Punjab Education Collective is fixing broken school system—apps, activities, teacher training

The programme looks beyond the immediate gain of improving students’ performance in the classroom.

A group of teachers attending an academic cluster meeting with PEC | By special arrangement

The slow pace of in and out file baskets and the rhythmic clicking of keyboards in the Department of School Education in Punjab’s Mohali is suddenly interrupted by fresh energy as over a dozen young men and women rush in.

They begin tossing catchphrases like teacher training, capacity building and parent collaboration. They are members of Punjab Education Collective (PEC), run by an altruistic gang of four social entrepreneurs who are working to change the state’s school education system. They were even feted at Switzerland’s Davos this year.

Each of them ran their own NGOs but decided to pool their resources about four years ago to strengthen Punjab’s government-run schools. Instead of parachuting brand-new ideas and grand revamp plans, they work with the state machinery. Their mantra is to rejig, not replace, the government policies.

“Most NGOs try to overtake the department, but the collective teaches us rather than doing everything themselves,” says Sunil Kumar, state coordinator of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET).

Since 2019, the PEC has supported the state’s flagship programme ‘Padho Punjab Padhao Punjab’, designed leadership curriculum booklets for ‘mentors’, mobilised parents, and developed apps to track the progress of the state’s efforts.

Students head for a math class employing learning aids at the Shaheed Gurdas Ram Memorial School, Ferozepur, Punjab | By special arrangement

Reforming every public school

Punjab, India’s wheat bowl, did not have to spend money to build a new workforce. The founders of ShikshaLokam and Mantra4Change—Bengaluru-based NGOs—came together with their Mohali counterparts Sanjhi Sikhiya and Samarthya to achieve this goal. Each has its own specialisation, and together they work within the existing framework to strengthen over 19,000 public schools in the state.

Sanjhi SIkhiya team with teachers after a cluster academic meeting | By special arrangement

Their goal is to reform every school, and the collective is working with clusters based on recommendations by Block Primary Education Officers.

PEC trenches deep into villages, brings resources and ideas from their work across the country to level up the state’s education initiatives.

A geography lesson at Govt Smart High School, Ferozepur, Punjab | By special arrangement

“We have derived great exposure from the collective. We feel a renewed energy and sense of competition that was lacking earlier,” says Kumar.

The collective zeroed in on the Punjab government’s existing ‘mentor system’ where senior teachers train juniors in social studies, mathematics and English. State officials visited the education department in Bengaluru to see how a similar programme was being implemented. The experience was “enlightening”.

“We learnt how things work in other parts of the country and the flaws in our own system,” Kumar added.

The PEC wants to go beyond improving students’ performance in the classroom. The hope is to make public schools attractive to parents who opt for private schools. It also wants to address Punjab’s drug abuse problem. A 2022 study by the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) found that more than three million people, or 15.4 per cent of Punjab’s population, have consumed some drug.

Through monetary assistance from Deloitte, crowdfunding platforms such as Milaap, and MakeMyTrip’s Deep Kalra and Chai Point’s Amuleek Singh Bijral, the collective is trying to turn around the state’s pain points.

“Punjab’s cultural history may be rich, but it has also seen a lot of challenges, which have impacted the aspirations of the youth. But there is a great deal of openness in the people here, which allows us to effectively aid them,” says Rucha Pande, chief operating officer at Mantra4Change.

Each member of PEC brings a different set of expertise to the school reform drive. While Sanjhi Sikhiya has experience working in Punjab, Samarthya’s forte is designing and leading community interaction exercises. Mantra4Change is a policy-builder focusing and ideating on leadership skills, while ShikshaLokam is an expert in digitisation and expansion of operations.

“Our work has been divided by school grades between organisations and keeping clear roles while aiding the state’s missions. But there is still a lot of re-usage of information and learning among us,” says Simranpreet Singh Oberoi, co-founder of Sanjhi Sikhiya.

Working with Punjab govt

The birth of the collective was an organic process. Bengaluru-based Mantra4Change had already been mentoring Sanjhi Sikhiya and Samarthya in Punjab. The state’s effort to improve its public education system provided the impetus for them to join hands.

In Punjab, learning outcomes are better than the national average, but there is plenty of room for improvement. The 2022 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for rural India revealed a decline in learning levels post Covid-19. Of those surveyed, barely 33 per cent of Class III students could read grade II-level text and less than half—44.8 per cent—could do basic subtraction.

According to data compiled by Sanjhi Sikhiya, most rural schools operate out of two rooms, with just one or two teachers for 50 students.

To tackle this, the government launched programmes such as ‘Padho Punjab Padhao Punjab’ in 2017 to improve primary, middle and secondary school learning. Just this year, it upgraded 117 schools. Called Schools of Eminence, they have included activities such as dance, robotics and fine arts into the curriculum.

PEC moves carefully within these schemes to introduce best practices but is careful not to trod on toes or egos.

