A SPARK OF HOPE

Lighting the path for students to walk with confidence, aspiration and kindness

By Karen Marwein

Tengrak is no ordinary young man. True to his name (which translates to “strong light” in Garo), he is an ember of hope as a 12-year old, first-generation learner. A typical day for him starts as early as 5 a.m. because it’s either the first bus that leaves for town or a two-hour walk to school. Meghalaya is home to many a Tengrak, particularly in far-flung tribal pockets like Dadenggre of West Garo Hills – braving the odds as a generation that dares to dream new dreams.

Phila is a shy, young girl with dreams as real as her fears. Her soft voice does not hide her quiet will to prove herself and the world that she is more than just a small-town girl with borrowed dreams. For her, going to school every day means paving the way for a future that is shaped by her strength to never settle for just enough. Meghalaya is not found wanting of young aspirants like Phila, whose vision for success cannot be contained by the challenges of frameworks and systems.

Glowing embers like Tengrak and Phila are the inspiration behind SPARK, a Samagra Shiksha initiative of the State’s Education Department. An acronym for School Programmes in Articulation, Resilience and Kindness, SPARK is an effort to help level the playing field of success for our youth. While success holds different meanings to different people, its foundation is held by the constants of communication, aspiration and wellbeing. The curriculum is carefully curated to weave in skill nuggets for life readiness while also addressing grassroots gaps in educational frameworks. The strength of this curriculum is its versatility. As the modules are brought to life from paper to coaching experiences, the curriculum evolves into its best version from classroom to classroom, district to district, and from one iteration to the next.

A typical SPARK training intervention is carried out in 20 hours of training for students of standards VII through X in select campuses. The goal for each campus intervention is to build young people up towards thriving careers and leadership opportunities that stem from self-belief, aspiration and wholesome value systems.

Articulation

From confident introductions to listening skills and poised expression of ideas, the sessions focus on instilling clarity, interpersonal skills and basic public speaking skills.

Larihun Syiemlieh of Sibsingh Memorial Government Higher Secondary School, Nongstoin, West Khasi Hills, shares her SPARK experience, saying, “I have never had the courage to stand in front of people and speak or to even share my thoughts with others. Our Trainer has taught us steps and practices like the use of body language and eye contact to express clearly and speak confidently”.

Resilience

From learning to ask questions, to breaking down an idea, and using problem-solving techniques in decision making, the modules focus on nurturing curious and resilient mindsets.

Tejimbe R Marak of Rongrenggiri Government Higher Secondary School, Williamnagar, East Garo Hills, opens up about her favourite lessons – “The STEM activities and projects have taught us to think of different solutions to a problem, to use available tools for measurements and calculations, and to not give up till we find a solution that works best.”

Kindness

From recognising personal strengths to practising shared values, the modules focus on nurturing kindness as an approach towards building consensus and human agency.

Nisha Dkhar of Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Jowai, West Jaintia Hills, says, “SPARK has helped me understand the importance of self-discipline and that it is built on the practice of values such as kindness, gratitude and respect. It has also taught me what it means to be responsible for my choices and actions”.

The beginnings of SPARK can be traced to the desk of Swapnil Tembe, IAS, Director of School Education & Literacy and State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha, Government of Meghalaya. Shedding light on the purpose behind the initiative, he says, “The fundamental purpose of all our initiatives is to empower young people to achieve their dreams. To score 90% in their subjects is one thing, but if they are not able to express, be resilient, and become good citizens, then the education system will have failed them. SPARK is our effort to weave in through education these fundamental skills that they will need in any path in life”.

It is no hidden fact that social menaces are on the rise in our state. Alcoholism, drug abuse, early marriages and teenage pregnancies are a threat to the future of our youth. Maximus Kujur, Headmaster, Bajengdoba RMSA Higher Secondary School, North Garo Hills, passionately shares his thoughts, “There is no one to teach them how to put their energy to good use – for the benefit of the society and in service of the nation. But since SPARK was introduced to our school, our students have started to change the way they look at their problems – from English to Math, Science and even their future. This change is happening because SPARK has come to the grassroots level, to understand what issues affect our youth and to provide them with the confidence and clarity they need to look ahead”.

These voices bear an interesting revelation about SPARK. True to its name, it carries a light of its own. It is not just policies and operations; it is an organism – ever evolving to keep the embers burning, igniting clarity of thought, speech, emotions and action.

On October 25, 2024, SPARK concluded its first year of implementation having impacted more than 5,000 students in 25 government and government-aided schools across the state. As the programme implementing agency, Meghalaya-based social enterprise AVENUES was responsible for designing and developing the curriculum and whose team of trainers and field officers have been facilitating the on-ground interventions across the districts since March this year.

The programme impact was assessed using two methodologies – self-assessments by the students and observations by teachers during in-class demonstrations. These evaluations were recorded at the start and end of every ten-day workshop for each student in all campuses.

Key Outcomes

Teachers were deputed by the campus administration to gauge the students’ ability in applying programme lessons on key speaking and presentation skills, and rate them using a 5-point likert scale. The growth as observed by teachers in students whose scores moved up by 1 to 4 points on the scale showed 86% improvement in body language, 85% in interpersonal skills and 85% in public speaking skills.

The students’ self-assessments showed significant jumps in their scores from before and after the programme. The group average taken from a respondent base of 4,650 students showed 90.33% improvement in classroom participation, 83.76% increased interest in STEM, and 86.65% increased self-awareness of human values and values-led decisions.

A detailed report of key programme outcomes will be published in the weeks ahead to aid future iterations and provide policy inputs to stakeholders within the Department of Education. For now, the spark is lit, and so is hope.

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A student braving the stage at a campus felicitation programme in Mawkyrwat