Reflections from Fatehgarh Sahib- Young Leaders driving Change!
Jaspreet Singh, a dedicated volunteer, and supporter of Sanjhi Sikhiya, visited us at Fatehgarh Sahib on his recent India trip. Here are his reflections on his visit and interaction with Sanjhi Sikhiya!
I had the opportunity to visit Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab in early January to meet the Sanjhi Sikhiya(SS) team and the Young Leaders of Punjab Youth Leaders Program’s (PYLP) first cohort. The trip was almost to the year after my first conversation with Manu during which he had shared the vision behind the journey the SS team had embarked upon few months ago and his personal commitment to Punjab. They made steady progress during the year to select and induct the founding cohort of PYLP young leaders and set in motion the transformation of the primary education system in Punjab. The team shared many updates through conversations, posters and emails and it was encouraging to see the progress they were making. They have an infectious drive and that got me to visit Fatehgarh Sahib and meet them in person, know them better, observe what is it like in the schools in Punjab and how the program is helping to change the system. I took the first opportunity on my next trip to India and I am glad to have some of their energy rub off on me. The reality on ground is inspiring especially when you start to understand the challenges and the impact created within just six months.
Punjab is in the midst of a socio-economic crisis. Punjab has dropped from 3rd to 16th in per capita income among states in over two decades, has 16% youth unemployment compared to the national average of 10% and 65% of the households have at least one drug addict. The education system has seen a massive drop in standards and quality, with 70% of public primary students failing in basic English, Punjabi and Maths, 40% of students failing in their 10th and 12th Board exams and half of the secondary age students not enrolled in schools. The ambition of majority of the youth in Punjab is to migrate overseas and one can see coaching centers to learn and speak English and visa application centers mushrooming all over the state.
It is within this broader context that the SS team designed the PYLP and initiated the process of building the kafila of inspired youth to buck the trend and pursue the dream of rebuilding a Chadhda Punjab by focusing first on improving the standard of the education system in Punjab. The problem is two-fold: one of governance and the other of learning.
Governance:
Education being a state subject is governed by the state education department. The governance structure flows from the state to district to block to cluster to every individual school established in each pind as part of the Right to Education act. However, government schools do not attract majority of children in many villages given that many parents prefer to send the children to private schools. The children in government schools are likely to be from the marginalized sections of the society who typically are unable to influence the panchayat enough to care for and nurture the village school. And this results in the viscous loop of lower standards resulting in lower enrollment. The very first step is to disrupt the cycle and get the community including the panchayat members and parents to work together with the school teachers and administrators to address the challenges faced by the school in their pind. The SS team and PYLP young leaders spent the first six months bringing together all stakeholders in every pind to devise and then implement the plan at their respective school where the entire community takes ownership with the spirit that Pind da School is Pind da Maan. It was a tough task to make the community members take them seriously and believe in the value of the exercise. The young leaders had to very carefully start building a coalition with those who cared and gradually get the panchayat members to see the value in upgrading the standard of the schools where they do not send their children to. The first few Gram Sikhiya Sabhas(GSS) helped the teachers to feel heard and supported, the parents to share their concerns about the welfare of their children and the community to realize the collective benefit. Thereafter, the actions taken by the teachers to upgrade the school infrastructure with help from the panchayat increased the confidence that more can be achieved. It also helped convince panchayats from other pinds. The 60+ GSS that were conducted across various pinds with participation and commitment from all community members were remarkable in that it was the first time the community members were engaged in a meaningful manner to participate and contribute to the welfare of the school. The government has recently sanctioned grants to schools to renovate the school buildings in a manner such that buildings can be used as learning aids and also install smart TVs so that interactive teaching content can be delivered via apps (technology being used to standardize and deliver content). One could easily see the progress being made in each school being directly corelated to the enthusiasm and support from the panchayat as well as the broader community in the pind with the teachers also feeling more accountable and appreciated. The level of engagement from the community in all pinds is not the same and the young leaders have shown determination and belief to continue the dialogue so that no school and no child is left behind.
