Fighting for the Future

Summary: Gender inequality in education is always a hot topic, especially in rural villages. However, abstract conversations are insufficient in preparing you for dealing with the sense of learned helplessness first-hand, as I recently experienced on a trip to Mauthri.

Lately, I’ve been going into the field with Tanuja to talk to the teachers and students about DSH, as part of an effort to build an impact story for DSH. These visits have generally been very uplifting, even when taking the testimonials with a few grains of salt. Once in awhile, though, you encounter a roadblock, and hear things that make your heart sink.

Our latest visit was with Mauthri, an NGO-run center where girls from the village learn and do embroidery as a way to earn some extra money for their families. Their age ranges from 14-18, and they come from such poor backgrounds that in some households, the girls will not get an evening meal if they don’t work in the field. Through working, they earn just enough for food in the morning and in the evening. As such, these girls generally haven’t had formal education; through DSH they get minimal education in English, math, and science while they do their embroidery work.

The following is a profile of one of the girls and what she had to say:

Deepshikha has been doing embroidery at Mauthri for the past five years or so. Earlier, she attended a nearby government school until Class 8, but she cannot appear in school (or at the exams) for Class 9 because she has not received her transfer certificate and mark sheet from Class 8. Until her father takes the time to pick up these forms from her former school, she cannot continue her studies. When asked what she wants to do later with her studies, she responds, “What can I do with this level of study? I’ll try to study until class 12, because the school is just until then. And I’m in a village, where would I go for further studies? There are some girls who leave the village, but I don’t think I can. I don’t even know how to ride a cycle.” She continues with her family background and their education levels: “My father is a graduate in law, my older brother is a graduate and is working in Lucknow, and my younger brother is studying. I am the one sitting around – why does it happen that boys can get educated while girls are left behind?”

Nilu, another girl at Mauthri, shared similar sentiments:

Nilu studies at home and appears for her Class 9 exams, but doesn’t attend school, as (such is the state of the educational system that) her time can be better spent doing embroidery and earning for her family. She helps her younger brothers with their studies, claiming that “they are more intelligent than I am.” When asked about the possibility of pursuing education beyond class 12, she also states that as a female, it would be difficult to leave the village for studies.

When you spend your entire life in the village, it’s easy to confine your worldview to such, abiding by its rules and seeing only the opportunities that lie within. It’s frustrating to hear these girls crush their own dreams, make excuses for themselves, and accept the future imposed upon them by someone else.

It’s frustrating to me because I was lucky – I was born to parents who encouraged my dreams, in a society that respected my desires. I was encouraged to think for myself and push the boundaries every step of the way. And yet even I, with all of my opportunities and resources, still make excuses for (and to) myself, just as the girls do.

Perhaps it’s that I expect these girls to be stronger than I could ever be, fighting the fights I never had to fight. But this is a fight that needs to be fought – if not by them, then by their children. And I’d rather it be now, because I’m sure that when the time comes, their children will have a different battle they’ll need to wage. Perhaps by then, my own children will be fighting with them, for them.

Teacher Trainings, Exposed

Summary: A recent discovery found that teacher trainings are nothing but a ruse that allows government school teachers to skip school and chat with their peers.

Every year, government school teachers are required to attend 20 days of official, government-sponsored training. We just started working with a handful of government schools, so upon hearing that the teachers had been pulled out (without replacements) for 6 days of training, one of our staff members decided to see how these trainings are run.

We entered with low expectations; over the course of this year, my idealism has learned to cower in the face of reality. However, we quickly realized that even our low isn’t low enough. Here’s the low-down of why:

• The trainer herself is just a teacher from one of our DSH spoke schools.
• In the 2.5 hours coworker “X” is present, the trainees (government school teachers) do nothing but gossip and chat with one another. After about an hour, the trainer asks X if he’s ready to give his presentation, assuming that’s the reason he’s in attendance.
• When X asks to see the program outline, trainer says she doesn’t have it and sends him one of the head government officials, who also says she doesn’t have it and sends him to her boss. Her boss, assumed to have the program outline (the veracity of this assumption is moot), is not even on site.

My former self would’ve assumed that this was a one-off situation; I now know better. This is the fourth day of this training, and to still not have the program outline anywhere on site is ridiculous and inexcusable. Never mind the fact that the trainers are likely unqualified to train their peers, and uninterested in doing more than participating in the gossip session.

This is just another example of a mediocre idea (pulling teachers out of schools to ‘train’ them) that fails completely in implementation.

Reminds me of a quote that goes something like this: “Which is the greater human evil – laziness or indifference?” Unfortunately, both are equally detrimental to the effectiveness of the DSH model, and we haven’t yet figured out a way to overcome either of these challenges. I suppose both can be overcome with the appropriate incentive system, though it does make you wonder whether you really want a teacher to have external (as opposed to internal) motivation for teaching.

Baby Steps

Summary: “Every journey begins with a single step.” In a recent visit to some of the newer DSH spoke schools, I saw uncomfortable and clumsy this first step can be. I also saw, once again, the potential that lies in the DSH program.

In the beginning of this academic year, DSH launched in eleven government schools as part of an evaluation study. These schools have come with their fair share of baggage and problems, though one of the biggest barriers to regular usage is lack of electricity.

One of the lead researchers from the University of Washington recently visited Lucknow to check in with the schools; I tagged along on six of these visits. Of those six schools, we were only able to observe the teacher take a DSH class in two of them; in one other the teacher taught on her own without the system, and the rest had one excuse or another.

These two visits were very interesting to me, because my previous field visits had been to schools that were more or less familiar with the equipment and concept of DSH. It was fascinating to see the teachers struggle with using the system, because it brings another sense of realness to the work.


