Government Model Senior Secondary School, Bhojawas, Mahendergarh (Haryana)

In 2013, when Quality Support Program began intervention at the Government Model Senior Secondary School in Bhojawas, the school consisted of an impressive building situated in this remote village of Haryana. The school had a strength of 1,400 students and 50 staff members, highest among neighboring schools. The school enjoyed a good reputation with a dynamic Principal along with good students’ performance, active engagement of teachers, adequate infrastructure facilities and consistent community support. However, the situation in the Primary section of the school was unlike the Senior Secondary School. The Head Teacher of the Primary school was nearing her service retirement. The teachers lacked exposure, guidance and a vision for their school; while students lacked exposure. The school infrastructure was not maintained and the parents and the community remained disengaged with the school.

As an initial step, the Foundation facilitated a baseline assessment for teachers to analyze the situation and identify the school’s needs, some of the needs outlined by the teachers were as follows:

• To increase focus on Primary section, school environment, facilities, teachers’ motivation and students’ learning levels
• More avenues for practical learning and an enhanced focus on Science
• Addressing the attitude and mind-sets of some teachers
• Expansion of infrastructure facilities to accommodate students in a single shift school
• Greater involvement of parents and the community

Based on the requirements, the Foundation formulated an initial intervention strategy to support the school. The Principal of the Senior Secondary section is very confident and sought to explore greater challenges to create a unique identity of the school. The momentum built also helped in garnering the support of the Head Teacher of the Primary section to embrace learning and growth. Bharti Foundation extended support to the school to address their aspirations, widen learning horizons, ensure readiness to experience new pedagogical practices at par with other progressive schools and help them set new benchmarks. Some of the activities undertaken were as follows:

STUDENT EMPOWERMENT

• Engaged students in various structured activities and curriculum based projects to instill confidence, enhance critical skills – interpersonal, presentation, critical and creative thinking, renew latent energy while unravelling the existing potential of the students
• Hosted/organized events such as Science Spark, Sports Spark and Rang Tarang (a drawing competition) as well as workshops on life skills, learning skills, project work and values.
• Lecture series were initiated wherein the students of senior classes were exposed to lectures by professionals in various vocations; guiding them to make appropriate career choices.

LEADERSHIP AND TEACHERS’ EMPOWERMENT

• Exposure visits were organized for the teachers to other schools and national level seminars
• Workshops on goal setting, motivation and innovative pedagogy were conducted to trigger progressive thinking and self-reflection
• Coaching sessions were imparted that focused on planning and execution of activities and projects

IMPACT OF INTERVENTION

Impact on the School’s overall Environment and Culture:

Impact on School Leadership and Teachers:

Impact on Students: