2

[A Research on Impact of Interactive Radio Instruction Programme in

Primary Schools of Chhattisgarh State]









BY:
VI J AY KUMAR RAT RE

















Vijay Kumar Ratre, Mumbai-49


3

Dedicated to teachers and educators
who aspire to serve the humanity
without any discrimination and intension,
especially in the farthest regions of Chhattisgarh state










Written, edited and compiled by:
Vijay Kumar Ratre, Mumbai-400049



Year: 2007




For feedback:
vijayratre@outlook.com, ratrevijay@gmail.com









Disclaimer:
Information in this booklet has been compiled from authentic and professional
sources. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the
information in the booklet, it is possible that errors may still be included. The
author/researcher do not claim for any perfection whatsoever as to their accuracy
or suitability for a particular reference, term, acronym, or definition.

Copy-it-Right:
This booklet is provided for personal use only: it can be reproduced, in any form
and by any means, without permission from the author as long as you do not
make money from it! However, copy it right! But maintain the quality, do it for
the betterment of education and for the good of education system, and be sure
not to exclude the authors name and the title of booklet.


4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to thank my guide Mr.Jinna Sheik Saheb, State
Coordinator of Education Development Center (EDC) Chhattisgarh unit for
his continuous support in the research program. Mr.Jinna Sheik was
always there to listen and to give his valuable advice. It is his personal
efforts for getting me involved in the research topic related to Interactive
Radio Instruction (IRI) programme in the first place. He taught me how to
trace details and express my ideas while liaisoning with officials related
with IRI and its execution. He showed me different ways to approach a
research problem and the need to be persistent to accomplish any goal.
It was Mr.Jinna Sheik, who provided me details and assistance in
gathering number of information and guiding me for this research work. I
also wish to thank Executive officer from EDC Chhattisgarh who assisted
me in compilation of date and their analysis for better output. He also
provided me his support on IRI techniques and how to do a usability
study, a skill that confirmed my intuition that Researchers need a drawing
environment to access knowledge-based systems like Radio Class-room
etc.
I wish extend my sincere thanks and gratitude towards Shri Deepak
Dubey, Assistant Director from State Project Office of Rajive Gandhi
Shiksha Mission, and to my advisor, Dr.M.Sudhish, Assistant Director from
State Project Office of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission Chhattisgarh, who
were most responsible for helping me out to choose this topic and
provided me first hand support for collection of information and materials.
They have been a friend and mentor. I could not have finished this
dissertation. They were always there to meet and talk about my ideas, to
proofread and mark up my papers and chapters, and to ask me good
questions to help me.
Moreover, I am extremely thankful to Education Development Center
(EDC) Raipur office and PATH - Chhattisgarh and their district monitors
who provided me with their fresh and first hand data for this study.
Besides my advisors, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis
committee: of Government College of Education- Raipur, Block Resource
Center Coordinators and primary school teachers of Arang, Abhanpur,
Kurud and Gurur, who supported me directly or indirectly in the
completion of this paper. I wish to extend my gratefulness to all those
who assisted me in getting typed the paper, its printing and biding,
collection of data, comprehension etc. I thank them all and with best in
their life.

Raipur, 18 February, 2007 -Vijay Kumar Ratre


5
== CONTENTS ==

Particulars Page No.
Chapter 1 Introduction 6 - 26
1.1 History of Different Types of Radio Education
1.2 School Broadcasting and Radio School
1.3 Radio & Technology based education in India
1.4 - Chhattisgarh and EDCs Innovative Project
1.5 Interactive Radio Instructions (IRI) and Chhattisgarh
1.6 IRI Project Areas in Chhattisgarh
1.7 - What makes IRI different from other distance learning programmes?
1.8 - How is an IRI programme developed?
1.9 - Why use IRI?
1.10 - Programme Implementation
1.11 Process of Developing IRI Programme

Chapter 2 Significance of the study 27 - 36
3.1 Significance of the study.
3.2 - Educational Importance of the Study
3.3 - Problems and Elucidations
3.4 - Aims of the study
3.5 - Hypothesis
3.6 Scope of study and its limitations
3.7 Methodology of the study

Chapter 3 Random Sample selection process 37 - 44
4.1 Observation Instrument
4.2 Observations Made
4.3 Observation Schedules & Date
4.4 Random Selection of Schools
4.5 - Response from Radio Station director

Chapter 4 Statistical Implications & Results 45 - 57
5.1 Overall Comparison of IRI & Non-IRI class-rooms
5.2 Comparisons of IRI and Non-IRI on Different Rating Categories
5.3 Comparisons of Class-room Ratings in Different Geographical blocks
5.4 Concluding Observations
5.5 Check-list samples

Chapter 5 Conclusion 58 - 63
6.1 General Remarks & Recommendations
6.2 Key Suggestions on IRI


6
CHAPTER - 1
- Introduction:

This study of Interactive Radio Instruction or Interactive Radio
Instruction would assist in appreciating and accessing the
effectiveness and impact of radio as a tool for active learning inside
and outside of the classroom with special focus to the primary
school of Chhattisgarh state. It is a new concept for this region,
thus have no accurate data or feedback from the people at large
rather it has been used by a limited mass so as by school teachers
in hundreds of school of this region. While impact of Interactive
Radio Instruction is the main focus of this study, I wish to point
certain experience and outcome that may be fruitful in getting
better understanding of this method of quality teaching. However,
IRI has been most widely used in developing countries with help of
various government functionaries and departments.
The purpose of this research paper is to assess and analyze the
pros and cons of experiential learning through Interactive Radio
Instruction (IRI), its relationship to formal education, as well as its
necessity and role in the primary education process. There have
been number of efforts in the field of primary education and quality
improvement by the ventures of national and international
institutions and organisation. I have tried to study one such method
being executed for our region, known as IRI, in our perspective, it
impact and influence among the student-teacher mass. I may have
not been accurate in putting forward these experiences and
knowledge in writing and expression, but certainly have gained
much of liveliness while interacting with students and teachers who
regularly execute this ambitious method of teaching. Increasingly
and interestingly, traditional teaching methods have given way to
newer and more efficient ways, particularly within this era of
computerization and high technology. Throughout this research
paper, I shall be discussing specifically on IRI with some of other
technology based modes as pertains to Distance Learning with
particular emphasis on primary education.
Talking to our reference that over the past decade and in
tandem with the Education For All declaration, there have been a
number of great steps taken in improving literacy rates and
education through information communication technologies (ICTs).
Building on these efforts, USAID/India, the EDC (Education
Development Center) and resource partners developed a three year
project to improve the reach and quality of primary school
education in Chhattisgarh State. The Technology Tools for Teaching


7
and Training (T4) in Chhattisgarh project is now providing teachers
with in-service training to improve content and methods, and multi-
channel instruction specifically in English using media like Radio.
Education-through-Radio is one such move towards the
betterment of primary education in Chhattisgarh. This particular
programme of having education through radio was administered for
primary schools across the state of Chhattisgarh, from September
2005.
Information on these topics was collected through interviews and
Formal Group Discussion from the teachers regarding training
programmes related to innovations in primary education. Some of
the teachers had undergone pre-service teacher training, and some
of them had done either B.Ed. or taken a diploma in teaching, while
most of them have done only their formal school education or had
required university degree.
Earlier to DPEP, the teachers hardly had any in-service
training; in the past thirteen years of the DPEP era, almost all the
teachers have undergone a number of trainings like orientation to
new teachers, interactive film-based training, activity-based
training, preparation of TLMs, Gender sensitization, Integrated
Education of the Disabled (IED) and English teaching to mention a
few. All the teachers say that they found the training very useful. In
the training methodology also recently there was a sea change from
lecture method to participatory approach; in the training, teachers
were made to prepare models/TLMs, give a demonstration lesson
and participate in group activities. The teachers feel that these
training programmes have brought about a change in the teachers
attitude towards teaching. Training programmes were good; but
how far they are being implemented in the actual classroom is
rather needs to be analysed.
Teachers feel the need for the training in English teaching as
all of them did not get a chance, content enrichment and teaching
the concepts through activities. They feel residential training at the
district/State level would be effective; also they feel the training
should be imparted just before the commencement of the academic
year, so that the classes do not suffer. But there actually had been
a little served in the name of English teaching or use of technology
in primary education in our region.
HISTORY OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADIO EDUCATION
Radio broadcasting, which began on a large scale in the
1920s, has proven to be a universally popular and adaptable from
of mass communication. Across the globe, no other mass medium


8
has attained comparable levels of audience saturation and
acceptance. Even in technologically advanced societies where
television has become peoples primary source for news and
entertainment, radio remains a vital source of information. It has
retained such influence because of its credibility, portability, and
relatively low production and distribution costs.
Although large nationally and internationally sponsored radio
networks have existed for decades, radio remains a locally owned
and operated institution in many societies. For this reason,
community broadcasters are able to provide information and
entertainment programs in listeners mother tongues and in ways
that meet the needs of illiterate individuals as well as those with
little or no formal education. By the same token, radio is still an
essential tool for promoting literacy and basic education at the
grassroots level. In developing nations, both public and private
agencies rely on radio to disseminate news about agricultural,
nutritional, health, and family planning innovations. The costs of
such activities compare favourably with other methods traditionally
used to increase public awareness.
Numerous radio education strategies have been developed in
recent decades to address citizens demands for information,
education, and entertainment. Such strategies have attempted,
inter alia, to:
Disseminate information and advice necessary for peoples
survival and wellbeing (such as weather and crop conditions;
and agricultural, health, nutritional, and family planning
innovations; and radio forums in North America, South Asia,
and West Africa);
Persuade people to adopt, alter, or discontinue specific
behaviours (such as social marketing campaigns promoting
the use of condoms as well as other means to contain the
spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases
in Caribbean, African, and Southeast Asian nations; and
infotainment and edutainment initiatives in the
Philippines, Nigeria, and Mexico that incorporate family
planning messages within hit songs, soap operas, and other
popular radio formats);
Raise public consciousness and stimulate popular action in
support of national, regional, and local development initiatives
(such as social mobilization campaigns for literacy, family


9
planning, and rural health in Cuba, China, and Tanzania; and
community/religious radio stations throughout Latin America
and the Philippines);
Expand access to education and training, both in and out of
school (such as Australias Schools of the Air; radio schools in
Latin America; and teacher training at a distance in Tanzania,
Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the
Dominican Republic);
Enrich the quality of schooling be providing teachers and
students with learning experiences and resources the are not
available at the local level (such as school broadcasting
services in England and many other Commonwealth nations);
and
Raise student achievement in specific academic subjects via
broadcast lessons linked to other pedagogical innovations,
including restructured curricula, teacher guides, and student
worksheets (such as interactive radio instruction, or IRI,
projects in Nicaragua, Kenya, the Dominican Republic,
Lesotho, Venezuela, South Africa, and other countries).
Although such strategies have used radio in many different ways
to achieve many different objectives, the success of such
endeavours over the years has produced a convergent set of
lessons for the future. One lesson may be summarized in a simple
but frequently ignored maxim, which is to Know your audience!
Effective radio programs, i.e. those that attract and affect listeners
in prescribed ways, generally are based on extensive target
audience research. With an awareness of a particular audiences
knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and listening habits, program
designers can develop programs that convey information in
comprehensible, compelling, and culturally appropriate ways. Of
course, preproduction research can never resolve all the questions
and uncertainties program lanners may have concerning a target
audiences likely interests and motivations. For this reason, pre-
testing of messages, monitoring of local reception patterns, and
measurement of program impacts are activities that correlate with
effective development broadcasting.
Successful programs provide information that audiences perceive
to be of value to their daily lives and circumstances. Depending on
their aims, e.g., information dissemination, attitude change, or
behaviour change, program sponsors also may be required to


