Katha

education

2008. Katha students excelled themselves! A survey of 431 Katha alumni [2004-2008] shows that they earned a total of 42 million rupees in 2008! That is the value of Katha's education! And when you consider that 12 years of their education cost India half what they have earned in one year, this definitely becomes a model for the country to study! And results? Performance stands at 92%.

The Katha Lab School began in 1990 as a learning centre in the slums of Govindpuri, Delhi, with 5 children. Today we have 8000 children in 71 Katha Schools in Delhi and in the tribal schools in Arunachal Pradesh. Our students who were working to support their families when they joined us have now gone to colleges and are earning more than many, many times what their families were earning in 1990 when katha started working with them [According to a government survey, the average income in 1990 was Rs 600-800/month/family]

Through an intense curriculum development programme, Katha devises innovative methods of education through stories. The resulting Vidduniya, a teaching framework, has improved the attendance of students in Katha schools to 92%. Our performance and retention are also in the 90%!

What We Do

Over the last 18 years, Katha has established a unique and innovative Child-in-Community Katha Learning System with a 3-Pronged system delivery and support programs

The 3E Lifecycle of Education

Katha’s holistic approach carefully nurtures the child at all three levels to see that she/he does not drop out of school and learning.

Enjoyment: Katha brings children into sustained learning pattern at the entry level through increasing their joy of learning. We see early childhood education as a very important part of this process.

Engagement: Retention of our students is high [in the 90+ range. We forge interest and self-propelled learning through relevant education that emphasizes learning by doing rather than learning to do

Employment: Through three professional schools and the English Academy, Katha helps students gain confidence and skills to see them through life as contributors to a globalizing Indian economy.

Katha Learning System

Community-Based Education Model works with and through our students to push the economic resurgence of our community as well as their upward mobility This forms part of the school curriculum. Katha Schools educate children in quality ways in the 3Rs, even while they encourage the involvement of communities in strengthening themselves inside out. The invigorating presence of the community's welfare in the daily life of our students nourishes both ways. Our women, in 2007-8 earned no less than Rs 42 million rupees!

Story-Based Learning: Story pedagogy is a classroom methodology that is patented to Katha. Using story tactics to encourage children into the learning process helps in increasing our attendance and retention rates which are both in the high 90+ range!

Teacher System: Recruiting & training teachers in the community to help the locality educate itself has been a success story of Katha Schools. Today, each community school is headed by women from that slum community -- and the results are amazing. Engaged adults means engaged students and a teacher who sees herself, quite naturally, as the centre of community action!

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Student Centricity: All Katha Schools are student-centric, and its way of implementation keep this focus in mind in all activities and assessment.

The Katha Way: The schools are managed in a pragmatic manner, and strive to remain in line with the Katha philosophy and way of doing things, while making it relevant and suitable for whole community development and economic resurgence.

Building Bricks: The Katha Child-in-Community Education System takes a holistic view of the all round development of the child ? what we call Purna Siksha ? that works hand in hand with the self-sustainable growth of the communities we are in. Our community elders are our Ambassadors. And the Katha philosophy ? LIFE, the C9 Leadership Values and FINGA provide the solid foundation for the CURRICULUM FOR LIFE on which our schools rely.

Detailed activities that are carried-out are fine-tuned by the teachers and principals, in consultation with Katha’s founder-executive director.

School Management Structure: A robust management team made up of four senior people [Geeta Dharmarajan, Parvinder Kaur, Shalini Goel and K. Dharmarajan] advice the Principals on a half-yearly basis, and informally, at least once a month they are available for brainstorming and tweaking of existing models.

Measurement: There are different forms of measurement and assessment, both internal and external (independent), so as to be able to gauge the extent of improvements made by the Students in the Katha Schools.

Programmes that extend the reach & relevance of The Katha Lab School

Katha Lab School: The main Katha School leverages the extensive Katha experience, whether through innovative Reading Kits, training of teachers and reading mentors, or in providing support on understanding the CURRICULUM FOR LIFE and related practices that make Katha what it is.

Publishing One of the most important reasons for our success with children has been our books. A well-honed publishing programme that was started in 1988 and has garnered experience and skills in the last decade, produces excellent storybooks and other reading materials for children, 0-17. Our books fosters and kindles their passion for reading and lifelong learning. Our teachers constantly collaborate with the editors to make Katha books possible Today, Katha has a unique set of books and graded readers for i. Early childhood learning. ii. Primary and middle school students. iii. high school students These will bring reading levels up to grade level in tried and tested ways in about 200,000 children in government schools, this year.

