Introduction



“niiti”, a Sanskrit word means, in different contexts, policy, ethics, tenets. To us, who belong here, it is our raison d’etre, our touchstone. So we constantly turn to our ethics and tenets when we re-examine the basis of what we do and how we do it over and over again. This is our space to engage with our core, with you, our readers and companions on the path towards an equitable society in the deepest meaning of the word. Over the past years, there are several social issues and organisations that we have engaged with and been enriched with both experience and knowledge along the way. We believe that in creating a conversation platform for those engaged in the field, including some of our clients, partners, all of you out there who have reached this site wanting to be the change and others who have expertise to comment and critique, we can actually crowd-source actions and solutions for some of our most pressing social issues.

Some of these stories feature organisations and people who have been the change; others highlight innovative approaches to long-entrenched social issues; yet others point to ways in which change can be facilitated, simply. If you are inspired by them as well and motivated to replicate their work, or want to share inputs on other bright examples like these, do write to us at info@niiticonsulting.com.

This is your platform. Feel free to contribute, critique, and most importantly, converse.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Daily Dump - re-imagining India’s relationship with waste

Bangalore’s exponentially growing population, with ever growing consumption needs, has created a stinking trash problem.  The problem is made worse by the all-too-common “not my problem” mindset that most of us have.  Most of us think if we just throw our waste far away someone else will deal with it-the government, rag pickers, municipality, etc. Waste management is a problem in our country which cannot alone be solved by municipal waste workers and the informal trash sector. It is time for each one of us to step up and start owning our waste.

An Indian family of four produces an average of 2.2 kilograms of waste per day. In a city of more than 10 million, that is a lot of trash!  What most people don’t know is that 60% of that waste is organic material (kitchen and garden waste), which can easily be composted into nutrient rich manure at home.  There is absolutely no reason for perfectly natural tomatoes, capsicum, and mango to go to the landfill where it combines with batteries, plastic bottles, and other mixed waste slowly poisoning the ground and water.  Even worse, garden waste like dried leaves and dead branches, which make great mulch for gardens, are commonly burned, releasing dangerous toxins into the atmosphere. 


Daily Dump, a social enterprise based out of Bangalore has come up with innovative and indigenous solutions to address how we treat our organic waste by teaching individuals to compost at home. Daily Dump’s terracotta composting units, make composting household organic waste easy, turning it to nutrient rich manure in about three months.  Additionally, Daily Dump sells large, community composting units that are ideal for schools, offices, and apartment buildings. 

Think you’re too busy to compost? Composting only takes about five minutes a day; about the same amount of time it takes to brush your teeth.  Afraid of smell or pests or don’t think you have space?  Daily Dump has created products to simply composting at home easily and produce no smell, minimize the risk of pests, and look beautiful in a garden or on a balcony.  They  provides service plans for new users to get started.  And, when you’re done, your compost can be mixed with soil to provide excellent nutrition for your plants, you can take it to your favourite park and dump it under a tree, or sell the compost back to Daily Dump.


Since 2006, the Daily Dump has successfully kept more than 10,000 kgs of organic waste out of landfills and that number is growing.  They are in the process of designing new and easier products that will hopefully help to spread the habit of composting across India bringing that number even higher. It is their hope that, by showing people how easy composting can be, they can  catalyze people to begin making small changes in their buying and throwing habits that will add up to a large, positive impact on Bangalore’s trash problem.


To  know more about Daily Dump or to buy their product contact Ponnam Bir, compostwali at dailydumpcompost@gmail.com or +919916426661 or visit www.dailydump.org

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Masoom – Lighting Up Night Schools

Masoom is an NGO set up with a passion for establishing quality education in night schools, through its “Night School Transformation Programme”. Masoom began its intervention in the year 2006 with a research project supported by “Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research” (PUKAR). Having examined the conditions of night schools in Mumbai through this research, Nikita Ketkar founded Masoom in the year 2008.


Masoom's vision is to support youth “learn while they earn”, and mission is to enable night school students achieve their full potential through educational and policy support. Masoom’s model is the only comprehensive model being implemented in the history of night schools. Currently  they are working with 15 night schools in Mumbai, and will be expanding to 30 night schools in 2013-14.

Vocational guidance session
What are night schools?

Night schools are those that function in the evenings, catering to students who work during the day. Night schools are primarily attended by disadvantaged youth who have earlier had to drop out of school to take up jobs to financially support their families. However, they still nurture the desire to pursue their education – this is what brings them to night schools even after a long day at work. Night school students are typically in the age group of 15 to 25 years.

There are 210 night schools in the state of Maharashtra, out of which 150 are in Mumbai. Of the 20,000 youth that study in night schools all over Maharashtra, around 10,000 to 15,000 study in Mumbai night schools run by various trusts.

Challenges faced by night schools

Due to the lack of infrastructure and poor supervision, the quality of education in night schools is dismal, which leads to a high drop-out rate among students. Some of the hurdles are -
  1. Night schools function for only 3 hours a day as compared to the 5-6 hours of day schools, but have the same syllabus to cover.
  2. No Government policy recognizes or support night school education.
  3. Most teachers work in day schools, and teach at night schools as a second job.
  4. Shortage of funds for running the schools.
  5. Low attendance despite continuous enrolment drives due to the numerous external challenges faced by night school students. 
The Masoom Intervention


Masoom has developed a three-pronged intervention model to improve the quality of education in night schools. Called the ‘Night School Transformation Programme’, this intervention has been designed to address the unique needs of night schools and provide them with the support they need to transform to high quality educational institutions.The Night School Transformation Programme includes:
  1. Educational infrastructure building and support – Masoom provides access to critical educational infrastructure and resources. This includes textbooks and notebooks, nutrition, mobile science labs, audio-visual teaching aids, etc. For the schools with blind students, we also provide Braille learning tools.
  2.  Capacity building – Masoom works closely with various stakeholders in the school like the trustees, headmasters, teachers, parents and non-teaching staff. Students have the opportunity to improve their employability skills through english conversation classes and computer courses. Through Masoom’s Career Cell, students receive vocational guidance, scholarships, placements, etc.
  3.  Advocacy - Masoom works towards raising awareness and advocating amongst the public and key decision-makers about the urgent need of policy level changes to be made and implemented in favour of night schools.
Masoom Mobile science lab

Masoom teacher's residental training
    

The impact of Masoom’s intervention
  1. Enrolment of out-of-school students increased from 5 to 100 between 2008 and 2012. Student outreach has increased from 60 students to almost 900 in 2012. 
  2. SSC pass rate of students increased from 36% in 2008 to 72% in the Masoom supported night schools in the March 2013 SSC exam. Out of the current 15 schools, one achieved over 90% and two achieved 100% pass rate. 
  3. Access to the Braille program has increased from 12 to 50 students. 
  4. Over 100 teachers have been trained through various capacity building workshops conducted by Masoom. 
Future plans

In the coming year, Masoom will focus on the sustainable development of night schools through a strategic approach to school development. In the long term, they envisage replicating their model in other states in the country, to set up night schools where there are none.

To volunteer for enrolment drives, english conversation classes or to donate stationery, notebooks, etc. call 24713273/ 9167577131 or email nikita@masoomeducation.org