Lokmitra has been working to promote education and social change in India for over 20 years. Their programs work to enroll out-of-school children and adolescents, provide supplementary education to disadvantaged groups, improve school quality, and advocate for systemic reforms. Key outcomes include enrolling thousands of out-of-school children, enabling hundreds to continue their education, improving learning levels in supported schools, establishing school management committees, and influencing right to education laws and policies. Lokmitra is guided by principles of education as a right, social transformation, and collective action among teachers and parents to strengthen public education.

1. PROMOTING CHANGE IN ELEMENTARY
EDUCATION SYSTEM - OUTCOMES &
IMPACTS
Lokmitra Endeavours to Ensure Right of Each Child to
Learn

2. Education & Development of Out of School
Adolescents
About 113 Girls &
87 Boys (mostly
SC & Muslims &
above 14 years
age) have
competed three to
four month
Residential Camp.
About 445
adolescents
enrolled in village
based Centres out
of about 800
identified as Out of
School in 25
villages of Deeh &
Chhatoh Block of

3. Education and Mainstreaming of Out of School
Children
In last one decade, about 3,000 OoSC were
mobilised and about half them joined schools
for regular education.
Ye ar saw so m e g o o d o utco m e o f e arlie r e ffo rt
with Scho o lDro po ut. Ms Ne e ta Maurya, o ne
o f such g irl, who g o t suppo rt fro m Lo km itra in
ye ar 20 0 0 , jo ine d Lo km itra in 20 1 2 as
Te ache r. She is in 3 rd
ye ar o f he r Graduatio n.
About 400 of such children were rag picked in
Lucknow City. Many of them also started
school.
After enactment of RTE Act, School Children
being encourages to identify OoSCs and
SMCs are ensuring that children get enrolled.

4. Secondary Level Education of Dalit & Muslim
Girls
Supplementary
Education of Dalit
& Muslim Girls at
Junior &
Secondary level
has enabled them
to complete Senior
Secondary.
About 60 Girls are
pursuing College
level Education.
Girls intend to be
productively
employed and
make social
change.

5. Education Program is guided by understanding
that …
• Education as a medium for social change. All children have right to learn
and adults’ responsibility is to ensure that. Children’s Right should be
ensured through system of public education and without any additional
cost implication for the parents. Elementary education of all children is
essential for social transformation imbued with democratic values, equity
& justice, as has been aimed in Indian Constitution.
• Conception of School has been historically an important event that
subsumes the importance of a place where knowledge and wisdom of
humanity is passed on from one generation to the younger generation in
a way that prepares them to re evaluate, recreate that knowledge in
present context for newer challenges faced by humanity.
• School can gives equal opportunity to all for learning and growth that is
not possible if children stay with respective families.

6. Education Program is guided by understanding
that …
• To eliminate discriminatory practices in society created by attitudes &
behaviours resulting differentiation of people on ground of race, caste,
class, gender School education should make special effort by being pro
excluded.
• Lokmitra follows the Learning Principle suggested in National Curriculum
Framework 2005. According to it each Child will construct its own
Knowledge, based on its experiences. Role of Teacher is to provide
children stimulating learning environment and facilitate children’s
learning. Children have natural curiosity to know the world.
• Use of Mental Mapping, Concept Mapping assists adults in better
learning. It can also be used in planning learning session. Being able to
dialogue, helps in effective learning.

7. Education Program is guided by understanding
that …
• School shouldn’t become the carrier of knowledge of only those that are
up in the hierarchy and ignoring the life experiences and challenges for
those at the bottom rung.
• To promote systemic change, Lokmitra continues to believe and pursue
in evolving collective of deprived parents’ and concerned teachers.
Deprived Parents have real stake in improving the government
elementary education system. They can be mobilized for such objectives
whose benefit comes in long term.
• A critical mass of Teachers could become change agents as they want to
be proud teachers with sense of responsibility.
• Education is a complex subject. We need to build consensus, with
deeper understanding among diverse set of people. Family space also
needs to be made more democratic and conducive for development of
the child.

8. Education Program is guided by understanding
that …
• Enactment of RTE Act from 2010 ushered Lokmitra in a new legal reality
that has its own challenges. Lokmitra is hopeful that investing on some
key on processes that will pave the way for next round of legislative
changes and redefining of development priorities.
• School Management Committees with 2/3rd
parents, can be facilitated to
federate at Cluster and Block level to carve space for their mutual
learning and learn how to make government machinery and legislatures
accountable.
• In order to ensure that all children get educational right to learn through
government schools, Lokmitra started making multi-dimensional and
multi-level efforts in Uttar Pradesh since 2005. This approach is giving
synergy and carving space to intervene. Lokmitra is able to overcome
internal human resource constraints through organisational culture of
group learning, Knowledge Management & balanced matrix structure.

9. Promoting School Effectiveness for
Universal Enrolment & each Child’s Learning
• Inception of Lokmitra
took place in 1997
with its engagement
in three goverment
primary schools .
• Now with wide
acceptance of its
practices, it is directly
supporting over 400
rural schools of
seven blocks in four
districts and with 50
urban schools in
Raebareli and
Lucknow.

10. Transformation of School
A Case of Primary School of Sointha
Children’s attendance about 90%,
80% children of class 4 & 5 able to
read textbooks and do
mathematics.
50% children of class 2 & 3 can
read textbooks and express.
There is a healthy rapport between
the teachers and students.
There is high engagement among
teachers, parents and SMCs.
School adopts transparency in
transactions. There is mutual trust
between teachers and parents.

