ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLING
It is estimated that more than 3 lac children do not attend formal schools. Therefore, GCPE has successfully started Alternative Schooling Centers to provide access to primary education to children of deprived sections living in remote and small habitations. The aim is to educate the never-enrolled and dropout children to a level where they can rejoin the formal primary school. The approach has been one of developing appropriate models of alternative schooling based on proper understanding of the categories of out of school children and their problems and also learning from the successful experiences in this field. 
Alternative Schooling interventions, developed under DPEP II, are being replicated in DPEP IV and SSA in Gujarat.

Models for Alternative School
To provide education to out of school children in project districts, several AS models have been tried out, which are as under:

ADDRESSING GENDER CONCERNS

Education of Girls
The goals of SSA and DPEP include a specific focus on reduction of gender disparities in education, as reflected in lower enrolment, retention and achievement of girls, particularly those from socially and economically disadvantaged groups. Gujarat has adopted specific strategies to enhance girls' access, enrolment and retention in schools. Gender sensitive curricula and textbooks have been developed. All the new school buildings have been provided with separate toilets for girls. Early Child Care Centers (ECCE - AS Centers) have been opened to support girls attendance in school.

State Resource Group & District Resource Group have been entrusted with the responsibility of designing gender education strategies taking into account the local specific needs. Gender awareness materials such as posters, handbooks and brochures have been developed. Gender Training Modules for teachers, Master Trainers and BRC and CRC functionaries have been developed.

The programme recognizes the crucial importance of enabling communities, particularly women, to play a crucial role in every aspect of the programme. In this direction, village level local bodies such as VECs, MTAs & PTAs have been empowered to take the responsibility of promoting education of girls in their areas. Intensive capacity building of community, viz., women groups, Mahila Sarpanches and Panchayat Members have been carried out with a focus on education of girls. Besides, communities and women organizations were involved in mobilization and school management and in monitoring enrolment and retention and levels of achievement with emphasis on girls. 

Reducing Gender disparities in Primary Education
In Gujarat, it is felt that real empowerment of women is possible only through education. Mothers will have to be educated first and made aware of the importance of educating their daughters. In line with the basic emphasis on reduction of existing gender and social disparities in educational access, GCPE is trying out diverse interventions to promote girls’ education under DPEP and SSA. Persistent efforts have been made to motivate the people, in general, and women in particular, to send their children to school. This refers to demand generation for primary education. The strategy is to change the attitude of the village communities, especially of the women, towards the school resulting in stronger community-school linkages.

Pedagogical Renewal Process
Under DPEP and SSA, Gujarat has been immensely successful in revising the pedagogy. Wider consultations with teachers, professionals from universities, colleges and NGOs have ushered in decentralization in the pedagogical renewal process. Efforts have been made to replicate such consultation process at the district level as well, where DIETs play the major role. They have been empowered to identify the training requirements at district level and, also, plan and implement training programmes accordingly. Creation of resource centers at the Block and Cluster levels has replaced the earlier administrative type of inspection system in Gujarat. There is a greater emphasis now on follow up of teacher training and support visits by BRC and CRC co-ordinators wherein teachers receive academic counseling and are assisted in their efforts to cope with the changing teaching/ learning situations.

In the above context, concrete steps have been taken in terms of development of new textbooks, curriculum review, orientation of teachers towards new pedagogy, which can be broadly defined as child - centered, activity based and joyful teaching/learning. The State Resource Group (SRG) for pedagogy has been playing an important role in the pedagogical renewal process. Block and Cluster Resource centres have been operationalised. The TLM grant and school grants are made available to all schools in the state under either DPEP or SSA.

INTEGRATED EDUCATION FOR DISABLED CHILDREN

Children with Special Needs
Under SSA and DPEP, efforts are made to give quality education to children with special needs. Some kind of liaison with parents of such children is extremely essential. Parent Councils were formed and regular meetings held on creating awareness on various disabilities. Parents were urged to hold a positive attitude and have faith in the abilities of disabled children. The Council has provided the platform to discuss family, social, education, rehabilitation issues and various psychological barriers related to disabilities.

