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Social Inclusion and Empowerment
Civic Leadership Governance and Social Accountability
Social Determinants of Disaster Risk Reduction
 
Social Inclusion and Empowerment « Programmes
 
EVENTS
 
2-day Capacity Development Workshops for Std. IX English teachers of Scheduled Areas of Gujarat
 
Dates: September 16-21, 2013
Venue: Dada Bhagwan Satsthanak, Kelanpuri, Vadodara

Participants of one batch from 7 districts of Gujarat at a Capacity Development Workshop
As a part of the 'English Language Enhancement Program' for schools in scheduled areas of Gujarat, three 2-day Capacity Development Workshops were organized for Std. IX English teachers. 134 teachers of 208 schools from 15 districts of Gujarat participated in these workshops held in 3 batches.
Experienced facilitators who have developed a SATCOM programme for English Language for these schools interacted with the teachers and answered their queries related to teaching and learning of English. The workshops used participatory and experiential methodology. Participants learnt how to teach the Std. IX textbook effectively to enable the learners to use English to express their own ideas and feelings as well as get good marks in the examination. Inputs were provided on communicative activities and use of open ended questions for language production, classroom management, using technology for teaching and professional development and lesson planning. Participants worked in groups and prepared innovative plans to teach the textbook lessons in an interesting manner. An online community for teachers has been created for ongoing discussion on issues related to teaching and learning English. Teachers also discussed about the 'English Language Mela' to be organised at the end of 2013. The Mela will be organized for over 200 schools at 10 different locations in Gujarat to exchange creative ideas for exploring and using English. It will also provide tribal students an opportunity to interact with others in English and enjoy using the language. Thirty DVDs of the Std. IX WELCOME English SATCOM programme were distributed to the teachers as resource material.

I learnt various new techniques to be used in the classroom to teach vocabulary, grammar and lessons in interesting ways to students. We need more such input at regular interval to keep ourselves updated. I look forward to attend the 2nd phase of workshops, shared Ms. Aysha Makrani (English Teacher, Model School, Chhotaudepur).

Gaurav Parmar (English teacher, Sainik School, Kherancha) says, Capacity Development Workshop was a wonderful experience, finding so many fresh ideas from our colleagues. I appreciate the effort of facilitators, organisers and Tribal Development Department for running such a useful program.

Feedback has been collected from the teachers and based on the expressed needs, a second series of Capacity Development Workshops will be organized after two months. In the meanwhile, teachers have chosen assignments that they will do in their schools. The problems faced and the possible solutions for effectively implementing these assignments will be shared in the next workshop.
 
1-day Orientations for Std. IX English Teachers on the English Language Enhancement Programme (2013-14) for schools in scheduled areas of Gujarat
 
Date : July 24-26, 2013
           August 5-7, 2013

English Teachers of Std. IX during Orientation workshop held at EMRS, Tilakwada, Narmada
Unnati Organisation for Development Education, Ahmedabad with support of Tribal Development Department organised 1-day Orientation programmes for Std. IX English Teachers at 6 locations. The event was organised under the English Language Enhancement (ELE) Programme for schools in scheduled areas of Gujarat.
 
164 participants from 15 districts of Gujarat participated in the above orientations at the following locations:
EMRS Pardi, Valsad on July 24, 2013
EMRS Mota, Surat on July 25, 2013
EMRS Tilakwada, Narmada on July 26, 2013
Sainik School Kherancha, Sabarkantha on August 5, 2013
EMRS Kharedi, Dahod on August 6, 2013
EMRS Waghodiya, Vadodara on August 7, 2013

Objectives of the Orientations:
  • Share the objectives, key components and logistics of the ELE programme events for 2013-14 and their schedules
  • Discuss and finalise the logistics of the ELE programme
  • Discuss the role of the English teacher in enhancing English language in their schools, challenges and how these can be overcome
  • Acquaint teachers with the monitoring and support in ELE programme
  • Learn about experiences of teachers of the previous relay of Std IX programme (Feb-Apr 2013)
Teachers actively participated in these workshops. They were acquainted with the key components of the programme which included the SATCOM based WELCOME English programme, capacity development initiatives for English teachers, English Language melas and above all, efforts to create opportunities for the use of English in schools. Teachers were informed of the logistics, discussed their role, and provided valuable input for Capacity Development Workshops to be organised for them as well as for the English Language Melas to be organised at the district level.
 
