Piramal Foundation Partners with Assam Government to Improve Quality of Education across 5 Aspirational Districts

§ Signs Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve education indicators identified by NITI Aayog, across 5 Aspirational Districts in Assam: Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri and Goalpara § Aims to provide support to the State Government and District Administration in leadership and professional development of individuals within Education Department through multiple channels of intervention, focussing on Learning Outcomes and Transition Rate indicators. Guwahati, Assam, June 19, 2019: Piramal Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Assam to improve the education indicators identified by NITI Aayog, across 5 Aspirational Districts of Assam, India: Baksa, Barpeta, Darrang, Dhubri and Goalpara, for a period of 4 years. Shri Preetom Saikia, Commissioner and Secretary Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Assam; Mr. Manmohan Singh, Director Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership; Shri Maninder Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Professor Mihir Kanti Chaudhari, Ex Vice Chancellor, Tezpur University and Education Advisor; Smt. Purabi Gogoi, Deputy Secretary Department of Elementary Education and Mr. Shamsher Singh, Mission Director Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SMSA) Assam graced the occasion. As per the MoU, Piramal Foundation will support the State Government and District Administration in leadership and professional development of individuals within the Education Department, through multiple channels of intervention, with a focus on two indicators –Learning Outcomes and Transition Rate. Major intervention activities include Coach and Facilitator Development, Planning and Governance Support, School Process Improvement, Demonstration School and Community Engagement. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Manmohan Singh, Director, Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership said, “We are delighted to partner with the Government of Assam to build the leadership capacity of education functionaries and look forward to strengthening the existing government system.” Commenting on the initiative, Shri Preetom Saikia, Commissioner and Secretary Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said, “The Government of Assam is committed to institutional and systemic reforms to improve standards of education to ensure enrolment and retention of children. The focus in the coming year would be on improving school performance across Districts. We are pleased to partner with Piramal Foundation to make education interventions more robust and concrete”. The signing of the MOU was followed up with a meeting with the Mr. Alok Kumar, Chief Secretary, Government of Assam, to provide an update on the progress and seek support in accelerating the movement on indicators set by NITI Ayog. In 2018, through joint initiatives led by District Collectors and the Education Department with the support of Piramal Foundation, the districts of Baksa, Barpeta, Dhubri, Darrang and Goalpara have shown improvement in several indicators including Transition Rate of Baksa District from Elementary to Upper Primary level by 27 percent, and in Goalpara district from Elementary to Upper Primary level by 6 per cent, with Goalpara achieving a Transition Rate of 98.6 percent this year. Through the ‘Amar Vidyalay Amar Abhimaan Campaign’, driven by state government and Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership, enrolment in Dhubri has gone up by 18%, stemming the three year downward trend in enrolment. Gunotsav 2018-19 (a quality enhancement initiative of the State for bringing about improvement in learning levels of students at Elementary level) also shows an improvement in grading of schools in these Districts.