Evaluation of Udhyam Shiksha Program in ITIs of Maharashtra
Udhyam Learning Foundation, in association with the Directorate of Vocational Education and Training (DVET), as a part of Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS), has introduced Udhyam Shiksha Program. It is a new-age educational program focused on developing and delivering an Entrepreneurial Mindset Curriculum (EMC) in 150 Industrial Training Institute (ITIs) across Maharashtra. The EMC encourages students to think like an entrepreneur, understand & reflect on entrepreneurial capabilities, and apply these to their approach to employability in the current job market.
Sambodhi’s objective in operationalizing the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) exercise was to assess all programmatic facets – curriculum design, capacitation of teachers/mentors, stakeholder partnerships, and existing MEL architecture. The evaluation exercise relied upon a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach, utilizing quantitative findings from periodic psychometric assessments to inform qualitative data gathered through interviews and classroom observational checklists.
Furthermore, the study deployed an ex-post impact assessment with a section of students across treatment and control groups to measure the long-term impact accurately. The emergent findings effectively validated the progress made by Udhyam Shiksha towards meeting envisaged outcomes. More importantly, the evidence garnered through the evaluative process concurrently highlighted what strategies and approaches worked well in this context. These insights were essential for crafting feed-forward strategic directions for the program.
Sambodhi provided the following services within the assignment –
- Developing a Theory of Change (ToC) and Results Framework
- Stakeholder and process-making exercises
- Designing a methodological framework for summative evaluation (baseline and endline) through psychometric testing, In-depth Interviews, and self-help groups
- Periodic process evaluation through observational exercises conducted in ITIs
- Data collection, analysis and reporting
- Ex-Post assessment to determine longitudinal program impact