Take, for example, Teacher A. Teacher A is a class three English teacher, but her command of the English language is poor at best. In a “pre-test” visit to the school (before DSH was installed), I had the pleasure of watching this teacher teach the poem, “Rain Rain Go Away.” She sat in her chair at the front of a classroom of children sitting on floormats and read the poem timidly, the children repeating line by line. Then, she called individual students to the front of the classroom to recite the poem; she nudged them along if they were stuck and sent them back to their seat if they were absolutely clueless. The entire class was very low energy and uninspiring.

This time around, she was teaching students the letters “P” and “Q.” Despite her efforts, she was clumsy in both her use of technology and style of mediation. Instead of pressing the “Pause” button on the remote, she pressed “Open/Close” which interestingly achieved the same goal. In her mediation, she let the DVD run through the entire letter P and halfway through Q before finally pausing the DVD, at which point she tried to recite the previous 5 minutes word for word.* As a result, she left out certain vocabulary words and forgot lines to the song.

I found such clumsiness very amusing and endearing; she is exactly the type of teacher DSH wants to work with. Although she lacks subject matter knowledge, she is open minded and has a positive attitude. In this one visit, I saw early signs of improvement. Her English is improving, and her students are more engaged.

Granted, she still has a long way to go, the point is, she’s going.


* For teachers unfamiliar with the DSH system and activity-based learning, we tell them to mimic the DVD teacher, verbatim, as the first step. Though this sounds simple, it has tremendous impact, especially for teachers teaching English. As they adjust to this new way of teaching, they can start expanding on the material in the DVD and even incorporating their own activities. In the beginning though, having DSH is like having a little birdie whisper specific lines and instructions into your ear.

Nipped in the Bud

Summary: A new partnership between DSH and district-wide teacher training colleges presents an opportunity for DSH to improve the quality (and type) of training teachers get even before they enter the classroom for the first time.

Imagine a factory that manufactures teachers and places them in schools. At the government school level, these are called teacher training colleges, or DIETs (the District Institute of Education and Teaching).

Current DSH efforts focus on working with teachers who have already been placed (and theoretically trained). However, so long as the manufacturing facility remains unchanged, teachers will continue to be inadequately trained, and the need for interventions like DSH will remain. And many nonprofits would prefer to run themselves out of business, meaning solve the problem they set out to solve so that they become redundant.

Now, being adequately trained does not directly correlate with more training. Currently, teachers in the field are required to have at least 20 days of in service training per year, and trainings often occur while school is in session. These trainings are not only ineffective, but are also actually detrimental, taking teachers out of the classroom without providing a viable substitute.

To improve the quality of training these teachers get even before they first set foot into the classroom, DSH is intervening in pre-service trainings through a recent partnership with DIETs in twelve districts. Through this program, lecturers at these DIETs will use DSH videos to demonstrate effective teaching practices in an actual classroom setting. Furthermore, the teachers-to-be can use the lessons to improve their own subject matter knowledge (especially English).

This program presents a fundamentally different way of using DSH lessons. Instead of mediating the video, lecturers will lead a discussion analyzing the lesson from different pedagogical perspectives. In this way, both lecturers (many of whom have little or no actual teaching experience) and teachers-to-be will benefit.

I truly appreciate the versatility of our content and the noble goal of this initiative. However, my observations in the field have also told me that knowledge and ability of teachers is only half the battle; the rest lies in motivation, or lack thereof.

I am hopeful, if skeptical, about our current ability to influence the latter. Two observations from the DSH-led two-day training held for selected lecturers inform my opinion: (1) The first day, scheduled to begin at 10 am, did not commence until well past 11 am, and (2) The best-ranked session of the entire training was a singing energizing activity.

Maternity Leave and Don’t Come Back

Summary: Maternity and child-care leave benefits are examples of the way the UP government squanders money and encourages teacher apathy.

The outrageousness continues. Not only are government school teachers paid a ridiculous sum (Rs. 22,000 per month, vs. the Rs. 1500 per month some other teachers get) for not doing much, but they’re also given outrageous fringe benefits.

In a recent visit to one of our village schools, Randy asked about the prolonged absence of one of the teachers, which resulted in the following discovery: In addition to six months of maternity leave, a teacher is given two years’ paid leave for child-raising. This teacher has had two children, and hence gets five years off, with pay; this figure amounts to Rs. 1.3 million (about US $30,000).

I sure hope there’s a maximum number of years a teacher can take off on this program, because this program is a triple-whammy; it is (1) encouraging folks to have more children, (2) incentivizing teachers to stay away from their jobs, and (3) understaffing schools because of the exorbitant amount being paid out to teachers on leave.

Might I be bold enough to suggest to the government that there might be a better use of those resources? With Rs. 13 lakhs (Rs. 1.3 M), DSH can reach over twenty schools and 2000 students.

Which Edge of the Sword?: Rookie Start-Up Mistakes

Summary: One of the reasons I joined Digital StudyHall was to learn about social entrepreneurship. In the past seven months, I’ve seen DSH struggle with some important strategic and financial decisions, challenges that are common to start-ups.

Sandwiched between the Silicon Valley and the venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road, Stanford is plagued by the entrepreneurship bug and I, being an MS&E (i.e., business) student, was smack in the middle of it.

Now, I am a type-“A,” semi-OCD person who secretly derives pleasure from systematically named computer files and generally prefers events that are pre-planned, though you’ll never find “Spontaneous Activity” penciled into my calendar. However, I dislike cubicles and sterile environments even more than I like structure and organization; hence my decision to ride the entrepreneurship wave and give the “start-up experience” a try.

Based on my sample size of one, my first conclusion is that no two start-ups are the same. (I say this with no sense of irony, despite the fact that differentiation is the basic premise of any entrepreneurial venture.) There is a saying in philanthropy which I believe extends equally to entrepreneurships: “When you know one foundation, you know one foundation.” So much for seeing whether the start-up life is for me.

At the same time, however, I think there are some challenges and mistakes common to many start-ups. My time at Digital StudyHall has shown me the importance of both learning from your own mistakes and those of others.