10
provide supplementary incentives and resources, without which
listeners may be unwilling or unable to act upon broadcast appeals
alone. Experience suggests that listeners will become frustrated,
cynical, and eventually inattentive if they are unable to obtain the
resources needed to implement and sustain recommended changes
at the local level. For this reason, radio must be considered as but
one component of an effective development communication
program.
For the reasons outlined above, multi-channel communication
systems have been favoured over single channel ones in recent
years. However, such systems tend to be more difficult and
expensive to design, and evaluate, especially when coordination
among a variety of development sectors or media organizations is
required. Management problems are compounded when, in addition
to overseeing the design and delivery of messages, broadcasters try
to link their programs to the demands and expectations of
development workers in the field.
With respect to education, both in and out of school, radio has
proven to be an effective development tool in a wide variety of
settings. It has not been the panacea many of its early champions
envisioned, however. In fact, throughout most of its history and in
most of its applications, radio has been assigned only a secondary
role in the classroom. Three distinct uses of radio for primary
education are highlighted in the following sections.
Schools Broadcasting and Radio Schools
The British Broadcasting Service, or BBC, inaugurated its
original schools broadcasting service in 1924. It provided only a few
hours of programming per week and its use was dependent on the
voluntary participation of school headmasters and teachers. The
broadcasts complemented the work of local classroom teachers and
were designed to introduce students to the world beyond their
classrooms. This was accomplished through storytelling,
dramatizations, interviews, and other stimuli. Adaptations of this
pioneering approach to radio education have been made throughout
the British Commonwealth and in many other nations. Schools
broadcasting is found in countries where television and other
electronic media are not widely available. However, such services
have never borne-nor have they been expected to bear-the major
burden of instruction. By the same token, they have rarely, if ever,
been closely associated with or held accountable for the
achievement of specific learning objectives.


11
The goal of extending primary education to the isolated rural
child and to small numbers of such children organized into listening
groups was first achieved by another form of radio education begun
in Australia in 1951. Schools of the Air initially could be considered
a means of correspondence education or a form of home schooling
augmented by regular radio contacts between distant teachers and
students. Key to this models success was careful planning and
organization. Printed worksheets in support of radio lessons were
considered essential, enabling children to see the words they heard
on the radio and to review illustrations of concepts they were being
presented. Typically, children completed written exercises during or
immediately after each broadcast; then parents checked their work
to ensure that adequate learning had occurred. In this way, vital
feedback loops were maintained between students and teachers
and between teachers and parents.
Adaptations of Australias pioneering model of radio education
have been tried in many nations over the past half-century. Radio,
and more recently television, has appealed to policymakers
concerned about the poor quality of primary and secondary schools.
Lessons have been produced and transmitted with the intent of
improving students academic achievement; unfortunately, such
efforts have not been successful in most cases. They have failed to
achieve the benefits anticipated by their sponsors for a variety of
reasons, including; (1) vague and unrealistic program objectives;
(2) design flaws stemming from ignorance of the target audiences
(students and teachers) abilities and expectations; (3) reception
difficulties due to faulty transmission and erratic power supplies;
(4) scheduling conflicts; (5) receiver breakdowns and lack of repair
facilities; (6) insufficient feedback; and, perhaps most significantly,
(7) lack of support structures within schools or other community
institutions to reinforce the broadcast lessons.

Radio & Technology Based Education in India:

Attempts have been made to use Information Communication &
technology in education in India refers back to the year 1937,
immediately after the establishment of All India Radio. From the
1970s, the foundational assumptions and guiding principals of the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have cantered around
the use if satellite and communications technologies for educational
purposes. Nevertheless, there is wide consensus that these
pioneering efforts never really fulfilled their promise in the Indian
context, for a variety of regulatory and institutional-cultural


12
reasons. At the same time, India spectacular IT revolution has
afforded new opportunities to use computers and digital networks
for primary, secondary and vocational education and training. To
some extent, then, we may look forward to a series of newer forms
of media, networks, and communicative possibilities, which now
afford greater opportunities for multichannel and interactive
learning across the country. Various researches were made and
studies were done friom ICT departments of various private and
public institutions including computation and interactive learning
based technologies time and again.
The adjacent map (Figure 01) shows the distribution of radio-
based initiatives across India. More than a half of all projects fall in
the peninsular India, with strong concentrations ion the states of
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Eastern and North-
eastern regions continue to lag behind the rest of India. The sparse
distribution of these initiatives is indicative of strict governmental
control, content creation, and implementation functions in such a
centralised fashion. The major centralised effort in Interactive
Radio Instruction (IRI) was initiated widely or state-wide for the
state of Karnataka in August 2003 by the efforts of Education
Development Center (EDC) that was financially supported by USAID
in joint aegis with State government of Karnataka with the
cooperative agreement with Government of India. Starting with
Karnataka with IRI programme for Mathematics and Science, these
efforts were also extended to the state of Chhattisgarh and
Jharkhand in the year 2004-05. The IRI programme designed for
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand was for primary students of class 1 &2
for English subject, where the then state governments had declared
to adopt basic English for primary sections. Further more these
efforts on IRI and radio based teaching have been expanded to the
state of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2005-06 with the initiative
from Madhya Pradesh Rajya Shiksha Kendra.


13
(Figure 01) Map showing All India Distribution of Radio
Education.



Chhattisgarh and EDCs Innovative Project:

The T4 initiative, supported by USAID (United States Agency for
International Development) & funded through the dot-EDU project,
endeavors to improve the quality of education in the states like
Chhattisgarh. During the last quarters of the year 2003 and first
quarters of the year 2004, the Representatives from EDC had
frequent visits to Chhattisgarh to plan the activities in the state.


14
They visited the officials, AIR persons, teacher educators, NGOs,
SSA functionaries, School teachers, Community leaders to identify
the need areas where a mutual sort of support is required.
With the formation of Chhattisgarh as a separate state in the year
2000, Govt. of Chhattisgarh took a major decision by introducing
English from Class I. This decision was welcomed by everyone. But
there was a need to implement this decision successfully in all
schools. The state Govt. finally agreed to plan the activities to
improve the quality of the teaching of English in the state. The EDC
proposed to introduce the Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI)
Programme. It was also decided that the Interactive Radio
Instructions (IRI) Programmes shall be produced for introductory
English, in collaboration with the State Government & local NGOs
for use at the primary school level. At the primary level these
began with broadcasts in selected schools of selected blocks of
Raipur, Kanker & Bastar districts, wherefore after the successful
completion of the project, it was further expanded to the other
regions of Chhattisgarh.

Interactive Radio Instructions (IRI) and Chhattisgarh:
In 1974 Stanford Universitys Institute for Mathematical
Studies in the Social Sciences, with financial support from the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID), launched the Radio
Mathematics project in Nicaragua. Members of Nicaraguas Ministry
of Education were determined to avoid the pedagogical and
logistical problems that had undermined previous attempts to teach
primary school mathematics by radio. The team adopted a robust
curriculum development approach derived from programmed
learning principles and techniques. The model incorporated
extensive protesting as well as other forms of formative evaluation.
Unlike other radio projects, Nicaraguas broadcast lessons
were designed to provide most childrens day-to-day math
instruction. Interaction between students and the radio instructors
was encouraged by providing time within the broadcast lessons for
the children to make oral, written, and physical responses such as
raising and clapping hands. Over time, the projects leaders allotted
more time for such responses, sensing that they were instrumental
in holding the young students attention and reinforcing their
learning.
Classroom teachers were responsible for preparing students
to receive & listen the radio lessons and for following up on lessons.


15
Teachers received printed guides, which provided instructions and
examples of how concepts presented in the radio lessons could be
reinforced locally. As the project grew, so were the roles and
responsibilities of classroom teachers enlarged. Although the radio
lessons had been designed originally to overcome the teachers
deficiencies, it was discovered early on that teacher enthusiasm for
the project contributed significantly to student learning. For this
reason, teachers were encouraged to intervene directly when
students had difficulty comprehending the radio lessons.
Rapid and focused feedback was another innovation
introduced by the Radio Mathematics project, normally instructional
media projects rely on a lengthy strategy of development, pilot
testing, and revision to validate new curricula. In fact, such a
strategy was used initially in African regions i.e. Nicaragua, to help
establish the radio lessons basic content. Once daily broadcasting
began, however, the researchers realized that they could not rely
on such an approach to detect or correct weaknesses I their
instructional system. It simply was too cumbersome and required
too much time. Eventually, researchers developed rapid assessment
procedures for obtaining student performance data. Such
procedures were linked to a flexible production schedule, thereby
permitting feedback from the field to be used much more quickly
than it had been in the past. In this way, learning problems were
detected early enough for midcourse corrections to be made in the
course of a semester.
In February 1978, the Radio Mathematics project entered its
fourth year. At that time, students enrolled in pilot classes (Grades
1 through 4) were preparing to receive their math instruction by
radio. The project was suspended, however, when political unrest
intensified and school calendars were suspended for days or weeks
at a time. Although radio math broadcasts never resumed following
the end of hostilities, the projects initial success created a powerful
legacy, so much so that in the intervening years a number of
nations have imported Nicaraguas radio math lessons for regular
use in their own primary schools. Others have adapted the projects
IRI model, including its innovative program development and
evaluation techniques. Still others have expanded the original IRI
model, using it to meet a variety of needs, including adult
education. The nature, success, and lessons learned from such
experiences are discussed in the remainder of this report.
There is no doubt that in recent years the Radio has carved out
various niches that were traditionally the purview of newspapers.


16
Overall, I would state that the primary contrast between the two is
that the Radio has made it easier for those who are familiar with
utilizing the Radio, to learn specific aspects or areas which the
traditional newspaper or writing of a text would otherwise be
concerned with in a holistic way.
Radio is not a new-generation technology for most of the learners
as it has existed in developing countries for a long time. It is
primarily being used to entertain, capture attention, hold interest,
and sometimes persuade the masses. Thus radio is used for two
broad purposes: transmission of factual information and
entertainment.
In the early 90s some international development agencies started
using radio (broadcasting) to educate the public for their
socioeconomic and educational development, particularly catering
to the needs of those residing in rural and remote areas.
Radio broadcast had been used by the various distance education
institutions in undivided Madhya Pradesh state (as Chhattisgarh
state got its separate identity in year 2000) for the last four
decades. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) made a
humble beginning of broadcasting radio programs for its students in
1990 through select radio stations. The service remained a one-way
communication until May 3, 1998 when for the first time since its
inception in 1985 IGNOU launched its interactive radio counseling
(IRC) pilot project from All India Radio (AIR) station, Bhopal. One-
hour interactive sessions for its students enrolled in the Bachelor
Preparatory Programme (BPP) and Management Studies
Programme (MS) residing in and around Bhopal city (the capital of
Madhya Pradesh) was started twice a month, i.e. on every second
and fourth Sunday.
The initiative to start the IRI Programme was taken by EDC
Bangalore in close association with Rajeev Gandhi Shiksha Mission
Chhattisgarh in the year 2004. After making a base line survey of
the selected regions in Chhattisgarh, a programme outline was
chalked out by the end of March 2004. This process also led to the
selection was script writers from the region and formation of Master
Plans for the preparing the IRI programmes for Chhattisgarh.
However it may be noted that the need of English at the primary
level was the major focus in introducing the IRI programmes here.
The state government in its part also provided space for
construction of a Digital Audio Recording Studio at the premises of
SCERT. EDC on its part started a state project office at Raipur in
February 2004 and appointed staff for office supports. The
Chhattisgarh government further deputed one of its personnel from


