.3
63.8
63.3
63.0
61.4
60.6
59.6
56.7
56.4
53.8
52.6
50.5
48.3
45.7
40.6
Jan.
(W1)
Rank
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Teachers’
biometric
(25)
25.0
21.3
22.3
18.8
15.8
17.2
13.8
19.1
16.7
17.9
15.7
21.0
19.4
19.6
12.8
19.8
15.7
15.2
15.4
17.1
19.8
13.4
2.3
10.6
Student
Portal
(25)
19.2
9.9
18.2
18.9
12.1
14.2
9.6
4.0
19.7
12.2
13.1
17.2
11.3
6.8
19.9
9.5
3.5
5.4
17.2
7.6
4.4
4.8
11.4
5.9
Exhibit 66: Sample district scorecard from Jharkhand
District
Names
eVV successfully streamlined several processes,
served as a reliable database, and enabled real-time
decision-making.
Impact & Learnings
It is expected to have significant impact in both the
short-term and long-term across various stakeholders:
1. 10%-20% time savings for teachers from data entry,
record keeping and other administrative paper work
leading to an increase in time spent in classrooms in
teaching activities.
2. ~30%-40% time savings for BRP/CRPs through
automated monitoring application and ready to use
dashboards available at all levels of governance
(state, districts, blocks).
3. Eco-friendly digital footprint by reducing usage
of paper: 50+ paper-based reports submitted by
teachers and field officials every year.
4. Access to long term data to assess impact of policy
interventions and implement course correction if
required.
In order to ensure robust governance of schools and
effective service delivery, the Jharkhand Education
Project Council (JEPC) aims to further improve e-Vidya
Vahini in the next 2-3 years. Key improvements
planned include but are not limited to:
a. Advanced customizable smart dashboarding and
scorecard generation for effective administrative
decision making at state, district, block, and school
levels 121
Exhibit 67: eVV highlights
eVV streamlines several processes and serves an
accurate data source allowing for real-time decision making
s
a
1.2 lakh
Teachers in 35k school
99.7%
Teachers have registered
with their biometric dat
70k
Monthly visits by 3k BRP/CRPs
>30
Readymade MISes available
>1000
Grievances uploaded online
Geo-fenced monitoring visits
Basic and detailed profile data available for every teacher
Geo-fenced biometric attendance of teachers
Inbuilt MISes for tracking of key performance metrics
Online grievance redressal
Exhibit 68: eVV desktop portal – Officer login
b. Advanced customizable survey-based field
inspection and monitoring from field with automated
reports
c. Advanced process digitization and automation –
e.g. automation of annual UDISE data update
d. School administration/SMC-related features
including PTM scheduling, budget management
e. Student-level academic performance monitoring
f. Scheme-specific tracking of initiatives such
as ‘Adarsh Vidyalaya Yojana’ or ‘Schools of
Excellence’ program, Residential Schools like
KGBVs/JBAVs etc.
JEPC plans to onboard a new software vendor for
the further development of eVV to improve usability,
report/ dashboard mechanisms, leader school module
& automated scorecards/interventions through an RFP
process like the one followed earlier.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 122Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 70: Usage of eVV in the field
Exhibit 69: Mobile-based eVV modules
School
monitoring
Certification Spot testing Grievance
redressal
Grievance
redressal
Teacher
attendance
Student
attendance
MDM
monitoring
Teacher
attendance
Student
attendance
MDM
monitoring
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 123
4.2. Driving Accountability – Data-
driven Governance at State, District &
Block Levels
Context
Governance and accountability are critical to drive
systemic outcomes at scale. Multiple outcome led
models within the government are testimony to that.
We believe that the problem today is not of individual
leadership or competence but that of systemic failure
at integrating accountability.