Working at Digital StudyHall, therefore, has taught me a lot about struggles of start-up operations, whether they be traps people fall into or desperately try to avoid. Some of the most salient include:

1. Overspending on things of little value-add: What counts as “worthwhile” expenditures, of course, differs not only from person to person, but also over time. DSH decided that at this stage, office furniture is not an important expenditure (explaining the patio chairs); others may argue that a professional office environment can have a major effect on morale and productivity. Every organization will also have its own “spending” threshold; also, the more money an organization has, the higher its threshold is likely to be. It’s important to note that the disagreements and resulting discussions themselves are critical, for they heighten awareness and force deliberate decisions about the use of resources.


2. Being overly frugal: It’s easy to understand how a well-intentioned but resource-strapped organization can err on the side of over-frugality, to the point where it under-invests in people. It’s hard to argue with a diminishing banking account, but I believe that such underinvestment leads to mediocre performance at best and organizational death at worst. I haven’t yet been able to decide on which side of the scale DSH sits; my hunch says we err on the side of frugality, though I’m not sure if that’s because I migrated from the consulting culture (and its Herman Millers).


3. Develop a 5-year plan and follow it religiously: I admit, I like plans and goals. But I also recognize the impracticalities of 5-year plans (not to be confused with the vision) in the start-up environment. Things change. Ideas fail. Challenges arise. There aren’t enough contingency plans to cover all possible scenarios. If for nothing else, DSH embraces the idea of experimentation as a way to adapt and learn. In spite of our implicit prioritization criteria (e.g., is the idea scalable?), I think DSH places too high a premium on trying new ideas. The risks associated with over-experimentation are, (a) spreading already limited resources even thinner, thereby possibly compromising the quality of all programs, (b) developing a culture that lacks direction and supports the “flavor of the month,” and (c) creating a feeling of stagnation in the organization.


4. Resist all bureaucracy and organizational structure: Psychologically, humans have an inherent need to categorize and structure the world; without a sense of structure, we flounder. Start-ups tend to lack processes and structure for one of two reasons, often both: (a) they take pride in their independent, revolutionary spirit, which contrasts sharply with the corporate monsters they’re taking on (think: TPS reports), or (b) they think that building their offering is a better use of their time than putting processes in place. With respect to the latter, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle; without sound structure and processes, the organization is ironically slowing itself down.


5. Scale too quickly: Something DSH adamantly wants to avoid is scaling before we’re “ready,” as many entrepreneurial organizations have died doing. On the other hand, there’s a sense of fear and paralysis regarding the challenges of scaling that can only be addressed when we cross that bridge; you often don’t know you’re ready until you do it. I’m not sure DSH is ready to scale, but status quo is certainly dissatisfying. I’ve only been here seven months and I’m getting restless! (Is this the impatience of youth?)

Even as I write this, I realize there are two sides to each “mistake” or challenge; nothing is ever as clear as it seems. As my former manager used to ask, “Clear as mud?”

Which brings me to my second major conclusion about start-ups and, in this case, life in general: the choices lining most decisions* are double-edged swords. The catch(-22) is that one side is sharper than the other; the sharp side will cause a quick death, and the dull side will cause a slower, prolonged death (with, of course, a potential future possibility to “stop the bleeding”).

Moderation is key. Perhaps the “best” decision involves the unspoken third edge of the sword – the flat edge.

* Every item in the list above boils down to a decision the leaders of the entrepreneurship must make.

Teacher Training

Summary: All in all, the 3-day teacher training program recently held for new DSH teachers (mainly government school teachers in the Chinhat study) was a success. Teachers were present, and the program went smoothly. The real test is whether the teachers will take the message and lessons from the training to their practice.

Last week, DSH hosted a three-day teacher training, marking the official start of the Chinhat Study. The Chinhat Study is a 2-year study funded by the University of Washington to evaluate the impact of the DSH program in 11 government schools. Both Class 3 English and Class 5 Math are being evaluated at each school, one being the control and the other being the experimental group.

The training was conducted in Hindi and covered topics such as introduction to DSH, characteristics of effective teaching, sensitization to gender issues, and subject-specific teaching.

Attendance was high (~90%), which was a great sign. Less promising, however, was the “Prerna Mentorship” session, where teachers sat in and observed live classes held at Prerna, a high-caliber school for neighborhood slum girls.

After 15 minutes of shuffling around, teachers were finally settled into the respective rooms. Less than 5 minutes later, the teachers excused themselves and marched back into the other side of the school, where training had been held. Seeing us on the balcony, they gestured, “We’ve had enough and are heading back.”

I’m glad we cut the originally planned week-long Prerna Mentorship Program to just 30 minutes, but apparently even that proved to be too much for this lot. They had the guts to walk out of a session and the arrogance to think they could call the shots.

I find the sense of entitlement that comes with job stability and 20,000 Rupees per month very upsetting.

Getting Back to Basics

Summary: To date, DSH has focused its efforts on making schools function better, and on making the DSH model “work.” While this is, or course, the reason of the organization’s being, the tradeoff is that DSH has not expended much focused energy on the basics (e.g., marketing and fundraising).

True to the character of the co-founders, DSH has, to date, been operationally-focused. As a start-up nonprofit, DSH has been a very action-oriented organization, channeling its energy and limited resources into making sure we see impact in the schools we operate in.

DSH is a no-frills, get-your-hands-dirty, do-whatever-it-takes type of organization. On the one hand, this means we’re not afraid of experimenting with new initiatives if we think it’ll make a difference. We throw everything we have into making sure we’re helping students receive a better education. We sit on patio furniture so we can support one more school. We focus on the students, and we focus on making things work.

