Internal courses for Pratham and ASER Centre teams
ASER Centre started its capacity building journey by assessing the needs of its own teams to carry out ASER and other surveys, implement research studies, and communicate findings to external audiences. Over time, this led to the development of a series of courses designed with our own teams in mind.
Certificate course for Research and Survey Coordinators:
This course covered a range of subjects such as Excel, Applied Statistics, Tools for Data Collection, Communications, Leadership, and Education System in India. The content was developed in-house and the course was conducted in Hindi and English.
Certificate in Leadership and Organizational Management (CLOM):
This course offered modules on communication and influencing, team building, management and leadership, networking and advocacy, self-management and technical skills. It was jointly offered by Pratham Education Foundation and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai to provide a rich in‐service experience to mid-level personnel in Pratham and ASER Centre. ASER Centre conducted sessions on understanding and presenting data.
Certificate in Adult Learning and Training Management (CALTM):
This course was specially designed for Pratham and ASER Centre trainers who go on to train various adult groups such as in-house trainers at the state and district level, government teachers, teacher trainees, etc. The course content was developed and delivered by Pratham Education Foundation and the Centre for Lifelong Learning, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Courses for external participants from other organisations and educational institutions
After some years of focusing capacity building efforts on our own teams, ASER Centre began to offer workshop modules and courses to external participants in organisations and institutions in different parts of the country. These include:
Assessment of Foundation Reading Course
The Assessment of Foundational Reading course explains how to administer a simple test to understand children’s foundational reading ability. The assessment can be administered to all children in the age group of 5-16 and can be done anywhere (not necessarily in school). Such assessments have been extensively used in the ASER survey since 2005 to provide large-scale evidence of children’s learning levels in rural India.
To access the reading course, click on this link: https://www.prathamyouthnet.org/aser/index.php
Evidence for Action: Certificate Course in Questionnaire Design, Statistics and Communication:
ASER Centre in collaboration with the Centre for Lifelong Learning at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai offered certified capacity building courses for field researchers, survey coordinators and professionals in other organisations working in similar fields. Participants from organisations such as Accountability Initiative, IDInsight, JPAL SA, IFMR, Room to Read, Saajha, and many individual participants have successfully completed the course.
DIET Partnership Program:
The District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) are government teacher training colleges that have been set up in most districts of the country. The DIET Partnership Program was started in 2015 to improve the ability of future primary school teachers to identify and address children’s foundational learning needs. Pratham and ASER Centre teams trained students who were studying to become teachers in selected DIETs. They learnt how to understand children’s current learning levels, group children by learning level, and teach each group of children using methods and materials designed to help them acquire foundational skills in reading and arithmetic in a short period of time. The course was based on Pratham’s Combined Activities for Maximised Learning (CAMaL) approach, better known today as Teaching at the Right Level or TaRL.
Translating Policy into Practice:
This workshop introduces the basic concepts of measurement in the context of a specific educational policy, i.e. the Right to Education Act. In addition to an in-depth understanding of the provisions of the Act, this workshop provides participants with a first exposure to how to generate, analyse, and present evidence. Classroom and field sessions help participants to think about the processes and how these influence learning outcomes. Participants link their understanding from their field visit by analysing the data collected and discussing the gaps observed between policy and practice. They are encouraged to ideate use of evidence to pursue new or corrective ground-level action post-workshop.
For more information, contact Nandita Banerjee at nandita@asercentre.org