This is because of several reasons including:
• Lack of strategic vision and articulated goals
• Focus on inputs instead of outcomes
• Lack of performance-based incentives and
disincentives
In the context of education, we need to create a
system where teachers feel accountable for students’
learning and well-being; middle management in
blocks and districts feels accountable for ensuring
well-run schools and an efficient organization; and the
senior management at headquarters feels account-
able for continuously improving the overall state of
the education system, and continuously delivering a
higher value proposition to the students while running
a well-oiled education system.
At a micro-level, individuals in the organization must
have a sense of their roles, responsibilities and how
they align with the overall organizational goals. Every
individual must understand that fulfilling their personal
roles and responsibilities, with a high degree of fidelity,
is expected of them, and that there are incentives and
disincentives linked to this achievement.
This section highlights Odisha’s progress towards
creating accountability through data-driven governance
developed on four pillars of - pervasiveness across the
system, selection of right metrics, accurate measure-
ment and linkage to real consequences.
Odisha School Monitoring App (OSMA), District
Scorecards and Collector led-Governance
Three kinds of systems were set up in Odisha to
strengthen overall governance and accountability,
including:
1. Odisha School Monitoring App (OSMA)
2. District Scoreboards
3. District and Block Review Meetings using
Dashboards (DRMs/BRMs)
Each of these are described in detail below:
1. School Monitoring Application
The Odisha School Monitoring Application was
launched in Odisha in 2019 by the Department
of School & Mass Education to achieve five key
objectives:
Approach
• Monitor schools based on a defined set of
parameters in order to drive overall school
improvement.
• Resolve issues identified during monitoring to
ensure that critical factors that result in learning
outcome improvements are addressed in a
timely manner by the relevant stakeholders
e.g. CRCCs, HMs/ Teachers, BEOs etc.
• Regular reviews at State, District and Block
level to ensure that the above two objectives
are being met and solved at scale for common
issues across schools and districts.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 124Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 71: Overview of OSMA – Odisha School Monitoring App
Home pageSections in SMAQuestions in each section
• Conduct real-time assessments to gauge
learning levels of students to track improve-
ment in learning level outcomes.
• Provide real-time feedback to schools about
their areas of improvement.
OSMA was a revamped version of the earlier School
Monitoring App in place in Odisha since 2017. This
version was a mobile and tablet-friendly application.
Following were the key features of the app:
1. Redesigned home page with clear callouts on
pending surveys, action items and escalations.
2. Each survey was geo-tagged and time-stamped
across various sections like Academics, Infrastruc-
ture, School Operations, etc.
3. The Monitoring app contained 36 questions covering
attendance, LEP, school operations, academics and
infrastructure.
4. After each inspection, a school-level report card was
generated. Action items were raised to concerned
officers for issues identified during visits, guidelines
for time bound redressal in place.
5. CRCCs monitored all schools in their clusters,
District & Block Officers monitored 10-15 schools /
month.
6. Monitoring dashboards were launched to provide
real-time data for enabling actions in field & regular
reviews.
The District and Block level officers, in addition to the
Cluster Resource Center Coordinators (CRCCs) were
allocated schools for monitoring every month. The
officers visited the schools and recorded observa-
tions against a set of predetermined prompts. These
monthly checks provided historical information on
each school across parameters. This information was
then aggregated at the district, block, and cluster level
in order to run key initiatives for improvements. 125
Following were the allocation of duties amongst the officers.
Officer
Category
CRCC
Block
Officers
District
Officers
ResponsibilitiesNo. of visits
• Conduct the survey
• Discuss identified issues with HMs and Teachers,
mentor, and support
• Ensure timely resolution of all issues.
