Assessment of Shiksha Plus- adult literacy program for ‘quality assurance’
Student name: Ms Anuradhika Kundra
Guide: Dr L N Venkataraman
Year of completion: 2016
Host Organisation: Shiksha Initiative, Shiv Nadar Foundation
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Al Furqan Shah Khan
Abstract: Adult education is a stride to enhance the unfulfilled knowledge during childhood by adults. But
the acceptance of the education at the adult stage with the preconceived notion as a time
consuming has made the adult literacy a downfall ratio in statistics. The adult literacy concept
comes into the picture during the economic downfall and when unemployment at its peak. To
ensure the progress of the country, the government took measures to enhance the learning ability
of adults, which was only targeting the knowledge and skills enhancement of the male
population. Women‟s education, at a state of anonymity, was not even considered the part of the
economic boom. At the literacy study in the country showed a stark difference in the literacy rate
of men and women. Women‟s dignified as a household caretaker, women‟s education is still not
accepted by the society. Presently, the education right of women is at dismayed and their status
in the family is still at a low key. Furthermore, women‟s education is surrounded with
preconceived stigma made by the society, which has hindered the literacy ratio of India.
Deprivation of Women‟s literacy has made gender gap, absenteeism and dropouts which made
the status of women‟s literacy immutable.
With the passing years, the perspective of people of women‟s education has changed. However,
there is miniscule change in women‟s literacy rate shown in the present study of literacy rate.
The stigma is still predominant in the country and it is mostly present in rural part of the
country. The efforts of government and corporates have now being directed towards rural
education. They have reached to women and girls who are being deprived of educational
facilities. Lots of stringent rules by government and advanced technological (Information and
Communication Technology) educational program intervened by corporates directed to
eradicate illiteracy in India. However, the objective could be fulfilled, when there is
accountability, rationality and transparency of intervened educational program resulted to
effective multifarious outcomes of the program. The quality assurance should complies with the
project strategy of the program. Quality Assurance make ensure of continuous and motivational
improvement, project management, comprehensive research before implementation and
accountability of the program. Further, it ensures the quality of internal process and external
reality of program in order to fill a lacuna of project strategy and ground reality of the program.
Quality assurance of the adult literacy program helps to get the current scenario of learning
ability and enhancement of skills among women. On the other hand, it envisages the impact of
the program in the life of the women.
For the project, the case study of SHIKSHA Initiative of Shiv Nadar Foundation has been taken
to test the quality assurance of the program. They instigated adult literacy program called
Shiksha plus Program. The Shiksha team targeted family and parents to create study
environment within households. However SHIKSHA Initiative is working in the primary level.
Now it is planning to develop a program on „Adult Literacy‟. So, the program on adult literacy is
started developing. It is not yet completed. The initial focus is on the development of ICT content.
Later the processes, execution, documentation and evaluation will decide.
In the span of 4 months, the study on quality assurance was done in 2 districts where the Shiksha
plus program is implemented: Gautam Buddha Nagar and Bulandshahr, It has covered 8
villages of both district and targeted neo-literates and new-learners of the program. Neo-
literates were chosen from 2 batches of shiksha plus. 4-5 neo-literates from the first batch of 6
villages were selected for the study. Further, All neo-literates in the second batch of 2 villages
were selected because they were freshly passed out of the program. The study also target
beneficiaries who have freshly enrolled in the program, New-learner. They were selected from 2
villages of different community: Hindu and Muslim.
This report will first give an overview of illiteracy scenario specifically to Uttar Pradesh, where
SHIKSHA team has initiated its Shiksha plus-adult literacy program. It includes the framework
of the program, which gives facts as well as figures of the process of shiksha plus. There is also
sensitization on the issue of Gender gap in literacy, cultural influence on women‟s education.
This report carries an information of internal process of the program. At the end, conclusion and
way forward is also mentioned.
Key Words: Adult Literacy, Illiteracy, Cultural influence, Quality Assurance, Accountability,
Transparency, Rationality,
