Orissa Government to implement Block Excellence Programme to develop Primary Education

Build up self esteem of teachers through community mobilization, directed the Chief Secretary while presiding over a presentation session on Primary Education held in secretariat conference hall recently. The main theme of presentation was block excellence programme for improving the learning level of students in Primary Level through systematic intervention.
The Annual Status of Education Review (ASER) will be done  through the programme and necessary interventions will be tailored to fit to State’s requirement. It has been decided that the programme will be started on pilot basis in  30 districts with one block from each district.   Hundred schools in each of the adopted block will be covered under the programme during current academic session. The learning level of the students will be ascertained through
pre-assessment analysis. Other major activities of the programme include  teacher’s training, development and distribution of teaching learning materials mobilization of  Mothers Committees, Local communities, village panchyats and  women groups, remedial classes
through trained teachers & volunteers and post- assessment of the learning level of students.
The entire Programme will be implemented on PPP mode through partnership among Sarva Sikshya Abhijan Authorities, Pratham, an organization working in the field of primary education in India and Human Development Foundation Bhubaneswar. According to preliminary
estimate near about Rs.100/- per child will be utilized in the programme. The Chief Secretary Sri Patnaik has directed to train all the teachers in those schools so that the programme can be self
sustaining. He has also directed that pre-assessment of all the students should be done and remedial measures should be taken to bring up the child from where he/she is. By now, Pratham has already deployed 210 field staff and 15 staff at state level foe monitoring and management of the programme.
The Secretary School & Mass Education Aparajita Sadangi has told that an external assessment will done after completion of the programme and continuity of the programme will be considered on the basis of the real achievement of this pilot programme. The Director, OPEPA K.G.Mohapatra, Additional Director H.R.Satpathy ,  Director, Pratham Usha Rani participated in discussions while the Adviser Pratham Odisha , Dhanada Mishra and Secretary HDF Sudarshan Das  made the presentation.