On the other hand, this also means that we haven’t invested time and energy into what some consider “the basics.” We focus so much on our target “client” population that we forget about “funders” and “supporters.” As an organization, one of our biggest weaknesses is lack of marketing and fundraising efforts. We have no logo, no tagline, no mission statement, no PR, and no one dedicated to outreach and/or fundraising. To the organization, such “frills” are seen as unwanted distractions.

As an outsider coming in, I think the basics are long overdue. Sure, they might be distractions, but they’re necessary evils. In many ways, it’s a catch-22. You need funders and outreach in order to achieve impact, but you need demonstrated impact before outreach efforts can be successful.

Of course, there are small “wins” here and there. Take, for example, the 2008 Tech Awards in Silicon Valley, or the recent article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Though I was pleasantly surprised to discover these items, I’m also aware that they represent a largely ad hoc publicity “campaign.”

Though I’m trying to gradually introduce some basic elements of marketing into DSH, I find myself becoming acutely aware of the difficulties in developing a program that challenges the fiber of an up-and-running organization, especially if you yourself lack the skills and know-how to run it.

In other news, if you or anyone you know has experience with logo design and are willing to adopt DSH as a pro bono project, please let me know, as we sure could use some help!

Challenges Facing DSH: Middleman Woes

Summary: As a third party intermediary, DSH face unique challenges it would not face as a direct service provider (e.g., a school). These challenges, however, are far outweighed by the opportunity to effect widespread systemic change as an intermediary.

The DSH model is not a direct service model; as a third party, DSH is an enabler, a way to achieve better results. As such, DSH faces some unique challenges, the main ones being:

Fundraising: For most nonprofits, fundraising is the biggest challenge. However, it is often even more difficult for an intermediary like DSH; most folks want to see their money having direct impact and going directly to the ultimate beneficiary (the students). For that reason, schools and service providers will have a much easier time getting funding.

Partnerships: DSH cannot run without committed partners, whether they be on the user side (schools, teachers, etc.) or the content development side. Finding partners who share your priorities and agenda, however, can often be difficult. And, even with the perfect partner, maintaining the relationship is no easy task.

Accountability: As an enabler, DSH has to operate through schools and teachers. One of the biggest challenges in doing so is that DSH does not have the authority to hold people accountable. We can’t fire teachers who don’t show up to class. Instead, we have to work within the confines of the broken system, to try to improve incrementally.

Impact: We don’t get to see how our work is impacting the students day in and day out. Instead, we have to rely on intermittent field visits and the teachers’ word, making it hard to assess the actual impact of our work. Additionally, this leads to another challenge of truly understanding what works well and what doesn’t.

On the other hand, there are distinct benefits to being an intermediary, which far outweigh the challenges. That is, we can ultimately have broader impact as a third party than we can have as direct service provider. Therefore, we have a greater opportunity to effect widespread systemic change.

Varanasi I: “The Krishnamurti Retreat Center”

Summary: Earlier this month, I visited Varanasi on a trip to assess a potential site for DSH and DPC. A sense of calmness, introspection, and contemplativeness overtook us at the serene “Krishnamurti Retreat Center.” Through this trip, DPC has decided to pursue a partnership with the Krishnamurti Foundation India, while DSH has decided to postpone setting up a spoke site at the school.

Time seems to travel differently in India, where a lot happens in a short period of time followed by a long period of nothingness. In short, April has been nothing but, thanks in particular to Varanasi. This first part is the relaxing and rejuvenating part of our trip.

Richa (former StudyHall School teacher and the newest member of the DSH team) had arranged a trip for Urvashi and Anna to scope out a potential site for DSH and DPC at a rural center in Varanasi, run by the Krishnamurti Foundation India (KFI). Not only were Elizabeth and I given the opportunity to tag along on this trip, but we (with Anna) also decided to stay through the weekend to explore the city.

We reached Varanasi in the morning after a rather uneventful overnight train ride, though we were lucky enough to spot rats, cows, and monkeys at the train station. The car took us to what I’ve since dubbed the Krishnamurti Retreat Center (KRC), located in the outskirts of the city. When we entered the site, I immediately felt a sense of internal calmness and peacefulness, something I hadn’t realized I’d lost during my previous two months in Lucknow. Simply said, the KRC is a natural, serene setting whose natural beauty encourages spirituality and introspection.

We spent the next two days in meetings and observing the rural site, though in our free time, we explored the KRC and took some time to read and write. The school echoed the beauty and serenity of the KRC, though our meetings surfaced some critical challenges facing KFI and its operations. While DPC is moving forward with developing a partnership with KFI, we have decided that to postpone DSH adoption for numerous reasons, including:

Financial Instability: KFI is facing some serious financial challenges, with (a) no means of revenue generation, and (b) students not paying any form of tuition whatsoever. They don’t have the funds to expand their school and accommodate more students, as they can’t afford to hire more teachers.

Misdirected Efforts: KFI leadership has been recently focusing on villagers who are encroaching upon their land. Rather than devising a scheme to partner with the villagers to improve conditions of all parties involved, leadership has been preoccupied with finding ways to block out the villagers.

Misinformed Sense of Scale: The principal of the school has decided to focus on quality over quantity. To this end, he has capped class size to 25 students. Such intentions are good; the problem is that he can easily reach more students by increasing his class size without sacrificing quality.

Assessing the school site was only half the experience of staying at KRC, however. The other half includes attending KRC events, such as film night and discussion night. These were focused on better understanding Krishnamurti’s teachings, as that is the goal of most folks at the center. Unfortunately, my writing won’t do justice to what I experienced these two evenings, as my mind has seemingly retained abstract memories of the experience, but not the specifics.

Film Night: There is a weekly film night that focuses on a specific topic in Krishnamurti’s teachings. Unfortunately, Krishnamurti is not the most eloquent of speakers, nor is he particularly charismatic. The video was filmed at a conference, and was continually punctured with self-posed Q&A like, “Are you following me? I do not believe you are following.” or “Are you listening? This is very, very serious information, and if you are not listening, I ask that you leave.” I managed to focus long enough to follow his logic, however, and he makes some strong arguments which are worth some thought. It is most unfortunate that I cannot recall his argument, nor the general topic of discussion. Philosophy was never my strong suit.

