Report by Zainab Kanji
29 July 2006 - 12 August 2006

During Winter 2005 I was asked by The World Federation to go to India to provide teacher training for teachers in our schools in Gujarat. The project was finally planned for Summer 2006. I visited Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Mahuva and Talaja during the period 29 July to 12 August 2006. In Ahmedabad The training was only for Madressa teachers.  In Talaja and Bhavnagar training was given to both School and Madressa teachers.  As for Mahuva the training was given to School Teachers only.

The aim of the teacher training was to introduce them to the British modern teaching methods to help the schools raise their standards of education. Having never been to India let alone visit their schools I planned the training keeping in mind the objective of this project. The training included the following topics:

• The Biology of Learning
• Learning Styles
• Lesson Preparation and Presentation
• Classroom management
• Assessment and Report Writing
• Brain Gym

I also took with me many practical and fun educational activities to give teachers ideas to use in their classrooms both in school and in madressa.

It was a great experience for me to travel to the four places in Gujarat. The schools in Gujarat still use rote-learning methods. To improve the standard of education the schools needs to implement practical and interactive methods of teaching. The teachers in all schools showed great respect towards me and humbly accepted my teaching ideas. All school teachers were willing to implement practical ideas, however they need to be supported by the heads and the trustees by providing them further training.

In my report I have made recommendations for all three schools (Jafferi School of Talaja, Jaffery and Fatema School of Mahuva, Al Mahdi School in Bhavnagar). However I feel that Al Mahdi School of Bhanvnagar has already taken their first steps towards improving their standard of education. Al Mahdi school can be seen as a beacon school and an incentive for other schools to move in their direction.

Finally I would like to thank all those families who willingly accepted me into their homes and made me a part of their family. They showed great hospitality and went out of their way to make my stay comfortable and enjoyable.

Following is my report for each area I visited and in which I carried out the Training.

Ahmedabad: 29 July to 1 August 2006

Talaja: 2 August to 5 August 2006

Mahuva: 5 August to 8 August 2006

Bhavnagar: 9 August to 12 August 2006

1.0 TALAJA

Talaja is a small village. Most parents are illiterate to the extent that they cannot even read Gujarati.

1.1 Jafferi School of Talaja
Jafferi school of Talaja is a Gujarati medium school. It educates pupils from the age of 4 to 16. The classes include Lower KG to Standard 10 (English equivalent of GCSE). The average number of pupils in each class is 30. Most pupils come from an illiterate background; their parents are unable to read Gujarati. Many of the pupils are sponsored by ZCSS.

The school starts at 11:00 am and closes at 5:00 pm. The lower classes up to standard 4 are mixed gender classes. In the higher classes the pupils are split into genders. From KG up to Standard 4 pupils are taught all subjects by their class teacher. From Standard 5 onwards Subject teachers teach pupils. Each lesson is 30 minutes long.

There are approximately 25 teachers in Jafferi school, The teachers are of mixed gender. All teachers are qualified and have a BA or a BEd qualification.

1.1.1 Kindergarten
This section includes three classes LKG (lower KG), KG and UKG (upper KG), which educates pupils between the ages of 4 to 6. Pupils in the KG classes up to year 2 sit on the floor. Pupils are expected to do their work sitting on the floor. This hinders pupils from developing good postures and firm hand control which are important for writing.

Most of the teaching takes place through written activities and rote learning. The teachers rely heavily on teaching through books. The school has invested in basic counting and language resources, however I did not see any evidence of its usage during my observation of the school. Pupils in KG standards are not encouraged to learn through play.

1.1.2 Primary and Secondary Sectors
All primary and secondary classes are furnished with tables and benches. The teachers have good subject knowledge. The quality of teaching is satisfactory. Apart from textbooks there are no visual resources to aid teaching and there is a minimal use of board and chalk. Most of the teaching is book led. Gujarat board publishes educational books, which are used as teaching resources. Pupils are taught chapter by chapter. Therefore there are no requirements for planning lessons beforehand. Pupil involvement and pupil interaction is minimal and the teachers rarely use pupil led activities.

1.1.3 Computer Suite
The school has a computer suite with 5 computers and a printer. However during my stay in Talaja the IT specialist teachers were on holiday and had been away for a month. The school also has TVs and Video players but no educational programs to make use of the resource.