Internal Assessment & External Evaluation is continuous and brings sustainable learning skills to all our children. This year’s baseline survey was conducted at the beginning of the school year, in Spring 2008. And the external assessment results will be out in October 2008. This was done by three excellent experts from the prestigious Delhi University’s Centre for Educational Instruction. These are shared with all teachers in in-depth workshops so as to bring measurable improvement in the grade-specific learning, reading and comprehension abilities of children.

Teacher Training: Katha has provided an annual 160 hour workshop for all teachers in knowledge and resource base development since 1998. The Faculty Club meets every other Saturday of each month and helps all teachers of Katha to share best practices, benefit from peer/near-peer counseling and advice and fosters a feeling of friendship and togetherness: what we call the Sanjha chula!

STORY PEDAGOGY. Motivate and foster excellence by developing story skills. Develop and provide, for interested teachers, a Reading Teacher Certification Programme

THE ONLINE TEACHERS COMMUNITY extends peer-support and brings eMentors and teachers into supporting our subject teachers in making their classrooms more exciting and creative for our children. This also supports the Teachers Resource Room at KALPANA VILASAM, the Centre for Creativity in Education, the centre that Katha set up in 1990 and which includes the fine Teacher training Institute and the Cell that develops teaching/learning materials for all our 8000 children.

The Katha Reading Campaign fosters rapid growth in reading skills in all children living in our communities. Taking them from 0-600 words before they turn 8 years, is the specific goal of this programme. The Reading Leagues® work like magic with our children ? and our 50 volunteers make the magic happen!

Community Outreach: Katha’s Schools are at the centre of poverty alleviation and economic resurgence for our communities. This year, our women earned a total of Rs. 35 million rupees, thus swelling not only the Indian economy but the pride and honour of their families! This year, our activities have spread to involve more than 9,000 women very closely through the formation of self-help groups. And our programme for pregnant women and lactating mothers safeguards the health of babies even as it renews the traditional storytelling skills of mothers.

Conducting the Change: Katha’s structure supports volunteers and e-mentors, using multiple media support. Our volunteers are critical in garnering the considerable support we receive from our various stakeholders, be it the immediate community, the larger city of Delhi who come in as volunteers in our CitizenTeach Programme, at our various locations, teachers, and students. A Touch of Class is a programme that supports the neighbourhood in its support of each Katha school.

Marketing/Public Relations: We build excitement amongst the larger community through a strong communication system that uses multiple media support media and the Friends of Katha.

Katha Network. The idea of Katha, our education initiatives and the way volunteers can work with us are clearly spelt out so that people from all walks of life ? young entrants to the knowledgeable economy as well as retired people can come in as mentors, volunteers, reading teachers. Katha has a robust programme that welcomes foreign volunteers.

CREATING ENGAGED ADULTS:

THE SCHOOL ADVISORY. The Advisory will be made of people who are willing and able to engage with this hugely challenging initiative.

THE STORYTELLERS. KATHA will hand-pick unconventional storytellers from across a broad swath of artists. They will be volunteers, maybe retired people, genuine storytellers who want to make a difference to society. We may get some paid storytellers, if we have the money. They will be shared by the SUN team under media. And the Schools.

THE VOLUNTEERS. Katha will facilitate an active volunteer base, both from India and abroad. These volunteers will work with the school teachers and students to build excitement! As also with other action groups in Katha

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katha learning system
A powerful tool that has, since 1990, situated the child in the community of careers and brings this community into the curriculum and the school, making learning relevant as well as cooperative.

early childhood education

With 50 community schools that focus on early childhood learning, Katha helps children living in poverty to link formal education with career pathways.

katha lab school

To impact 80% of the urban disadvantaged communities, starting with Delhi, the lab school hones Katha's well-defined recipe that enables children and youth to reach their potential.

professional schools
The Katha School of Entrepreneurship, the Katha Info Tech School, the Social Work Institute help youth get out of poverty.

schools on wheels
1000 street children come into our IT schools on wheels! Since 2001, the Tamasha Roadshows have brought the joy of reading and formal education to urban child workers.

katha reading campaign
An exciting and innovative way of brining large numbers of urban children into assured reading skill: The Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi have invited us to work in 300 of their schools.

teacher education
With a 160 hour annual training and regular bi-monthly faculty club meets, Katha's teachers are an excited lot!

the school & poverty alleviation
Katha, since 1990, has been the centre of community action and economic resurgence. Today, the movement thrives in 71 slum and street communities.

research
This year's focus is on early childhood education. And equitable education for our youth.

katha translation for equity network

There are 100 million youth in our country, stymied by lack of English and hence unable to perform well in college. K.TEN addresses this obdurate problem.