18 schools/ month
55 schools/ month
100 schools/ month
• Conduct the survey
• Oversee CRCCs performance
• Conduct regular discussions with HMs of schools that
are performing poorly
• Ensure timely resolution of issues
• Conduct the survey for critical schools (as allocated)
• Oversee block officer and CRCC performance
• Ensure timely resolution of issues and manage escalations
• Provide support across the district for typical issues faced
in schools e.g. ensure Pedagogy Coordinator is working
with schools on remediation implementation
Exhibit 72: Monitoring officer responsibilities and frequency of visits
Team set up to nudge behavior & improve monitoring quality
Regular calls & messages to improve implementation quality
Regular SMS blasts &
IVR calls to encourage
good performers &
laggard officers
Calls to discuss
performance of officers
- tools created to track
incorrect action item
closure & data reporting
Real time support
to officers through
district whatsapp
groups, OPEPA
helpline
Central Virtual Field
Support (VFS) Team
of 20 highly trained
individuals set up in
Sep 2018
Further, efforts were made to improve the quality of
monitoring. This included setting up a Virtual Field
Support (VFS) center at the state level to ensure
regular calls and messages to field officers to improve
monitoring compliance and quality.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 126Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 73: VFS utilized to improve monitoring quality
Focus shifted over time to improving quality of visits and issue resolution
1
2
3
Reduce misreporting & improve quality of data collected
Rewarding good behavior and reprimanding officers misreporting
Improve quality of action item resolution
Weed-out inconsistent and falsely reported closures
Ensure performance and review of monitoring visits
Using district compliance reports and scorecards
Scorecard: 6 categories, 24 metrics and 45 indicators
Academic Performance
(2 metrics, 6 indicators)
Access and Transition
(4 metrics, 8 indicators)
Equity
(4 metrics, 4 indicators)
Infrastructure
(6 metrics, 14 indicators)
Governance(3 metrics* 3 indicators)
Other parameters
(5 metrics, 10 indicators)
Exhibit 74: Overview of District Scorecards
2. District Scorecards
Leveraging data from the OSMA app, Odisha
launched District Scorecards in 2018 as a tool
to track and improve outcomes. Scorecards give
a holistic view of the district’s performance in
education, support identification and prioritization
of weak areas, drive timely actions and enable
effective tracking of progress.
Extensive research was carried out to finalize
metrics for district scorecards and rankings which
utilized data from Aspirational District Metrics,
PGI metrics, SEQI metrics and other metrics from
extensive internal discussions. 127
District scorecards had 6 categories comprising of 20+
metrics and 45+ indicators. The 6 categories were –
a. Access and Transition
b. Equity
c. Academic Performance
d. Governance
e. Infrastructure
f. Other indicators
The scorecard was further divided into two parts:
annual scorecard and monthly scorecard, considering
the frequency at which information for indicators was
to be updated. While the monthly scorecard and
ranking basis indicators were updated monthly and
generated month on month, the annual scorecard was
generated at the end of every academic year. Once the
updated data for the annual scorecard was available,
composite rankings comprising annual and monthly
indicators were produced for the year end rankings.
The scorecard was out of 500 points, with 285 points
devoted to the monthly scorecard and 215 points to the
annual scorecards.
Exhibit 75: Snapshot of District Scorecard Dashboard
The granularity of information available also differed
for indicators. While some indicators had school
level information available, few indicators were only
applicable at the district level.
In 2019, these scorecards were moved onto a dedicated
portal and dashboard with the following objectives -
a. Simplify and streamline the data collection and
data entry process.
b. Automate the calculation and creation of scorecards
and rankings.
c. Increase accountability by creating scorecards at
the District, Block, Cluster and school level.
d. Provide granular information to make the scorecard
actionable.
e. Track improvement of districts, categories and
indicators month on month.
These scorecards were developed through NIC by
the same vendor which had designed the revamped
Odisha School Monitoring App. Hence, it was able
to make use of seamless integrations from OSMA to
capture data for populating the scorecards.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 128Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 4. Governance and Accountability reforms
Exhibit 76: School Monitoring and Monitoring Dashboard Guidebooks 129
About
Dashboard
Dashboards
used in DRMs/
BRMs
Sr.
