Mahila Vikas

Tribal Children’s Education Project in

Gajapati district, Orissa

Primary Steward: Arjun Dutt

Orissa, India

Gajapati district
 Project Description
 Location: Gajapti District, Orissa
 Area (urban/rural): Rural
 Primary Focus: Dropout and non-school going children of
Saura tribals – inadequate govt schools
 Project Type: Class 1-3 primary education
 Amount Requested (US$): 8080
 Purpose of Funding Request: Operating Learning Centers
 # of Beneficiaries: 200 children/year
 Project Goals
 Provide education and healthcare to tribal girls and
empower female population.
 Provide primary education to girl children of ages 5-12
years from class 1 through class 3.
 Run 15 bridge course centers in 5 panchayats to enroll
dropout and non-school going children in govt schools.
 Utilize prolonged community involvement through –
 Established rapport of female literacy project (SHG)
 Project started by community, of community and for
community.
 Project Background/Impact
 Project request through Mrs. Sibani Panigrahi,
secretary, Mahila Vikas by email.
 Continuous contact with project and site visit
volunteers.
 Site visit done by Raj Jeba Durai from Asha Honors
and Jitendra Sinha, Indo-Swiss Foundation.
 Organization Description
 Mahila Vikas – Wealth of experience in tribal
development
 Founder: Mrs. Pramila Sabar – belongs to tribe
 President: Mr. Raj Kishore Panda
 Secretary: Mrs. Sibani Panigrahi
 Other Activities: Formation of SHGs, Water and
Sanitation, Accelerated Female Literacy.
 Helped educate about 15K, 15-35 year old tribal
women, formed SHGs, built rapport and awareness in
community.
 Existing Infrastructure/Facilities
 Mahila Vikas staff is 6 FT and 16 volunteers from the
community.
 Utilize existing community halls in villages for learning
centers – can accommodate 50 students.
 Training Barefoot teachers to teach in learning centers.
 Training for the community VEC, SHG, CBO
Mahila Vikas
 Curriculum/Pedagogy
 Specially designed curriculum for dropout and non-
school going children to prepare for govt schools.
 Teaching aids used to make learning fun and creative.
 Games, Puppets, Model making, Singing, Drama.
 Study tours to connect lessons with real world.
 Children’s festival – Balmela for self-expression.
 Awareness through PTA meetings.
 Teacher/Student Ratio of 1/35
 Expected Outcomes/What After?
 200 dropout/non-school going girl children will be
admitted to the govt schools.
 Awareness level of tribals towards education will
improve.
 Metric of success is number of students accepted in
govt schools each year.
 Conduct appraisals for Barefoot teachers and students.
 Conduct monthly review meetings and inform Asha.
 Conduct exams to check progress of children.
 Send project work photos to Asha every month.
 Budget for Requested Funding

LEARNING CENTER Rs 1,12,500

Learning and training material, Healthcare,
Study Tours and Outings
ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS Rs 2,31,000
Salary of teachers and project coordinator,
Travel allowance to villages.
OFFICE MANAGEMENT Rs 20,000
Stationery, Furniture, Project Review
TOTAL Rs. 3,63,500
(USD 8,080)
 Other Funding Sources
 No other funding sources as of now.
 Funding for previous projects from govt sources but
unlikely now due to shrinking education budget.
 Continuing costs. Recommended that we fund in
installments to measure progress.
 Site Visit Report
 Site visit conducted by Raj Jeba Durai (Asha Honors)
from Oct 10th – 15th, 2006.
 Confirmation from Jitendra Sinha (Indo-Swiss foundation)
 Tribal girl children are neglected and need support.
 Parents are eager to send children to learning centers.
 Great deal of community involvement through support,
SHGs, villagers monitor project progress.
 Mahila Vikas staff are dedicated and from the area.
 Lots of women are involved in the operational aspects.
 SWOT Analysis
Strengths/Opportunities Weaknesses/Risks
 Large impact to female  Govt schools might not
literacy and empowerment. increase capacity.
 Essential ingredients/  Sustainability of livelihood
infrastructure in place. of villagers in long-term.
 Opportunity to learn from a
community based project.
 Proven track record.
 Low incidence of early child
marriage.
 Steward Recommendation
 High need and high impact project - Saura Tribals
have been neglected by govt and local population.
 Unique opportunity to learn from a project started by,
of and from the area.
 Contribute to a large cause of female empowerment,
poverty by solving education and healthcare needs of
children.
 Fund the entire amount to Mahila Vikas in
installments.
Project Discussion/Decision
Mahila Vikas Learning Centers
 Discussion (10 minutes)
 Questions/Thoughts
 Arguments for funding
 Arguments against funding
 Decision (5 minutes)
 Round I: Need more information/Can decide today?
 If ready to decide:
 Round II: Fund/Do not fund
 If decided to fund:
 Round III: Fund full amount/Fund part amount

Notes:
1. Please vote only if you are familiar with the project details and our
overall funding philosophy
2. Decision to be made by 2/3rd majority. Quorum of 5.
3. All projects must be resolved by the 2nd meeting