Teleconference Minutes
Date: February 7, 2004
Project: Adhikar, NFECenters
Participants: Mr. Mohammad Amin (Adhikar, Tel: 011-91-986-102-3604) and Mona Sehgal (Asha-DC)
Primary Purpose: Project update after 1st full year of funding (Funding began November 1, 2002; funds sent thus far $10,000 in two installments)
Secondary Purposes:
a) Reminder that Asha-DC has not received the annual evaluation form, which also required detailed information on 14 students.
b) Discuss site visit by Joyashree (), Asha volunteer who visited the project in December 2003. (Asha-DC has not yet received a report from Joyashree on the site visit)
Mr. Amin and I had about a 30 to 45 minute conversation and we broadly discussed the current status of NFE centers, areas of concern for Adhikar, future funding need when AfE’s current 2-year funding expires in November 2004, and site visit by AfE volunteer, Joyashree.
Mr. Amin sounded a bit tired initially, as I had woken him up early in the morning. The telephone connection was not great, so the conversation was a bit difficult. However, for most past we were able to hear and understand each other. Words or sentences that were not completely clear are italicized.
NFE Centers – All 15 NFE centers are in operation. The centers are running “fully” and there is a “very good response” from the people. Student attendance is regular, and Adhikar teachers/ staff meet with parents regularly.
I asked Mr. Amin how well the NFE centers were functioning in terms of sending students back to formal/government schools. Mr. Amin said that the NFE centers were helping in sending students back to formal schools [no number was provided], but these centers also provide tutorial help to children who are already in formal schools. Mr. Amin stressed that NFE centers provided the “internal support” needed for students to continue attending formal schools.
When asked about the quality of education, Mr. Amin highlighted some infrastructure issues. Electricity is highly unreliable, hence some classrooms use paraffin lanterns. Petromax lanterns, which give much more light, are used in other classrooms. [Not sure why petromax lanterns are not used in all classrooms, since this was budged in Asha funding.] Mr. Amin also said that during her site visit Joyashree noted the lack of sporting equipment in the centers. I asked if Mr. Amin can provide sporting equipment to the children, and if this will require additional funds. Mr. Amin said that Adhikar should be able to provide this from the existing resources.
Government-Sponsored Assistance – Mr. Amin stated that the government [not sure whether state or union] had chosen Adhikar to implement the ‘Total Literacy Project’ (TLP) in 2 blocks – Chandanhandi (where the NFE centers are located) and Tabugaon. This program targets 15,000 women between ages 15 and 35. The project will bring resources such as 500 village-level instructors and library.
Although this does not directly impact the NFE centers, Mr. Amin said that it will build a more conducive environment for education in these areas.
Areas of Concern–Community development approach is lackingin the people. The teachers at NFE centers are also helping in setting up and running Self-Help Groups (SHGs) [this function for the teachers was not mentioned in the original proposal to Asha. We have not questioned Adhikar on this, but if Asha volunteers are concerned about this we can visit this with Mr. Amin.] There are other things which can also be done in this area such as employment generation. Corruption is a bit problem and because of which things are not moving with respect to community development. The SHGs have been linked to banks and we wanted to convert SHGs into cooperatives [as Adhikar has done in other districts in the coastal areas.] In order to have well functioning cooperatives, regular training is required. Currently this is not available.
Mr. Amin emphasized that SHGs are very important for community development as they enable the communities to retain wealth in the local area, which is the “most important” for communities to develop. This wealth can be gainfully used for employment purposes.
I suggested that one of our volunteers (Jim Minter) had recently visited the Barli Institute, which runs an innovative 6-month education-cum-vocational training program for tribal girls/women in Madhya Pradesh. I offered to check if Barli had been successful in developing SHGs among the tribals. If yes, Mr. Amin would like to be connected with this group.
