Gram Panchayat (GP) Level Maths Contests
It is December 2023. The season began a month ago, and this year the intent is stronger, the effort intense, the reach more encompassing, the pace blistering. Akshara’s GP Maths Contests are whipping up a storm of activity across districts in Karnataka and making a forceful first-time thrust into village schools in remote fastnesses, a journey previously unattempted.
The momentum is different this time, unequalled. The Gram Panchayats that spearhead it conducted 2,700+ GP Contests in Karnataka and 300+ GP Contests in Odisha so far, many of them by the government’s own admission in educationally trailing districts. It’s a marathon. An inspirational sprint, toppling milestones, and registering many firsts. Many districts conducted a record number of GP Contests in a single day. Bidar – 176; Bagalkote – 146; Dharwad – 144; Vijayanagara – 137.
Mandya district recorded the highest number yet – 234 Contests in all its 234 GPs, a single day’s tally. “Schools that participated – 100%,” says Ranganath, Akshara’s Divisional Field Manager of 13 districts. Each GP has a cluster of 5-6 neighbouring schools. “More than 90% of the children in every GP participated.” The GPs, the community, the Department of School Literacy (ED – Education Department), every potential change-agent, joined hands.
Over 20,000 government school children of grades 4, 5 and 6 wrote this independent, transparently conducted, curriculum-linked test that assessed their current maths learning status. The GPs and the ED arranged transport for them. They sat on school grounds, often under resplendent shamianas, sometimes in multicoloured tents that resounded with bright, positive vibrations. Large banners, simple but eye-catching, in white and black and some discreet colour, announced the Contests under the headline Ganitha Kalika Andolana, Akshara’s Maths Programme. On an improvised dais were modestly decked tables with a lamp as a propitious emblem. The GPs gave the venues an air of joy and celebration.
Different this time is also the scale, and way more than before, the depth of engagement, the broader institutionalising of a programme that was originally Akshara’s. Last year Mandya held a mere 50 Contests. And the surge this time. “All 234 GPs in the district, all 234 Contests, in a day.” Ranganath is still astonished. “How is it even possible?” Akshara couldn’t quite believe it. All because of Shaikh Tanveer Asif, IAS, the CEO of the Zilla Panchayat (ZP), Mandya district. Young, earnest, and dynamic. That’s a formidable combination in an official, whatever the tier. In a top-ranking officer, it can influence the course of education. Add to that the fact that this CEO is a visionary. “An officer who believes foundational learning is vital for government school children,” says Ranganath.
The CEO chaired the first meeting on the Contests and issued a directive that thrummed down the line to the GPs, his message unambiguous. “The Contests must be held, and they must be successful. For no reason should we fail. All children should participate.” It set the pace, built the fervour. The ED followed suit.
The ED organised complementary meetings at the district level. Down the hierarchy, education officials held separate meetings. All purpose-driven, like the CEO’s, that prepared the ground, highlighted action points, marked direction, and fixed targets, says Ranganath who with his team attended every such coming together. Akshara was called in not merely as a participant and observer but as a key collaborator and originator of the Contests. In Mandya, the theme was collaboration, coordination, and constructive work. “That was the passion that drove the Contests,” says Ranganath. It triggered the swell.
Approximately 210 GPs sanctioned Rs. 12 lakhs for the Contests, for the venue, the logistics, the children’s lunch, and prize money for the first three rank holders in every grade and every Contest. November 21 will remain etched for the team. The scene, to say the least, pulsed with action. The orchestration was “so systematic,” says Ranganath. “It’s the first time I’ve seen such an organised effort. The credit goes to the CEO.” “Maths is a fundamental subject for government school children,” he told Ranganath at a meeting. “I will support any educational programme Akshara initiates.”
Shaikh Tanveer Asif is one of those officers who work with practical, doable goals. In May 2023 when preliminary discussions were afoot about the Contests, he wrote to Akshara about another interconnected domain of education. “I am writing to express my intent to collaborate with your esteemed organisation to upgrade two model schools in the already existing government school buildings in the district of Mandya, to incorporate the concept of building as a learning aid. ….. We strongly believe that it can revolutionise the way we approach education and create a more engaging and effective learning experience for our students……. Our goal is to create an environment that inspires creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among our students. We look forward to the opportunity to work together towards our shared vision of providing quality education to all children.”
The prize-winners are the triumphant face of the Contests. There are many in the mark-rungs just below – 50%-80%. Many who have weakened and fallen behind as well, going to show that learning loss is real and stark and dismal. The GP Contest Report Cards that Akshara will soon prepare for every grade and school will underscore every individual student’s strengths and weaknesses in maths in the hope that it can become a blueprint, a ready reckoner, for education’s custodians to act on.
Meanwhile, the Contests continue their relentless run. This season is going to be a short, productive, bountiful one, lasting about a month and a half. How things have changed. Gone are the days when every GP Contest was a mountain moved. Akshara teams used to struggle with the scepticism that came their way, the this-won’t-work attitude, and sometimes the plain opposition. Today GPs vie to make the Contests a learning festival. Akshara’s target for 2023 is 4,000+ Contests. The GPs have plans to exceed that number. With officials like Shaikh Tanveer Asif leading, people with lofty purposes as architects of Akshara’s GP Maths Contests, that figure doesn’t seem so unlikely.