1.1.4 Science Laboratory
The school has a science lab. This room is used to store science resources such as science models, chemicals, educational posters and equipments. However there is no room or facilities for pupils to carry out scientific investigations.

1.1.5 Library
The school does not have a children’s library.

1.1.6 Sports
The school has a playing field and limited sports resources e.g. cricket and other Indian stick games. However at the moment there is little or no evidence of sports skills taught to pupils.

1.1.7 Displays
Neither the school nor the classrooms have any displays to celebrate pupil work or to enhance learning.

1.1.8 Training, Observation of Teaching
Teachers responded positively to the teacher training sessions. They contributed and took part in a variety of activities.

The teachers have good subject knowledge. Most teaching is book led. Gujarat board publishes educational books, which are used as teaching resources. Pupils are taught chapter by chapter. Therefore no planning is required beforehand. However it is important for them to develop the use of visual aids including the blackboard. It is also important for the teachers to use practical resources to enhance interactive teaching and to aid deeper understanding of concepts taught.

Pupils mark all their own work during lessons. This takes away valuable teaching time and time for each subject is minimal. It also does not allow teachers to give individual written feedback to the pupils, which is necessary for recognising pupil effort as well as giving pupils the opportunity to sort out any misunderstandings.

1.1.9 Planning
Teachers are required to record topics being taught on a daily basis. However they are not expected to hand in any detailed planning to school.

1.1.10 Assessment and Record Keeping
The school keeps record of pupil test and end of year exam results. However there is no record of pupil behaviour, or achievement of skills through out their education in the school.

1.1.11 Management:
The school is managed well by the principal. He has good relationship with the teachers. Nevertheless he does not possess authoritative personality. The trustee of the school is Gulamabbas bhai Bhurani. However my contact was with Gulamabbas bhai’s son Nihalbhai, who regularly visited the school during my stay in Talaja in place of his father.

1.1.12 Recommendations:

1. 30 min lessons does not allow the school to teach the subject thoroughly. It is therefore important for the school to evaluate their weekly timetable to allow enough time for each subject.
2. The school should think about providing tables and chairs for students in LKG up to Year 2 so that pupils can develop a good posture as well as hand control earlier on in their lives. Hand control is very important for a firm pencil grip necessary for neat writing and correct formation of letters and numbers.
3. Teachers need to be trained to make more use of the board, visual and interactive resources (in some cases more resources will be necessary for the school to invest in).
4. The management needs to encourage the teachers to plan lessons identifying teacher and pupil involvement.
5. Teachers need to keep thorough pupil records to track individual progress including skills and behaviour.
6. To have displays to make the school a more attractive place, to celebrate pupil work and to provide pupils with an interactive educational medium.

2.0 MAHUVA

2.1 Jaffery and Fatema School

Mahuva is a small village in Gujarat. Jaffery and Fatema school is an English medium school. It educates pupils from the age of 4 to 16. The classes include Lower KG to Standard 10 (English equivalent of GCSE). The average number of pupils in each class is 35. Most pupils come from an illiterate background; their parents are unable to read Gujarati. Many of the pupils are sponsored by ZCSS. It was sad to find out that the pupils sponsored by ZCSS were not receiving funds needed to travel to school and for a second pair of uniform.

The school is run in 2 shifts:

• 7.00 am to 12:00 noon is for girls,
• 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm for boys.

However the LKG, KG and UKG, which are mixed gender classes are run in the morning session. With the exception of Kindergarten classes, pupils are taught by subject teachers. 

There are approximately 40 teachers in the school, who teach either in the morning or in the afternoon. The teachers are of mixed gender. Some teachers are qualified and have a BA or a BEd qualification, however there are many teachers who are not qualified.

The trustee of Jafferi and Fatema school lives in Bombay. He visits the school on a monthly basis.

2.1.1 Kindergarten 
This section includes three classes LKG (lower KG), KG and UKG (upper KG), which educates pupils between the ages of 4 to 6. All pupils in the KG classes have table and benches to work on. The teachers rely heavily on teaching through books. There are no practical resources e.g. counting cubes or beads, letter flashcards, word flashcards, play activities etc for pupils to use. Pupils are expected to sit for most of their time in school and teaching takes place through written activities and rote learning.