Discussion Night: Hosted by Professor Krishna (not Krishnamurti), this event is meant to clarify any questions that have arisen about Krishnamurti’s teachings in people’s self-exploration the previous week. One particularly vibrant discussion arose from the question of whether there really is a separate “inner” and “outer,” or whether they are simply different manifestations of the “whole.” Again, I wish there were more I retained from this hour+ of discussion.

Special types of conversations emerge from being in a setting with folks who are all philosophizing about their lives. I was sitting by a tree writing one afternoon, and was approached by a man who wanted to engage in conversation. We quickly jumped into life philosophy, as he has been at the KRC for two years (whereas most people stay only 2-3 days) studying Krishnamurti’s teachings. I asked him how being at KRC for so long has changed how he would live his life in tangible ways, and his answer was a long-winded response akin to, “I have learned about the negative energy that comes from within many of us. Everything is built from relationships, and that is the most important thing.” Perhaps it was because of language differences, or perhaps it’s because I’m no philosopher. But that answer I just didn’t find satisfying.

I sometimes wonder if I’m too far on the “practical” end of the spectrum, and whether I should inch closer to the “philosophizing” end. For me, knowledge itself is not an end; it is useful insomuch as it has a tangible impact. For example, understanding the importance of relationships is only the first step; what’s more important to me is learning how to improve my relationships. For example, how can I make sure I understand the other person’s needs, spoken and unspoken? How can I ensure I’m a good friend / sister / daughter / mother / etc.? I need some practical tools, and I need to actually practice them; otherwise it’s just knowledge wasted.

A friend recently said that I was “too rational.” Perhaps he is right, in which case my “practical” solution is to pick up one of Krishnamurti’s books and begin dissecting his teachings. Wait, who am I kidding?

Building a Community

Summary: DSH has been developing and implementing a voice system to address the isolation teachers in village schools face. As a new endeavor, the verdict is still out on how helpful or effective this will be, but potential uses of the system are many.

Teaching is a very complicated profession and cannot be done in isolation. One of the major problems (of many, to be sure) in rural schools is that teachers lack a strong support system or network.

DSH has identified such isolation as a major barrier to our success. As such, we have been developing a voice system that creates a social network for teachers using their mobile phones. Every week, teachers are encouraged to dial into a central server, listen to a 3-minute message, and share their thoughts. The message covers a range of topics, from problems teachers are facing (e.g., I can’t use English in my class because the kids don’t even have a basic understanding of the language) to effective teaching techniques teacher should implement (e.g., incorporating real-world examples into the lessons). Later on in the week, they’re expected to dial in again to share the impact of the new teaching technique or issues they’ve faced.

The goal of the voice system is to provide a platform for teachers to share their experiences with each other, and to give them an opportunity to tap into extensive knowledge existent in their peer network.

Since rolling out the system to teachers two months ago, response has been somewhat promising. The key issue, of course, is finding the right content to fuel a lively discussion and encourage participation. To date, the teachers who have participated are the ones we’d expect; the trick is to encouraging the wider network to engage. (One of the issues that have emerged is the cost of the call; there are numerous potential solutions, and we’re weighing our options before settling on one.)

For a startup to be successful, you need to continually identify and remove the barriers to your success. The question in my mind is: When you’re working in an issue as complex as education, how do you know when you’re spreading yourself too thin?

Digital Polyclinic

Summary: Spearheaded by Anna, Digital Polyclinic is the rural healthcare education arm of DSH. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit a village where adult reproductive health training was underway; for me, DPC further proves the potential of DSH.

For a small, young (4-year-old) organization, Digital StudyHall has a surprising number of “franchises” and endeavors. To some extent, there are operations in Bangalore, Pune, Calcutta, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and more. People often ask DSH for help replicating our model in their area, and we’re more than willing to “consult” (i.e., share our advice and experiences with) them.

Furthermore, we have taken the basic DSH model and expanded it to rural healthcare education through Digital Polyclinic (DPC). Anna has spearheaded this effort, shooting videos of trainings conducted by knowledgeable doctors in Lucknow and running mediated sessions in villages. The hitch, of course, is making the content relevant to women in villages using doctors who treat patients in well-resourced urban settings. (DSH faces a similar issue.)

DPC currently runs trainings on women’s reproductive health. These trainings last 12 days, approximately 2 hours each day. DPC is moving toward developing another curriculum to address key issues in villages, such as adolescent reproductive health, or general rural healthcare (e.g., how to deal with snake bites).

Elizabeth and I went with Anna on a village visit today (to the village where Pratyush grew up and where he has founded the Educational Academy). Not only was it was great seeing the fruit of Anna and Roshan’s hard work, but it was also fun to play with the babies.

I noticed that although the skills required of the DPC mediator is fundamentally different from those required of DSH teachers, the general DSH model remains in tact. At a personal level, this is incredibly powerful and validating.

School Visit: Chinhat Schools (Nandpur and Salarganj)

Summary: As part of a 2-year study led by the University of Washington, DSH is expanding into 11 government schools (located in Chinhat) this coming school year. We’ve started filming teachers in these schools to assess the “before” situation. In our initial visit of two schools, I finally saw the bleak situation of education in village schools.

Holi is generally celebrated over two days, though many folks end up taking the entire week off. This means that although school is in session Friday and Saturday, students generally don’t show up until the following week.

DSH is launching in 11 government schools in the Chinhat region through a 2-year evaluative study funded by the University of Washington. We visited 2 of these schools on Saturday in hopes that we could film some of their classes (to document the “before intervention” state of teaching). Unfortunately both schools lacked the appropriate student population for filming . In Nandpur, not a single student was in attendance.