11. Schools Improvement with Parent’s Participation
and Academic Support

12. Schools Improvement with Parent’s Participation
and Academic Support

13. Children’s Participation
Lokmitrs has been promoting Children’s
involvement in realization of their right right
from its initial years. Effectiveness of such
effort resulted in nomination of, Mr.
Narendra, who was engaged while in
Primary School, by UNICEF to participate in
‘Junior-8’ Summit at Rome in 2009. Now he
has joined Lokmitra as Support Teacher &
completing his Graduation.
Children of a class are getting organised in
small groups and from each group one child
gets represented to constitute Bal Manch
(Child Parliament). Teacher group and
SMC members are getting motivated to
involve them in some decision of school
and get feedback on functioning of school.
Children also encourage thei opinion

14. Improving the School Fromwithin
Concept Map of what makes School Effective

15. Activity System to Improve School from Within
• Listening to what others have to say is the starting point of learning.
Activity System provides opportunity so that each one is listened.
• Responsibility to fulfil each child’s right to learn in classrooms should be
shared with all children, all teachers principal and parents. Parents and
teachers work together to create a better classroom, sharing
responsibility.
• Teachers respond to children’s responses toward learning. They are
required to consistently listen & pursue creative teaching by responding
to children.
• Weekly meetings of teacher to discuss case studies based on classroom
observation is at the heart of school management. Case studies focus
on learning as experienced by children in their classrooms and their
learning from each other.
• Children are organized in collaborative learning system in groups of 6-8
children, enabling learning from each other. Enabling schoolchildren’s
active, cooperative and reflective learning.

16. Outreach of Direct support to Schools
Lokmitra is working
with about 400
schools in seven rural
Blocks and urban
areas of Lucknow &
Raebareli.
About 100 of them are
getting support for
promoting children’s
Learning.
Lokmitra has well
documented
Language Teaching
Practice and same is
getting printes for use
by school teachers.

17. School Management Committee
and its Federation as Parent Association
During 2005 to 2010 Lokmitra evolved about 500 SMCs and
advocated for suitable provision in RTE Act & Rules.
To address the powerlessness of parents in engaging with
school system and for their continuous learning. By 2004, 13
Cluster level & 1 Block level Parent Association got initiated
with bi-monthly meetings. Now practice got extended to five
Blocks and getting extended to many other within the state
and other states through other NGOs.
About 200 persons from 60 Development agencies have got
direct exposure the the work of Lokmitra.
Since 2011, proper formation of SMC , their CB, regular
meeting and support to Parent Association is underway with
encouraging results.
After Block level meeting, ten parents travelled 35 Km to
Raebareli town to demand more teachers in the Chhatoh
Block (July 2013).

18. Issue of Teachers Capacity
• How can School promote the right of each child to learn and grow,
given that..
– Teachers are not suitably prepared. There is little on hand support.
– In service Training is fragmented and top driven, detached from the
reality of class room. Teachers’ own Construction of Knowledge,
gets undermined as no reflecting on experiences to analyze and
draw conclusions, takes place.
– Tradition of teaching practices among teachers overshadows their
limited & disjointed knowledge of Theory of Learning.
– Teachers prefer to follow their own set pattern, mostly promoting
learning by rote, taking up lessons from text books, without any
regard to students comprehension and learning need.
– There is limited opportunity & urge for peer learning. When
teachers do informally interact among themselves, no focused
exploration of subject, reflection on practices takes place.

19. Promoting Teachers as Learning Community for
enhancing Capacity & Motivation
To address low capacity & motivation of teachers,
Practice of Teachers’ Learning Forum evolved in
2007 in one Block and now it is getting spread to
about 10 other Blocks of four districts, reaching out
to about 600 teachers.
Teachers Learning Forum is being promoted as
voluntary initiative of teachers in which they
periodically assemble on holiday to share their
teaching practices, learn from each others
experiences & also get exposed to progressive
theories in education. In this way not only good
practices get shared, peer reviewed, but also a
culture of participatory learning gets promoted
(contrary to top driven & non-participatory training).
Lokmitra also did Policy Advocacy for promoting the
idea of Peer Learning among teachers. Now Peer
Review at Cluster level has become part of New

20. People based advocacy with Government &
Political System - Conception & Work of Basic
Shiksha Manch
It started in 2006 with a convention of parents
from 10 districts held in Lucknow. In 2007,
during State Assembly Election Campaign,
idea of coalition of Basic Shiksha Manch
emerged, while taking a collectively prepared
Charter of Demand to contestants.
Followed by Advocacy on RTE Bill in 2008 and
2009 by inviting political parties, distinguished
persons (Vinod Raina). Campaign during
Parliamentary Election.
Four Issues of Bulletin (GUHAR) were
published and presented to MLAs and Policy
makers for reform in education system.
In pre RTE era, about 200 NGOs from about
60 districts have been mobilized.

23. Outcome & Impact of Basic Shiksha Manch
Introduction of RTE Bill in Lok Sabha (instead
of Rajya Sabha) so that it is not lapsed.
Model Rule under RTE Act Influenced for
suitable provision under SMC. State Rules
was influenced with better provisions of SMC,
like 11 parent members, democratic formation,
representation from each class, Chairperson &
Vice Chairperson from parents.
Government Letter in June 2012 for better
start of School Session as has been
suggested.
Government Letter of 18th March 2013 for
Enrolment and Survey of OoSC in May &
June.
Modification in Rules of SMC and advocacy for
its timely and proper reconstitution.

24. Parent & Teacher can work together to
transform the school and education system
so that all Government Schools will be
successful in ensuring that all Children
enjoy coming to school and Learn to make
a Better World where there is no
deprivation, discrimination and pain.
We are are Optimistic