17
Education Department as state coordinator in April 2004, to look
after the bilateral needs of the project.

The IRI Pilot Project areas in Chhattisgarh:

With assistance from RGSM, three project areas were identified
namely; Abhanpur development block in Raipur district, Kanker
block in Kanker district and Kondagaon block in Bastar district.
There were 100 schools each selected in these three blocks for
testing the IRI programmes, where EDC had also procured Radio-
Two-in-One sets before the initiation of the broadcast of IRI
programmes from All India Radio of Raipur and Jagdalpur. The
teachers of the schools which were brought under the IRI project,
underwent a training for the smooth conduct of the programme
during July 2004. However there was positive response from the
teachers who took this project as there own and worked hard for
learning and transferring the concepts to their students through
Radio. (see Figure 02)


18
Figure 02: Map of Chhattisgarh showing IRI Project
initiatives.






19
WHAT IS IRI AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
IRI, a methodology developed to turn a typically one-way
technology into a tool for active learning inside and outside of the
classroom, continues to be an attractive educational strategy in
developing countries twenty-five years after it was first used. The
original model for teaching mathematics through IRI was created in
Nicaragua by a team from Stanford University in collaboration with
Nicaraguan educators during the early 1970s. The team sought to
combine the low cost and broad reach of the radio medium and a
clear understanding of how people learn. Since that time, at least
twenty countries around the world have developed IRI programs for
a variety of subjects, audiences, and learning environments. Many
of these programs have been sustained for ten years or more. The
methodology has been expanded and adapted to different levels of
math, science, health, English, Spanish, Portuguese, environmental
education, early childhood development, and adult basic education
for learners of all ages. In each case, the series has been designed
by local specialists specifically to capture the interest of the learner
and to meet learning objectives in the country. Twenty-five years
later, interest in IRI does not appear to be waning.
IRI may be described as interactive lessons in which an
external teaching element, delivered by a distant teacher through
the medium of radio or audiocassette, is carefully integrated with
classroom activities carried out by the classroom teacher and
learners. Within this structure, the distant teacher carries the main
weight of the teaching, and directs learning activities (such as
exercises, answers to questions, songs, and practical tasks) that
take place during carefully timed pauses in the audio script. The
classroom teachers role is often to facilitate the lesson, give
individual assistance to learners, and provide follow-up support
after the audio component is finished. In some programs, such as
those for language instruction, the classroom teachers role is
expanded to include periods of teaching.
WHAT MAKES IRI DIFFERENT FROM OTHER DISTANCE
LEARNING PROGRAMS?
IRI is distinct from most other forms of distance education in
that its primary goal has been to improve educational quality.
Unlike many distance learning programs that are primarily designed
to address access issues, IRI was first used as a classroom tool to
counteract low levels of teacher training, poor achievement among
learners, and limited resources. While IRI has demonstrated that is


20
can be used to expand access and increase equity in both formal
and non-formal educational settings (see Chapter 3), it retains an
emphasis on quality improvement through a development strategy
and methodology that require active learning, attention to
pedagogy, and formative evaluation as an integral part of its
design.
A second distinguishing feature of the IRI methodology is its
requirement that learners react to question prompts and exercises
through verbal and physical responses to radio characters. It also
frequently includes group work and physical and intellectual
activities while the program is on the air. For both the teacher and
student, the lesson becomes an immediate, hands-on, and
experiential guide. Short pauses are provided throughout the
lessons-after questions and during exercises-to ensure that
students have adequate time to think and respond. Interaction is
also encouraged between teachers and learners as they work
together to conduct short experiments, do activities, and solve
problems using local resources and imaginative situations and
stories.
The pedagogy of IRI is more deliberate than active learning
alone. IRI series guide participants through a progression of
activities related to measurable learning objectives. Educational
content is organized and distributed across lessons so that learning
builds upon previous knowledge and new learners can more easily
construct and understanding of the subject being taught. Activities
and problems are first modeled by radio characters so that teachers
and learners have an idea of the process they are undertaking and
of the skills and support that may be required. All these elements
are knit together through story lines, music, characterization, and
other attributes available through the audio medium.
IRI programs are tailored specifically to particular audiences
and situations. An important aspect of the design, therefore, is the
reliance on audience research, participation, and formative
evaluation to ensure that the lessons are engaging and relevant and
that learners can achieve the educational objectives. Preparing an
IRI series, program planners change the format, activities, and
pauses in each program with each cycle of feedback and
observation.
Instruction by radio is interactive when students actually
interact with radio characters who teach subjects such as
mathematics, science, or language. During a twenty-to-thirty


21
minute broadcast, children may interact as many as one hundred
times with the radio instructors. The radio lessons are divided into
several segments, and in a daily lesson new material may be
introduced in one segment, while previously introduced material
may be reinforced through new exercises. Short stories, songs,
physical exercises, and games are used, as well as regular
interactive dialogue. Lessons are designed to be upbeat,
challenging, and happy episodes for the student. The common
elements of all IRI programs are systemic instructional design,
rigorous formative evaluation, and a learner-centred orientation
that aims to build delight in learning.
HOW IS AN IRI PROGRAM DEVELOPED?
Once a specific need for quality enhancement in a particular
system has been identified, and the decision made to employ IRI,
the program has two phases: the development phase and the
sustained implementation phase. The development phase involves
planning, scriptwriting, radio production, and piloting of the
programs. Investment during this period requires financing a
development staff of scriptwriters, radio technicians, actors,
musicians, producers, trainers, evaluators, and management
personnel; purchase of rental of radio production facilities;
purchase of production supplies; purchase and distribution of radios
to schools and tapes to radio stations; printing and distribution of
trial materials; staff and teacher training; transportation and per
diems for promoters, trainers, and evaluators; transmission time
for radio broadcasts; and often, purchase of technical expertise.
Funs from development agencies such as USAID, United
Nations agencies, or one of the development banks are often
sought to cover most developmental costs. International assistance
is usually extended for an initial period, during which the IRI
program is developed, piloted, or tested, and becomes operational
in a substantial number of classrooms. During this phase, the
effectiveness of the program is tested, in terms of learning gains as
well as teacher acceptance and support. Increasingly, the initiative
for beginning an IRI project is being taken by the country itself, and
external assistance, either technical or financial, may be sought
only after development has started, e.g., the Venezuela project
(see Chapter 3)
The sustained implementation phase depends on commitment
from governments, donor agencies, teachers, and students. This


22
commitment in turn depends on a number of policy and design
factors that will be discussed in Chapter 6.
WHY USE IRI?
IRI can be used as an alternative instructional methodology
when:
Subjects or topics are not taught by conventional methods
(use of media as the sole means of instruction);
Subjects or topics are not currently taught well, or students
require reinforcement or remedial instruction (use of media to
improve quality);
Subjects or topics are studied by only a small number of
students, and larger textbook development and teacher
education programs cannot be justified (use of media as a
last resort);
There are not enough teachers for a subject or topic (use of
media to increase access); or
There is a need to reinforce direct instruction by providing
practice to the student, or motivation to persevere, in a mix
of media and conventional instruction (use of media to
enhance learning).
The actual class-room execution of IRI is contained in the above
set of conditions, but over the years this perception has changed to
the point where teachers recognize IRI as a valuable tool in itself,
providing inputs that are both unique and effective in capturing and
holding learner interest.


23

Students enjoying an IRI programme in Primary School Kurra near Rajim
of Raipur District (Photo EDC Raipur)

- Programme Implementation

For the successful implementation of the programme, following
things have to be kept in mind:
The demand for the programme should be generated from the
beneficiaries.
Each programme should be made keeping in mind the taste &
interest of the audience.
There must be a provision for the time-to-time live
interactions with the target group. At least one phone-in
programme every month should be broadcast.
To motivate the students & teachers, some programme
should be recorded with the help of teachers & students of
the schools performing well. They should deliver some
programmes based on the lessons they learned through our
radio programmes.
In order to make the programme popular, there should be
sufficient publicity campaigns.
As the programmes are developed focusing the needs &
requirements of the beginners learning English in the form of


24
soap opera, one should not consider the dates & occasions.
Special programmes can be developed focusing on the special
occasions like Deepavali, Teachers Day & Independence Day
without breaking the sequence of the programme.
Each script should be thoroughly checked & the formative
evaluation of each programme should be done to remove the
mistakes.
The teachers as well as students need adequate motivation to
use the opportunity created by interactive radio programme.
They have to set proper learning environment.
Establishing an environment conducive to learning will facilitate the
exchange of ideas and views. IRI sessions are not aimed at
teaching, as real teaching is taken care of by the learning text.
The IRI is aimed at engaging the students in meaningful discussion
on the topic, creating critical thinking among them, and equipping
them with skills to solve their academic problems systematically.
Therefore, their active involvement in the learning process is a
prerequisite for the optimum utilization of IRI sessions.
They need to be informed as to what they are going to learn, why
the topic is important for them and its link with other topics in the
course, and the prerequisites needed to learn the topic.

The resource persons should guide students in their learning. This
type of environment can be created by personalizing the entire
process of sharing information to allow the students to feel a part of
IRI. Creative resource persons can motivate the students to use the
materials in their day-to-day situations. The topics for discussion
should be selected in consultation with students, local resource
persons, and the faculty of the school concerned.

The role of the scriptwriter, the radio teacher & the actual
classroom teacher is crucial for the sessions of IRI. They should
appear as friends, managers, and directors of students learning.
This implies that the resource persons should possess skills and
competences in the following areas:
Teaching through the audio medium (with full awareness of
the strengths and weaknesses of the medium);
Organizing different activities, academic counselling whereby
the communication flows from the students to the resource
persons;
Principles of and practices in adult learning & Child
psychology
Teaching through innovative methods of interactive learning.



25
The success of the IRI sessions also depends on the quality of
learning experiences based on local conditions, context, and cases.
The students expect that the Script writer & the resource persons
will give a local touch to the content being discussed by giving
examples and illustrations from the activities of daily life.

The reach of IRI should be made available to disadvantaged groups
such as poor and physically and visually challenged people who try
to take advantage of the aural medium to add to their knowledge.

Different methods and strategies need to be used to bring liveliness
and spontaneity to IRI sessions. the sessions should be organized in
a relaxed atmosphere. Humor, if pedagogically valuable, can be
added to make students comfortable in terms of thinking, feeling,
laughing, listening, and learning.
As learning from interactive radio is a new experience and relatively
unfamiliar to most of the students, they need to develop learning
techniques that are different from those for learning from print or
teacher-based learning.
There is a need for systematic monitoring and evaluation of each
element of the IRI service. All the personnel involved in planning,
designing, implementing, and evaluating should receive
constructive feedback on a regular basis and at each stage of IRI,
which can be translated into action. Research needs to be made an
integral part of the system, providing two-way communication to all
the stakeholders.

Process of developing IRI Programmes

As you are now going to train the teachers who are going to
implement the IRI programmes in schools, they must know the
details of the process of developing radio programmes. IRI
programmes are developed through the following process:
Audience Research:
To know the likes & dislikes of audience, nature, suitable
timings, sound, music & many other issues required to make the
programme effective.
Designing Master Plan:
How to move from one lesson to another, what topics or
materials to be added, grading & guidelines for script writers,
these all matters are put together and supplied to script writers
so that there comes a script well chained with prepared master
plan. A master plan also can be traced as an out-line for writing
for something.