2.1.2 Primary and Secondary Sectors
All classes are furnished with tables and benches. The teachers have good subject knowledge. The quality of teaching is satisfactory. Apart from textbooks there are no visual resources to aid teaching and there is a minimal use of board and chalk. Most of the teaching is book led. Gujarat board publishes educational books, which are used as teaching resources. Pupils are taught chapter by chapter. Therefore there are no requirements for planning lessons beforehand. Pupil involvement and pupil interaction is minimal and the teachers rarely use pupil led activities.

2.1.3 Computer Suite
The school has a computer suite with enough computers for each pupil in a class. A qualified IT teacher teaches some of the lessons whilst others are taught by a non-qualified member of staff. Pupils are taught how to program computers and use other IT software. Pupils achieve a good grade in ICT for their standard 10 board exams.

2.1.4 Library
The school does not have a library for pupils to use.

2.1.5 Science Laboratory
The school has a science lab but is currently under refurbishment.

2.1.6 Sports.
The school encourages older pupils to take part in extra curricular sports activities. Many sports awards have been won by pupils from the school. This includes both boys and girls. Many students also enter Gujarat League competitions. However sports is not taught as part of the daily curriculum in primary or secondary school.

2.1.7 Training and Teacher Observations
Teachers showed positive response towards teacher training sessions. All the training was carried out in English. However it later came to my knowledge that many teachers were not fluent English speakers. It perhaps would have been better to provide training in Gujarati for the benefit of all teachers.

Teachers do not use practical resources to enhance interactive teaching and to aid deeper understanding of concepts taught. The school as a whole does not have practical educational resources for younger or older pupils.

Non-qualified teachers put in a lot of effort in teaching. However, they are not mentored by experienced teachers to enable them to improve their teaching skills.

Gujarati is a widely spoken language in Mahuva. There is very little or hardly any usage of English language in either spoken or written form. The school therefore faces a huge challenge to teach its pupil English language. Most pupils cannot construct a grammatically correct sentence until the age of 8.

2.1.8 Planning
Teachers are required to record topics being taught on a daily basis. However they are not expected to hand in any detailed planning to school.

2.1.9 Assessment and Record Keeping
The school keeps record of pupil test and end of year exam results. However there is no record of pupil behaviour, or achievement of skills through out their education in school.

2.1.10 Displays
There are no displays around the school that celebrate pupils’ work or to create an interactive educational resource for teaching.

2.1.11 Management
Unfortunately Jafferi and Fatema school is facing several management issues. For the last 3 years the school has not had a head teacher. Currently the school is managed by a temporary acting head, who was previously the deputy head of the school. The acting head does not possess authoritative personality, thus leading to a weak relationship between the head and the teachers.

Furthermore the acting head’s husband who was previously a senior teacher in Jaffery and Fatema School was made redundant due to problems with the school. The acting head seems genuine, however her husband’s incident raises doubts about her contribution in the school.

The head is the only senior manager of the school. Her working hours are from 7:00am to 3:00pm and the school runs till 5:00 pm. After 3:00 pm whilst the school is still running there is no one to manage the school apart from the teachers and the administration staff.

The trustee of the school has the ultimate power for decision making in relation to the running of the school. His absence due to his inability to be in school on a daily or weekly basis hinders the school from improving and functioning effectively.

2.1.12 Parent School Relationship
There exists a weak relationship between the parents and school. Parents from illiterate background are not tolerant towards school policies or teacher decisions. The previous head was forced to leave due to parental pressures. It is therefore very difficult for the school to maintain a purposeful environment with a high level of discipline.

2.1.13 Recommendations

1. School needs to develop positive relationship with the parents. This can be achieved by
   
   • Inviting parents to view their children’s class assemblies.
   • Educating parents to inform them of the importance of education in India, in Islam as well as for improving their children’s future prospects.
   
   
2. It is important for the school to employ qualified teachers and provide incentives for them to work for Jaffery and Fatema School by:
   
   • Paying them well
   • Introducing performance related pay
   • Providing opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles
   • Regular teacher training program to improve quality of teaching
   • To mentor and monitor non-qualified teachers.
   
   
3. Employing teachers with post graduate qualifications such as MA or those with PHD will enable the school to raise its standard of education.
   
