Celebrating Abundance in Collabaction

Unlocking the Ability to See Growth

Simple Education Foundation (SEF)’s Assessments Empowering Every Child

SEF just kicked off assessments across partner schools in Delhi & Uttarakhand for the academic year 2023-24. These assessments are one of the ways for us to learn about our children’s learning levels and growth. However, in these few weeks, we have also witnessed the power and impact of a safe and loving environment on children.

We see our children laughing and excited to take assessments, pretending to have not taken the assessment so they can retake it, feeling safe enough to tell their assessor that they don’t know an answer, and being content with their progress.  

“Mujhe aata nahi but main try karungi” - A Grade 2 student before starting assessments

There are 3 softer aspects of conducting safe assessments through which we create this experience to which children look back not with fear and insecurity but with pride and a sense of celebration:

• Honoring Children’s Agency | Simply checking in with children to understand their feelings and whether they’re prepared to take an assessment goes a long way. It gives them a chance to not engage in a process that may be unpleasant for them and return when they feel their best.

• Overtly Communicating Intent | Openly sharing the purpose of assessments and our intent behind knowing their learning levels helps children detach from the fear of punitive action and confidently engage in the process.

• Celebrating on the Go | Making growth visible to children at different stages of the assessments (especially on beginner learning levels) instantly motivates them. Everyone at SEF shows up as a cheerleader during assessments to make sure our children keep trying and doing their best!

The cumulative impact of the assessments is best summarised in the words of Juhi* (Grade 2). Noticing her own progress from struggling to recognise letters at the beginning of the academic year to completing a Level 1 Hindi reading passage during her assessment, she remarked “Main bohot khush hu, main poori Hindi pad paayi” (I’m very happy, I could read the entire Hindi passage).

Juhi* engaged in a Hindi speaking and writing activity

*Name changed for privacy

These softer aspects are strongly interlinked with the culture in our schools and within the SEF Team. We strongly believe in consistently showing up with the values that we want our Government partners and children to embody, and assessments are one such process where we strive to bring this value shift.

This article is contributed by Simple Education Foundation which is on a mission to increase the standard of teaching in India’s Government schools to ensure every child has access to an educator who empowers them to thrive in life. They are working with State governments and Government schools  (in Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Punjab) to build needs-based capacity-building programs and enhance children's learning quality. If you want to connect with SEF and learn more about how design and implement safe assessments are designed by them, please click here.

Kickstarting Dreams

#Spotlight Story: Riya Rani from Yuwa

From the time Riya Rani joined her Yuwa football team as a spirited 9-year-old in 2013, she wanted to lead. Yuwa’s three interconnected programs - football teams, workshops, and an all-girls school - represent a single, holistic, intensive strategy to give vulnerable girls the confidence, leadership skills, education, and tools they need to break out of poverty.

Riya was dazzled by the concept of a female football coach and quickly announced that she planned to become a coach as well. Coming from a family of subsistence farmers who live below the poverty line, Riya’s parents expected that she too would drop out of school as a young teenager and get married without pursuing higher education or a career. Through many home-visits and meetings between Yuwa staff and Riya's family, her parents slowly began to see their daughter's education as an investment in her future. Over the past decade of being a Yuwa student, football player, and coach, Riya's dreams have grown and taken shape despite incredible odds.

Over the years, Riya and her family have suffered from domestic violence as a result of her father’s alcoholism. Yuwa staff have led interventions with her family and worked to involve both her parents in Yuwa School’s Management Committee, which resulted in a reduction in the violence at home over time.

All of her hopes for her future nearly imploded in 2018 after Riya Rani acquired a serious illness that resulted in extended absence from school. But she didn't give up, and neither did the Yuwa staff. After working with local medical professionals, Yuwa staff helped Riya Rani get the diagnosis and treatment she needed. The Yuwa teachers gave Riya Rani one-on-one tutoring until she was able to rejoin her class, eventually getting back on track both academically and socially. "Yuwa helped me to save my life," Riya reflects on that time. "If I was not in Yuwa, I would be married now."

Throughout her decade at Yuwa, Riya Rani gravitated towards leadership roles as a coach, as a life-skills workshop facilitator, as a member of student council, and—most recently—as an outspoken advocate for mental health who is unafraid to speak about her own personal struggles. Today, Riya is studying Environmental Science on a full scholarship at one of the top private universities in India: Azim Premji University. She graduated from Yuwa School in May 2023. Receiving her full scholarship to Azim Premji University, as the first person in her family to pursue higher education, was an emotional culmination to Riya Rani's remarkable journey.

This article is contributed by Yuwa. Yuwa is a community-based non-profit organization which uses sport and education to enable girls in rural Jharkhand to take their futures into their own hands.

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