They developed the Darpan app, which preceded the Diksha app, a central-government initiative now employed across the country. Darpan supports the state’s Block Master Trainers (BMT) under Padho/Padhao Punjab scheme which conducts teacher training sessions and academic meetings. The app is also an effective tool that provides real-time data collection, missing until the app’s arrival.

“Earlier, there was no proper record of their (BMT’s) assessment of teacher-student interactions. But various forums, alongside Darpan, helped state officials monitor the work of the trainers,” says Mamta Bisht, a member of PEC.

The technology was developed by ShikshaLokam, while Mantra4Change took over the designing aspect. Sanjhi Sikhiya and Samarth would hit the ground and carry it to communities.

But even this wouldn’t suffice.

“We then realised that a leader’s job is to improve and not simply observe and collate data,” explains Khushboo Awasthi, chief operation officer of ShikshaLokam and co-founder at Mantra4Change. So the team introduced a system of ‘micro-improvement projects’, which senior teachers and principals anywhere can access. These small initiatives can be incorporated into a school’s everyday routine: From conducting ‘reading hour’ during the school day and listing important books to compiling tips for parent-teacher conferences.

Making most of challenges

PEC’s genesis proved to be timely. Within a year of its formation, India was in the throes of a pandemic that saw schools shut down.

Online parent-teacher meeting missions were organised by PEC, making Punjab the first state in the country to do so. Parents were connected over calls to oversee their child’s schooling, and PEC facilitated these interventions by providing planning support and analysing data collected during these meetings.

“Over 70 per cent of parents were reached during this drive, and much awareness was created because the same is now being taken forward by the new government under the ‘Inspire Meet’ system,” says Sidharth Chopra, co-founder and director at Samarthya.

At the local level, community action peaked as PEC invited volunteers to take initiatives in their neighbourhoods. Each volunteer would start educating four children using a project-based curriculum.

Sanjhi SIkhiya Team member facilitating a community collective | By special arrangement

Mantra4Change introduced ‘real life’ lessons, where students were encouraged to work on projects on themes such as keeping their homes sanitised and cooking with their parents instead of twiddling their thumbs on social media apps.

Involving parents

On a Thursday afternoon in February, as many as 30 villagers from Batta in Patiala assembled in a small but brightly painted elementary school classroom. Every primary colour, from blue to red to yellow, found space on the four walls. This is a typical ‘Gram Sikhiya Sabha’, spearheaded by the collective, where a school organises a parent-teacher meeting of sorts every three months. Teachers were in attendance too, and tea and biscuits were passed around.

A collective member held placards with images of libraries, sports equipment and projectors. “Which of these items is most important in a school,” she asked the parents.

“Computers and libraries are important,” answered one parent. Another pointed to the sports equipment placard.

The PEC members urged parents to raise more concerns. After some hesitation, a man stood up.

“There is a lack of teachers who can teach these children sports,” he said. Sports training and infrastructure soon became the core topic of discussion. Neither the government nor the collective could magically produce a physical education (PE) teacher. Finally, the person who raised the issue volunteered.

“I will try to come to the school in my free time to kick a ball around with the children,” he said.

Such baby steps go a long way in increasing parent involvement and giving them agency.

“Parent involvement is crucial. We make sure parents are mobilised and trained in grievance redressal and discussing matters of importance,” added Chopra.

In the next classroom, primary school children were learning how to speak English. Their eyes lit up as they translated “He is going to get married” from English to Punjabi, one of the many terms PEC members dribbled at them.

Aligning visions

With so many hands stirring the pot, confusion regarding roles and responsibilities is bound to crop up. Because of its proximity to the government, the collective cannot introduce radical ideas, but existing ones can be activated.

“Aligning the visions is of great importance. The state’s policies and budgets have to be taken into consideration at all times. We cannot let them feel like we are overstepping,” says Pande.

But the collective does more than just organise meetings and educate parents. Its youthfulness adds a touch of freshness, creating an atmosphere conducive to idea-sharing.

The government officers also prefer that change come from outside. It involves less risk, they say.

“Sometimes, if I have to speak with a senior official about a new idea, NGOs are better at handling the pitches and convincing them. Their knowledge of technology and presentation skills has really helped the office,” says Pradeep Chabra, assistant state project director for out-of-school children.

PEC does not want to limit itself to Punjab. Last year, it worked with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) during the central government’s Vidya Amrit Mahotsav: Innovative Pedagogy Festival. Announced on 25 August, it encouraged innovation in school education systems. Through this initiative, micro-improvement projects developed by teachers were shared among their peers via the Diksha app.

Now, the collective hopes to enter 100 Indian districts, apart from the 23 it has already impacted in Punjab. “With more stakeholders and organisations, we want to reach out to Maharashtra, Bihar, and Karnataka,” says Awasthi of ShikshaLokam.

(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)