About MNMS

Genesis
Towards the end of 2007, the seed for community governed pre-primary school was sown, during discussions with the tribal communities in Marlawai village in Jainoor mandal of Adilabad district. Following this, further intense discussions with the tribal parents quickly led to the establishment of 17 community-governed schools in Jainoor and Siripur(U) mandals. The spirit of community-governance was promptly and thoroughly imbibed in these schools. The Gond parents christened their school as ‘Mava Nate Mava Sada’ (MNMS) which in their mother tongue, Gondi, translates to ‘Our Village Our School ’. The idea of self-financed, self-governed schools did not need much effort to take root.

Today there are 271 such schools spread over four mandals – Utnoor, Indervelly, Jainoor and Siripur(U) in Adilabad district.

For a School to come into being…
The village community should first resolve to open a school. Once the decision is made the village community will also identify a suitable structure for holding the school and also will identify all the three and four year old children for enrolling in the school. The parents of the identified children shall form a five member Committee. This shall function as the Parents Committee (PC) and will be responsible for the governance of the school. The PC shall identify a suitable person in consultation with CDR, to be appointed as the Teacher in the school. CDR trains the teacher for 16 days in the first year in the best practices of joyful teaching. The teacher is accountable to the parents and submits a Public Report to them every month.

The Director of CDR is the person in-charge of implementing the MNMS Project in consultation and cooperation from the Presidents and Members of the Mandal Mahila Samakyas (MMS), the Village Organizations (VOs), the CEO of SERP and other MNMS colleagues. The Director heads the Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) that meets periodically to address issues related to implementation.

Teacher Selection and Training

When the user clicks the Teacher Selection and Training tab the following information should be displayed: The community is responsible for identifying a suitable teacher for their MNMS, preferably an Intermediate educated woman below 20years age. She should be a resident of the village and should speak the mother tongue of the MNMS children.

CDR holds a test and interview to scrutinize the competencies and eligibility of all identified persons before finalizing the selection. Every selected teacher attends a foundation training course for 16 days in activity based joyful teaching and learning methodology. It includes a four-day stay in a MNMS village with the MNMS teacher. The trainee teacher interacts with the community and learns about the important tools of community governance.

In addition to the Foundation Course, every teacher is trained for two days every month in teaching of the next month’s lesson plan. There are now 110 teachers presently working in as many MNMS schools. Many of these schools are located in quite far flung tribal villages.

Child Centered Teaching

When the user clicks the Child Centered Teaching tab the following information should be displayed:

A child wants to learn. The MNMS Project follows the child centered approach. Every child is a bundle of irrepressible energy and boundless curiosity. Joyful, activity based methodology draws out the innate abilities of a child and makes a partner out of the pupil. Aata. Paata, Abhinayam, Kruthyam, Katha, Padyam--- the teacher and the pupil explore these teaching and learning components together with brimful of joy every day.

The school is run as per a carefully chosen curriculum and a well prepared monthly teaching plan. Children learn the basics of both Telugu and English languages with equal emphasis.

Community Governance

When the user clicks the Community Governance tab the following information should be displayed:

Community and Parents’ ownership form the fulcrum of the MNMS Project. There are some distinct and strong tools of community governance that are incorporated into the Project right from its inception and they have now become integral part of it. These include:

People’s Initiative
A MNMS school is established only after the parents of the identified children and the community together holds a meeting and resolves to have the MNMS. They should resolve on Pancha Teermanalu (five fundamental resolutions) of the MNMS and submit the same to the MMS. These five distinct Pancha Ttheermanalu of community responsibility and governance are fundamental prerequisites to set up a MNMS School. These Resolutions were initially arrived at in Marlawai village after much deliberation between parents and tribal elders.

Pancha Theermanalu

• First, the Community shall resolve to have a MNMS School in their village.
• Second, the Community shall identify suitable teacher from within the village for the proposed MNMS School and shall finalize the salary to be paid by them to the teacher.
• Third, the Community shall identify suitable premises for housing MNMS school.
• Fourth, the Community shall survey and finalize the list of the 3 and 4 year old children who are eligible to join MNMS school.
• Fifth, the Community shall nominate a Parents Committee of five mothers to take care of all aspects of governance of the school.

