III. Qualitative Analysis
A. Key Findings from Year 1
1. Middle School: the hidden key to success
If the data is showing a decrease in performance by Grade, then High School is a challenge perhaps because of the context of Gyan Shala students, the number of subjects and the additional pressure of preparing for the Grade 10 exam. So, the first lesson learnt is that the emphasis on High School requires an optimal preparation during the Middle School years. As such a review of the Middle School Program has already begun in Gyan Shala to explore adjustments that need to be made. The expansion in enrollments in Middle School is also key to ensure that students enrolled in Grade 7 continue through Grade 8. As stated in the report by Gyan Shala, students from other schools are not keen to switch to a new school in Grade 8.
The data shows that the after-school tuition has had a positive effect on performance overall. As such, Gyan Shala’s quick response to support students, engage families and set-up an extra educational infrastructure for a couple more hours of tuition at the high school level, was indeed a good measure. It now has to make sure that the after-school tuition starts early on, in Grade 8 and is sustained until the Grade 10 exam, and that all students can attend. A particular challenge will be to adjust the timings of the sessions to accommodate students from Muslim areas, who are otherwise unavailable, as they attend Madrassa classes. This data has been confirmed in interviews with both students and parents of Muslim areas who explain their daily routine as such. Not attending after-class tuition can adversely impact the performance of Muslim students. Moreover, the qualitative aspect of the after-tuition may need to be revisited to include not just a revision of concepts learnt in class but practice tests to model and replicate the test-taking formats of the Grade 10 exam. Learning, learning to learn and learning to take tests may all be different skills at play here, which need to be unpacked, both in after-class tuition, as well as in the development of the pedagogical materials and the delivery of each lesson.
2. After-school tuition: attendance and expansion
3. Beyond parental engagement: society, family and self
As discussed in the following section, the challenge of student motivation came as a surprise to Gyan Shala teachers and supervisors. Where does motivation come from? Societal values and role models, parental engagement and support (or lack of) or an inner self-drive? In meetings with parents and tens of students, we learnt that in fact very few students are lucky to have engaged and supportive parents. The majority of parents, i.e. mothers, shared candidly that they have no capacity (referring to their own lack of schooling) to support their children and that they trust that they were doing well and are in the right educational institution. Some female students candidly shared that continuing their studies beyond Grade 10 was not encouraged by their families. While the role of parental engagement is key in theory, in reality, in the rare occurrence of that positive factor, perhaps we need to explore other factors of motivation which focus on the self. As shown in the two contrasting videos below, parental support for high school is still a challenge for many girls, and yet their results exceed that of their male counterparts, as the data shows.
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