No
Shows performance of state/
Districts/ Blocks/ Clusters
based on average school
scores
Overview
dashboard
1
2
3
4
5
Shows % of schools covered in
state/ Districts/ Blocks/ Clusters
by different category of officers
School
coverage
Shows performance of
schools in State/ Districts/
Blocks/ Clusters across 6
sections based on school
scores and actions resolved
Shows officer performance
based on % surveys
completed and % actions
resolved
Shows performance of state/
Districts/ Blocks/ Clusters
based on surveys conducted
School
performance
Officer
performance
Survey
analysis
Key
Metrics
• Avg. school scores
• % surveys completed
• % Actions completed
• Surveys completed week-by-week
• Total schools, # of schools covered, # of schools
uncovered
• % schools covered by district, block & cluster officers
out of the total schools in State/District/Block/Cluster
• % of schools covered & uncovered
• Avg. overall score
• Avg. section score
• Trend of overall score
• % surveys completed & pending – total and by
officer type
• % Actions completed & pending– total and by
officer type
• Avg. survey time– total and by officer type
• Surveys/ Actions – Top 5 & bottom 5 districts/blocks
cluster
• Surveys/ Actions- Top 5 & bottom 5 officers
• Total schools inspected
• For every question % of schools responded
3. District and Block Review Meetings
using Dashboards (DRMs/BRMs)
Monthly block and district review meetings to
measure outcomes and drive compliance and
governance were set up. Data dashboards were
used to guide the meetings. These dashboards
were populated with monthly reported data along
Exhibit 77: Review Meetings: Dashboards and Key Metrics
with past trends. The data was aggregated at
State, District, Block as well as School level to
provide insights for decision making at all of these
levels.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 130Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 78: Overview Dashboard - Shows performance of state/districts/blocks/clusters based on average school scores and survey results
Exhibit 80: Action Items Dashboard - Shows total number of action items raised/closed/pending across the state with category-wise break up
Exhibit 79: School Coverage Dashboard - Shows % of survey completed, schools covered at each level, officer compliance and % completion 131
Below table shows increments in a 3-month period in 2019:
Facility/feature
• % of schools where Ujjwal is conducted
• % of schools with SDP created and displayed
• % of schools with SSP created
• % of schools using TLM
• % of schools with clean drinking water
First VisitLast visit%increase
91.4
43
68.4
83
90
98.2
73.6
87.3
87
94
6.8
30.6
18.9
4
4
1. Regular Collector-led DRM/BRMs:
90% of DRMs were chaired by the District
Collector, ensuring effective governance. Meeting
presentations and minutes were uploaded on a
web-link monitored by the Monitoring Cell at the
state level, and ATRs (Action Taken Reports) were
tracked regularly. In addition to this, monthly VCs
were also taken by CS with all Collectors to focus
on Learning Outcomes.
Impact and Learnings
2. Focused Improvement on Indicators through
Scorecard Sprints:
Odisha School Monitoring App allowed for close
governance of all the important parameters across
categories. This enabled the State to identify
laggard areas and run focused sprints to improve
outcomes and resulted in an increase in reported
metrics across all categories.
Exhibit 81: Success stories from DRMs
Nayagarh: Increase in reported drinking water
availability
District Collector drove decision to improve drinking
water availability in schools by mobilizing BEOs,
BDs and CRCCs in DRMs
Districts leverage DRMs to drive focused efforts
to improve district ranking
Dhenkanal: Rank 1 district for 6 months,
no lagging indicators
DEO drove improvement in monitoring, electricity
and water availability and MDM disbursal to improve
district score
Khordha: Increase in reported electrification
rate 52% to 84%
DEOs, PCs and BEOs mobilized HMs, CRCCs
and Sarpanches to drive improvement in basic
infrastructure, electricity and water availability
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 132Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 82: Significant improvement achieved through Scorecard Sprints
40% 66%
70% 81%
93% 96%
Mar ‘19 Oct ‘19
% of schools with
electricity and
functional lights
and fans
10% schools
more
than baseline
% of schools with
separate, clean &
functional toilets
for boys & girls
100% schools
% of schools with
clean and safe
drinking water
100% schools
Indicator Target
Achieved significant improvement in key indicators
3. Improvement in PGI Scores:
Odisha achieved a benchmark score in the
Governance section in the PGI rankings (2018-19)
conducted by MoE” – a top 5 national rank. This
is a testament to the large strides the State has
taken in improving outcomes using digital tools for
monitoring and governance.
