Academic Concept Paper: High Dropout Rate in SLC?
Background
Duwakot, a village with
access to the crucial facilities for modern lifestyle, has a high dropout rate
during the 10th standard. Be it community, private or public schools,
the village has got some of the finest schools in the city, but is still
lagging behind in terms of education sector and the effect is seen prominently
among the students appearing for the then "SLC", SEE exam.
The guardians are also
very much concerned and have tried to improve the education of their children
through various coaching and tuition classes. The methods look flawless as the
students and the guardians are trying their hardest efforts from their own
sides. But still, the result seems to be unsatisfying as the performance of the
students continues to decrease. There could be millions of reasons to be noted
if the problem is to be dealt individually, which seems impossible, at least
for the current time being. The most logical solution seems to be the addition
of libraries in the village and cutting off some of the extra classes to reduce
some burden off the students and provide them some quality time to study what
they really want and help them figure things out by themselves.
This methodology, at
first, might seem very vague as there is no "perfect destination" and
"a teacher" for the study pattern we are trying to pursue. But, I'm
sure that this method in the end will help students get the feel for the study
materials as I myself used this very method for myself which not only helped me
gain the better grades but also made me realize that it is more enjoyable
experience to gain knowledge than to remember facts for better grades. There
are no libraries in the village, so I always thought of what it would be like
to get some free time for studying what we really wanted. According to my harsh
experiences, it is never a good trend to get exhausted from a long 12 hour
school each day and adding up extra-long hours of homework. There should be
some slack off for the students for a couple of hours in libraries and among
the peers each day so that they can gain pace or gain even a tiniest of the
rest for the remaining portion of their day.
A library, "Navasmaraniya
Pustakalaya" which used to be a center of even the educational funds from
government, has gone out of service due to the unaware and corrupt locals. So,
it is absolute necessity to rejuvenate the old libraries and build a few in
different places of the locality.
This project is very much
worth giving a shot as this could be the key to not mass produce brainwashed
graduates/robots and helping the students learn the purpose of learning.
Need
of the study
About 30% of students,
especially the students from government schools in my locality are quitting the
education and pursuing the family business or even indulging in the bad habits.
The most common reason for quitting the school life appears to be the
difficulties the students faced while trying to understand the subject matter.
Some do not like the teaching methods, some are not able to access the
reference books, some have poor financial situation and some are not able to
get the proper guidance. We cannot change the education system overnight but we
can help the ones in need of change become the guardian of their own and the
most efficient way is to make them aware that the best teacher for a person is
themselves which can be obtained by encouraging the students to join a library.
A library can help the needy ones gain access to the different books for free
and it can provide an environment where a person has to be the teacher of
himself thus, improving the self-guidance. Hence, the existing library, which
is not in service, has to be brought back to service and a few more libraries
should be opened in different places.
Objectives
1.
To help all the students gain access to
the proper education materials.
2.
To help the students have a proper peer
circle.
3.
To encourage the students in studying and
lower the dropout percentage especially in SLC.
Project
Methodology
With at least a library
at each ward in the locality, our project will be commenced. The method of
analysis shall be the use of statistics to find the mean and percentage
calculation. We will take a sample survey of a school to evaluate the results
and for that, we will request any one of the school to make their students take
the free membership of any one of the libraries and also request the school to
cut some time off for library sessions. We will find the average and the
percentage of the overall students of one of the school tests before and after
the commencement of the project.
This sample survey will
be carried out in 3 wards of Duwakot in the beginning and the data will be
compared accordingly and the final result will be presented in different forms
of graphical presentations like bar charts and scatterplots.
Duration
and Funding
The project is expected
to complete in 28 to 30 weeks which is about 7 months. The preparation of
concept paper and the project proposal may take 2 to 4 weeks. The proposal may
require about 1 week to get the approval from higher authorities and the
co-ordination of local schools too. The building of libraries may take up to 16
to 18 weeks and the further evaluation of the sample survey may take up to 4 to
8 weeks.
A well-equipped library
may cost a total of NRs 1.2 crore provided that the cost for the land is not
neglected. For starters, we may begin with NRs 50 lakhs and keep equipping the
library with time. So, for the project to begin in 3 different wards with one
library at each of the wards, a total of NRs 1.5 crore is required.
To raise funds, we can
begin donation campaigns in the society and the cost of building library can be
gained from the open share schemes and partnerships. We can request funds from
different NGOs and INGOs.
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshbL7Ra2hU
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