26
Script Writing:
It is Very technical, time consuming, lot of imagination required
for radio scripts, knowledge of content as well as pedagogy.
Script Writing is done with the help from experts who have the
knowledge of pedagogy and learning capacity along with
teachers skills. They write radio scripts.
Production:
Production of these programmes are done in digital audio studio,
by experts, right tone & pronunciation is required, time taking,
technical expertise required. It takes
Formative Evaluation:
In some selected sample schools, by evaluators, detailed &
minute observation & patience is required, suggestions for
improvements, duration of pauses, difficulty level of students or
teachers etc.
Corrections & Incorporations:
As per the suggestions given by formative evaluators,
corrections are made in the scripts & they are revised. As per
revision, sections are rerecorded in the studio.
Training of teachers & supervisors:
To conduct the IRI classes, teachers training & the training of
monitoring authorities is required.
Setting logistics for receiving radio programes:
Each school which has to receive the IRI programmes, need to
have one radio set, some TLM, teachers handbook & yes, active
children.
Final production & broadcast of the programme:
After making changes in the script, it is given to the All India
Radio for broadcast. Schools or anyone in the catchment area
can receive the programme & listen to it.


27
CHAPTER - 2
- Significance of the study

Even though IRI has obtained a huge popularity in its initial stage,
radio instruction, in particular, has clearly not received the attention
it deserves. Indeed, if there is any one failure of IRI it has been the
inability of its proponents to develop or sustain a sufficiently broad
base of support among developing countries with special emphasis
on Chhattisgarh region. This is a great pity. Our hope and effort is
that the examples provided by various educational programmes of
where and how IRI has worked for development of skill among the
teacher-mass and also to the students of primary schools across
this region. Radio has generated an enthusiasm for the promotion
of potential and the particular methods that make it function
effectively as an instructional and educational tool. There is no
more cost-effective medium than radio for reaching learners inside
and out-side of classrooms in remote areas. Chhattisgarh has
diverse regions and learning capabilities in its various aspects in
different districts.
Radio is clearly not a substitute for teachers in schools but is a
concrete support for the promotion of quality education.. If schools
or community learning centers can afford technological mediums
like Radio, computers, televisions, there would certainly be some
positive impact of the same. However, in much of the world,
computers and televisions are not going to become available
anytime soon-especially in more remote sites. Thus, radio continues
to offer the best of medium of instruction and has acquired much of
fame. Moreover, recent advances in the development of low-cost,
windup radios and digital radio transmission to large populations
promise to bring even more attractive and affordable options for
using radio in remote sites in the coming years.
I believe this study would provide a balanced account of the
successes and failures of the international experience with IRI in
special reference to Chhattisgarh and also be a useful document for
future studies. This would also become a research to enable referral
forms for any individual to synthesize his or her outlook towards
this ambitious programme. I would not simply add on to avoiding
easy generalizations, as it situates the unfolding of events in the
richness of local context. Rather, readers are reminded throughout
of the need for a long-range vision toward matters of
implementation, ownership, and institutionalization during the
length and breadth of complex processes of educational reform and
innovation in this paper. With such considerations in mind, I hope


28
that readers would find this study a useful addition to the literature
on the development of education in developing regions like
Chhattisgarh, and prove to be a part in enhancing the quality of
Education therewith.

- Teachers Knowledge of Technology
The teachers know about the use of radio. They have used
radio in their home. So there will be no problem in using the radio
in classrooms. They are also familiar with the use of TV. Some of
the teachers are familiar with the computers due the availability in
Headstart centres but they are not aware of using it in the
classrooms. Most of them are interested in learning the skills of
using computers.

- Teachers Perception of Technology in Education
Most of them view technology as a friend & supporter in
facilitating their classroom work. They are ever ready to welcome
new technology & innovation in education.

- Teachers other Responsibilities/Activities
Teachers spend their summer vacations in getting different
types of training programmes at the block level. They do some
enrolment drives & mobilization campaigns in the beginning of the
session. They perform all routine school tasks like conducting
assembly, marking attendance, framing time table, question paper
setting, planning and organizing examinations, enrolment of
children, tabulation and disbursement of incentives to children etc.
They have to spend a lot of time in monitoring of the cooking
of the Mid Day Meal & its distribution. They regards it as one of the
greatest hurdle in their routine teaching tasks but they treat as the
best motivator for children to retain in schools.
The non-teaching tasks, the government teachers have to
perform is the biggest hurdle in their routine school related works.
They are engaged in census, election to cattle count, tendu leaves
collection & different sorts of surveys like BPL, health & so on.

- Willingness for undergoing Training
Almost all the teachers are willing to undergo different types
of training. They are interested in learning how to make their
classes joyful & activity based. They dont want to undergo routine,
traditional lecture based training. Some of them want that training
should be organized during summer & others want that they should
be trained only during the school hours.


29
Most of the teachers prefer on the spot training instead of
going for a long distance to receive training. They want that new &
innovative things should be taught or delivered to them during the
training programmes.

- Innovative Ways of Teaching
The teachers are interested in doing innovations but they are
not exposed to different types of innovations being done by the
teachers. They use acting, telling stories, excursion to nearby
places, developing low & no cost teaching aids etc.
In most of the schools, one can find the pocket board with
lots of flash cards. The teachers developed these pocket boards
during the training under Shikshak Samakhya. Most of the teachers
are using the available teaching aids; some are using story telling,
role play, group work and play way method; and also the materials
like charts, flash cards, pictures and models procured from the
funds they receive under Teachers Grant from SSA.

- Familiarity with Group Activities
Teachers are familiar with different types of group activities.
They are exposed to do these types of activities during their
teachers training sessions conducted in DIETs & Block Resource
Centres. The Education Guarantee Scheme Schools Gurujis are
better exposed to this system. Being the single teacher school, they
use the multi-level approach & form groups according to the level &
pace of students. Co-Operative learning is also very common in
schools. Different indoor & outdoor games are also played in
groups.

- Technology in Testing and Evaluation
Teachers have been exposed to different innovative methods
for evaluation & testing of students. Instead of one-time yearly
exams, the teachers are now taking regular monthly unit tests.
They also use assessment in place of evaluation in early classes i.e.
1 & 2.
The EGS Gurujis are trained to keep the record of each child
in learners record & they plan their lesson & write it in Teacher
Planner. The Cluster Resource Centers are proposed to be given the
Cyclostyle machine & the schools can take regular tests after
getting the question paper cyclostyled from these Resource
Centers. In this way, technology can assist in taking the tests &
evaluation of children.
Teachers are also tested during the need-based teacher
training programmes. On the basis of their problem areas thus


30
identified, they are given the training & remedial sessions. This
trend of testing the teachers has percolated inside them & they
have started taking regular test of their students as well & plan
their lessons on the basis of their need areas.

- About Teaching of English:
Although most of the teachers lack proper training for
teaching English, there has been a great enthusiasm felt among
them for learning this language. There are teachers who have been
teaching English from past 10-12 years but mostly at primary
levels. Most of the teachers engaged in teaching English have
studied the language only up to school levels but manage the
fundamentals while explaining the concepts. They also feel that the
training given to them for teaching English is not sufficient and the
period of training be extended as per the needs of the programmes
and the matters that are taught to students, specially in the field of
grammar and formation of sentences for children in the perspective
of day-to-day happening of their school atmosphere. The main
problem that they face in teaching English is the accurate and
correct pronunciation of the English words, fluency in reading and
writing as well as in explaining the things.
Children like stories, poems, narrations and small sentences
while learning English. The teachers also take help of pictures,
textbooks, cards and such other teaching aids while teaching the
subject. They also feel that the knowledge of mother tongue is
much more essential in teaching and explaining English to children,
even up to 50 percent as obtained from the field visits made to
different schools of the selected blocks of Chhattisgarh. They feel
that lessons related to local culture, games and sports, food habits
of people, places of importance, things related to national
integration, patriotism and improving vocabulary, are required
through the Radio Programme for teaching English.
The teaching of English would be facilitated if the matters
related to their socio-cultural circumstances were included in the
teaching resources. The things should also be translated to Hindi or
to the mother tongue of the region that might smoothen the
process of teaching the subject in better and result-oriented
manner. The teaching of English could also be enhanced and made
easier if proper training is provided to the teachers time to time by
upgrading their standard of knowledge and adopting various
methods for children to learn the topic easily in play way manner.
Other than these, the teacher as well as the students should
improve an eagerness to learn the language and have a thirst for
the same. The teaching or learning of English should never be taken


31
something, as imposition rather should be felt as the need of the
hour. They should also be provided with all the needed articles like
dictionary, textbook, workbook and with the routine training on the
trends of subject that need to be upgraded for better teaching of
English.

- Community Members Opinion:
The Field Investigators met some of the community
members. They have a good opinion about the school. They were
well aware of the needs & requirements of the schools. Some
demanded the playground facility, some were of the opinion that
they need some additional classrooms for the schools & some were
worried about the toilet facilities.
They were satisfied with the result the school is giving & the
performance of the teachers. They think that even after so many
problems, the teachers are doing their duty sincerely. They have
certain complaints about those teachers who dont reside in the
local village.
They say that though the children in these schools belong to
poor families, they are well mannered & do all efforts to achieve
good marks. When we talked about the strengths of the school,
they pointed out the discipline, results, cooperation of parents etc.
While pointing to the weaknesses, they told about the need of
toilet, drinking water facility, play ground, plantation & the power
connection.
For the quality improvement in their schools, they require regular
academic support, timely availability of textbooks & other
materials, immediate actions on the basis of their complaints,
limiting the non-teaching tasks to be performed by the teachers
etc.
The community can support the school in terms of both
physical & financial level. The Panchayat will give priority to school
related activities.
There are a few means of recreation in the locality. They
enjoy the natural beauty, local theatre, video, TV & a garden. They
also enjoy visiting local haats, i.e. market. Local cultural
programmes are also arranged during some festivals or special
occasions.


32
People in the village watch TV. They have the cable
connections in some places. Radio listening is also there but it is
rare. Nowadays, after the introduction of Vividh Bharati, it is again
becoming popular. They mostly listen to different songs &
Chhattisgarhi programmes. They also listen to the programmes
related to their work & agriculture. Children enjoy watching
cartoon films, Cinema & songs etc. They also like watching cricket.
- Educational Importance of study
While collecting information on various topics related to IRI I have
come to determinate myself the below mentioned educational
importance of this study:
It would assess the school infrastructure facilities available in
schools and its regular use in terms of technology based
education.
It would find out the prevailing teaching-learning processes in
our classrooms, with reference to that of conventional teaching
and use of technology thereupon.
It would provide an idea of the needs, interests, likes and
dislikes of the students and teachers to obtain the support as
Radio a teaching tool.
It would ascertain the opinion of the listeners on the timings,
duration & other qualitative aspects of the programme, while
learning the foreign language like English as a second language
in school age.
It would present background information for the successful
implementation of IRI Programmes.
It would strengthen the structure of using Radio as a teaching
tool based on the feedback received from various primary and
secondary sources.
It would also ascertain the department and organisation working
for the betterment of education and quality improvement, to get
a clear picture of so as to what to adopt in whish sense.
It would also provide a structured status of IRI programme and
its effective implementation for promotion of English language.

- Problems and elucidations
While making number of efforts for the study for this topic, there
also would arise certain issues. I have chalked out some of the
major issues and problems here that may come across in various
terms.


