INTERIM ACTIVITY REPORT


•    Preparation of the bibliography, April 2003

    I began the project with an initial preparation of a reading list with annotations,  in consultations with mentors and colleagues with specialization in education                 studies.

•    Collection of Database of NGOs, April-May 2003

    Though there are number of ‘databases’ available on NGOs in India, none of     them are comprehensive. Most of them merely list the organizations with their            addresses and give very little information on the nature and activities of these     organizations. The organization Bangalore Cares is an NGO support and                 capacity building organization which has a fairly good database of NGOs in     most states of India with a brief write up on each of them. One of the     database I     procured was from this organization. Finally I put together a     database specifically for the purposes of this study.

•    Finalization of Mentors, April-May 2003

    After a series of discussions, Prof. Govinda and Dr. Vasavi agreed to be my     mentors. Though initially Dr. Vijaya Sherry Chand from the Indian Institute of             Management had agreed to be one of my mentors, later his new assignments     at his institute did not allow him the time to be involved in my study. Therefore     I     continued with two mentors. Prof. Govinda is a nationally renowned expert     on primary education. He is the Head of the School and Non-Formal     education     Unit at the National Institute of Educational Planning and     Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi. Currently he is with the Institute of     Education, University of         London as a Visiting Professor. Dr. Vasavi is Fellow,     Sociology and Anthropology Unit, National Institute of Advanced Studies,     Bangalore. She specializes     in Sociology of Education. Both my mentors have     been forthcoming in their comments and ensured that I maintain rigour in my     research.

•    Identification of Non Governmental Organization for the Case Studies, April-May 2003
    
    Based on the criticality for the study the eight organizations were selected for     the case studies. The was after consultation with the mentors here in India     and         with Mr. Hugh McLean of the OSI. Contacts were established with the     heads of these organizations and I had one initial round of meeting with them     in June     to brief them about my project. After few exchanges of mail we     finalized the details (schedule, the interviewees, documents required etc.) of     my fieldwork.
    
•    Finalising the Case Study Design and Interview Schedule, June 2003

    By June I had sufficient secondary material to refine my earlier project     proposal and the methodology. Mr. Hugh’s comments were especially useful     here and     after a discussion with him during the June seminar I finalized my     tools. In June I also had a series of discussions on my project with Mr.     Giridhar, Research         Director at APF and Ms. Shreeja, project coordinator at     MAYA.  

•    Fieldwork at MAYA, Bangalore, June 20-26, July 7-10, 2003

•    Field work at Azim Premji Foundation (APF), Gulbarga, July 17-23, 28-31,  2003
    
•    Fieldwork at MV Foundation, Secunderabad,  July 22 – 31, 2003
     Since Secunderabad is close to Gulbarga (4 hours by train), I visited MVF     thrice during this period. I will probably require one more visit to this                         organization.


Visit to National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, August 2003

•    Attended the National Workshop on “Researches for Improving Quality of Primary Schools in India”, organized by the School and Non-Formal education Unit     of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi. This workshop provided very useful insights into the nature of current         research into school quality, an area in which one can observe significant participation of NGOs and other civil society groups. We were able to collectively             review     good amount of literature on school quality at the primary level in India.

Workshop on Best Practices in Educational Administration in India, Centre for Education beyond Curriculum, Bangalore. May 2003

•    Presented paper on “Best Practices in Curricular Reforms in Selected Colleges in India”

Library Research in New Delhi, August 2003

•    After completion of the workshop, I extended my stay in NIEPA for another 10 days to carry out reference work at the NIEPA and other libraries in New             Delhi.     The other libraries covered were Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi and The Jawaharlal Nehru         University.