We tried again on Tuesday and arrived at Nandpur greeted by the sight of teachers congregating in the principal’s office. No reason; just because. We requested to film the 5th grade math and 3rd grade English classes. The math teacher then went outside, located the appropriate lesson (simple interest), led an exercise on the board, and walked away while the students copied it. Five minutes later, she returned to make sure students had copied the exercise correctly. (Though this was a class 5 lesson, class 4 students participated and obediently copied the board as well.)

Third grade English was even harder to watch. The teacher spent 5 minutes going through the numbers one through ten, writing the English word followed by the Hindi pronunciation and meaning. When he ran out of vertical board space at “seven,” he simply continued to “ten” verbally. Then he looked at Rahul with an expression that said, “What now?” He stopped and watched as the students copied the board. Unfortunately, it looked as if students were copying the English words as if it were art (the teacher wrote in half-cursive). Only with Rahul’s suggestion did the teacher check the copies, and even then it was a cursory sign-off.

Salarganj, the second school, wasn’t much better. Teachers were milling around when we arrived, with students quietly sitting outside. Again, only when we asked did the principal assemble the appropriate students (class 4 and 5) and teacher into the classroom for filming. This para-teacher* was equally clueless and started with an addition problem (e.g., 13595 + 2543). Look to Rahul for next steps. [Please continue.] Look through curriculum. Started a subtraction problem (as with numbers above). Look to Rahul, then curriculum. Started multiplication problem (e.g., 25456 x 45). Look to Rahul. Curriculum. Long division, at the end of which the teacher was saved by lunchtime. Keep in mind that this was 5th grade math.

We didn’t film class 3 English because the teacher was absent. They’ll call us when the teacher shows up.

I realize that our presence (as foreigners and with cameras) is very distracting and intimidating. But that’s no excuse for poor / no teaching. These children deserve an education; at the very least, they deserve to be inspired, and these teachers were less than inspiring. I am excited (and possibly overly idealistic) about the potential for DSH to make a difference in these schools.

* Note: A para-teacher is a teacher elected by the local village head. Unlike the government teacher, a para-teacher has lower / no credentials and receives a lower salary (on the scale of 3,000 versus 10,000 Rs a month). S/he is essentially a less qualified teacher who shares the same responsibilities as a teacher. Alas, the state of government village schools.

School Visit: Sahara City Homes

Summary: We have demoed and launched in a school for underserved children operated by Sahara City Homes.

We are launching in a school started as part of Corporate Social Responsibility of the housing department at Sahara City Homes. The conversation started in late December, and Rahul has contacted them every week for the past two months, to no avail. They finally returned his call last week, and we’ve since met with the folks and run a demo.

This school started last March, and is divided into two sections: a more advanced, “upper” level class, and a younger, “lower” level class. Sahara purchased the TV and DVD player on their own, and are using DSH to augment the quality of education they can provide to their children. (In all, they operate 16 schools for slum children around Lucknow; this is a pilot.)

The first visit (Saturday) was very embarrassing, as the DVD player was a local Indian model and wasn’t compatible with our DVDs. Video would run, but most chapters had no audio (yet a few did). We didn’t think to bring a DVD player with us, so we spent most of the class (a) trying to get the darn thing to work and (b) using a vocabulary lesson that made little sense in absence of the story. We agreed to come back today.

And come back we did, in full force with a full convoy of DSH employees. Eight of us in total (everyone in the office, minus Urvashi, Priyanka, and Roshan). We were determined to have a good demo and figure out what happened, and to generally see how things work. I’m happy to announce that we have now launched in Sahara City Homes. This demo consisted of Rahul running the class and demonstrating how to mediate using the DVDs. The next time we go back, we’ll coach the teacher through using the DVD.

School Visit: Gangaganj

Summary: Gangaganj, a village private school, is where I first observed corporal punishment and exercises in silence since my arrival to Lucknow. I was unable to observe teaching quality, as we were testing the students and the scheduled DSH class was cancelled due to a scratched DVD. We are working to remedy this issue.

Referred by Madantoosi, Gangaganj is a village private school about 2 hours from Lucknow. In this particular visit, we distributed tests to several of the classes. A few points arose from this visit.

Reporting of Equipment Issues: One of the DSH classes we hoped to observe was cancelled because the DVD was scratched. (Who knows how long they’ve known about this?) This brings up two points.

(1) DVDs may not be the best long-term solution for DSH, as they’re not particularly durable. We’re currently looking at other viable cost-effective technologies that will allow us to realistically scale our model, but we’re still experimenting.

(2) Schools need a lot of attention and, given that DSH simply a “supplement” to regular teaching (teaching will continue with or without the DVDs), people often don’t take the effort to report equipment failures or scratched DVDs. To make sure we stay on top of the status at schools, we’re implementing processes that will allow us to contact schools every week, either by phone or in person.

Corporal Punishment: Knowing that corporal punishment is still prevalent in schools does not stop you from cringing when you witness it firsthand. Spreading the students out for the test (to prevent cheating), one teacher roughly held and rotated the head of one student to turn him around, topping it off with a smack on the head. I later saw the same teacher sitting downstairs reviewing the work of some students as they stood there; he whacked the students’ hands with a stick several times, presumably for wrong answers. I presumed my American lens was responsible for the unsettling feeling in my stomach, but I realized afterward through conversation that many folks in today’s society disapprove of such teaching methods. Beating children in schools are less common nowadays, but still very prevalent in many schools, especially in villages. Hopefully we can change this by providing teachers with tools for controlling their class in our trainings.