4. The school must employ teachers who are fluent in both spoken and written English as it is an English medium school. This will help pupils to become fluent in spoken English.
   
5. It will be of great benefit to school if it changes its surroundings by displaying English script around the school to familiarise pupils with English Language.
   
6. The school needs to focus more on speaking and listening activities in the lower school to develop communication skills rather than written language e.g. role play, creating a real life scenario in the class such as shop, train station where children would have the opportunity to develop spoken language skills.

3.0 BHAVNAGAR

3.1 Al Mahdi School

Al Mahdi is a newly built school Funded by Chacha Paryani from Toronto. The building was completed a year and half ago. Previously children in Al Mahdi school were taught in a residential house with small rooms and limited facilities. A huge percentage of the pupils are from an illiterate background and many of its pupils are benefiting from ZCSS.

Al Mahdi school has both Gujarati and English medium Sectors. The Gujarati Medium Schgool includes classes from Lower KG to Standard 10 (English equivalent of GCSE). The English Medium School includes KG to standard 4 as it only began 4 years ago. Average number of pupils in each class in the Gujarati Medium Sector are 40. However the class in English Medium is significantly small, a maximum of 10.

The school is run in 2 shifts: 7.00 am to 12:00 noon for Gujarati medium students; 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm for English medium students.

There are approximately 50 teachers including both full time and part time. Most teachers are female however there are male teachers who teach higher classes. More than half of the teachers have attained MA, others hold a BA or a BEd Degree, with some teachers who have attained Phd level of training. There is only one teacher who is a non-qualified teacher. Lessons taught are 40 min long. Teachers for Gujarati sector are different from the English sector

From KG to Year 3 classes are of mixed gender classes. Higher classes are split into gender groups. KG to standard 3 has one teacher for all subjects. From Standard 4 onwards subject teachers teach pupils.

School Trustees: There are 4 trustees linked to the school. However Sajjadali Varteji is the main driving force and has close connections with the school. He plays a major role in the development and progression of education in the school. He visits the school daily.

English medium school has invested in resources for hands on practical activities for younger pupils. However the teachers do not know how to use the resources available to them to maximise pupil learning. The English mediums have invested in excellent study books, which will allow the teachers to implement practical activities. I have given them some ideas of how to use these books effectively, however more time is needed to show them how to put this into practice.

3.1.1 Kindergarten 
This section includes three classes LKG (lower KG), KG and UKG (upper KG), which educates pupils between the ages of 4 to 6.

The school has invested in new colourful furniture for the pupils to work on. The English Medium Kindergarten sector has invested in many practical resources to aid teaching. However they need to be taught how to maximise their usage. I have given them some ideas however due to time constraints it was not possible to give them an in-depth training in this area.

Pupils are expected to sit for long periods of time and most learning takes place through written means.

To develop this section further:

• The teachers will need training in methods of teaching how to teach through play activities.
• Need more resources such as sand and water play, painting to enhance learning.

3.1.2 Primary and Secondary Sectors.
These classes are divided into genders. The quality of teaching is of a good standard with an excellent use of visual resources including board activities. However apart from books and some ICT resources the school does not have any other teaching resources. Having said that, pupils in Standard 10 are given opportunities to carry out scientific investigations but this is limited to that age group.

3.1.3 Computer Suite
The computer suite is a modern, sophisticated 21st century ICT suite with 40 computers, LCD monitors. An IT qualified teacher teaches pupils in school. She is also responsible for developing IT resources in the suite. They also have an excellent program to monitor activities carried out by pupils to ensure they are on task.

The school has also employed a technician who is there throughout the day to maintain and sort out any technical issues.

To develop this further, the school needs to:

• Have Internet access in the suite for pupil research.
• Have a projector in the suite to aid whole class teaching
• Have computers in classrooms networked to the suite for use of both teachers and pupils as an educational resource.

Al Mahdi School have two large halls with Ceiling Projectors to allow teachers to use audiovisual resources. Teachers are making good use of this IT resource for teaching. However they need to be shown how to maximise pupil learning with the aid of IT resources and use time spent in the hall effectively.

