Maharashtra To Engage One Million Parents To Teach Basic Skills To Their Children, Enlists Help From NGOs

In a bid to improve the quality of education in government-run institutions, the education department of Maharashtra has enlisted one million parents of Class 1 to 3 students to teach them fundamental skills. The state government has chosen Pratham, an NGO that works towards improving the quality of education across all strata of society, to impart training to these parents.

Help Children With Reading & Numeracy

The Education Ministry of India's Nipun Bharat programme -- a part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 -- was introduced in Maharashtra five months ago to help children in Class 1 through 8 in becoming proficient in reading with understanding and numeracy, Hindustan Times reported.

The programme guarantees that by the end of third grade, every kid in India has acquired the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy, stated Kailas Pagare, state project director for Samagra Shiksha's Maharashtra Prathamik Shikshan Parishad (MPSP). He added that Nipun Bharat focuses on changing the monotonous educational system into one that is integrated, fun, all-inclusive, and engaging.

One NGO has been designated in each district to provide training for the pupils' remedial studies. The project has begun to improve children's understanding, and by 2026, the state hopes all Class 3 kids will be proficient in basic reading, writing, and math skills, Pagare said.

State Enlists Help Of NGOs

The state has tasked Pratham, an , to educate the parents of eligible students across the state. According to Hemlata Sasane, project coordinator for Pratham, the NGO has created 2.5 lakh Mata-Palak groups (Mother-Parent Groups) in villages with a total of 1 million parents throughout the state.

"Special efforts have been made in this initiative to ensure that children receive education both at home and at school. For this, a video is sent to parents every week in which parents are given new ideas to educate students. Each group's leader keeps an eye on the fact that the parents provide education to the students at home," Sasane said.

The state has recruited Leadership For Equity, an NGO, to give administrative support for educational progress. Sai Prasad, assistant director of Leadership For Equity, said they are developing a roadmap to streamline the implementation of many educational programmes, including Nipun Bharat, to coordinate at the state and district levels. "We will be looking at the long-term planning of various activities carried out under the Department of Education through public policy and procedures and ensure that even if there are changes at the administrative level, it does not pose any threat to the projects," he said.

However, many have raised concerns about the government enlisting the help of NGOs to conduct the programme. Mahendra Ganpule, a representative of the State Principals Federation, has questioned why the state government must appoint non-profit organisations rather than interact with citizens through a capable system like the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). Additionally, he questioned whether the government's employment of NGOs for educational purposes reflected a lack of confidence in its system.

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