Exercises in Silence: One of the more hilarious experiences of observations. Standing outside the 1st grade classroom, I noticed the teacher sitting in a chair in front of the classroom, and the energetic and restless students twisting and turning in their seats. I asked Tanuja, “What is the teacher doing? Why is he not teaching?” Tanuja’s response was, “He’s probably having them engage in an exercise in silence.” I was on the floor. Why? The closest thing we have to that is naptime in the U.S., and that is because we think the children will be grumpy if they miss their nap. This was different. The teacher wasn’t doing anything to keep them quiet – he was simply sitting. My own cynical assumptions told me that the teacher was lazy and was taking a break from teaching. But perhaps this happens across India, and is why students are so obedient and disciplined.

School Visit: Madantoosi School

Summary: By far the most frustrating visit I have had to date, the visit to Madantoosi exposed some of the key issues DSH is working to solve, including teacher attendance and teaching methods. Additionally, the test we deployed to evaluate student’s comprehension post-DSH shed light on the fact that we’re operating within the confines of a system that rewards rote memorization rather than critical thinking, though we’re (very) slowly making headway in changing the system.

Madantoosi (~1.5 hours by car from the office) is the only government school in our current local network, though it’s effectively another one of Urvashi’s pawns. The school has adopted DSH from the beginning, going on its fourth year. It has two sets of equipment; one for the lower school, and the other for upper school. However, this was a sobering visit for me, and it raised a number of critical issues.

DSH Testing Methods: Our goal for this visit was to evaluate the students on how much they learned from the DVDs, and we did this by deploying tests developed by the model teachers. We tested grades 5-8 on English and science. Looking at the English test, I noticed that some of the questions were unfair and didn’t seem to test understanding / comprehension at all. Below are two examples, the issues they raised, and the resulting discussion with Tanuja:

Sample Question: “What year was Florence Nightingale born?” To me, this seems to test memorization of dates rather than English. This, however, assumes that students have a basic understanding of English. What if we ‘grade’ the paper based on whether or not they can construct a sentence that appropriately answers this question, rather than whether they get the date right? Perhaps then that becomes an English test.

Instruction: “Rearrange the words below to create a sentence.” Why are we asking students to memorize a sentence and recite it at will? (I still disagree with this type of question, and will try to change it in future testing.) This raised the bigger question about the current goals of DSH. Are we conforming to the existing institution, which tests students on memorization rather than critical thinking? If success is defined by the students’ performance on the board examinations, then we have to conform to the system. To succeed in this system (i.e., get into IIT), students must memorize and recite. Until the system changes, we’re trying our best to work within the confines, increasing the students’ knowledge base and understanding of material beyond the subpar, minimalistic state curriculum. Furthermore, DSH is changing the common perception of teaching as a pedantic endeavor by using teachers that encourage class participation and two-way interaction. I’ve also noted that for the most part, students are encouraged not to take notes in sessions conducted with DSH, as note taking encourages memorization over true comprehension.

Teacher attendance: Five teachers for 8 classes, and this is with full teacher attendance (one is on maternity leave, with no substitute coming anytime soon). Additionally, the following experience made (and continues to make) me want to pull my hair out. Rahul was giving me a tour of the school, and we ended up at the second and third grade classrooms. I asked, “Where is the teacher?” He looks behind us and, motioning toward the teacher who had been tagging along and chatting with us, says, “He is.” “Why is he not teaching?” Rahul shrugs and simply says, “Because we’re here.” This whole time, I thought he taught one of the classes currently taking our test. According to Rahul, he’s actually one of the better teachers who interacts well with his students. Why he would not teach his two classes (he is responsible for both 2nd and 3rd grade) because we’re there is beyond me. Somehow, that makes sense to folks around here.

Teaching methods: That we were deploying tests to classes that regularly use DSH meant I had the opportunity to observe a regular class in operation. The only class with a teacher (see above) was 1st grade, and I tried to make myself invisible (ha!) in the back of the classroom. This is what I saw: each student bringing a notebook to the teacher, who stood by the door writing letters of the Hindi alphabet for students to copy. On the chalkboard was text written in Hindi that the students had memorized. A designated leader carried a stick and called on students to come up and recite the text, with the rest of the class repeating (to a certain extent). This student teacher was on a power trip like I had never seen before; I saw her hit other students on the head for not listening to her. In the 30+ minutes I was there, I didn’t for even one minute see the teacher “teach,” as I understand the word to mean.

Not seeing the class going anywhere, I started engaging Assa, the quiet girl I was sitting next to. Other students noticed and brought their books to show me (as if I were their teacher). Nadeem proudly “read” the Hindi alphabet to me. Other children demonstrated their English ability by reciting the alphabet. Yet when I pointed to a random letter, few could read it. A few ingenious students started at the top of the page they had memorized, “J, K, L, M…M!” Others giggled in shame. So, they know their ABC’s by heart, but they can’t read. (Reminds me of what I’m doing with Hindi.)

It’s very easy to get disheartened by experiences like this. On the other hand, it gives more reason to push harder and be invigorated by the work we are doing, because if we can execute effectively and expand our operations, we can, in the long run, make a difference. Maybe not in these children’s lives, but in future generations. Education doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t, be like this. Children deserve so much more; we should not, and cannot, accept status quo.

School Visit: Kannar

Summary: The high quality of teaching at Kannar reinforces the role of DSH as a supporting actor. While most teachers can benefit from the DVDs, there is variation as to how the DVDs can be used (e.g., for experiments and demonstrations the teacher might not be able to perform live). Additionally, the decreased attendance at its afternoon tutoring program may provide DSH the opportunity to expand into a neighboring school.

Vidyasthali School, located in Kannar (~1 hour from the office by car), was founded by Urvashi and houses two sets of DSH equipment. Kannar currently uses DSH in two capacities: during the formal school and in an informal afternoon tutoring program open to the public.

