In one of development's pampered districts in Orissa, chamar children are still polishing shoes, some even as they are supposedly schooling. Special economic packages are helping only a little here, and academic performance and serious rehabilitation remain abysmal, finds Ranjan K Panda.
A few months of learning using the primers developed by Utthan have helped over 2000 women in the ravine regions of Bundelkhand so far; they no longer rely on the assistance of others for their daily reading needs. Freny Manecksha reports that crossing this threshold helps open the women many other doors too.
Efforts to make learning more interactive and more fun for students appear promising, but it may be too soon to judge if they are positively impacting children's performance in standard tests and surveys. Meanwhile, teachers complain that these efforts have added to their already heavy burden. Padmalatha Ravi reports.
India Together is published with support from Oorvani Foundation.