5. Spot Assessment Feature:
The state can now effectively monitor overall
learning progress and conduct essential baseline
assessments, aligning with the original FLN plan.
4. District Review Meetings
These meetings established a structured,
data-driven, and technology-enabled rhythm
for monthly state-level reviews led by PS/SPD,
resulting in expedited and improved reporting. The
positive impact of this initiative is also evident in
the elevated PGI scores. 133
4.3. Strengthening School
Management Committees for
Improved Service Delivery
Context
In India, the drop-out rate stands at 16% at the
secondary level with transition rates from primary to
upper primary at 93% and primary to secondary at
91%
7
. Dropout rates can be lowered through sustained
investment in the community and school relationships
8
.
Emphasizing the importance of the relationship
7
Source : UDISE data(https://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#/home)
8
Govinda, Rangachar & Bandyopadhyay, Madhumita. (2010). Social exclusion and school participation in India: Expanding access with
equity. PROSPECTS. 40. 337-354. 10.1007/s11125-010-9160-8.
9
Source: As per latest UDISE data available on SMCs (http://udise.in/Downloads/Publications/Documents/District_Report_Cards-2016-17-
Vol-II.pdf)
between parents and schools, Section 21 of the Right
to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 provides
for parents’ role in school governance. The School
Management Committees (SMCs) formed under the act
are mandated to have 75% representation of parents.
As per UDISE 2016-17
9
, 77% of all government and
government-aided schools report having formed
SMCs.
Approach
In Jharkhand, SMCs had been a neglected component.
As per the survey conducted by the state in April 2021,
over 71% of schools had not elected their SMCs
post-completion of tenure. This had led to dissatisfaction
among parents affecting their relationship with schools.
Also, school governance was complicated by the
existence of two management bodies in schools. SMCs
mandated by RTE Act were responsible for grades 1
to 8, whereas School Development and Management
Committees were managing funds from the Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA). The state
decided in July 2021 to merge these two bodies as
School Management Committees and conduct fresh
elections.
The objective of the SMC-strengthening and parent
engagement program was to achieve:
1. 100% enrolment in the school catchment area
2. Zero drop-outs post-summer/ autumn/ winter breaks
3. Maintain decent attendance levels with reopening of
schools post COVID
4. Track all out-of-school-children in the school
catchment area both at the school and community
level
A five-step approach was taken to revitalize the SMCs
1. Reconstituting SMC in schools where SMCs have
completed their tenure
2. Training SMCs, enabling them to conduct their
duties
3. Supporting SMCs in conducting regular meetings
4. Helping SMCs raise and resolve their grievances in
a time-bound manner
5. Developing a support system to enable SMC
functioning
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 134Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
The aim was that SMCs with regular meetings will
enable schools to engage with parents apart from SMC
members. Parent-Teacher Meeting (PTM) will serve as
a starting point for this engagement. These meetings
were to be held once a quarter. In addition to the
Parent-Teacher Meetings, three events showcasing
the learning and growth of children were planned.
These events were:
1. Annual sports day
2. Learning showcase week
3. Annual day of school
A step-by-step approach was followed below:
1. SMC reconstitution: In July 2021, SMC elections
were conducted in 28,836 schools. In schools
where SMCs had not completed their tenure,
elections were planned to be held as and when they
complete their tenure. The state issued guidelines
to conduct elections with monitoring responsibili-
ties shared by block and district-level officials. The
elected SMC members were issued identity cards,
and their names with contact details were displayed
at schools.