Parents of disabled children have been nominated as member of VEC in SSA districts and all the members have undergone intensive training. In addition, Parents Councils have been formed in every village constituting of parents of disabled children. The members of Parent Council are trained on dealing with specific issues pertaining to children with various disabilities.

Generating Awareness
To mobilize the parents and teachers, posters (awareness material) for Locomotor Disability, Visual Impairment (VI), Mental Retardation (MR) & Hearing Impairment (HI) are prepared and will be distributed in the schools. These posters carry messages on developing a positive attitude towards disabled children by parents, family members’ etc. This awareness material will be used during Parent Council, VEC, MTA, PTA meetings.

Training Strategy for IEDC
In cascade mode, training is imparted to project staff at district, block, cluster and village levels. Class teachers dealing with disabled child is given specific training of the concerned disability at BRC level by qualified and experienced Resource Teachers.

Class teachers of disabled children are oriented on classroom management, attitudinal aspects of teachers, classmates and schoolmates, curricular and co-curricular activities, supplementary literature, use of specific aids and appliances to address the problems of concerned disability of children.

All other teachers of a school with a disabled child are trained on classroom management, attitudinal aspects of teachers, classmate and school mates and co-curricular and curricular activities.

Training Modules
Master Trainers’ Training module was developed and distributed to BRC and CRC levels. Teacher’s training module was developed and distributed in all the schools . The module guides the teachers in Classroom transaction and in changing their attitude towards the disabled children. In addition, the content of the module enables the teachers to design co-curricular activities, content-based teaching methods to suit the needs of children with various disabilities, use of literature in TLM (both standard and subject wise) and use of special aids.

Media & Documentation

Media Advocacy
Media advocacy for primary education, particularly, with respect to education of girls, is the focus area in both SSA and DPEP in Gujarat. A well designed strategy of communication detailing the target groups, media messages and media options have been used to deal with the issues of enrolment and retention in the state. Due to this, both SSA and DPEP projects have generated a lot of goodwill in the communities and obtained their direct participation at the grass root level . This has instilled vital confidence in the project functionaries at all levels.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

SSA-Gujarat is being monitored closely through a computerised information system to track the progress of the project interventions as well as effective utilization of funds. 

To meet the requirements of the programme, the software package known as Educational Management Information System (EMIS) has been used. EMIS monitors programme inputs and educational indicators. Information on expected outcome helps planners and implementors analyse programme impact and effectiveness.

The Management Information System Cell at the State Project Office (SPO) and District Project Offices in all DPEP and SSA districts have been fully operationalised with adequate infrastructure and manpower. 

The series of activities undertaken in MIS can be detailed as under :

• Preparation of Annual Work Plan for SSA for all 25 districts. AWP&B for 6 DPEP districts.

• Analysis of Household survey data and sharing upto village level. Particularly the out of school children and disable children were identified from the household survey. The details was shared upto village level.

• Continuous support to BRCCs by state and district MIS personnel with regard to day to day use of computer in the office work. 

• Implementation of EMIS (DISE) System in remaining (non-DPEP) districts.

PLANNING & MANAGEMENT

Micro planning
Microplanning is an integral part of the decentralized planning effort initiated under DPEP. In fact, micro-planning is an essential step to operationalise the district plans. They are to be seen as a continuous process to ensure local specificity through wider participation in planning and management of primary education.

Participatory microplanning requires local capacity building.

Civil Works By GCPE Under DPEP & SSA
Due to enrollment drive and other access promotion measures, enrollment in primary schools was found to have increased manifold. A sharp rise in enrolment led to overcrowding and put strain on the limited existing schooling infrastructure. To deal with such a situation, construction of new schools, additional classrooms, separate toilets and urinals for girls, provision of drinking water, etc. were taken up by GCPE under DPEP and SSA. In addition, repair works were undertaken in schools. All these interventions have significantly improved the overall pedagogical environment in the primary schools of the project districts.