Back To School programme launched to support re-enrolment of school students in Telangana

Hyderabad : The second edition of the Back To School was launched virtually by Transform Schools, People For Action in partnership with Bajaj Finserv. The programme aims to re-enrol students of classes 7 to 9 who are at risk of dropping out or have dropped out, to continue or rejoin mainstream education. Team members from Transform Schools, Bajaj Finserv, and partners from the first phase of Back To School programme – United Way of Hyderabad and Qualcomm India attended the online launch along with students and community members who were present at Govt. Mauzzamshahi High School and Ahmed Nagar Community Centre in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Key successes of the first phase of the Back To School programme were:

• 26% of the students who dropped out were re-enrolled and 48% students at the risk of dropout were retained in school
• 71% of students in English, 92% in Science and 96% in Math demonstrated learning gains
• The average score at endline for students with >75% attendance was significantly better

“We had forgotten the basics of our subjects during the two years of school closures. This programme helped us reconnect with our previous knowledge of our last classes. The programme further helped us to cope with the running syllabus”, – Ayesha, a class 9 student shared how phase one of the Back To School programme helped her and her classmates.

The second phase of the programme in partnership with Bajaj Finserv will identify students, at risk of dropping out, via vulnerability risk assessment and mapping (VRAM) tool. As a part of the initiative, 180 hours of learning content, focused on supporting the academic and socio-emotional needs of students, will be provided through printed workbooks, instructional videos, and community classes conducted by trained Community Academic Volunteers (CAVs).  The programme will cover four subjects English, Math, Science and Telugu for students in the local Telugu-medium schools implemented via a community-learning approach will address learning loss and enable students to better understand and learn at grade-level.

Leena Rajan, Deputy National Lead CSR, Bajaj Finserv while outlining the reason for their support to the programme said, “The learning losses have taken place throughout the grades, pre and post-covid. Transform Schools presents a solution that focuses on a holistic solution by including SMCs, communities,, teacher training, Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) sessions with digital delivery modes, is a need of the hour to improve the quality of education.”

In her closing remarks Dr. Richa Goswami, Assistant Director of Programmes, Transform Schools emphasised the need for the programme and what makes it successful, “While it is true that Back To School is an intervention conceptualised from the urgent demand created by the pandemic the problem it solves had existed even before the school closures. Learning delays is a complex challenge and requires a multidimensional solution. Transform’s Back To School programme tries to do this and going by the results seems to be showing a way forward.”