Training of Trainers on Developing Accessible Tools on Situation Analysis and Capacity Assessment by Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs)
 
Training of Trainers on Developing Accessible Tools on Situation Analysis and Capacity Assessment by Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs), was organised during April 1-4, 2013, at FMC, Bengaluru for the participants deputed by the respective organisations. The objectives of the ToT were to:

  1. Developing understanding of the various participatory tools on Situation Analysis and Capacity Assessment
  2. Understanding its applicability for DPOs in the changing context
  3. Suggestions for making the tools accessible for persons with visual impairment and other disabilities: hearing impaired, cerebral palsy and orthopedic disabilities

Each organisation had deputed participants for the ToT and the respurce persons for the programme were Mr Venkatesh Balakrishna, Founder Director, ADD India; Dr Victor John Corderio, World Blind Union; Prof Neharika Vohra, IIMA; Dr Yogesh Kumar and Mr Venkatesh Prasad Samarthan, Dr Harish Vashistha, Mr Binoy Acharya, Ms Geeta Sharma, Ms Deepa Sonpal and Ms Sandipa Nelson.
 
The participating organisations will go back and conduct three workshops with the core committee members of their organisations:
  • Perspective building and situation analysis (SA)
  • Building effective institutions and DPOs
  • Self-capacity assessment (CA) of their respective DPO
 
The above activities will be conducted in the period of May – June 203 and be extensively documented with the support from facilitations deputed to each DPO.
 
Inception Workshop on Development of Accessible Tools on Situation Analysis (SA) and Capacity Assessment (CA) by Disabled People’s Organisations
 
Since October 2012, an 18 months project on Towards Developing a BPO/DPO led Pedagogy to Facilitate the Process of Social Change has been initiated. This project was sanctioned by Sightsavers, UK through a global call for proposals. This project aims to work with eight partners: Blind Persons Organisations (BPOs)/ Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs)/ NGOs in India and develop accessible tools especially for enhancing the participation of persons with visual and hearing impairment, persons with cerebral palsy and locomotor disabilities.

An Inception Workshop on Development of Accessible Tools on Situation Analysis (SA) and Capacity Assessment (CA) by Disabled People’s Organisations was organised during Ahmedabad, February 14-15, 2013. The objective of this workshop was to develop a common understanding on relevance and application of identified frameworks, tools and techniques on SA and CA. In this workshop the respective heads of organisations from 7 NGOs/ BHOs/ DPOs participated.
  1. ADD India supporting ATTD a DPO federation in Tamil Nadu represented by Ms. Jaishree Mukherjee (Executive Director. ADD India)
  2. Sama Foundation supported KARO a DPO in Karnataka (Mr Paul Ramanathan, Executive Director, Sama Foundation)
  3. Rashtraya Viklang Manch – in two states Rajsthan and Madhya Pradesh (Mr Sonu Golkar, Secretary and Dr Victor Corderio founder member)
  4. Sanchar supported DRG, a DPO in West Bengal (Ms Tulika Das, Director, Sanchar)
  5. National Association for the Blind, Sabarkatha district branch, Gujarat (Dr Bhaskar Mehta, Vice President, NAB, India and ms Praveena Mehta, Joint Secretary, Nab, Sabarkatha)
  6. Disability Advocacy Group, Gujarat (Ms Neeta Panchal, Secretary, Mr Parag Panchal and Ms Kinneri Desai, members)
An advisory group of eminent experts on Organisational development has also been formed to guide and provide input to this research. This team comprises of Prof T V Rao (Adjunct professor) IIM-A; Prof Neharika Vohra, Professor, IIM-A, Dr Rajesh tendon and Dr Kaustuv Bandhoyapadhya, PRIA, New Delhi; Dr Yogesh Kumar, Samarthan Centre for Development Support, Bhopal and Mr Binoy Acharya, Director, Unnati.

Other participants present at the meeting who are part of this project were Dr Harish Vashistha, Senior OD Consultant and Prof Nivedita Kothiyal, IRMA, Anand. Members from Unnati present at this meeting were; Ms Deepa Sonpal. Programme Coordinator,; Ms Geeta Sharma,, Programme Coordinator, Ms Sandipa Nelson, Ms Dharmishta Halpati and Mr Laxmansinh Rathod, Mr. Manish Parmar and Mr Sardarsinh Rathod as support staff

In this workshop the identified tools on SA and CA were shared and discussions on how these could be made accessible and be suitably adapted in the coming ToT organised for two representatives of from each organisation and the modalities of operation in the next few months and the plan of action.
 