33
Teachers Competency and Scope for Improvement: How
competent is the teacher subject-wise? Does the teacher have
enough opportunity and time for subject enrichment for example
English Language and teaching, even if he/she is motivated to
learn? Is there proper access to content and information related
to pedagogy?
Teacher-Student Ratio: What is the teacher-student ratio? Is it
the ideal situation? What about one teacher handling more than
one class in a classroom at the same time? Do teachers handle
all subjects for each class?
Operational Issues: Are the schools ready to accommodate the
new program (radio/TV) in the existing school hours making
necessary changes in the timetable? Will it disturb the
scheduled periods? What are the possible operational issues like
power problem, maintenance, use or misuse and monitoring?
Teachers Knowledge of Technology: Does the teacher have
basic computer/ technology knowledge? If so, what kind of
training has he/she gone through? If not, is he/she ready to
learn?
Teachers Perception of Technology in Education: Is the teacher
open to "invasion" of new technology? How do the teachers
view technology - as an intruder, as a support or a friend, as
master, as servant, as educator, etc?
Teachers other Responsibilities/Activities: What are the
teachers other activities/responsibilities in the school and what
is the time and effort spent on these non-teaching assignments
in a day?
Willingness for undergoing Training: How approachable is the
teacher? Can we pull out a teacher from school for training
purpose? What about training during non-school hours?
Innovative Ways of Teaching: Is the teacher using any
innovative ways for teaching? Is she using only black board, or
pictures, charts, flash cards, models or any other teaching aids?
Familiarity with Group Activities: How familiar is the teacher with
group activities? Has she ever been exposed to such methods?
Seating Arrangement: Does the classroom have adequate sitting
facility for students? What is the arrangement for the seating of
children?


34
Lighting and Ventilation of the Classrooms: Does the classroom
have adequate light and ventilation? What is the colour of the
classroom walls?
Adequacy of Classrooms: Are there adequate rooms for all the
classes?
Technology in Testing and Evaluation: Does technology have an
impact on testing and evaluation of students to the extent of
reducing their anxiety related to tests and exams?

- Aims of the study
By taking this study I had a very thorough notion of the quality
education and its impartment in our school. However the main aims
of the study are be as follows:
To assess the school infrastructure facilities available in schools
for the improvement of quality in education and teaching.
To find out the prevailing teaching-learning processes in our
classrooms and its better utilisation.
To get an idea of the needs, interests, likes and dislikes of the
students and teachers for grasping a foreign language like
English from primary levels.
To ascertain the opinion of the listeners/ beneficiaries on the
timings, duration & other qualitative aspects of the programme,
about the broadcast from All India Radio for schools during
school timings.
To get the background information for the successful
implementation of IRI Programmes.

- Hypothesis

- There would be an easy process and method of teaching-
learning English.
- Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) would assist the teachers
to improve teaching skills.
- There will be a significant difference between conventional
teaching method and this innovation method.
- IRI will bring out a clear idea for the adaptation and execution
of innovations in the field of primary education
- IRI would also be a guide for the teachers/ mentors of this
region for smooth and proper conduct of IRI programme.
- This study will improve and enhance teachers understanding
of quality education and inclusion of various teaching
methods in our classrooms.


35

- Scope of study and its limitations

I have tried to work upon the scope of this study so as to what
areas and periphery to cover and have reached to the conclusion
that study related to IRI programme and level of learning in
primary schools would provide me with the better understanding
and also entertain the thirst of preparing for some research papers.
Thus keeping in mind all these queries I have taken the topic and
stated working upon the same. I shall try my best to keep the track
with the topic selected and also abide by its limitations. I shall try
my best to satisfy the needs on my guide and also the outcome of
this study, for the betterment of the system and people at large.

- Methodology of the study

Tool Development: Various tools, viz., school information
schedule, questionnaire for teacher-based experiences,
questionnaire for teaching & learning environment , and points for
focused group discussion with children or students, semi-structured
teachers interview schedule, school visit form. & Questionnaire to
the Station Director, All India Radio were used for the audience
research. The tools will be developed in close association with
Education Development Center and Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission
Chhattisgarh.

Data Collection:

The data collection will be made from the investigation and
feedback from various schools randomly selected as per sample.
.four Field Investigators visited the schools in January, 2004 and
collected the requisite data. Data on teaching-learning
environment and teacher-based experiences will be collected
through departmental assistance and teachers support.



36

IRI Methodology in class-room being executed by the teacher. (Sketch by
EDC Raipur)


37
CHAPTER 3

- Random Sample selection process

The Sample Schools for this study will be taken from various
districts and its blocks where the Interactive Radio Instruction
programme has been introduced or launched. These districts will be
from 16 districts of our Chhattisgarh state. Total of twenty
primary schools each may be taken as the sample for the study,
and the selection will purely be on random basis. These may be
based on the criterion that there should be representation of all the
following categories of schools in the sample for carrying out the
study:
Tribal, Rural & Urban Setting
Large & Small size as per the enrolment
Co-education & girls School
Residential & Non-residential school
Single teacher and multi teacher schools
Schools equipped with advanced technologies and schools
without them.

Observation instruments:
The classroom observations reported in this Research paper was
based on the observations made directly in the classrooms.
Classroom observation indicated that it did appear to capture
important aspects of classroom activities. However, the evaluation
tool proved to be difficult for teachers. I too had a difficult time
grasping the difference between IRI and non-IRI time.
While there is little difference in terms of cost in implementation,
that
a) ensures a greater level of consistency among evaluators;
b) is more relevant to the Indian context;
c) is easier to complete within the same amount of time and
d) Measures both short and long-term impacts.
As an observer I become better versed with the questionnaire, the
project might be able to slightly increase the total numbers of
schools evaluated.
The classroom questionnaire instrument (a copy of which is
appended to this report) consists of 34 rating items that are divided
into four categories of observations. Observers are asked to make
ratings on the following aspects of teaching and classroom climate:
Teacher (Participation in IRI, Managerial skill, Concern,
Ability)
Classroom Climate (Freedom, Motivation)


38
Handbook (Availability, Usefulness)
Teaching Learning Materials
Assessment
All of the categories of rating listed above are assessed with
multiple items with the exception of the handbook availability which
was assessed by a single item.

Observations made:

The observations were conducted at 80 schools spread over 4
geographical blocks of Raipur, Dhamtari and Durg districts. The
blocks were:

Abhanpur (Raipur)
Arang (Raipur)
Kurud (Dhamtari)
Gurur (Durg)

Dates of observations:

Questionnaire observations were conducted in the period
October to November 2006.

Random selection of Schools:

Given are names of the schools randomly selected for collection of
feedback and data on IRI from Abhanpur and Arang block of Raipur,
Gurur block of Durg and Kurud block of Dhamtari districts.


39

List of Schools for Feedback on IRI
SN Name of School visited Block
1 Primary School Singarbhata Abhanpur
2 Vidhya Mandir Pipraod Abhanpur
3 Primary School Kurra Abhanpur
4 Primary School Nawagaona Abhanpur
5 Primary School Jaondi Abhanpur
6 Primary School Rampur Abhanpur
7 Primary School Uperwara Abhanpur
8 Primary School Nimora Abhanpur
9 Primary School Tuta Abhanpur
10 Primary School Khatti Abhanpur
11 Primary School Girls Abhanpur Basti Abhanpur
12 Primary School Boys Khorpa Abhanpur
13 Girls Primary School Khorpa Abhanpur
14 Primary School Thakurdev Uperwara Abhanpur
15 Primary School Gatapara Abhanpur
16 Primary School Gondpara Abhanpur
17 Boys Primary School Black Kaloni Abhanpur
18 Primary School Dewarbhata Abhanpur
19 Primary School Dadarjhori Abhanpur
20 Primary School Manikchovri Abhanpur
21 Primary School Chaprid Arang
22 Primary SchoolBoys Palod Arang
23 Primary School Riko Arang
24 Primary School Boys Khaoli Arang
25 Primary School Tekari Arang
26 Primary School Chataona Arang
27 Primary School Baktara Arang
28 Primary School Banrasi Arang
29 Primary School Nardaha Arang
30 Primary School Bhatapara Gullu Arang
31 Primary School Bhatapara Lakhaoli Arang
32 Primary School Girls Farfaod Arang
33 Primary School Bhansoj Arang
34 Primary School Chandkhuri Arang
35 Primary School Koransi Arang
36 Primary School Amsena Arang
37 Primary School Bhaisa Arang
38 Primary School Badgaon Arang
39 Primary School Khapri Arang
40 Primary School Jaraod Arang
41 Primary School Dadhari Gurur
42 Primary School Kosami Gurur
43 Primary School Boys Gurur Gurur
44 Primary School Kanvar Gurur
45 Primary School Mudgahan Gurur


40
46 Primary School Narbada Gurur
47 Primary School Kanharpuri Gurur
48 Primary School Usarwara Gurur
49 Primary School Purur Gurur
50 Primary School Bharrigaon Gurur
51 Primary School Bheja Gurur
52 Primary School Pikaripara Gurur
53 Primary School Kinargondi Gurur
54 Primary School Dotopar Gurur
55 Primary School Bohardih Gurur
56 Primary School Tilkhairi Gurur
57 Primary School Anandpur Gurur
58 Primary School Ghoghopuri Gurur
59 Primary School Bhulan-Dabari Gurur
60 Primary School Bhaismundi Gurur
61 Primary School Gobara Kurud
62 Primary School Sidharikhurd Kurud
63 Primary School Umarda Kurud
64 Primary School Charra Kurud
65 Primary School Bakli Kurud
66 Primary School Nari Kurud
67 Primary School Kokadi (Nari) Kurud
68 Primary School Pachpedi Kurud
69 Primary School Bhakara Kurud
70 Primary School Kodebode Kurud
71 Primary School Jugdehi Kurud
72 Primary School Silaoti Kurud
73 Primary School Bhatagaon Kurud
74 Primary School Charota Kurud
75 Primary School Birejhar Kurud
76 Girls Primary School Madeli Kurud
77 N.Girls Primary School Kurud Kurud
78 Primary School Tarragondi Kurud
79 Primary School Banagar Kurud
80 Primary School Chataod Kurud

In order to make a judgment about whether schools were exhibiting
classroom characteristics that warranted the judgment that they
were quality schools it was decided that a school would have to
achieve a 75% standard. That is, if a school received 75% of the
possible rating points and above, the school was judged to have
attained a level of quality on the particular characteristic being
rated. If the school attained an overall rating of 75% of the possible
rating points summed across all of the categories of observation, it
was judged to be a quality school. Given that the 75% or rating
point standard is somewhat arbitrary (and a very stringent
standard) the results will also be reported using two other


41
standards. The percentage of schools achieving a level of 60% of
possible ratings and 70% of possible ratings will be reported to
provide a better indication of how schools performed on the rating
scales.
I R I SCHOOL

The IRI School Logo, stating the execution of programme in schools
- Response from Radio Station Directors:
This response has been obtained from the investigators of All
India Radio, Raipur Station for the purpose of the IRI programme
broadcast. Mr.NK Patro and Dr.Pradeep Sao, of AIR Raipur have
expressed their views for the IRI programme on the below
mentioned points. Raipur Radio Station has the radial distance of 70
kilometres as the private coverage area and 100 kilometres as the
secondary coverage area. Some of the significant points mentioned
by the above AIR officials are mentioned below-
Q: How large is the audience in the coverage area of your radio
station?
A: The radial distance of Raipur Radio Station in 70 kilometres as
its primary coverage area that also reaches out 100 kilometres of
secondary coverage area.



