There are quite a few groups in the country who are struggling to bring about a change in the government school system. Improving existing schools implies confronting complacent teachers and traditional practices. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of documentation to give these groups and their efforts the critical attention they deserve.

We have brought out a book that compiles 23 such efforts that have been made across India. The book has an introduction that places the essays in context. It also includes an all-India directory of groups involved with government schooling.

The book is available at Sutradhar for Rs 300.

We believe that the effort to overhaul existing schools must be made quickly. Since, parents, the stakeholders who need to be involved in demanding school improvement, are sending their children to private schools even while a huge government infrastructure languishes.

Fingertips (fingertips.sutradharindia.org)

In the year 1999, Sutradhar undertook to compile "Fingertips" - a child resource directory for Bangalore. The directory aimed at making child-related services in Bangalore better known and utilised. Fingertips has over 400 entries, organised in seven sections, and provides a comprehensive overview of services available in the areas of Child development, Education, Health, Disability, Recreation and Support services. It also includes a listing of Helplines. The directory is the first directory of its kind in the country. Each listing provides details like addresses and phone numbers, information on the key services, and opportunities to help.

Sutradhar offers teacher development workshops for NGOs serving underprivileged children in Bangalore. Our training programmes focus on building the capacities of teachers and field staff working in preschool and non-formal education.
We have organised workshops on language, math, games, the creative use of teaching aids, the pedagogical and therapeutic uses of toys for special needs, puppetry and storytelling, sexuality education. We welcome resources and suggestions on training programmes we could organise.

Design

As a resource centre involved in the design of learning resources, Sutradhar aims at understanding the needs of different user groups, and identifies the lacunae that exist in the availability of quality material that teachers find useful. Sutradhar has been designing and developing toys for teachers and special educators for the last seven years (refer to past projects - Toys for the disabled and Early Learning Kit). Our current focus is on developing creative and recreational math material.

FORCES

FORCES - The forum for Creche and Childcare Services, is a national level advocacy network committed to securing the rights of the underprivileged child, 0-6 years. This network has eight state chapters and over 50 member organisations.

Sutradhar initiated the Karnataka chapter of FORCES in 2001. The network has about 15 members. These include resource centres and field based groups; working in education, child labour, disability and health. These groups work in both rural and urban settings, with children as well as women and the community.

We have also compiled a database of 46 Bangalore based organisations working in the area of Early Childhood Care and Education.

Contact us:

1. To join the FORCES network and advocate for the young child.
2. If you would like to be included in the ECCD database we are compiling

(Early Childhood Directory)

A study of Anganwadis in Bangalore, 2002

Anganwadi centres are run by the Department of Women and Child Development to serve young, underprivileged children in Karnataka. An anganwadi centre is meant to provide health, nutrition and pre-school education to children under 6 years. This is the most critical stage in human development.

There are 40,000 anganwadis in Karnataka run under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). ICDS is the world's largest programme for young children. With all of its problems and constraints, it continues to be a programme unparalleled by any other initiative, public or private. As a large service provider with significant financial outlays, the ICDS needs to be subject to public audit.

Many ICDS evaluations (regional and national) have been conducted to date of varying scales. However, the members of Karnataka FORCES felt that a localised study would be of value, as it would help local NGOs understand lacunae, help in improving the functioning of the centres, and enhance anganwadi-community links.

In the year 2002, 11 member organisations of Karnataka FORCES took up the study of 37 anganwadi centres in Bangalore urban and rural. The key issues for advocacy that emerged through this study were:

1. Each centre to have its own space adequate for 40 children with minimum facilities
2. The anganwadi worker must be present at the centre
3. The centre should be open the whole day
4. Provide a hot cooked meal; use seasonal and nutritious fruits and vegetables
5. Growth monitoring should be properly carried out
6. Reduce the number of records to be maintained by the anganwadi worker

If you wish to have the full report, please contact us at sutra@vsnl.com

The Young Child in Karnataka: A Status Report, 2004

The status report on the young child was commissioned by Karnataka FORCES in 2003-2004. As the state convenor of the network, Sutradhar conceived and managed the project. The status report looks at key issues and programmes that relate to the young child (under 6 years) in Karnataka.

Researchers in child rights, education, health and women’s issues have contributed to this document. The document attempts to synthesise and analyse available secondary information. This has been a challenge, as government data lies scattered and is not always available in the public domain.

A set of eight themes was chosen for their significance: demographics, sex selection and determination, maternity provisions, crèches, ICDS, early childhood education, health and nutrition, and disability. Each theme describes various aspects such as:

· Government provisions at the national and state level
· Problems in access / delivery
· NGO efforts in the area
· Areas of future advocacy and research

We hope that this report will provide the larger backdrop and reference point against which future advocacy initiatives, research studies, and community programmes in early childhood can be positioned. The report is also for sale at Sutradhar for a subsidised price of Rs 250.