As chirruping birds herald a new morning, Gayatri prepares for her day. After a quick meal, she sets off in the village, gathering the children who have not yet started out for school. No one escapes her hawk-eye. She lugs a weeping Standard I student on her hip, with three reluctant kids following her. Outside the school the rest of the children are waiting. They gather around her as she takes the roll-call in her diary. As masterji begins the class, Gayatri records the attendance. Everything is documented.

Gayatri assists masterji as he instructs the class. She may also take a class aside to get them to practice their writing or to teach them a new song. All the while, she keeps an eye on the children and on masterji, who uses his cane to point out objects on the board. He dare not raise it against a child; the last time he did so, Gayatri threatened to report him to the Block Education Officer. There is a change in masterji's attitude, which has resulted in children attending school more regularly.

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Kesla is situated 18 km from Itarsi. The population of this block, numbering around 100,000, consists of closely-knit scheduled tribes, living in dire poverty. Over 40 per cent of the people in the district are illiterate. Government health services are practically non-existent here. Malaria and tuberculosis are rampant; official apathy and exploitation have made the lives of the people in the area miserable; women are sexually exploited.

Primary schools in Kesla block are like those found in most backward areas in India. A typical school has two classrooms, with a leaking roof, broken windows and a pitted concrete floor. An old, fading blackboard completes the bleak picture. But the sorry state of the infrastructure is just half the problem. The more important part is the complete disinterest of the teachers and educational authorities towards their job of imparting education. The result: one teacher, appointed to a small school, who is absent most of the time and appears only to maintain an occasional record or berate the children for being illiterate and of course, to collect the salary. The lack of accountability ensures that the teacher is never evaluated. He is secure in the knowledge of being permanently employed till the age of 58. It would not occur to a poor illiterate tribal parent to question the authority of the government school teacher, usually a feared and respected figure.

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Improving the quality of education available to a majority of the Indian children, especially those belonging to disadvantaged communities, is vital, if elementary education is to be made universal in India. The Sir Ratan Tata Trust is of the view that 'quality education' essentially means making elementary education accessible, enjoyable and meaningful for every child. The challenge is to make the institution of schooling sensitive to the developmental needs of children and firmly connected with the local community.

Sahmet has been working in Madhya Pradesh since 1992. Initially, its efforts were directed at re-introducing organic farming to the small and marginalised farmers in the region. Many other political and non-profit organisations have also been active in Hoshangabad district for decades. While networking with these organisations, Sahmet felt that its focus on making the tribesmen conscious of the political process - so as to empower them to seek the redress of their grievances through the ballot box (among other tools of a democratic society) - was not having any impact on their daily lives. It was felt that they could become part of mainstream society only by acquiring education and gaining total control of their own lives.

Sahmet's programme has hence focused on giving the tribal child an opportunity to get good quality education. But projects like this require a lot of financial muscle to be successful. Enter the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. The Trust gives a number of grants in school-building education. The objective of these is five-fold. First, it promotes innovation in training and capacity-building of teachers. Second, it develops and disseminates appropriate curriculums. Third, the Trust sponsors pedagogic innovation for science, environment, language and art. Fourth, it seeks to improve access and quality of education with a special focus on tribal children in rural areas and among the urban poor. Finally, it increases community participation for improving the quality and functioning of government schools.

In 1997, Sahmet initiated its efforts to improve rural school education in 40 villages of Hoshangabad district, by involving the youth in educational activities, providing library services, and encouraging community interface and supplementary teaching. These initiatives have resulted in an increase in enrollment rates and a reduction in the number of drop-outs in government schools.

This project has been supported since its inception by the Trust, through three consecutive grants. The Sahmet project operates through local, mostly tribal, young people who are trained on the job and encouraged to think of themselves as agents of change in their own communities. Gayatri is one such. The front-line workers function as support teachers and librarians.

This is just one example of how innovative approaches adopted by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust have led to fruitful partnerships between the grantees and the beneficiaries of their work. Such projects mark a positive step towards making India a completely literate country.