42
Q: Where is your audience? In each part of your coverage area,
what percentage of the population are members of your audience?
A: This station covers almost 156.2 lakhs of people as its audience
as per the census survey made in the year 2001. The station has
popular coverage in the whole of region. The station has distance
coverage from Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund,
Dhamtari, Kawardha and parts of Raigarh & Kanker.

Q: How does your audience come to know about different
programmes- what time of day, what day of week, etc?
A: The daily broadcast details are given in newspaper and are also
summarized regularly at the beginning of the broadcast at morning
for about five minutes.

Q: Are there any special programme for children? Which are they?
What are their special features?
A: There are two programmes for children, Kislay at 8:30 on
Sunday of half-an-hour duration and Bal-Vatika on Sunday at 9:15
with 15 minutes duration. These programmes are meant for
children and their intellectual, cultural and social enhancement.
These programmes are listened by about 10 percent of the total
children in the region.

Q: What type of educational programmes do you broadcast? What
is their popularity level?
A: We broadcast a programme in the name of Anugoonj, that
covers the Educational development activities of the region along
with giving due information on topics related to general awareness.
These programmes are equally popular in the region. It is broadcast
daily in the evening 6.15 to 6.35. Different days & subjects are
given to different radio station. These radio stations develop the
programmes with the help of Education Department.

Q: What is the time of broadcast for children and what is the
duration?
A: The programmes for children are broadcast at 8:30 am to 9:00
am on Sunday for half-an-hour. These programmes are mostly live
& children only participate in the programme. Earlier school
education related programme- Chhetriya Prasaran was broadcast
at about 1.30 in the afternoon.

Q: What time slots do you consider as the most suitable one and
listened to by maximum number of audience?


43
A: The actual time slot is 6 to 8 am when almost 53 percent of
people listen to radio. The ratio differs in different times of the day.

Time Slot % of Audience/ Listeners
6 to 8 am 53 %
8 to 10 am 48 %
10 am to 12 noon 3 %
12 to 2 pm 34 %
4 to 2 pm 39 %
6 to 8 pm 29 %
8 to 10 pm 33 %

Q: What time do you consider best for the educational broadcast for
primary school children? What should be the ideal duration?
A: The best time for the broadcast of programme related to children
would be evening after 6 pm. The duration of the programme
should be of half-an-hour (30 minutes). But if the programmes are
to be broadcast & listened to in school itself then the ideal time for
the broadcast is from afternoon 12.00 before the distribution of the
Mid-Day Meals.

Q: What were the famous characters in your serials or different
programmes? Why were they famous? Give some characteristics of
these characters.
A: We havent yet developed this type of Soap Opera from our
Radio Station for Children. But this is a good idea & the characters
should be lively, related to their life situations, very near to them.
They should speak & express their own feelings & have the local
touch & flavour.

Q: What are your suggestions for the use of radio in improving
English language in our schools? What methods & approaches
should be adopted while writing the script for the programme?
A: Use of radio is exceptional and far-reaching, not only in the field
of improving English at the school level, but also to convey the
progressive message to the grass-root and village level. Radio has
been used to improve Hindi as a language and its grammatical
aspects. The same may be used for English also. Our target
audience (villagers) have a belief that whatever is being said on
Radio is always correct and authentic. This belief may be used as
the main tool while producing English lessons for Radio.
The scripts should be simple and catchy. It should start with
basic knowledge and should be interesting. It should not be


44
monotonous so as to avoid boredom. There should not also be the
frequent repetition of but could be made at appropriate places and
levels. However the repeating could also help the children in
understanding the things explained on radio thus the scripts should
also consist the repetition of certain items whiting the limits of the
lesson. The playful approach and interactive methods are the most
important aspect for writing good educational scripts.
A good scripts or the radio programme should have these
heads to consider upon; as good components, background sound,
voice-modulations, formats with dramatic, narrative, interactive,
musical and poetic approaches, so as to give a simple and clear
understanding to learners or the to the listeners.



Students learning with Radio based activities in one of the IRI English
lessons at Government Primary School Gatapar in Abhanpur of Raipur
District (Photo by EDC Raipur)


45
CHAPTER - 4
- Statistical implications and results

Overall Comparison of IRI and Non-IRI Classrooms:
The results presented in this chapter show the rating performance
on the classroom questionnaire and observation. As mentioned
above, the target criterion for a quality school was 75% or more of
the possible rating points. Again, however, data will also be
presented showing the percent of schools that would be judged
quality schools if the criterion was set at 60% and at 70% of
possible rating points. The first graph below shows the percent of
schools that attained quality ratings in IRI and Non-IRI classes. The
ratings depicted in the graph are average of percent possible points
attained over the 4 rating categories of Teacher, Classroom
Climate, Teaching Learning Materials and Assessment. There were
several types of ratings that were left out of the quality calculation
as it relates to comparisons of IRI and Non-IRI classrooms because
they were quite specific to IRI. These types were: Teacher
Participation in IRI, and Handbook Availability and Usefulness.
The graph shows that over 50% of observed classrooms reached
the quality level of 75% or greater of positive classroom ratings in
the classrooms, over 60% of the classrooms were judged to be
quality classrooms if the criterion was 70%, and over 80% of the
classrooms would be judged quality if the criterion was 60%.
The ratings for Non-IRI classrooms are somewhat lower than those
for IRI classrooms except in the circumstance where the quality
rating was set at 60%, in which case IRI and Non-IRI classrooms
attained similar levels of quality.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
IRI Class Non IRI Class
Abhanpur
Arang
Kurud
Gurur

Comparisons of IRI and Non-IRI Classes on Different Rating
Categories:

The next set of analyses examines the question of what proportion
of observed classrooms attained the quality rating level of 75% in


46
each of the rating categories. This data is presented in the Table
below which shows the proportion of classrooms attaining a rating
of 75% or more of the possible points in each of the four major
categories of evaluation, and for sub-categories of evaluation in
situations where a major category is divided into sub-categories.
The Table also shows the proportion of classrooms that would be
judged quality classrooms if the criterion for quality was set at 60%
and 70% of possible ratings.

As was the case with the classroom observation data, a relevant
question to ask is whether ratings for a particular school in an IRI
classroom were similar at all to ratings in a Non-IRI classroom.
Again, this question was addressed by correlating IRI ratings with
Non-IRI ratings. The correlation statistic was r = .575, p < .001.
The questionnaire correlation for IRI and Non-IRI ratings was not as
high as it was for the observation data, but nonetheless it was
substantial and indicates that schools that received a high IRI rating
also tended to receive a high Non-IRI rating.

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 60, 70%, and 75% of
Possible Rating Points or Greater in Each Rating Category

Category Sub-Category Proportion
of IRI
Classrooms
Attaining
60% Level
Proportion
of IRI
Classrooms
Attaining
70% Level
Proportion
of IRI
Classrooms
Attaining
75% Level
Teacher Participation in
IRI
90 90 65
Managerial 93 85 78
Concern 82 48 35
Ability 83 65 54

Classroom
Climate
Freedom 60 48 38
Motivation 70 50 40

Handbook Availability 70 35 35
Usefulness 88 65 56

Teaching
Learning
Materials
48 43 35

Assessment 85 62 35



47
The next set of analyses repeated the analysis immediately above
with Non-IRI classrooms. The data in the Table below shows these
ratings. Not surprisingly, ratings for attributes that are fairly
specific to IRI classrooms such as teacher participation in IRI and
aspects of handbook use were relatively low in the Non-IRI
classrooms.

There were some differences though that were noteworthy and
deserve further examination. Teachers in IRI classrooms received
substantially higher managerial ratings that teachers in Non-IRI
classrooms. This is suggestive of different behaviours in the two
settings and may be indicative of more positive teaching
performance in the IRI setting. Finally, the rating for assessment in
the Non-IRI setting is very low and may suggest some difficulty
with the assessment rating in the Non-IRI setting.

Proportion of Non-IRI Classrooms Attaining 60, 70%, and
75% of Possible Rating Points or Greater in Each Rating
Category

Category Sub-
Category
Proportion
of IRI
Classrooms
Attaining
60% Level
Proportion
of IRI
Classrooms
Attaining
70% Level
Proportion
of IRI
Classrooms
Attaining
75% Level
Teacher Participation
in IRI
9 9 7
Managerial 64 25 16
Concern 60 45 35
Ability 79 60 55
Classroom
Climate
Freedom 60 58 45
Motivation 70 45 40
Handbook Availability 8 4 4
Usefulness 10 8 5
Teaching
Learning
Materials
70 55 46
Assessment 35 6 4

Comparisons of Classroom Ratings in Different Geographical
Blocks:
The final comparison is an examination of the IRI and Non-IRI
questionnaire ratings in each of the geographical blocks. The
graphs to follow show those ratings. The first graph shows the
mean ratings for the IRI classrooms and as can be seen in the


48
graph schools in Abhanpur receive the highest overall ratings and
schools in Kurud receive the lowest overall ratings.



The final graph shows the same data as the one above except it
depicts the ratings for Non-IRI classrooms in each of the
geographical blocks. The general pattern of performance for the
blocks is similar to the pattern in the IRI classrooms though there is
a tendency for the ratings to be more similar to one another than
they were in the IRI classrooms.

Concluding Observations
This is the first evaluation year where an attempt has been made to
identify quality schools. The identification of quality involves
setting a point above, which schools are assumed to meet a quality
standard and below which they have failed to meet the standard. It
should be emphasized that identifying the quality point is inherently
subjective and an argument could be made that the 75% standard
set in this report is too high. This writer believes that it is unlikely
that many would argue that the standard is too low.

The identification of quality presented in the report is best viewed
as a baseline against which future evaluations can be compared.
The results presented in the report also provide information that
may be useful in the future for improving school performance. The
observation and questionnaire data for individual schools will be
reported to the dot-EDU central office that that information can be
used to develop improvement plans for schools that appear to be
experiencing difficulties. The identification of those difficulties may
also be useful in making overall improvements in the training
received by schools that are new to the program.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
IRI Class
Abhanpur
Arang
Kurud
Gurur



49
III Appendix A
CHECK LIST

School Block Date of visit

Name of the Teacher Class/Subject observed IRI /Non IRI

S.N. Items Response Scoring Score
Awarded
01 Participation in IRI
Orientation Prog
No, Yes 1,2
02 Receipt of Teachers
Handbook on IRI
Not received, In
time, Well in
advance
1,2,3
03 Usefulness of the Handbook
for as guideline for
conducting IRI programme
Not useful, Useful
for some extent,
extremely useful
1,2,3
04 What aspect of the
handbook was useful for
transacting IRI in the
classroom

Objectives, Pre
broadcast, during
broadcast, Post
broadcast
Each gets
a score of
one..
Max: 4

05 Maintenance of records on
IRI programme
Not maintained,
Not satisfactory,
Satisfactory
1,2,3
06 Arranging the class for IRI
Programme
No, Yes 1,2
07 Seating Arrangements for a
class
Not adequate,
Adequacy
1,2
08 Seating Arrangements Rigid, flexible 1,2
09 Ability among the teacher
to plan for IRI as per the
requirement of the
handbook

No, Yes, 1,2
10 Teacher could transact the
content as per the
handbook
No , Not
completely,
Completely
1,2,3
11 Whether pre broadcast
activities were carried out
No, Yes, 1,2
12 Usefulness of Pre broadcast No, Yes 1,2,
13 Preparation of TLM by the
teacher
Not done, Done 1,2
14 TLMS used Used TLM already
available,
developed and
used, used both
available and
prepared
1,2,3