Public Hearing on Cases of Atrocities against Dalits (Jan Sunvai) July 22, 2011 at Jodhpur
 
In collaboration with local NGOs, UNNATI has been mobilising dalits and women on the issues of marginalisation, exclusion, social discrimination and atrocities since 1996. These efforts resulted in the local community raising their voice against discrimination and atrocities. To build common thrust and commitment against injustice a Jan Sunwai was organised to examine the selected cases of atrocities, discrimination and domestic violence. The objective was not to scrutinize the cases on technical grounds but to show solidarity to the victim’s families and local facilitators and CBOs. The honorable jury members for the Jansunwai were identified from various experts. The Jury comprised of the following: Mr. R. K. Akodia, Retd. Judge High Court Jodhpur and former member, Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission; Mr. Kishan Gurjar , Advocate; Mr. C M Naval, Retd. Additional SP Jodhpur: Mr. P.L. Mimroth, Center for Dalit Rights, Jaipur: Mr. Bhanwar Meghwanshi, Activist Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan and; Ms. Varsha Ganguli, scholar researcher on women and labour issues. The cases examined during the Jan Sunwai were serious in nature like murder, rape, assault, sexual harassment and discrimination. 16 such cases were shared during the event.
 
The Jan Sunwai enabled the jury to understand the victim’s perspective and pain behind the cases. The cases were examined by studying case documents and procedures of inquiry. This was an effort to examine details of case papers, provide feedback to activist and victims to work out strategies for legal prosecution and strengthen local mobilisation. This effort has brought the cases in the public domain and to reflect on the vindictive way of dealing with dalits by highly insensitive administration, police and even society. Around 300 persons mainly from the victim’s family members, relatives and activists participated in the event with the hope to regain the dignity of dalits as human beings through accessing justice.
 
Consultation on Realising UNCRPD, July 8, 2011
 
A ‘Regional Consultation on Realising UNCRPD: Learning from inclusive Practices,’ was held in partnership with Blind People’s Association (BPA). The case studies on inclusive practices on disability in education and employment were documented on a pilot basis and this report was circulated in English and Gujarati in accessible formats at the consultation. Five cases were documented from four organisations – BPA for both education and employment, ADAPT (Abled Disabled All People Together – formally the Spastic Society), Mumbai for education, Microsign Products, Bhavnagar and Bharat Petroleum Ltd for employment. There were 155 participants including resource persons for this consdtituting of multiple stakeholders. The resource persons comprised of the organisations for which the cases were documented. Besides this the Principal Secretary, Commissioner for Disabilities and lawyers like Dr. Amita Dhanda from NALSAR University (Consultant for preparing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2011), Mr. Rajive Raturi (Human Rights Law Network), New Delhi and member of the drafting committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2011. From Delhi University we had three professors: Dr. Anita Ghai who is the Chairperson of All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) and has taught psychology at the Jesus and Mary College, Mr. Jagdish Chander teaches Political Science at the Hindu College, both are persons with disability and have worked as activists in the disability movement and Dr. Tanmoy Bhattacharya, Coordinator of Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC), Delhi University that strives for inclusion of SC/ ST and disability in the 25 colleges under DU. From Christian Blind Mission the representative was Mr. Murali Padmanabham the officer for inclusion.
 
Book Release: History of Women’s Movement in 4 parts in Gujarati and Hindi June 20, 2011
 
The series of books on History of Women’s Movement published by UNNATI in collaboration with Sahiyar (Stree Sangathana) Vadodara, were released on June 20, 2011 at Ahmedabad. Reviewers were invited to talk about the relevance of the books in contemporary times. Ms. Deepa Sonpal from UNNATI gave a brief background of why and how the books were prepared. Ms. Swaroop Dhrvu spoke on the relevance of the songs sung by the women’s and included in the books, Ms Trupti Shah from Sahiyar and the author of the books talked about how the books were conceived and explained the style of writing in drama style; Mr Tarun Deep Girdher, Faculty of Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design, explained the design development aspects and Ms. Sophia Khan from SAFAR, Ahmedabad and Fr. Jimmy Dabhi from Behavioural Science Centre, Ahmedabad spoke on Intersectionality and its relevance. There were around 80 participants from various NGOs in Ahmedabad.
 
Advisory Committee meeting of the SATCOM Programme
 
An Advisory Committee meeting of the SATCOM Programme for English Language Teaching for students of standard VIII of schools in scheduled areas of Gujarat (supported by Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat) is being held on May 2, 2011 at Ahmedabad Management Association to discuss the status and chart out the future directions.
   
 
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