The low learning levels among students in India are well-reported by government and non-government sources. Millions of students do not possess grade-appropriate learning outcomes which stages them for failure in the next grade or higher education or for sustainable employment. The fact that India has a policy of ‘no detention’ till grade eight (elementary) makes the matters worse, considering the disadvantageous home and parent background, inadequate teaching learning materials and poor teaching-learning methods and pedagogy which affects the large number of government schools and children in them. Not surprisingly, the teachers are struggling to ensure learning outcomes for secondary students.
The SSPP was developed to enable teachers to succeed in overcoming this challenge by enhancing their students’ ‘secondary readiness’ (i.e., their grasp over curricular pre-requisites) within the first few months of secondary school. The paper discusses the ‘Reflective Engagement Pedagogy’ that was used in SSPP, evolved through extensive research and implementation in over 400 government secondary schools across four large states of India, as well as an intensive study of international best practices. By using a ‘face to face camp’ of 15 days, followed by a 6-8 week self-learning phase with gamified materials and concluding with a ‘consolidation camp’, the SSPP was able to generate substantial reductions in learning gaps and enable grade level participation.
The SSPP was piloted in three states with the involvement of state and national authorities. Orientation of adminstrators and decision-makers, state specific versions of an accelerated curriculum and materials, training of trainers and teachers, and supervised implementation of the programme have yielded a well-rounded model. Data from assessment of student learning, documentation and sharing exercises held during various stages, and teachers’ voice captured through video and text will be used in the paper.
Having been implemented in schools that face challenges in terms of infrastructure and facilities, SSPP is a scalable, low-cost and practical approach, designed to help teachers overcome the constraints of ground realities of countries such as India.