Another troubling issue that Mr. Amin mentioned is that Adhikar has not been able to mobilize community support to sustain the NFE centers in the future. Specifically, this relates to the Rs. 5 to Rs. 10 fee that Adhikar says it will charge parents of NFE students to build funds that will sustain the centers in the future. Mr. Amin said that this area has received a lot of subsidized funds from the government, hence the lackluster community response in supporting the NFE centers. The large amounts of subsidies in this area are in contrast to the neglected coastal areas, where ironically the SHGs have been more successful due to no expectation of government subsidies. The government subsidy in the interior regions is because of this area is rich in minerals, which the government is interested in.
Future Funding –I asked Mr. Amin how he expects to sustain the NFE centers beyond the 2 years (ending November 2004 or a few months later since not all NFE centers started on time) that Asha has committed current level of funding. Mr. Amin said that the NFE centers may need funds for an additional 1 year, although this will be at a lower rate since they would not need to spend money on teaching aid and other resources funded by Asha.
Mr. Amin said that he expects to mobilize funds from the community so that the centers can continue operating. He said that even if the parents pay Rs. 10/month, they should be able to continue the program. [Note: When the project first started, in early 2003 Adhikar had initiated collecting Rs. 5 from the parents. But from Mr. Amin’s accounts, this was not very successful. See the analysis/conclusion fore more details]
Mr. Amin mentioned that some government education programs were also running in the area, from which teachers can be utilized for the NFE centers. [I am not sure if this is what Mr. Amin meant. I would need to clarify this with him.]
Site Visit by Joyashree – Mr. Amin stated that he and Joyashree, the Asha volunteer who visited Adhikar on Dec. 9, 2003, had extensive discussions in Bhubaneshwar as well as while touring remote areas where the centers are located. Joyashree felt that the administrative costs in the budget were very high. Mr. Amin justified this based on the remoteness of the centers and the travel expense incurred in managing the centers from Bhubaneshwar. He also mentioned that the admin cost is also high because the same infrastructure is also used for SHGs. [see analysis below on this issue]
Other issues – I reminded Mr. Amin that we had not yet received the annual evaluation form due at the end of December 2003. Mr. Amin said that he had sent the completed form on January 26, 2004. I have asked Mr. Amin to resend the form. I also asked if Adhikar had provided us detailed information on 14 students for the annual evaluation form. Mr. Amin said that he had not seen the name of the 14 students. I resent the evaluation form on Feb. 9, 2004, which contains the names and details required for each of the 14 students.
My Analysis/Conclusions
- Mr. Amin said that he expects the NFE centers to continue beyond Asha funding, but contributions from the parents who are currently sending their children to the NFE centers. In an earlier conversation in February 2003, Mr. Amin had said that Adhikar was trying to persuade people to pay Rs.5/month, but some parents who agreed to pay on Rs. 2/month.
Future scenario:
a)Assuming that most parents pay a fee of Rs. 5/moand each NFE center has 30 students– This would mean that in 12 months the NFE center would have Rs. 18,000 per year. Currently Asha is funding each center at Rs. 27,000 per year. Thus even if that all parents pay the fee, Adhikar still would be short of funds. The only way to run the centers would be to do some significant cost cutting.
b)Assuming half of the parents pay a fee of Rs. 5/mo – each NFE center would only collect Rs. 900/year, which is 1/3 of the current Asha funding for each center (Rs. 27,000/year)
Point to consider: We need to discuss and explore some practical ways for the NFE centers to continue operation after Asha support ends. Asha-DC may have to support this project for one more year (2004-2005), albeit at a lower budget.
- Just under half (46%) of Asha funding for Adhikar goes for administrative expenses that comprise of salaries for Project Officer (Mr. Amin has this position; originally someone else was going to be appointed for this), Assistant Project Officer, Accounts clerk, Administrative Assistant and travel allowance.
According to Mr. Amin, Joyashree (the Asha volunteer who recently visited the project) found the administrative expenses very high. Mr. Amin said that managing centers in remote locations was one of the reasons for high admin costs. Another reason was that teachers were also helping with SHGs. In the original budget submitted by Adhikar, using Asha funds for SHGs was not part of the original proposal. Although overall it may be beneficial for the community to have SHGs, Asha-DC should have been consulted in utilizing resources for SHGs.
Point to consider: Need to see Joyashree’s site visit report and clarify these issues with Mr. Amin.
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