50
15 Variety of TLMs No, to some
extent, lot of
Variety
1,2
16 Appropriateness of TLM for
a given lesson
Not appropriate,
some what
appropriate, Very
appropriate
1,2,3
17 Opportunity to develop
learning materials by
students
No, Yes 1,2
18 Materials used by Use by Tr.only,
use by students,
use by students
and teachers
1,2,3
19 Confidence in using TLMs Not confident,
somewhat, fully
confident
1,2,3
20 Teacher exhibits concern
for students cognitive
needs
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
21 Freedom for children to
explore and experiment
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
22 Opportunity for children to
do things themselves and
learn
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
23 Makes provision for
Individual and group work
during the lesson
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
24 Encourages students to
share the material during
group work
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
25 Encourage students to
respond to questions
Unable, able to
some extent and
fully able
1,2,3
26 Teacher attempts to
integrate students
experiences while teaching
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
27 Classroom Environment for
teaching learning
Not cordial,
somewhat cordial,
Very cordial
1,2,3
28 Interaction in the class
between Tr-stu-Tr
No interaction, Not
Sufficient,
Sufficient
1,2,3
29 Variety in classroom
activities
(Songs, games)
No, Not Sufficient,
Sufficient
1,2,3
30 Ability to follow Radio
instruction
Unable, able to
some extent, fully
able
1,2,3


51
31 Variety in questions No, to some
extent, lot of
Variety
1,2,3
32 Distribution of questions
among students
Unable, able to
some extent and
fully able
1,2,3
33 Asking questions to assess
understanding of students
in different segments of
lesson
No, to some
extent, most of the
time
1,2,3
34 Ability to reformulate
questions when students
are not able to understand
Unable, able to
some extent , fully
able
1,2,3


Note:
Visit the school on the stipulated date (BRC could inform the
dates of your visit)
Have discussion with Head Teacher and Teacher regarding the
purpose of your visit
Observe 2 IRI and 2 Non-IRI classes (it could be one teacher
/two teachers
If two teachers, then some information such as training etc to
be colleted from both the teachers





52
Categorization of Items



Category Sub category Item Numbers No of
Items
Teacher Participation in IRI 1,12 2
Managerial 6,7,8,11 4
Concern 20,26 2
Ability 23,28,29,30,31,32 6
SUB TOTAL 14
Classroom
Climate
Freedom 21,22 2
Motivation 24,25,27 3
SUB TOTAL 5
Hand Book Availability 2 1
Usefulness 3,4,9,10 4
SUB TOTAL 5
Teaching
Learning Materials
13,14,15,16,17,18,19 7
Assessment 5,33,34 3


53
MONITORING FORMAT FOR FIELD TESTING
' kkykHkze.ki zfrosnu &NRrhl x<+jkT;
' kkykdkuke %
xzke @cl kgV % l adqy dkuke %
fodkl [kaMdkuke % ft ykdkuke %
i z/kkui kBd dkuke@i zHkkj hfk{kd %
f' k{kdks adhdqy l a[; k% i q : "k% efgyk%
' kkykyxusdkl e; % ' kkykHkze.kdhfrfFk%
A. ' kkykokrkoj.kvkbZ-vkj-vkbZ- dsl anHkZesa%
1- D; kd{kkes adk; Zdze pyk; kt krkgS\ Yes: No:
2- j sfM; ksdkj [k&j [kko Done Not done
; fn ugha] rksD; ks a\

; fn dks bZfVIi .khgks\

B. i at h; u &
3- d{kkes adqy
ukeka fdr Nk=ksa
dhl a[; k&



; fn dksbZfVIi .kh
gks\
Class

Class - I
Gender SC ST OBC GEN TOTAL
Boys
Girls
Class - II


Class III

Class IV


Class - V
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
girls
C. mi fLFkfr &
4- d{kkes ami fLFkfr
dqy Nk=&


; fn dksbZfVIi .khgks\
Class Boys Girls Total
Class - I
Class - II
Class III
Class IV
Class - V
i z/kku i kBd dsgLrk{kj


54
D. d{kkdhi fjfLFkfr &
5- D; kIRI d{kkes afk{kd mi fLFkfr Fks\
Yes NO
; fn ugha] dkj .knhft , A

6- D; kfk{kd IRI dk; Zdz e dsfy, rS; kj Fksl kexzh] mi yC/k
l al k/ku ; kj sfM; ksdhgkyr
Yes
dqN : i esa
NO
; fn ugha] dkj .knhft , A

7- D; kfk{kd j sfM; ksdk; Zdze gs rqnhxbZekxZ nfkZdkdkmi ; ks x
dj j gsFks\
Yes NO
; fn ugha] rksD; ks\
E. IRI dk; Zdze dsnkSjku d{kkxr xfrfof/k&
8- D; kIRI dk; Zdze dsnkSj ku fk{kd usNk=ksadksl ew g ; kt ks M+ksa
es afoHkkft r fd; k\
Yes NO
; fn ugha ] dkj .knhft , A

9- dk; Z dze es aNk=ksadhHkkxhnkj hdkLrj D; kFkk\
10% 25% 50
%
75% 95
%
10- D; kd{kkes afk{k.kl kexzhdkmi ; ks x fd; kx; k\ Yes dqN : i es a NO
11- D; kfk{kd }kj kdk; Zi qfLrdkdkmi ; ks x fd; kx; k\ Yes dqN : i es a NO
; fn ugha] rksD; ks a\
F. d{kkdhl kekU; i fjfLFkfr t c IRI
12- D; kfk{kd usIRI dk; Zdze dhl ekfIr i j ml es afunsZfkr
i zl kj .kdsmi j ka r dht kusokyhxfrfof/k; ks adkl apkyu fd; k\
Yes
dqN : i esa
NO
; fn ugha] dkj .kcrk; sa A
13- D; kfk{k.k}kj kcuk, ax; sl ewgks aes al HkhNk=ksadhHkkxhnkj hj gh\
Yes NO
; fn ugha] rksdkj .kcrk; s aA

14- D; kNk=dk; Zdze l ekfIr dsmi j ka r yxkrkj ppkZ, oavki l hl aokn
dj rsj gs\
Yes NO
G. l eqnkf; d l gHkkfxrk&
15- D; k' kkykfodkl l fefr@t u Hkkxhnkj hl fefr dsl nL; IRI
dk; Z dze dsckj ses ai fj fpr gSa\
Yes NO
16- D; k' kkykfodkl l fefr@ t u Hkkxhnkj hl fefr dsl nL; ks aus
IRI dk; Zdze l qukgS\
Yes NO
17- IRI dk; Zdze dksl ewnk; dhvks j l sfdl i zdkj dkl g; ksx i zkIr gqvkgS\

H.


55
18- mi yfC/k] ; fn dksbZgks\







I. vU; l q>ko &
19- vU; l kekU; l q>ko








IRI dk; Zdze dhekWfuVfjax NRrhl x<+jkT; &fk{kdksagsrqi zukoyh
1.
D; kl HkhIRI i kBksadkl apkyu fd; kx; k\
Yes No

; fn ugharksD; ks\
2.
D; knSfud d{kkxr fk{k.kesaIRI dk; Zdze i wj d dkdk; Zdj rk
gS\
Yes dqN : i es a No
3.
D; knhxbZfk{kd ekxZ nfkZdkmi ; ks xhgS\ Yes No

; fn ugha] rksD; ks a\
4.
D; kIRI dk; Zdze dhxfrfof/k; ks adkl apkyu fd; kx; k\
Yes No

; fn ugha] rksD; ks a\
5.
D; kvki usIRI dki zfk{k.kfy; kgS\
Yes No
6.
D; kvki IRI dk; Zdze es acrk; sx; sl k/kuks adki z; ksx dj rsgSa\
Yes No

; fn ugha] rksD; ks a\
7.
D; kNk=IRI dk; Zdze esafn; st kj gsfun
l gHkkfxrkfuHkkrsgS\
Yes dqN : i es a No
8.
D; kvki i zl kj .kmi j kar dj k; ht kusokyhxfrfof/k; ks adk
l apkyu dj rsgS\
Yes No
9.
D; kvki Nk=ksadksIRI dk; Zdze i j vk/kkfj r x`g dk; ZnsrsgSa\
Yes No
10.
D; kvki vi uhl kekU; d{kkes aIRI es ai z; qDr fof/k; ks adki z; ks x
dj rsgS\
Yes dqN : i es a No
11.
D; kvki dsvuqi fLFkfr esavU; fk{kd IRI dk; Zdze dkl apkyu
dj rsgSa\
Yes No
12.
D; kvki dksj sfM; ksi kBksadsi zHkkohl a pkyu gsrql eqnk; dhvks j
l sdks bZl g; ks x i zkIr gqvk\
Yes No

; fn gka] rksmYys[kdj sa&



56
13.
IRI dk; Zdze i j fopkj O; Dr dj sa&



14.
vU; l q>ko] ; fn dksbZgks&


IRI dk; Zdze dhekWfuVfjax NRrhl x<+jkT; &Nk=ksagsrqi zukoyh
pkj l sN%Nk=ks adsl ewg l sfuEuka fdr i zfrmRrj i zkIr dj sa

1. D; kvki j sfM; ksi kB l qursgS\ Yes No
2. D; kj sfM; ksi kBksadsnkSj ku fk{kd d{kkesami fLFkr Fks\ Yes No
3. D; kj sfM; ksi kB j kspd ; ket +s nkj gS a\ Yes No
4. j sfM; ksi kB dspfj =ksa; kdykdkj ks adsuke crkbZ ; s&

5 D; kj sfM; ksi kB es acrkbZxbZxfrfof/k; ks adkl apkyu fd; kx; k\ Yes No
6. D; kvki fl ; ku ; krqyl h}kj kfn; sx; sfunsZkks adsvuql kj
xfrfof/k; ks aes aHkkx ysrsgSa\
Yes No
7. j sfM; ksi kB l ekIr gks usdsckn vki xfrfof/kdkst kj hj [krsgSa\ Yes No
8. D; kvki j sfM; ksi kB es acrk; sx; sl q>koks adksvi ukrsgS\ Yes No
9. D; kvki fl ; ku vkSj rqyl h}kj keaxkbZxbZl kexzhysdj vkrsgS\ Yes No
10. D; kvki dsekrkfi rk@vfHkHkkod j sfM; ksi kBksadksl qursgSa\ Yes No
11. vki j sfM; ksi kBksadksD; ks ai l an dj rsgS\




IRI dk; Zdze dhekWfuVfjax NRrhl x<+jkT; &' kkykfodkl l fefr@t u Hkkxhnkjhl fefr ds
l nL; ksagsrqi z' ukoyh
nks; knksl svf/kd l nL; ks al sfuEuka fdr i zfrmRrj i zkIr dj sa
mRrjnkrkdkuke &

1. D; kvki i j Li j j sfM; ksl a okn dk; Zdze dsckj ses at kursgSa\ Yes No
2. D; kvki usbu j sfM; ksdk; Zdzeksadksl qukgS\ Yes No
3. ; fn gka ] rksD; k; g j sfM; ksi kB : fpdj gS\ Yes No
4 D; kvki dsxka o dh' kkykdkj sfM; ksl s V pkywgkyr esagS\ Yes No
5. ; fn ugha] rksD; kvki usdks bZvU; oSdfYi d O; oLFkkcukbZgS\
6. f' k{kdks adsvHkko esa' kkykfodkl l fefr@t u Hkkxhnkj hl fefr us' kkykesaD; k