3.1.4 Science Laboratory
There are plans for building a science lab. However the project has not begun.

3.1.5 Sports
Sports resources: these are minimal, but plans for building a sports ground are underway. However at the moment there is little or no evidence of sports skills taught to pupils. The school provides after school extra curricular activities. These include Football for boys and roller skating for girls. There is room for development of variety of skills in sports, IT, Art and Crafts.

3.1.6 Library
A room has been allocated for the library. However its development is at its early stages. There are not enough fiction or non fiction books. Classes have library lessons where pupils spend time reading in the library. These lessons can be more effective and beneficial to the pupils if:

• The pupils are given the opportunity to choose their own reading books rather than given books to read to develop interest in reading.
• The Library is used by the pupils to carry out their own research on topics studied in class.
• The pupils can be taught reading, skimming, scanning and information retrieval skills.
• Students are taught how to locate books in a library.

The library also needs to be systematically organised for eg. Using number cataloguing for non-fiction books and alphabetical system for fiction books. However this also depends on the system used by local libraries in Gujarat as it is essential that pupils can access material from libraries outside school.

3.1.7 Training and Teacher Observations
There was a positive response from most teachers regarding the Teacher Training topics. Teachers showed enthusiasm and sessions were highly interactive. Some teachers had already begun implementing strategies discussed during training sessions into their own lessons. 

All teachers both full time and part time attended training sessions from both primary and secondary sector. Training sessions were attended by trustees as well. Al Mahdi school have video recorded all the lecturers for the purpose of using them for training in the future. 

Teachers are dedicated and possess good subject knowledge. The quality of teaching is of a high standard with an excellent use of visual resources including board activities and clear explanations. The teachers do not rely heavily on books for teaching. However they need training to move towards practical exploration of concepts being taught to extend pupil understanding.

3.1.8 Planning
A system is in place whereby the teachers are expected to fill in a planning book at the end of each day to record lessons taught on that day.

Teachers are provided with small record cards to plan their lessons before hand. These can be inspected at any time by the head without previous warning.

3.1.9 Assessment and Record Keeping
The school has developed good methods of keeping pupil progress records. These include records of achievement of tests and examinations, pupil behaviour and development of learning skills.

Incentives for achieving higher standards are excellent. Pupils who achieve good test or examination results are awarded with certificates. Parents are invited for presentation of these awards. However to develop this further they could award pupils who put in an enormous effort in their education or who make a huge progress within a year as not all pupils are able to achieve the highest of grades. It is therefore important to recognise pupil effort and success to motivate them to perform better in the future.

3.1.10 Displays
There are many display boards around the school, which celebrate work done by pupils in the school. However it is important that all pupils’ work is celebrated so that they feel valued. This can be achieved if classrooms also had display boards. Displays also need to be used as educational resources to aid topics being taught.

3.1.11 Management
The management has good relationship with the teachers. Head teachers are available to discuss any issues arising during the day in school. Resources are bought to support teachers and to aid them in their job.

There is an on going teacher training program in place where the school invites a variety of educational specialists from within Gujarat to develop teaching knowledge.

Management responsibilities are given to experienced teachers to develop teaching skills and education in school. They have heads of KG, Standard 1 to 3, 4 to 6 and 7 to 10, who are responsible to train their teachers and improve education in their phases. The Library and the ICT suite is managed by teachers who are developing their teaching resources.

Teachers are awarded with bonus payment each year. At the end of each year a social trip is planned for the teachers to get to know each other outside the school environment.

The school has also introduced a pension scheme for teachers who teach in that school. The school makes a contribution towards this pension for each teacher. All teachers in Al Mahdi School are insured for medical emergencies.

These incentives are put into place motivate teacher performance and to keep these teachers in school as a lot of effort is put to train these teachers to the needs of the school.

3.1.12 Parent School Relationship.
The school has managed to build good relationship with their parents. Every term they hold Parent seminars to educate parents and to inform them of the curriculum taught to their children. The seminars include topics such as importance of educating children from both the Islamic and the worldly perspective.

Parents are also invited to parent teacher consultation to find out about progress their children have made. In addition to that Parents whose children have attained good results are invited to an award ceremony to celebrate success of their children.

3.1.13 Recommendations.

• The Kindergarten Section needs to create their classrooms so that pupils can learn through play. For this teachers will need training on the importance of learning through play.
  