2. SMC Training: Training was conducted for all the
reconstituted SMCs. These trainings were facilitated
by CRP/BRPs at the school campus with e-content
provided by State. The SMC members were trained
on their roles and responsibilities (e.g., enrollment,
attendance, learning goals of children, curriculum,
and teaching-learning process), conducting SMC
meetings, developing School Development Plans,
and monitoring school expenditure & accounts.
3. SMC meetings: The state mandated the 25th of
every month as the SMC meeting day. A suggestive
agenda as per the annual calendar was shared with
all School Heads. CRPs and BRPs were tasked with
helping SMCs in facilitating the meetings. 60% SMCs
reported consistent SMC meetings every month.
Every SMC was issued a letterhead to communi-
cate with government officials. The SMC members
were expected to conduct audits of Mid-Day meal
quality, and expenditures done by schools. Once in
two months, the SMC members were asked to be
present during the Spot tests and discuss the results
of Spot tests conducted on six students.
Exhibit 83: SMC Training & Handholding Plan
Training & Handholding Plan 135
Exhibit 84: SMC meeting action items
school
development plan
SMC | Key action items articulated for SMC meeting
during different times of the year
Exhibit 85: Sample SMC Meeting & Minutes
4. SMC Grievances: A chatbot to ease the filing
and tracking of grievances by parents was under
development. Officers will be tagged to resolve
grievances identified by the chatbot. These
grievances were monitored via the eVidyaVahini
(the State MIS system).
5. Support Systems: To monitor the progress of
SMCs, the state developed an SMC module in
eVidyaVahini. This module would track the formation
of SMCs, the regularity of meetings and serves as
a repository to store the minutes of SMC meetings.
The state conducted training for the CRP/BRPs
to support SMCs. Trainings were conducted for
School Heads to sensitize them on the functioning
of SMCs and methods to leverage SMCs in school
governance.
4. Governance and Accountability reforms 136Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Exhibit 86: Snapshot of PTM Update
Leveraging active School management committees, in
December 2021, the state conducted its first PTM post
the start of the pandemic. The SMC members were
tasked to spread the communication on PTMs through
door-to-door visits. Invitations for the PTM were
shared by School Heads and Teachers via WhatsApp.
The district and Block officials invited parents through
advertisements in newspapers. For the PTMs, a
suggestive discussion agenda was shared by the
state. Separately, a self-reflection form was filled out by
every teacher and School Head sharing the concerns
raised by parents.
The state planned to conduct Sports day, Annual Day,
and Learning showcase week in the next financial year.
Impact and Learnings
With 100% of schools with functional SMCs and ~60%
of SMCs reporting regular meetings, the endeavor
to strengthen SMCs was effective. The supporting
ecosystem of BRPs and CRPs delivered trainings to
over 90% of SMCs. The SMCs began communicating
with block and district-level officials raising grievances
on infrastructure and student entitlement issues. ~5.5
lakh parents participated and 87% of schools reported
conducting the PTM.
In the process of revitalizing SMCs and improving
parent engagement, there were learnings. A few of the
key learnings are summarized below:
1. Confidence building through communication
and handholding: The state through continuous
dissemination of the agenda, ensured that the SMC
meetings had a consistent structure. Newly elected
SMC members do not feel confident in discharging
their duties. To instill confidence in SMC members,
orientation training and constant handholding
support were provided.
2. Annual calendar with 7 touchpoints for parents:
To improve the parent-teacher relationship, it was
important to maintain continuous engagement.
Apart from PTMs, events such as sports day,
learning showcases, and annual day celebrations
allow parents to witness growth in their children. This
develops parents’ trust in teachers, thus improving
parent and school relationships. 137 138Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 139Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education 140Learnings for Large–scale Transformation in School Education
Project SATH
(Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital - Education)
Visit our site for more information
www.niti.gov.in
Madhya
Pradesh
Jharkhand
Odisha
Project SATH-Education
OCTOBER 2023