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National Green Corps
through the Eyes of an Evaluator
Usha Srinivasan @ Manuja
Dubey
usrinivasan@devalt.org
The Programme
T he Ministry
of Environment and Forests (MoEF) initiated the programme in the year
2001 –
 2002
in various parts of the India for raising the ‘National Green Corps’,
through eco clubs in schools. As a part of this programme, Eco-clubs are
being set up in about 100-150 schools of each District of the country.
So far, about 47,000 Eco-clubs have been set up across the entire length
and breadth of the Nation. The main objectives of this programme are:
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1. |
To educate children
about their immediate environment; |
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2. |
To impart knowledge
about the eco-systems, their inter-dependence and their need for
survival, through visits and demonstrations; |
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3. |
To mobilise youngsters
by instilling in them the spirit of scientific inquiry into
environmental problems and; |
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4. |
To involve them in the
efforts of environmental preservation |
It is being implemented in each State/UT through Nodal agency appointed
by the State/UT Government, State Steering Committee, State Resource
Agency and District Implementation and Monitoring Committee (DIMC)
The
Evaluation
The present assignment is to
conduct the mid term evaluation of the aforesaid programme. Development
Alternatives has been assigned to conduct the exercise in the states of
Punjab, Rajasthan and Chattisgargh. The evaluation would help the MoEF
in identifying the targets reached, and impacts generated against the
set objectives of the programme in the two and a half years of its
implementation. After a systematic and comprehensive evaluation and
identification of the strengths and weaknesses, the resulting valuable
suggestions would go a long way to maximise and further enhance the
overall impacts of the programme. The study would also help the MoEF to
compare the present impacts with the set objectives which would in turn
help in identifying & addressing the gaps and adopting the best
practices.
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Rally by an eco-club,
Kota, Rajasthan |
Group discussion
with an eco-club, Kota, Rajasthan |
Evaluators
Role and Methodology
The evaluators visited
various states under evaluation, the identified districts and the
schools selected for the study for assessing the programme activities,
outreach and impact at all levels. While selecting the districts and
schools for evaluation, the entire focus was on equivalent socio-
economic and demographic coverage.
The
methodology adopted was:
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Initial Meetings
with the
State level agencies i.e. state nodal agency and state resource
agency. |
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District Selection
in the
states of Punjab, Rajasthan & Chattisgarh based on the information
from state nodal agency. |
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Preparation of
Questionnaire
for
discussion with agencies and persons involved at various stages. |
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Selection of
Schools
in each district under evaluation (six numbers) to include
government, private, aided, girls, boys, and co-education schools. |
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Visit to Districts under
Evaluation
for discussion
with (DIMC), School Principal, teacher - in – charge, eco - club
member students and with any other teacher of the school. |
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Evaluation and
Report Writing |
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Suggestions and
Recommend-ations for Effective Implementation |
Coordination
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There is a pressing need
for a National level agency which coordinates with the State
Nodal Agency, Resource Agency and the Ministry of Environment and
Forests. This agency would be directly responsible for communication
and reporting at all levels of functioning. |
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The roles and
responsibilities of various agencies should be well defined so that
they are complementary to each other and do not overlap. |
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The State nodal agency
can be either Bharat Scouts and Guides or the like in all states
which already have a strong network of schools, intensive outreach
and a foray of activities which can easily incorporate NGC
activities. |
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One person in DIMC
cannot look after 150 Eco-clubs in the district. A devoted team
should be responsible for programme coordination and implementation
at the district level. This would ensure continuous communication
with and guidance to the eco -clubs |
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An annual calendar of
activities should be prepared and distributed. |
Capacity
Building
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Suitable and permanent
master trainers need to be identified and trained by experts |
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All teachers in charge
need to be trained at least once a year. |
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The training should be
for duration of at least 3 days with hands on activities, field
trips and feed back sessions. |
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Training programmes
should be designed on the basis of need analysis |
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Trainings should also be
conducted for district and state level coordinators for proper
understanding of the programme and its functioning. |
Resource
Agency/ Material
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State Resource agency
should be a state based NGO. It will be aware of the local issues
and will have a strong presence in the state. It can assist the
State nodal agency and DIMC in developing/ selecting resource
materials, identifying master trainers, and in conducting trainings
for teacher in-charge. |
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The resource material
should be in the local language and well distributed amongst all eco
–clubs. |
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Financial Aspect |
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Eco clubs need more
funds (Rs.5000/- annually) for effective functioning. Besides this
efforts should be made by the school and DIMC to harness funds from
local corporate, Panchayats and other agencies. |
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It should be ensured
that the allocated funds reach all the member schools and on time in
the beginning of the year |
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Finances should be
allocated for providing incentives to Eco club teachers in charge
and for awards to students including caps and badges to the eco-club
members |
Conclusion
The concept
and outreach of the National Green Corps Programme is well laid out.
With the focused objective of bringing about attitudinal change in the
masses through children the program began favorably. But in the long
run, lack of coordination, feedback mechanism, and monitoring resulted
in the objectives being unmet. Lack of interest and enthusiasm for the
cause at all levels led to ineffective implementation. Thus a revamping
and rejuvenation of the programme requires systemic changes in the
functioning. Working in close liason at all levels with non- government
organisations having past experiences in managing and implementing such
programmes would surely yield desired impacts. q
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