educationforall-trizinsocialsectorinnova

Figure 1 Education For All (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) logo

The program seeks to open new schools in areas where schooling facilities are not available and strengthen existing school by providing additional infrastructure such as additional class rooms, toilets, and drinking water, maintenance and school improvement grants. In case of inadequate teaching staff, appointment of additional staff, extensive training to the staff, grants for developing

teaching-learning materials and strengthening academic support structure at a cluster, block and district level.

Furthermore, SSA strives to provide quality elementary education including life skills. The program has a special focus on girl's education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to provide computer education.

2.1. Objectives of SSA

Objective of the program is to provide useful and relevant education to all children under the age groups of 6 – 14 and bridge the gap between various social groups, regions and genders. Other objectives of this program are educating children about natural environment and harness human potential and providing opportunity of social justice. Additionally the objective of SSA is to reduce the drop-out rate in elementary schools and improve school facilities.

2.2. Achievements

The literacy rate of India has consistently increased from 1951 to 2001 18 percent to 65 percent. The number of illiterate under the age group of 10 -14 have reduced significantly from 1971 to 1991, from 37 to 30 million [3]. With the SSA movement the number of children not attending school has reduced to 13 million which is approximately 7 percent [4]. As a result of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the estimated number of out-of-school children has come down from 2.3 crore in the beginning of 2003-04 to 81 lakh (30.9.2004). More than 3 lakh additional teachers have been recruited across the country under SSA to ensure appropriate pupil-teacher ratios [5].

Other objective of SSA is to reduce parity between social and gender based differences in educating. This program has specially considered this and initiated tribal education initiatives, Girl education and inclusive education programs.

3. CHALLENGES

This program faced various challenges an achieving actual education for all’, at various levels for example issues on infrastructural, individual, social and economic levels. Some of the challenges were lack of schools in the vicinities in rural areas, adequate facilities in schools such as building, drinking water, toilets and additional infrastructure. Rural areas had another issue of lack of teaching staffs and less enrollments of socially backward and girl children.

The bigger issue faced once these problems were solved were the challenges faced by the government in educating children of poor families, remotely located places and children those who were not interested in formal learning School Drop-Outs. To educate children of remotely located places and poor families, as per the SSA framework a school has been started within one Kilometer of every habitation. Moreover, there is a provision for opening of new

schools as per State norms or for setting up Education Guarantee Schools like schools in unserved habitations [2].

4. REASONS AND LOSSES DUE TO DROP-OUTS

To tackle the challenge of drop-outs the department of education analyzed the problem at grass-root level. On analyzing the problem of drop-outs of school it came up with few reasons. The reasons brainstormed were:

1. children did not like what was taught, they way they were taught or being treated

2. schools are not fun, the method of knowledge transfer was boring, they enjoyed playing, stretched school hour

3. some children cannot sit in class

4. they had some family reasons

5. financial needs and

6. pressure from teachers and requirement to complete the work given in class etc

There are losses to all in the system due to dropping-out of children. These losses are two fold – losses to the society (as a whole) and losses to the children (as a part). Due to drop-outs the society is loosing

7. platform to share information

8. better and educated citizens for tomorrow and

9. all the objectives of Education For All And the drop-outs is loosing

10. information

11. opportunities to grow socially, economically and personally

12. opportunity of perspective building (multi dimensional

thinking)

The initiative of Education For All has already taken care of availability of school in the vicinity so availability of school in nearby area was not any issue. To counter losses and help drop-outs learn and join the main stream, the department of education had to come up with an inventive solution wherein learning can become fun

and drop-outs can learn in environment which may not necessarily be a regular classroom.

5. APPLYING TRIZ TO THIS PROBLEM

On applying TRIZ, in its classical form, to solve such problem the issues are converted to contradictions. In this case, in terms of classical TRIZ [6] the purpose of the Education For All program is to improve society, teach children, so that they become better citizen and strengthen the nation. For this purpose the initiative is

considered as the applied force, i.e. interaction that is intended to change an object's (objects are children in the system) condition (at times expectations of teachers during and after class as well as over all push of this initiative). The children dropping-out of the school was the worsening effect in terms of classical TRIZ that is an Object-

generated harmful factors i.e. a harmful effect reducing the efficiency or quality of the functioning of the object or system. These harmful effects are generated by the object or system, as part of its operation. The dropping- out children are defeating the purpose of the initiative thus drop-out is considered as object generated harmful

factors.

The contractions are – intensity of the initiative has to be increased to reach the target (applied force) improving factor this reduces the effectiveness as children drop-out and defeat the purpose of the initiative (object generated harmful factor) – Force (Intensity) 10 Vs Object-generated harmful factors 31.