  
• The English medium school face the same problems as Jafferi and Fatema school of Mahuva. They find that their pupils are not able to converse fluently in English. To overcome these difficulties the school needs to incorporate real life speaking and listening activities and create interactive display so that pupils are surrounded by written English language.
  
  
• Both English and Gujarati medium sections need to develop their resources for all children so that they can have interactive and practical lessons. This helps to motivate pupils, maintain their concentration and allow pupils to have an in-depth understanding of concepts taught. This can be achieved by giving subject leadership responsibilities to teachers who develop resources for each subject area.
  
  
• To further develop the ICT suite it needs to develop facilities for Internet access to enable pupils to research topics taught. Furthermore pupils and teachers would benefit if there was a projector to aid whole class teaching. It is also important for the classrooms to have computers networked to the suite so that both teachers and pupils can use them as an educational resource.
  
  
• Al Mahdi School teachers are dedicated and have good teaching methods. However they need training to move towards practical exploration of concepts being taught to extend pupil understanding so that standards of achievement can be raised within school.
  
  
• The school Library needs a system of organisation. This can either be done by using number cataloguing for non fiction books and alphabetical system for fiction books. On the other hand they can implement the system used by local libraries in Gujarat so that pupils have the skills to access libraries other than the school library. The lessons held in the library can be improved by:
  
  • Giving pupils the opportunity to choose their own reading books rather than given books to read to develop interest in reading.
  • Providing opportunities for pupils to carry out their own research on topics studied in class.
  • Teaching pupils reading, skimming, scanning and information retrieval skills.
  • Teaching students how to find a book in the library.

Al Mahdi school is a purpose built school. It enjoys its modern building and its modern technology. The trustees, head teachers and teachers have put in a lot of effort to develop the school to a good standard. The report shows how well the school is managing and educating its pupils. The above recommendations are only suggestions to further improve the standard of the school and to increase pupil achievement.

However one major problem that I forsee for Al Mahdi school are the tuition classes held for pupils after school. The tuition classes are held in madressa by non-qualified teachers who do not use modern methods of teaching and learning. This brings about misunderstandings of educational concepts, confusion for the pupils and frustration for Al Mahdi school teachers. However it is a difficult situation to resolve as this system provides an income for tuition teachers.

4.0 MADRESSA REPORT

4.1 AHMEDABAD – GIRLS’ MADRESSA TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM

I carried out 5 sesessions of teacher training for teachers of the girls’ madressa in Ahmedabad.

Number of Participants: 40

Age Group: 16-50

Language: Gujarati

4.1.1 Brief Overview of Madressa:
The madressa in Ahmedabad has been running for 5 years. It caters for girls between the age of 4 years and 16 years. The Head of Madressa is Rosie  Ben and classes are run at the Imambargah in Juhapura, Sarkhej. Pupils are divided into age group classes. However all classes are taught in one huge hall divided into classes by movable partitions. The boys are educated in another Madressa by the Maulana, but I was not involved in any teacher training there.

The Madressa follows Bhavnagar Curriculm. They use books published by Bhavnagar Madressa. Subjects Taught are Qur’an Recitation and Dinyat. The 16 year olds are taught lessons on Mahdaviyat in addition to the above-mentioned lessons.

4.1.2 Training and Observations
Training was positively received by all participants. Not all participants are currently teachers at the madressa. However the organisers or the management team intend to send the participants to teach in madaris outside Juhapura. The youngsters were especially keen, if they use the teaching ideas and if teaching opportunities are provided they will make good teachers with innovative teaching methods and ideas.

I observed teachers teaching their lessons. Teaching style used was reading and explaining from the book. However this seems to be changing as I heard from a student after my return back home as to how enjoyable madressa lessons are now.

4.1.2 Management team
In Ahmedabad Madressa there are many leaders but few followers. This is becoming an issue in the smooth running of the madressa.

4.1.3 Issues Discussed
Many issues were raised by teachers, pupils and parents. To resolve these issues and problems I tried to address them during  teacher training sessions. Following are the problems and resolutions discussed with the teachers.

1. Pupils complained that they are treated unfairly in class- 

I Spoke about fairness and the importance of the use of positive language when dealing with pupils

2. Pupils felt that they were given too much homework and no concession made if sometimes the homework was handed in late due to valid reasons

I made the teachers realise that pupils have a lot of homework from school and that minimum homework should be given to the pupils from the madressa.