We observed three classes at Kannar, and the quality of teaching was impressive. One teacher (science) only used the DVD for its demonstrations and for its resources (e.g., to show the class a picture of the human skeletal system). On her own, she was very effective and engaging, and related the material to the students. We need to recognize that in such situations, the teacher should not be forced to use and/or rely on the DVD, but rather to use it only as needed. One alternative, should we ever reach a point where a substantial number of teachers need DSH support only for demonstrations and pictures / resources, we can create a new set with only such material. As it stands, few teachers are of this caliber and the costs far outweigh the benefits of convenience for the teachers.

The afternoon program at Kannar is unique: two 11th grade students teach / tutor younger students; one teaches math, the other English. This program has suffered attendance problems as of late for several reasons: (1) the nearby feeder private school for this program decided to forbid its students from attending, (2) the students that joined the school mid-year had successfully caught up to the rest of the class, and (3) parents couldn’t mandate and enforce their children’s attendance. The second reason is actually a good outcome; as for the first, this provides DSH opportunity to approach (and embrace) the competing private school and offer its services. This may be a blessing in disguise after all.

It is, however, certainly ironic that a school whose aim is to educate children would forbid its students from supplementing their education (outside regular school hours, at that). How did they lose sight of this central mission of their operations?

School Visit: Springdale School

Summary: Springdale teaches kids through 4th grade, with the goal of feeding them into the formal school system at that point. It’s also where I first experienced first-hand teacher absenteeism and its implications for the students. DSH can be a powerful tool in these situations, if only we could get the substitute / a student to play the DVD.

Operating out of rooms donated by a school in Lucknow, Springdale exists as an afternoon program for nearby kids who otherwise do not attend school. The school runs from nursery through 4th grade, with the goal of getting kids up to par and feeding them into formal, local schools. Teachers are university students who work on a volunteer basis, and often do not show up when exam period approaches.

On this particular visit, the 2nd / 3rd grade teacher was absent, and the nursery school teacher was forced to take her place. She was planning on simply doing dictation, as she wasn’t comfortable teaching them actual content, but we insisted that she actually teach. (After all, why can you not teach, particularly when you have a DVD to use with the lesson already in place?) She ended up teaching the alphabet, as that was within her comfort zone. These kids had already done the alphabet, and they were all capable of reciting their ABC’s. I questioned their comprehension, however, when the principal sat in and probed the students. (Which is the letter “M”? What does “M” stand for?) Few of the students were able to identify letters without reciting the entire alphabet, and even fewer could rattle of sample words off the cuff.

I just don’t understand how you can operate a school where teachers can simply not show up. Then again, I think teacher absenteeism is a pretty substantial problem throughout government schools; I just haven’t seen it because DSH currently doesn’t really operate in government schools. Even in those cases, however, DSH can be a powerful tool, because the DVD can run not only a pretty good class, but it can also facilitate peer-to-peer teaching. It’s just a matter of getting schools to adopt it and simply play the DVD when a teacher doesn’t show up.

School Visit: Maivaya School

Summary: DSH runs and operates is latest addition, Mavaiya. While benefits of running and operating a school can be numerous (e.g., increased usage and effectiveness of DSH at the school), I currently believe that the costs are far higher and do not think that this is the appropriate long-term direction for DSH.

Maivaya, the newest addition to DSH, is the in-house name for a school founded for slum children in the Mavaiya neighborhood in Lucknow. SEWA had shut down its operations in the area, and DSH decided to rent a few rooms to start and operate our own school.

There were approximately 20 students of varying ages in second grade, learning the Hindi alphabet and the multiplication table. These kids attend school from 10-1 pm, after which they help their families as much as possible. Some of these children were mature beyond their years (e.g., a 6 year old taking care of younger siblings as a mother would). When we left the school, I saw one older but very bright girl, Sangita, on the street helping her mother do laundry. It was good to see, however, that the conditions these kids were in didn’t crush their spirits, as they were as fun as any I’ve interacted with.

Maivaya is a way for DSH to test its ability to grow through establishing brick-and-mortar schools. An additional benefit of DSH starting brick-and-mortar schools is that DSH is likely more readily adopted and incorporated into the school’s functioning if it’s there from the beginning. Also, because DSH has full control over Maivaiya, the school will be an important testing ground for programs or features we may want to launch in the future.

At the moment, I’m far from being convinced that DSH should grow through establishing schools, as that would pull us away from our core competence of content development and exponentially increase our operational costs.

School Visit: SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) School

Summary: Situated in Lucknow, SEWA benefits tremendously from having a dedicated leader and enthusiastic students. In schools lacking a strong principal that holds teachers accountable, how do you reach beyond apathy to create a culture of care?

SEWA is a school for children whose mothers work for SEWA by doing chikan embroidery. Aside from Study Hall school (founded by Urvashi), SEWA is the best-resourced DSH school I’ve seen yet. (I say this simply because it’s in an enclosed building.) Students have benches that serve as chairs and desks, and classrooms are interconnected (i.e., rooms are separated by a wall but have no door, only a doorway on either side).

Its student population is mostly Muslim, and boy are these kids charming! I took some time out toward the end of our visit to interact with the students, and it turned into a performance where they showcased a very talented dancer, in exchange for which I had to sing a song. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star it is. End of story.
But that’s just the beginning of the DSH story. DSH has been at SEWA for 2-3 years now, and the teachers are some of the most dedicated teachers DSH has worked with. Before there was a room to safely keep the equipment, the equipment was housed in the office building next door, and teachers would walk to the office, watch these lessons and take notes before teaching their class. A big reason is because the principal of the school holds the teachers accountable and creates a “culture of care,” as Urvashi calls it.

A culture of apathy amongst teachers may be one of the biggest challenges DSH faces. How can you create similar “cultures of care” elsewhere, or rather, how can you expand your existing “culture of care” to influence the behavior of others? (For example, Teach for America has decided to tackle this by essentially making the “culture of care” a selection criteria for their candidate teachers.) When you don’t have the luxury to pick and choose the best and the brightest, what other tools can you use to break through the long-standing culture of apathy?