Learning:
After establishing a sustainable governance model with ownership from the community, the young leaders have now embarked on increasing the learning outcomes of children. This is a big step up and a critical challenge for the young leaders. For all the good work and trust that has been built, a demonstrable increase in the learning outcome is fundamentally essential to meet the objective and build belief in the vision. The immediate task is to first seek feedback from teachers, parents and panchayat members across schools to understand the challenges in delivering the content designed by the department. The cluster (containing 8–10 schools) academic meetings are now being scheduled with the aim of covering all schools before the end of the academic year so that the summer break can be used to design and plan actions which can be implemented in the next academic year i.e. the second year of the young leadership program.
The young leaders have been tasked to cover 90+ schools in Fatehgarh Sahib district i.e. each fellow individually accountable for 9 -10 schools per cluster as defined by the education department. The young leaders are a varied mix with different and very fascinating backstories. At high level: 6/10 are females, 2/10 are from outside Punjab, 4/10 are below 25 but 10/10 have the drive to make a difference in the lives of the children and very keen to ensure that every school in their cluster achieves the progress that is desired and expected. It was encouraging to see their willingness to learn and help each other as each one of them understood the responsibility handed to them. Every morning, the young leaders travel to each of their pinds to spend time at the schools with the teachers and when possible with the community members too. Some days can also be frustrating given a lack of progress or commitment from the panchayat. They spend the evenings reflecting on their engagements, sharing ideas and learnings with each other and plan the next steps. They have built their credibility and together with the relationships established by them with the schools and the community in the pind action plans are already being designed and implemented in majority of the schools.
These young leaders are learning valuable leadership skills on how to build a coalition, co create a vision and a plan that all stakeholders buy into and then deliver. There are multiple challenges, small and big but they are being ably guided and supported by an ecosystem that consists of SS team members as well as many partner organizations that either have expertise in specific areas or have experience in transforming education systems in other parts of India. During my stay in Fatehgarh Sahib, I was fortunate to meet Ashishji from India Education Collective who spent a couple of days with the young leaders listening to their experience from past six months and accordingly coaching them to address certain challenges as well as preparing them to facilitate the cluster academic meetings by accompanying them and co-leading the very first one. In a few years you will have built a strong eco system consisting of young leaders, community members, department officials as well as partner organizations that keep building on the progress to raise the quality and standard of the education system relied on by over 19,000 schools in the state of Punjab alone.
In addition to all the impressive and inspiring work the young leaders are doing on ground, the SS team members together with members from three other partner organizations have earned a seat on the table with the education secretary to help him design the right policy guidelines based on feedback from the young leaders to help accelerate the plans of the department. It is very rare for such a young organization (though not surprising once you meet the SS team members) to be at the center of both policy design and policy implementation. They are in a unique position and their ability to translate the inputs from the schools and community to help the department devise the right programs and material is extremely valuable. This is precisely the USP of SS now, that they have the perfect feedback loop between shaping the policy and implementing at the grassroot level. This enables them to truly transform the system from within. And when you layer it with the commitment and the sheer drive of the SS team including the young leaders of PYLP, you start to better understand the impact on schools and gradual sustainable change within the education system. The next cohort of 20–25 PYLP young leaders (to be selected from over 260 applicants) is expected to hit the ground in July 2020 and focus on the schools in another district (Patiala/Ludhiana) in Punjab. And herein lies the next challenge for the SS team: How to ensure the values of the organization are sustained as they scale, and the quality of the output always meets the standard expected. It will be the consistency of this delivery that will help maintain the momentum around the transformation journey. Another challenge is to be able to truly measure improvement in the learning abilities of the children and how you implement the system widely with help from the education department.
I fundamentally believe that intellect and ambition are evenly spread but access to opportunities is not. Good quality education opens this door to children from all sections of the society. It is not surprising then that in all developed countries of the world, majority of the children are educated in government schools. Education is a fundamental right and parents should not be compelled to send them to expensive private schools. Hence I am glad the SS team has chosen education and the standards of the primary schooling system in Punjab as the first challenge to focus on.
One has to only look at the history of the region to realize that Punjab is a land of resilience. And when you have the youth leading from the front with the right intent, values and grit one can definitely hope and begin to see the world of possibilities. It is no wonder that this youth brigade has started its journey in Fatehgarh Sahib, perhaps seeking the energy and courage from the youngest Sahibzaades.
If any of this resonates with you or you want play a part, no matter how small (every drop of sweat counts) please reach out, share your ideas, come along and join or support the kafila on this transformative journey.