The solution directions suggested by the classical TRIZ contradiction matrix and principles for this type of problem are –

Principle 13. The other way round

Principle 3. Local quality

Principle 36. Phase transition and

Principle 24. intermediatory action

The principle 13 upfront suggests that invert the action(s) used to solve the problem; “bring the mountain to Mohammed, instead of bringing Mohammed to the mountain”. [7] The solution could be, instead of driving children to school send schools to children.

The principle 3, suggests change the local quality of the system, that is add some aid that can attract children.

The department of education applied these principles together when it developed Mobile School Van (Chalta Firta School). This bus is fitted with a 40-inch flat screen digital television, computer, library and sports equipment. It functions as a learning resource center. Portable fencing and awnings that extend out from the van will provide classroom space. “It’s modeled on the principle of airplanes,

filling a compact area with as many resources as possible” [8]. Initially, two buses are operated by the department. Each bus has two teachers specially trained to educate children through books, computers, exhibits, films, workshops, etc [9].

Figure 2 Depiction of mobile school by Hindustan Times illustrator – Durga

The chalta-phirta mobile school bus service started on a pilot basis and it took education to the doorstep of such children who either can’t go to school or have dropped out because of various reasons. It is anticipated that unlike classrooms, it would be difficult to miss.

Government is running these “Chalta Firta School” (Mobile School) in Delhi to overcome problems of drop-outs. These buses will initially reach the most marginalized of children. In Delhi, it will first travel into slums and JJ clusters of east and central Delhi. It will stop for two-hour sessions, three to four times, six days a week, in districts with inadequate school access and a high incidence of “out-ofschool”

children between the ages of 6 and 14. Additionally, in the evenings, these buses will work on adult literacy programs.

On the hind side, this concept of “'Mobile' School” is very effectively used by Idea, an Indian cellular phone operating company, for its advertisement [10]. This advertisement is a step further to use of technology effectively, without much use of infrastructure and works as audio conferencing, seminar and classroom.

6. MAKING NEW POLICIES USING TRIZ

TRIZ is a very powerful tool for innovation. Though it was developed using patents and was built around product innovations, TRIZ principles are very effective for solving any contradiction in service industry too. It has suggested efficient solutions for problems in HR domains of business [11] and solving other business problems [12].

Moreover, another simple yet powerful policy change solution was suggested recently for problems related with travel infrastructure of one of the biggest cities of the world, Mumbai.

7. SUMMARY

TRIZ is very effective for innovations in social sector also, its fundamental concepts of resolving contradictions defining and listing attributes and creating a system are very helpful making resilient new policies. In otherwords, TRIZ, when understood and interpreted in different domains can be used to innovate, surprisingly in different

sectors such as social sector and service sectors.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I extend my sincere thanks to my parents, who are teachers and are associated with Education For All initiative for a long time, and my colleague Anish Kunhambu for contributing for this paper and brainstorming sessions.

REFERENCES

[1] Reilly Jones, Purpose of Education, http://home.-comcast.net/~reillyjones/education.html

[2] Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan website http://ssa.nic.in/Youtube link for promo of Education For All initiative of Government of India

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veCr6Ci3NnI

[3] Mahendra K. Prem, “INDIA’S LITERACY PANORAMA”, Seminar on progress of literacy in india: what the Census 2001 preveals NIEPA, New Delhi, October 05, 2002 http://www.educationforallinindia.com/page172.htm

[4] Survey report of out of school children http://ssa.nic.in/ssadoc/Report_Part_2.pdf

[5] Annual report 2004-05 Government of India http://education.nic.in/Annualreport2004-05/EEduLit.pdf

[6] Ellen Domb et al, “The 39 Features of Altshuller’s Contradiction Matrix”, THE TRIZ-Journal issue November 1998, http://www.trizjournal.

com/archives/1998/11/d/index.htm

[7] Ellen Domb et al, “40 Inventive Principles With Examples”, THE TRIZ-Journal issue July 1997, http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/1997/07/b/index.html

[8] The Indian Express news article, http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/To-retain-school-dropoutseducation-goes-mobile/259843/

[9] The Hindustan Times news article, http://www.hindustantimes.in/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6b684097-e4a8-4149-8978-9c06cbd7414e

[10] Youtube link of Advertisement of Idea, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bh3HP51rJs

[11] Prakasan Kappoth et al, Managing Emotions: Applying the Substance-field Theory http://search.realinnovation.com/b/trk?

uid=b0ac80f8220ffdb1&sn=157456965&ip=122.170.29.162&lgkKy=kappoth&rn=2&http://www.triz-journal.-com/archives/2008/06/05/

[12] Prakasan Kappoth et al, Case Study: Use TRIZ to solve complex business problems http://www.triz-journal.com/archives/2008/10/02/