RIVER offers two types of training services to Agencies: capacity building and resource support. Capacity building requires intensive work for about two years with teachers and writers of the concerned Agency. Resource support is conducted in a series of workshops and depends on the Agency's needs.

Historical View of Capacity-Building Programmes

Andhra Pradesh

Integrated Tribal Development Agency: A kit consisting of specially created teaching and learning materials titled 'Anandalahari' is being used in 1900 Schools of 11 mandals in ITDA Paderu and in 300 schools of ITDA Rampachodavaram.

Child Labour Project: DPEP AP is planning a program in 800 transitional or bridging schools spread over 34 mandals in 15 districts of AP, under a special initiative for prevention of child labour.

NGO Programmes: Bhagavathula Charitable Trust and Villages In Partnership both NGOs have been implementing the methodology for a long time in their educational programmes in Vishakapatnam and Mahabubnagar districts respectively. Hanumantharaya Society, Rural Development Trust and Grama Vikasa Samastha are supplementing their formal school programmes with Rishi Valley material and methodology in their respective project areas.

Karnataka

H.D. Kote: The Program initiated by RIVER in 1995 has been carried forward by the teachers of H.D. Kote and is being implemented in Classes I, II, & III in 300 schools. The program is currently being upscaled to 1000 schools in 6 taluks of Mysore District.

Multi-Grade Programme: The DSERT has taken up Teacher Development in the multi-grade context in two complete blocks - Sira and Holenarsipura covering 600 elementary schools and one cluster each in the remaining eight blocks (200 elementary schools) and 1 taluk of 4 DPEP Districts of Karnataka. After being introduced to the multi-grade teaching/learning materials and methodology, teachers of the above blocks developed local materials. This program is sponsored under the Joint GOI-UN System Education Program.

Kerala

RIVER & DPEP Kerala collaborated for implementing the methodology in 30 pilot schools in 3 districts of Mallapuram, Kasargode and Wayanad.

Uttar Pradesh

In collaboration with UP DPEP, RIVER is involved in the development of teaching and learning materials, teacher training and support for implementing the multi-grade methodology, in 60 alternative schools in 2 Districts of U.P.

Resource Support Programmes

Assam

DPEP educational Consultants and DIET faculty from a few districts have been working with RIVER consistently for strengthening their multi-grade school pilot project in 2 districts. Three teams have already visited Rishi Valley in this connection.

Maharashtra

Teachers and trainers of the districts of Chandrapur, Yavathmal and Amaravathi have initiated a school-strengthening program sponsored by UNICEF. As part of this program they attended a workshop to study the 'Joyful Learning Elements' of the Rishi Valley methodology. Subsequently, a second workshop was organized for the political members of the Zilla Parishads of the above districts in order to address their reservations that had often been evinced in the early stages of the implementation of this methodology.

Pondicherry

Auroville Action Group: The village action group of Sri Aurobindo International Institute at Pondicherry has been interacting with RIVER for the last 2 years in developing teaching-learning materials in Tamil. Teacher training and field support is also being offered to them for the implementation of the multi-grade methodology in the village schools of Isaiambalam.

Tamil Nadu

DPEP, Tamil Nadu: The Multi-Grade Task Force of Tamil Nadu is trying out the methodology in 1000 pilot schools across the state. Induction courses were conducted for the Task Force members and selected teachers from 5 districts of Tamil Nadu. As part of his initiative, around 750 metric melas were organized in the pilot project area.

North Arcot Education Project: The North Arcot Ambedkar district administration, faced with the task of having to induce children to attend school in order to wean the parents away from the practice of sending them to work in 'beedi mundies', has opted for the RIVER approach as a viable alternative for their 47 NFE Centres. Volunteers of the Arivoli Iyyakkam have created, in collaboration with the RIVER faculty, a Tamil version of the multi-grade materials during designers workshops conducted at Rishi Valley. On seeing the success of this new methodology, not only in the NFE centres but also in nine regular primary schools where it was introduced on an experimental basis, the State Education Secretariat is seriously planning to scale up this methodology to all the primary schools of the district.

Collaboration with Ethiopia

A collaborative Rural Education Project modeled on the RIVER approach is being initiated in the Western Wollega Bethel Synod of Ethiopia to educate 521 children and bring them to a level of permanent literacy.

Each of the above programmes has thrown up a variety of innovations to the basic methodology as each programme has adapted the basic elements of the methodology to suit their local/particular needs. The leaders of these innovative processes have been very often the teachers themselves, along teacher trainers and academic resource persons. The work initiated in these programmes has helped RIVER enrich its own programmes and to evolve constantly finding solutions for difficult situations as well as to introduce and cross-fertilize ideas among various programmes.

Quality Improvement Programme with UNICEF

A UNICEF-sponsored programme Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) for 6 states in India is currently under way. The programme will result in the setting up of one thousand schools one district in each of these states.