Vision: To attain universal foundational literacy and numeracy skills for children in Std. 3 by 2025.
Year of launch: 2020
About the Project
The National Education Policy (2020) identifies the highest priority of the education system as achieving universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary schools by 2025. As the Chief Management Partners of the Tamil Nadu State Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Mission, we are working with Samagra Shiksha and the Department of School Education, Tamil Nadu to integrate multiple facets of our FLIP programme into the folds of the state education system, and thereby improve foundational learning skills across the state.
The core programme components of FLIP, including the multi-stakeholder and multi-pronged approach, have been absorbed and institutionalised into the state-led FLN Mission programme.
“The highest priority of the education system will be to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary schools by 2025.” (NEP 2020)
Vision: To reimagine school systems and eliminate the foundational learning crisis in Tamil Nadu by 2030.
Year of launch: 2019
Partner States:
About the Project
Identifying the foundational learning crisis in India as a key focus area, we are working towards improving critical learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy among children through our Foundational Learning Improvement Programme (FLIP). Through targeted interventions based on a 6T approach, FLIP supports the government in improving teaching learning materials, teacher training, and tracking of data by engaging with multiple facets of the issue and all levels of stakeholders in an integrated manner, leveraging technology to amplify reach and impact.
Teaching Learning Material (TLM): Skill based, culturally relevant, teaching learning material mapped to state syllabi and international standards
Training: Tech-enabled training courses to improve teacher competencies
Tracking: Collection and analyses of meaningful data to drive informed policy decisions
Tutoring at home: Empowering the parent community with information and tools to support their children’s early learning needs
Targeted communication: Communication and advocacy efforts designed to increase awareness about the criticality of foundational learning among all relevant stakeholders
Technology: Simple, contextual, and scalable tech tools are at the heart of what we build
Foundational Learning Over WhatsApp (FLOW)
Objective: To provide daily educational content directly to students and parents in Tamil Nadu in the context of COVID-19 related school closures
Year of Launch: 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic
In response to a rising need for low contact education, Foundational Learning Over WhatsApp (FLOW) aims to deliver continued education on foundational learning skills to children of grades 1, 2 and 3 in Tamil Nadu, while addressing the barriers to accessing technology in low income households of India. By leveraging simple and cost-efficient technology, the programme is designed to work with infrequent internet connectivity, in local languages, and for those unfamiliar with the technology used.
Madhi Foundation is collaborating with Equitas Gurukul to launch this programme across their schools situated in 8 districts and we currently provide daily worksheets and videos to over 1800 children with the support of over 100 teachers.
State Educators and Executive Development Programme (SEED)
Objective: To empower educators and executives and equip them with the skills to meet the demands of virtual classrooms, online project delivery and administration
Year of Launch: 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic
SEED hopes to bridge a critical skill gap in delivering educational content in the age of virtual classrooms and the context of education in a post-COVID world. Through SEED, Madhi will co-create with the state, capacity development content around digital project management, team management, teaching online, conducting classroom observations, and using Google Suite and MS Office. This will be delivered through virtual webinars and will be supplemented by a proven peer learning support model developed by Madhi. SEED emphasises experiential learning, offering participants the opportunity to submit their work and receive feedback. Each participant also receives a certificate recognising their effort towards honing their competencies.
Over 300 State and District level officials have already signed up for this 10-part virtual programme.
Happy Learners
Objective: To ensure that every child, irrespective of access to internet or smartphones, is able to continue learning at home.
Year of Launch: 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic
In light of the ongoing school closures and lockdown, Madhi Foundation, in partnership with the Government of Tamil Nadu is implementing this new low-cost tech-enabled programme to deliver daily learning content to children with little or no access to internal and technology. Happy Learners ensure home learning in collaboration with teachers using a combination of IVRS based phone calls and printed books and worksheets, thus ensuring equitable reach. A digital tracker has been designed for the teachers to monitor the progress of their children on a weekly basis. With the support of teachers, children have the opportunity to learn at their own pace, clear doubts and be assessed regularly from their homes.
The project has been launched across Chennai and Tiruvannamalai districts, where over 9500 children have been provided with Happy Learners’ Books, and over 450 teachers have been onboarded onto the programme.
Sandbox Schools
Objective: To set up 5 model schools that act as incubation centres for the latest research on foundational learning pedagogy
Year of launch: 2020 (proposed)
While Madhi works with the government to implement large-scale interventions, there are many ideas that need to be validated in a controlled sandbox environment before being set up for scale. With the aim of developing such laboratory schools, we will work with 5 government schools over the course of a year, and evaluate the proof of excellence of Madhi’s theory of change. The model schools will serve as the ideal learning environment for pedagogical and administrative initiatives, the outcomes of which will be relevant for typical under-resourced government schools in Tamil Nadu, and elsewhere in India. The Sandbox Schools pilot programme will feed valuable research and knowledge back into the larger ecosystem with the support of our Centre for Research and Innovation on Foundational Learning (CRIFL) team.