Sikshana is a project name under the NGO - Sivasri Charitable Trust, registered, based in Bangalore. It was founded by ex-CEO (electronics division) of BHEL, Mr. E.S.Ramaswamy, in 2001.
The NGO basically works with government schools, involving the school teachers and students in the decision making process. It's been working in about 28 schools - most of then in rural Bangalore and Kanakpura (taluk of Bangalore). The progress achieved has been remarkable and students have improved their learning skills and overall learning motivation (assessed through the quantitative method of Azim Premzi Foundation).
Sikshana aims at:
- Improvement of learning levels in the Public education system, with quantitative targets and time schedules.
- Adoption of modern teaching techniques and aids.
- Working in collaboration with the Government and from within the system.
- Mobilization and deployment of resources, concentrating on core essentials and avoiding frills.
- Using a zero overhead system in the conveyance of resources.
- Applying management concepts commonly used in other sectors - such as budgeting and targets, accountability, return on investment, motivation and non-fiscal reward systems.
- Developing a sustainable model for replication on a wider scale. Sikshana started working with 1 school in 2001. It adopted 3 schools in 2002, 10 schools in 2003 and 28 schools in 2004. Sikshana has a plan to grow to 50 schools in 2005. Nearly 8,500 students have benefited from Sikshana in 2004 and the number is expected to grow to 15,000 by end of 2005.
This is (2006-07) the second year funding of the project by two AID chapters (Columbus and Penn-state). First year(2005-06), three AID chapters (Columbus, TAMU and New Orleance) funded the project. This year, apart from the focus would be on improving the performance in Kanakpura schools where Sikshana has a cluster of 15 schools, improving the volunteer base would be main focus.
Sikshana has made significant progress towards achieving above mentioned goals.Learning levels in schools are showing great improvement. It has adopted a new cluster (21 schools) which means the number of schools under Sikshanas program is now 46. It has appointed a full time COO to oversee the success of the program.