57
i q[rk@oSdfYi d O; oLFkkdhgS\


7. D; kvki dhl fefr dhcS Bd esaj sfM; ksdk; Zdze i j ppkZdh
t krhgS\
Yes No
8. D; kl fefr usj sfM; ksdk; Z dze es ai z; qDr l k/kuksadhi zkfIr esa
vi ukl g; ks x fn; kgS\
Yes No
9. ; fn gka ] rksfdl : i es a&









58
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS
IRI has helped improve educational quality in both remote
and urban areas of Chhattisgarh for teaching English as a second
language; students scored higher percentage on a standardized test
than students in conventional classes and conventional method of
teaching.
The English Is Fun series in Chhattisgarh has taken IRI to
primary schools in many disadvantaged scheduled tribes of various
districts. Findings from independent evaluations show that the
greatest learning gain differentials were demonstrated in rural
schools where infrastructural resources such as buildings,
instructional materials, and skilled or even unskilled teachers were
historically weakest.
Closer examination of some of these findings reveals even
stronger evidence for learning gains attributable to IRI. Students
have shown progressively greater increases in achievement over
time. The teachers of Abhanpur, for example, discovered that the
improved performance of Chhattisgarh students correlates to the
number of programs received. The achievement of students who
received fewer than 30 English Is Fun lessons improved 7 percent;
for those who received between thirty-four and sixty-six lessons,
achievement improved by 13 percent; and for students who
received more than seventy programs, achievement improved by
24 percent.
- Teachers professional development
Frequent visits to the schools provide numerous indications
that IRI offers significant professional development possibilities for
teachers, too. In Abhanpur, Radio English teachers appreciate the
opportunity to learn science along with their students because it
has been handled in a way that does not embarrass them in front of
their colleagues and students. In Abhanpur block, English Is Fun
teachers are being offered many new strategies for effective
language teaching and are finding a range of benefits.
Even without such support structures, IRI can influence
teachers in many other positive ways. In an IRI lesson, the
classroom teacher shares authority with the radio teacher who


59
executes the lesson. Both teachers guide and facilitate instruction,
but neither dominates. By artfully modelling behaviours and
attitudes for the classroom teacher, the radio characters offer
teachers a means of discovering new ideas and teaching methods.
For example, to help teachers apply constructivist learning theory, a
model radio teacher can demonstrate enthusiasm for students
diverse solutions to the English phonetics problem. The radio
teacher can also admit an error or lack of information in a
broadcast and promise answers during the next broadcast. For
example, if a radio English teaching experiment does not work
according to the plan, the radio instructor might say, I wonder
why. Lets test this a few more times off-air and get back with you
during the next broadcast. Hearing such an apology, the
classroom teacher, who otherwise might be so intimidated by the
prospect of emulating the radio teachers skills (or of admitting that
a lesson did not unfold entirely as planned), may be encouraged to
continue working and learning from the program.
- Adult learners
Primary school students and teachers are not IRIs only
audience. In villages of Gurur and Abhanpur blocks, adults do listen
to this radio lessons and have improved their learning. It is also
significant that at all levels, Basic Education for All students showed
lower attrition rates than did students in traditional classrooms.
Increased retention and the closing of gender gaps are two
indicators of the positive impact of IRI at the systemic level.
- IMPACT OF IRI
IRI summative evaluations of early childhood development
programs in Chhattisgarh done under the guidance of Dr.Mike
Royer of University of USA also show impressive results. In a
external study in Chhattisgarh, where the learning environment and
caregiver knowledge were compared in per- and post-testing, the
environment and caregiver post mean scores were an average 45
percent higher in the experimental groups than in the control
groups for both eastern and western regions.
In Chhattisgarh, a controlled study using the Abbreviated
Child Development Scale (an evaluation tool created by EDC
Bangalore that includes in-indicators of physical growth, care,
language, and cognition), found that IRI programs had an effect on
overall child development and not merely on education or
cognition, Moreover, the results showed that the effect of IRI upon


60
high-risk children is greater than it is on other children. The use of
IRI over four months decreased the number of children who fell into
the high-risk category by 7 percent.
- GENERAL REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
IRI is frequently regarded as a vehicle for improving the
quality of educational inputs, however, perhaps IRIs greatest
strength lies in its effects on systemic problems such as equity,
access, internal efficiency, and cost effectiveness. There is
considerable evidence showing that IRI can help address all these
conditions.
1. Equity - One of the most common and intractable problems in
some countries is the disparity between the performance levels of
rural and urban students, Because IRI promotes greater
standardization of quality via solid instructional design and broad
low-cost dissemination, it is well suited to help address such
problems. IRI has also narrowed gender gaps. As in the case cited
above from different schools of Chhattisgarh, girls performance has
matched or exceeded that of boys in Chhattisgarhs Radio
Instruction Programme as English Is Fun.
2. Access - IRI has successfully brought educational opportunities
to learners who might otherwise have had few or none. Since 2003,
the IRI project in India has helped isolated rural children with no
access to formal schools achieve scores in mathematics, science
and language tests that are equal to or greater than those of
children in government schools.
3. Internal efficiency - One indicator of an educational systems
internal efficiency is the average number of years it takes for a
learner to complete the education cycle. To make the system more
efficient, educations system planners need to be concerned about
getting children to attend school, promoting them on time, and
graduating them out. If IRI can help retain learners in schools, it
will contribute to increased systemic efficiency. Chhattisgarhs
Education for All project better known as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA) showed that IRI can reduce attrition among community
learners too. There are strong indications that IRI is doing this at
the primary school level as well.
The implication of these and similar observations is that IRI
students are more motivated to come to school and that attendance
is more consistent. Studies show that when children come to school


61
and participate in IRI programs, they consistently perform at higher
levels than their peers in conventional classes. They are thus more
likely to succeed in their course work and move more smoothly
through the educational system.
Finally, it is well known that competence in a widely spoken
international language such as English, Spanish, or French can be
critical to students remaining in school and achieving academic
success. As IRI has been utilized very effectively for foreign
language instruction, it may offer an excellent means of increasing
student retention and assisting their long-term academic
achievement.
4. Cost effectiveness - IRI projects can follow a number of paths;
thus their costs may very widely. For example, in market-oriented
environments where there is more competitive pressure from
commercial publishers, some projects can produce their print
materials with four-color illustrations. Where there are concerns to
optimize teacher development, projects have instituted modular
systems of professional support. The various possible levels of such
support for teachers in such projects have varying costs at different
implementation scales.
While actual costs vary, cost effectiveness studies comparing
various types of interventions (IRI vs. textbooks vs. IRI and
textbooks together) to effect-size measurements have revealed that
IRI is a comparatively affordable solution. In fact, IRI can be much
less expensive than other options while producing greater effect
sizes. Moreover, when IRI projects go to scale, the economic
advantages can be substantial. With large audiences it costs little to
add another radio student.
It may be noted that there is a very useful teachers guide
(Shikshak Margadarshika) on Teaching English through radio
prepared and distributed to primary school teachers across the
state of Chhattisgarh that provides hand-on information and
assistance to IRI teachers. It also denoted difficult areas in three
major portions as Objective of Lessons, Pre-broadcast preparations
and activities, activities and guidance along with instructions during
the broadcast and finally the post-broadcast activities and
instructions. Teachers feel happy about the guide provided that
certainly helps them out in pouring out better through radio
teaching. The book also contains first hand knowledge on IRI and
its related aspects and areas to render best of execution in the
class-room.


62
TEACHER'S WORKBOOK: LESSON 3
Lesson Objectives
Teaching Aids
Before the Broadcast
During the Broadcast
After Broadcast
Vocabulary
Today, students will learn
to:
Greet each other with
Good morning How are
you?
Introduce themselves using
My name is and What is
your name?
Leannew vocabulary words
for animals and actions
Count numbers 1 through 5
(see
Vocab section below)
Teachers workbook
To prepare the children for the radio lesson you can:
yesterday's activities by:

Review the main characters Tulsi, Siyan, Raju and Chanda with
the students.
Remind the students that they should pay attention to the radio
characters and their instructions
Ensure that you have some teaching aids to show the children
the different animals
a)Wishing the class 'good morning' and asking them 'how are
you'.
b) Asking 2-3 students What's your name and helping them
answer My name is
Asking the class to stand up and sit down
Review
You will be asked to assist in the
following:

Drill activity where the radio gives

directions to start with one child and
then repeat the activity with each child
in the class
Songs Good Morning, My name is,
Stand up/Sit down, Numbers, Goodbye
Vocabulary: Explain to students in
mother tongue as per cues in segment
for sound words
Count, sing and do the actions along
with the children

You will review the lesson by:

Asking girls and then boys to count from 1-5
Singing the Good Morning song with the students
Asking the students which activity they liked best, and then
doing the activity with them

You will need to explain the following words in local language:

Good morning How are you How do you do My name is What's your name
Stand up Sit down Goodbye dog bird cat goat cock.

A book view of Shikshak Margadarshika for IRI English programme


63
- Key Suggestions on IRI
Teachers across the state teaching in primary schools should be
given a proper training and information on handling an IRI class.
Also they should be made acquainted with the process and
aspects of IRI class to enhance their knowledge as well as of
their students.
The state office of RGSM Chhattisgarh should also issue a
circular or guidelines for the next academic year before the
initiation of Radio programme to each school focusing the radio
programmes timings and giving clear orders for its proper
execution.
It is seen that IRI programmes are much more popular in rural
regions across the state, and there is a lack of interest seen
among the teachers of urban regions towards this programme.
Thus some effective measures need to be taken to tackle this
issue.
The training planned in the regard of IRI programme should be
done at the cluster or block level so that actual things and
information is passed on to field among actual executors.
The State office either of EDC or even of RGSM Chhattisgarh
should take some effective measures to promote the teachers
and block officials who really strive hard to bring something
positive out of this IRI programmes and do some special tasks.
This promotion may not be in terms of finance but may be of
moral boost/ support to them so that much better results are
obtained.
A close review of the whole programme implementation/
execution should be done through some external agencies to
know the actual results from the fields and schools. Like wise a
wider pre-test and a post-test should be made on the actual gain
& learning of the students on IRI, as it was adopted for this
research paper of mine.



64
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Education and Technology Technical Notes Series, Vol 4, Number
1-1999.
2. Institutionalizing Radio Science in Papua New Guinea: A
Response to Teacher Demand for Interactive Radio Instruction-
Learntech Case study series No.2, By Michael Olsson, April 1994,
Washington DC.
3. Writing for Interactive Radio Instruction by Michael Laflin, June
1994, LarnTech publishers, Washington DC.
4. Happy Leaning A guide to best practices for achieving the
potential of children, UNICEF 2003.
5. Audience Research Report for Chhattisgarh IRI programme
EDC Bangalore 2004.
6. Paraspar Radio Samvaad Karyakram, Shikshak Margdarshika,
Chhattisgarh Government, Box printers Bhopal 2005.
7. Report on dot-EDU India Project for Chhattisgarh 2005, By
Dr.James Mike Royer- Washington DC.
8. Paraspar Radio Samvaad Karyakram, Gunvatta Sudhar
Prashikshan Pustika, EDC Chhattisgarh/ Jharkhand 2005.

______________________________________________


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Vijay Kumar Ratre, Mumbai-400049
For feedback: vijayratre@outlook.com, ratrevijay@gmail.com