What It Is

The key components of the School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program were:

Early Warning System (EWS)

The EWS helped teachers identify students at risk of dropping out of school, using student level data.

At-risk students were supported through response strategies such as phone calls, home visits, individual attention in classroom and peer support.

Parent Engagement

Activities designed to reach out to parents to increase parental appreciation of schooling, awareness of dropouts, and their responsibilities towards their child’s education.

Enrichment Program (EP)

In-school activities for children, focusing on language, body movement, sports, and arts and crafts encouraged free expression and creative thinking to make school more fun and to motivate attendance, engagement and positive behaviour.

What We Did

Quest Alliance worked closely with the Bihar Education Project Council and other stakeholders in Samastipur district, Bihar, to implement Anandshala, a model that ensures that every child stays, engages and learns in school by fostering positive relationships between children, teachers and parents.

Based on the 3 years’ experience, the model has been adapted for greater relevance to the existing school system, and is being taken forward in collaboration with Bihar Education Project Council across 20 blocks of Samastipur, Bihar, in 990 schools for grades 5 to 8.

The intervention will support headmasters and teachers in the effective implementation of existing school activities such as MUHIM (student attendance tracking and response), parent-teacher meetings, and Satat Aur Vayapak Mulyankan (comprehensive and continuous evaluation).

Who We Reached

The SDPP Anandshala program was implemented in Grade V classrooms for 3 academic cycles starting from 2012-13 in 113 intervention schools and 107 control schools across 13 blocks in Samastipur District. The program covered:

• 43,625 phone calls
• 35,218 home visits
• 16,448 students reached (8618 girls, 7830 boys)
• 17,792 parents reached through Open House
• 119 female and 107 male community champions trained
• 60 voice messages broadcasted (49 scripted, 11 school-based)
• 224 teachers trained (85 Female, 139 Male)
• 113 headmasters trained (28 Female, 85 Male)
• 66 language, 66 arts and crafts, 60 sport enrichment sessions conducted for 3 cohorts

The impact of the School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program on students, parents and teachers were:

Students

• Higher rates of school attendance
• Improved classroom and teacher-student engagement
• Greater curiosity, increased expressiveness

Parents

• Greater awareness of school activities
• Increased visits to school with the regular parent teacher interactions
• More involvement with children

Teachers

• Deeper understanding of student problems
• Ability to identify support strategies for classroom engagement and learning enhancement
• Enhanced facilitation and leadership skills through capacity building