A workplace training and academic support system was developed and transacted for the teachers (N=25; All female; 80 % Graduates; Age: 25-45 years) of out-of-school girls (N=560, Age: 9-14 years, Dropouts and nonstarters) to peruse two-year community-based bridge courses through multi-level learning strategy. After an initial teacher training of forty days to the teachers in multi-level learning, the bridge schools were raised by the joint efforts of the teachers, an NGO, and local communities by providing the spaces for the schools and the accommodations for the teachers.

Since the non-conventional instructional strategy was used, the continuous workplace trainings were organized through academic support staff (N= 4) by fortnightly one-day visits to the schools followed by monthly review and planning workshops. The two-year course had resulted into the certification of all the students and mainstreaming of 50% of them in formal schools. The three stage learning in the strategy included the teacher-directed learning followed by group and individual learning. The parents (N=50) reacted significantly favorably (p<0.05, DF=2) to the system of workplace support system. The intervention was technically supported by an NGO and UNICEF in Chaksu block of Jaipur.

Keywords: Academic support, bridge course, multi-level learning, workplace training.

Accelerated Learning through visual - Auditory - Reading-Study (VARS) skills strategy for over-Age Primary School Children

With recent drives and campaigns for universal enrolment of children for elementary education, the diversity of children has increased and a large number of over-age children have been admitted in grade one in formal schools or bridge schools. The emergent need for such children is to go for accelerated learning. An intervention research was undertaken to address the need with the following objectives as pilot in an NGO-run bridge school (Children:20; Age: 9-14 years; single teacher; Rural setting): (1) To reorganize the curriculum in learning units; (2) To prepare graphical and visual learning material for auditory work for teacher and among children and reading-cum-study sheets; (3) To transact teaching through continuous progress or proficiency tracked system for children to work in three dynamic groups. The intervention consited of forty-day teacher training understanding the strategy, preparing material by the teacher and teaching practice in a peer-group simulated situation (N=20 teacher- trainees; Age:25-40 years; Graduates).