June 28, 2009
Does 'Paraskilling' Hold a Key to Helping Poor Nations?
“Paraskilling,” the practice of breaking down skilled services such as education and health care into simplified tasks that can easily be completed by unskilled workers, may help charities and government organizations bring those services to needy people in developing countries, writes Adrienne Villani at the online publication Beyond Profit. But Ms. Villani wonders if something is lost when jobs like teaching are broken up in this fashion.
To Ms. Villani, who encountered paraskilling via a new report on serving emerging markets by the Monitor, consulting group, “I thought it a savior, that which we had all been waiting for. It could easily be applicable to health care, education, financial services.”
The Monitor report, she writes, spotlights the example of Gyan Shala, a charity in Ahmedabad, India, that provides elementary education to poor children. Its one-room schools are staffed by teachers from nearby neighborhoods who follow highly standardized lesson plans.
“Junior teachers, who teach for just three hours a day, deliver lessons out of highly structured workbooks,” writes Ms. Villani. Most parents pay the equivalent of 60 cents per month for their children’s tuition, with the rest subsidized by donors.
But while the benefits of making education affordable and accessible seem evident, Ms. Villani raises concerns. “I’m just not sure about the efficacy of giving students 20-minute lessons — each taught by a different teacher — multiple times a day,” she writes. “A strong rapport is just not built between student and teacher.”
She adds, “I also worry about the passion of these lower-skilled teachers. They are teaching to earn an income, not because of a passion for pedagogy. A child becomes passionate about something when a teacher is passionate.”
What do you think— is paraskilling an effective way for charities to deliver education and other services to people in developing countries? Click on the “comments” link below to share your thoughts.
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One needs to think pragmatically about priorities. First things first: if this is the only way to provide basic education to children, then all thoughts about teacher motivation and passion rank a definite second.
— Gabriele Bryant Jun 29, 02:44 AM #