Balaparivara

Samskrita Balaparivara Model

This innovative programme for teaching Sanskrit to pre-primary and primary grade level children through a variety of fun games and activities, verses of practical wisdom, rhyming songs, simple and inspiring stories, conversation, shlokas, arts, hymns and various other creative activities, is run via an equally innovative delivery model.

Children's Sanskrit Centers

• Teaching-learning happens at specially organised Children's Sanskrit Centers, which are managed and run by specially trained teachers.
• Each Center is managed entirely by one specially trained teacher.
• These Centers may be organised at a neighbourhood school, teacher's home, or any other appropriate place to be identified by the teacher.
• Students of pre-primary group (ages 4-6; grades Nursery to First) and primary group (ages 7-10; grades Second to Fifth) are recruited and enrolled in separate batches. Maximum number of students per batch: 35. (New batches will be created for any additional students).
• Each Center offers two 8-month-long courses - one for pre-primary batch and the other for primary batch. The course is divided into 2 semesters - January to April and July to October.
• Separate 2-hour-long classes are held for each batch; each batch attends only one 2-hour-long class per week. Before the beginning of the semester, the Center Teacher-admin coordinates with the affiliated school (or a representative of the children's parents as the case may be) to decide on a mutually convenient day and time for the classes. Classes may also be held on the weekends and/or in the late afternoons or evenings.
• For two batches of students (1 for pre-primary and 1 for primary), each Center thus conducts 4 hours of teaching sessions per week.
• The Center Teacher-admin is responsible for recruiting and enrolling students for the Center, as well as conducting the weekly classes for the student batches.
• The Center Teacher-admin is given adequate training by the Parishad.
• In addition to propagation of Sanskrit, this programme also aims at the overall development of the teachers running and organising these Centers, and equipping them with additional skills such as entrepreneurship abilities and digital literacy.

Teacher Training

Interested individuals with some prior exposure to Sanskrit will be eligible to apply for consideration. Applicants may already be engaged in teaching work or may aspire to become self-employed in education related professions.
The key criteria for identifying the right teachers for starting Children's Sanskrit Centers are:

• Keen interest in working with pre-primary and primary level children.
• Respect for Sanskrit as a language of India's soul.
• Respect for Sanskrit as a language for empowerment and inner growth.
• Openness to learning and teaching Sanskrit via a holistic approach.
• Ability to take initiative and willingness to collaborate with others.
• Readiness to coordinate with schools and parents in starting Children's Sanskrit corners.
• Willingness to complete the required training sessions offered by the Parishad.

Selected teacher-admins interested in organising and conducting Children's Sanskrit Centers are trained by a Parishad Coordinator.
There are two mandatory levels of training and one optional.

1. Basic Training - Mandatory

The basic training is scheduled individually or in small groups for 2-3 days or spread over 7-10 days depending on the mutually decided schedule. This is the minimum training necessary before organising any new Center.
Parishad's basic training covers many aspects:

• Innovative ways of teaching Sanskrit developed by the Parishad over the years
• Skills for networking with local schools and other educational institutions
• Skills for presenting the programme to the teachers, school administrators and parents
• Procedure to enroll interested students for the weekend Children's Sanskrit Centers

2. Extended Training - Mandatory

• This training requires the Teacher-admin to attend two Sanskrit Workshops organised by the Parishad.
• Teacher-admins must attend and complete these workshops within the first year of their starting the Center.

Digital Literacy Training - Optional but Recommended

Parishad has a Digital Literacy Program for Sanskrit and other Indian language teachers.
Parishad covers following aspects:

• Exposure to and training in various digital platforms
• Training to conduct effective online research as well as verify the reliability and credibility of the retrieved information
• Word processing training in Devanagari and other Indian language scripts

Digital literacy programme serves two key purposes:

• It facilitates the use of innovative and creative ways of teaching Sanskrit,
• It enhances the teacher's overall competency and equip them with an important skill set which can also be an additional source of income.

Fees and Registration

Fees for training and other resources provided by parishad

• The Basic Training is free of cost for the Teacher-admins.
• The Extended Training involves the regular Workshop Fees which are to be paid at the time of registration for the workshop.
• The curriculum and other teaching-learning resources prepared by the Parishad are given free of cost to the Teacher-admin for the first year.
• From second year onwards, the Teacher-admin is required to pay a fixed fee to the Parishad for the use of curricular materials and other educational resources.
• There is a fixed fee for the Digital Literacy programme which the teacher-admins are required to pay before the start of the programme.

Other support provided by parishad

• Parishad Coordinator provides help and guidance for the initial setting up of the Center as necessary.
• The Coordinator also gives guidance on coordinating and networking with the parents, teachers, school administration as required.
• The Coordinator also helps with the initial lesson planning and delivery methods as necessary and may supervise the new Teacher-admin for a few weeks if needed.

Tuition and other fees for the children

• Parishad is looking to create a market value for Sanskrit, hence a small fee is charged from each learner. Our prior work and research have shown that when a language, especially one such as Sanskrit, is given free of cost there is a strong tendency to disregard the language and not appreciate its inherent value.
• Each Children's Sanskrit Center under the Bālaparivāra programme runs on a revenue-sharing basis. The revenue generated is shared between the Teacher-admin and the Parishad, thus facilitating self-empowerment of the Teacher-admin who has an incentive to recruit more students for his/her Center.
• Each child enrolled at the Center pays Rs. 1000 per semester as the enrollment fee. This is to be paid before or on the first day of each semester. The total enrollment fee for the full 8-month course is thus Rs. 2000, to be paid in two instalments. Alternatively, it may be paid in full at the start of the first semester depending on the parental preference.
• Each child pays a monthly tuition of Rs. 500 which covers FOUR 2-hour-long sessions. This is to be paid at the start of each month. Alternatively, full tuition of Rs. 2000 per semester (four months) may be paid at the start of the semester
• For the full 8-month course, the total tuition fee is thus Rs. 4000. This may be paid either monthly, or in two semester-wise instalments of Rs.2000 each. Alternatively, the entire fee of Rs. 6000 (which includes enrollment fee of Rs.2000 and tuition fee of Rs.4000) or entirely as one payment at the start of the first semester.
• Out of the total fees collected per Center, the Teacher-admin receives 60% share, and 40% goes to the Parishad.. The teacher-admins thus have an incentive to recruit more students and/or start more badges for the Center.