Vandita Sharma

Country Director

International Education Systems Division (IES)

Vandita Sharma, based in EDC’s office in Bangalore, India, is dedicated to improving the education of millions of children living in the remote areas of her country. Currently on leave from the Indian Administrative Service, Sharma, along with EDC colleagues and local educators, creates lessons in mathematics, English, general science, and social studies, which will be delivered to schools in rural areas via locally based video and radio programs. Each program is developed in the local language and uses local songs, games, and customs that are familiar to the students and teachers. The content is also carefully constructed so that it can be used in classrooms that lack even basic materials. Once the programs have been pilot-tested, Sharma and her colleagues will begin an extensive series of teacher trainings.

How did you come to work for EDC?

I work for the civil services in India and I am currently on leave so that I can work on this project. I had been the project director of the District Primary Education Program in [the state of] Karnataka when I met [EDC’s] Nadia [Karim-Shaw]. She had come to India to start up the new program. After working with Nadia for some time, EDC suggested I come to work on the project. So I asked the government to give me permission to join a non-governmental organization. I was convinced that this program would enhance the learning gains among the children as well as help teachers polish their pedagogical techniques.

How do the Indian civil services work?

It’s a very well-laid-out system. After graduation, any citizen of the country can appear for an examination for the civil services. It’s a three-tier exam that takes a full year to complete. Out of a million people who apply, only about a hundred are selected. After we join the civil services, we are trained for two years and then we start working in various departments, mostly focusing on policymaking and appropriate execution of the policies. In addition to the education department, I have also worked in tourism, civil aviation, and housing.

How does your work with the Indian government differ from your work with EDC?

In the government, we work on several projects at once. I feel like we are always “firefighting.” Here, I have more time to concentrate on this project—and that’s very satisfying! Working with the government involves a lot of politics and diplomacy. On this project, everything gets determined by only one factor—the project focus and its implementation.

In your work with EDC, you are writing radio lessons that will be used in rural schools in India. Describe the lessons.

Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) is almost like having a two-way conversation. [The narrator leaves spaces for the children to respond.] The children get involved in the activities delivered through the radio and the teacher acts as the facilitator for those activities. Children explore on their own; they ask questions and answer questions, and that process ignites children’s natural curiosity. Their confidence level goes up. That’s what we want. It’s a new method for India; I think it will go a long way toward improving the educational system in our state.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Creating the programs is a big challenge. We have to make programs with whatever material is available in the classrooms. Most of these schools don’t have anything except what the child brings—maybe a pencil and a couple of books. There is no colored chalk or crayons. Sometimes the teachers don’t even attend regularly. We hope this project will reach both children and teachers and make them interested in what we call “the joy of learning.” I can also see the possibility of some resistance from the teaching community as another challenge. In most of these areas, the teacher is the boss, giving lectures to children, who tend to get bored. But IRI helps change teaching methodologies without threatening teachers’ egos. IRI lessons show the teacher how to involve children, how to encourage them to ask their own questions and find their own answers—and to explore.

Have you had any surprises?

The overall teaching quality in some of our pilot areas is not up to the mark, to be frank about it. But we invited a few teachers from these areas to work with us on the programs because they know the local situation. I was not expecting very good results, but some of these teachers have come up with such wonderful ideas. They’ve created some great scripts and master plans.

Why are you hopeful about the program?

I’m quite hopeful. First, Indian radio coverage is excellent; it reaches the entire country. And children and teachers are very familiar and comfortable with the radio. Second, they are quite open to the idea of initiating changes in the teaching system. There have been a lot of education experiments in recent years, so people are quite receptive to new methods. It will be more difficult in the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand than in Karnataka, because there have been fewer educational reforms in these areas, but there is a lot of potential and eagerness to learn and to adopt newer techniques everywhere. Our initial pilot tests are encouraging.

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"IRI lessons show the teacher how to involve children, how to encourage them to ask their own questions and find their own answers—and to explore."