Programs - D-PEP

Distance Primary English Program (D-PEP)

The Distance Primary English Program is custom designed to help with basic English literacy in infrastructure-enabled government schools that don’t have an English speaking volunteer pool in the vicinity. This program leverages distance learning technology to work with a well-defined, highly-participative process to help remotely located volunteers teach such that there is no dilution in the quality of teaching.

Program Duration

  • D-PEP is a 120-hour program, taught across four terms

Beneficiaries

  • Students in the 4th and 5th grade of government schools that have infrastructure-enabled for distance learning

Timeline

  • Each batch of about 35 students undergoes the 120-hour long D-PEP in a two year time-frame, taught across four terms

Structure

  • Each 1-hour session is taught by a remotely located volunteer and facilitated by a proctor located in the classroom

  • The sessions are fixed into the school time-table

TLM

  • The content of the course is carefully adapted for digital implementation

  • The volunteer’s screen is designed such that they see the course-work, detailed instructions on how to use it, and the view of the classroom without having to switch between multiple applications

  • Children are given colorful textbooks and engaging workbooks and learn through listening, speaking, writing, and role-play

Training

  • Volunteers need to be fluent in English, have access to a computer and the internet, and need to be able to commit the time to make a difference

  • Volunteers do not need to have prior teaching experience or know the local language of the children in order to teach. The remote volunteer will need to be able to communicate with the local proctor during the course of each session, possibly in the local language

  • Volunteers will undergo short training to help them understand the program’s methodologies, content, and teaching aids

Evaluation

  • ASER tests are conducted at the start and again upon completion of the program. These tests measure the impact of the program on reading and comprehension abilities

  • The children undergo tests at the end of every unit that act as a revision and reinforce concepts

  • Volunteers are able to track each child’s progress through the SUFI proprietary app

Content and curriculum

  • Phonic words 

  • Common sight words in the anchoring poem or story

  • Reading the poem/story

  • Vocabulary in the poem/story

  • Common verbs(action words)

  • Key Q&A constructs

  • Participatory games to practice key Q&A constructs

  • Answering questions about the anchoring poem/story/picture/play

  • Recitation of chants/poems

  • Spelling-out phonic words

  • Writing answers about poem/story/key Q&A constructs, or themselves

  • Written unit tests

Sample course material

Images

Video