3. Parents shared their concerns regarding unfair end of year ranking. Their children put in a lot of effort during the year but due to school issues they could not give exams on date set and therefore their children were not ranked.

I discussed with teachers that it is important to assess the whole child, what the pupil does throughout the year, the effort she puts in during lessons, for homework and to carry out topic assessments to help those who find examinations difficult.

4.1.4 Reccomendations made to Ahmedabad Girls’ Madressa:

1. It is important to have individual classrooms, as this would reduce noise level and would also allow teachers to have more space to use for interactive activities.
2. Teachers should make more use of board and chalk.
3. The youngsters who attended teacher-training sessions will make excellent teachers as they are enthusiastic and have creative teaching ideas. They should therefore be given opportunities to teach.

4.2 TALAJA - MADRESSA TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM

Talaja has two main Madressas
 
1. One is run on a daily basis. The Jamaat has employed  6 teachers, 3 males and 3 females. The daily madressa is run at two different venues at different times of the day, morning and afternoon to accommodate all children due to different school times. Each session is 2 hour long. Classes are divided into mixed age groups. All classes are held in a big hall.

The madressa teaches Dinyat, Qur’an and Urdu.

2. The second Madressa is held on a weekly basis on Sundays: This is a privately run madressa by a group of men from Anjuman Group. The head of Madressa  is Minaz Bhai. This madressa was established a year ago. The purpose of commencing this madressa was because they were not happy with the system of daily madressa.

The Sunday Madressa hires Jaffery school premises to run their madressa. Classes are divided into age groups with each class held in a separate room. Subjects taught are Dinyat and Qur’an.

Pupils are expected to wear uniform in Madressa. This is provided by Madressa itself. They follow Bhavnagar syllabus. Majority of the children from daily madressa attend the Sunday Madressa.

4.2.1 Assessment of Daily Madressa:
• Had one teacher training session with them, All six teachers attended. Discussed how Madressa is run. I tried to show them how their teaching can be made more interesting and interactive. However the teachers felt that this was not possible for them due to time constraints. So instead we discussed issues that concerned the teachers regarding their Madressa.

ISSUES: Teachers felt that:

• Pupils do not arrive on time and that parents should ensure their children arrive on time.
• Jamaat is not interested in what they do or how they run the madressa.
• There is no management to tell the teachers how to teach so they teach how they like.

After the discussion I invited them all to observe me teaching their pupils hoping to attract them to a more interactive and fun way. If their pupils enjoyed the lessons they might consider changing their ways. 6 teaching sessions were set up to incorporate all teachers. All teachers except one attended.

Teachers are set in their ways they do not want to give up their pupils to amalgamate and sort into age groups as they feel they put in a lot of effort to teach them.


4.2.2 Assessment of Sunday Madressa
Sunday Madressa is more organised. It is divided into age groups. They recruited youngsters and teachers from Bhavnagar to allow them to have many classes. Pupils are expected to arrive on time – pupils that arrive on time are rewarded and late pupils are sent home. Children must wear correct uniform. The Madressa starts with assembly and at the end of the day every child is given Fatiha.

All these incentives are put into place to attract pupils and discipline both parents and pupils.

4.2.3 Problems Faced In Talaja
On my arrival to Talaja I was put into contact with a young Maulana regarding teacher training for Madressa teachers. He introduced me to daily madressa teachers. At this point I was not aware of the existence of the Sunday Madressa.

However 2 days later I met Minaz Bhai (Gulmabbas Bhurani’s son in law) who is the head of the Sunday Madressa. He was not aware of my arrival until then. Minaz Bhai requested me to visit their Madressa and provide training for his teachers. Unfortunately due the loss of valuable time this was not possible. However I did visit the madressa and observed some teaching sessions. Minaz Bhai had moved the Madressa classes from Sunday to Saturday to enable me to visit the Madressa. After Madressa observation I held a meeting with them to evaluate their observation of my lessons. Some teachers found the observation useful, others (elderly) found this way of teaching very difficult to comprehend.

It was frustrating to later find out that the youngster who had planned the teacher training program for daily madressa was also teaching in Sunday Madressa but did not inform me of its existence. Unfortunately this was a loss to all madressa teachers which I pointed out to him.