Badi Panduga (Monthly Public Report Day)
On the last Saturday of every month the parents and the community elders gather to receive the monthly Public Report from the MNMS teacher. This is Badi Panduga or the festival of learning. The teacher and the pupils joyously share the learning achieved during the month with the parents and the community. The parents also scrutinize the Pupil Assessment Report for the month prepared by the teacher and discuss all aspects of it. The PC pays the salary to the teacher on the same day. The teacher documents every Badi Panduga.

Daily Visits by the Parents
Parents of two pupils (by rotation as per the school roll order) are encouraged to visit the MNMS every day for an hour at least to witness and understand the classroom interaction.

Mandal Mahila Samakya (MMS)
Presidents of the four MMS are active partners in implementing the project. The MMS receives the funds directly from Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and in turn disburses it to the VOs. The Presidents and the Members of the MMS Vidya Committee visit the MNMS regularly to assess the progress of the children. They also discuss the functioning of the school with the VOs. They give constant support to the teachers.

The mandal and cluster coordinators of the MNMS Project submit their monthly outcome reports to the MMS.

Village Organisation (VO) and Parents Committee (PC)
The VO and the PC are the key partners in community governance of the MNMS. Representatives of the individual SHGs within the village are the members of the VO. The President of the VO by consensus constitutes the PC of the MNMS. She is also an ex-officio member of this PC. The VO prepares the Micro Credit Plan (MCP) for the parents who wish to borrow towards paying the monthly salary of the teacher and disburses the amount as a loan, accordingly. The VO is also responsible to ensure the repayment of the loan amount by the parents. The members of the PC frequently visit the school and give much needed encouragement to the teacher. They also discuss low attendance of the pupils and take up the matter with the concerned parents. They participate in the monthly Badi Panduga. The PC pays the salary to the teacher every month on Badi Panduga day only after hearing the Public Report.

Project Monitoring

When the user clicks the Project Monitoring tab the following information should be displayed:

Pupil attendance, teacher performance and learning outcomes are monitored every month. Monitoring is an integral part of project implementation. It is designed to encourage participatory assessment of the learning outcomes in each class room every month. This is done by the teacher who uses it as a tool for improving her own performance. Monitoring outcomes are discussed at the teachers’ support meetings held every month at the cluster and mandal levels. Special attention is paid by the cluster and Mandal Coordinators to the low performing schools. Preparation and use of teaching learning material by the teachers is also closely monitored.

Members of the Education Committee of the MMS visit every MNMS every month. They interact with the teacher and the community and discuss pupils’ attendance and learning outcomes.

Every MNMS conducts a festival of learning --Badi Panduga—on the last Saturday of every month. The teacher submits a pupils participatory Public Report on that day to the gathered parents and the community.

Cluster Coordinators (CC):
The Project has one CC for every 11 MNMS schools on an average. Currently, there are 11 CCs working in the project. The CC plays a very important role. They work in close coordination with the community and the parents. The CC visits all schools in the cluster at least once a week to monitor the learning outcomes. The CC facilitates the Monthly Teachers Support Meet at the cluster level. The CC acts as a supportive friend and guide of the teacher.

Mandal Coordinators (MC):
The Project has a MC for every mandal. The MC is responsible for implementation of the project in the mandal. The MC oversees the work of the CCs and has personal rapport with the PCs. MC’s guidance, support and visits to the schools are very helpful to the teachers. S/he facilitates the Monthly Mandal Teachers Support Meet. The MC acts as a coordinator between the MMS and all others in the Project.

Monitoring of the learning outcomes based on activity based joyful teaching methodology needs concerned commitment—both of the teacher and the coordinators. CDR strives to inculcate it fully.

CDR partners with the Parents of Mava Nate Mava Sada (MNMS) Children, People’s Institutions including Village Organizations (VOs) and their federations, Mandal Mahila Samakhyas (MMS) and with the largest poverty reduction project in Andhra Pradesh, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in the education initiatives