Online training : Bringing learning to people.....

Online training : Bringing learning to people.....

Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission works for the empowerment of women through community based organizations. It is backed by National Rural Livelihoods Mission's robust ideology and methodology which ensures social and financial inclusion leading to sustainable livelihoods. World Bank's investment has added great value to this effort.
Capacity building is the mainstay of NRLM and special efforts are made to ensure that the community cadre and staff are trained appropriately.
The annual action plan prepared before the end of every financial year is the culmination of several rounds of discussion and is finally approved by the Empowered Committee under the Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. The states then undertake a series of workshops for actual implementation.
This year due to the Covid 19 pandemic holding workshops was not possible. On the one hand offices were closed and the staff was allowed to work from home but on the other hand agricultural operations were to be continued in the villages.
The communities were facing extreme hardships with no place to sell their goods as local mandis were closed, markets shut and animal husbandry crashing. Combating these problems and preparing for the ensuing Kharif season was vital.
Most of the livelihood activities undertaken by MSRLM is related to agriculture and animal husbandry. They form an integral part of the annual action plan. 

Communicating the approved plan to the members of the SHGs and community cadre who are essentially agriculturist was extremely important and online training came to our rescue. In this we were supported by Parth Knowledge Network Ltd, a technology company which has been authorized by Government of Maharashtra to provide broadcasting services.
What we wanted was not a broadcasting platform alone but an interactive medium like Google Duo Meeting which could be used by the presenters and the participants and integrated with the broadcasting platform. Once that was combined it was easy to plan the sessions.
The objective of the online workshop was to orient the mission staff and cadre about AAP-2020-21 priorities and key activities proposed to be taken under different thematic components and guide them. So there were sessions on capacity building, farm and non-farm livelihoods, convergence, DDUGKY-skilling. One session was specially held for Cluster Level Federation Managers on their roles and responsibilities.
When it comes to online teaching and learning the content is most important. If the content is not designed masterfully all efforts could be wasted. A lot of attention was paid to the training modules to make them interesting. It was also important to ensure that the trainees were not distracted but remained engrossed in the sessions. The sessions were therfore kept short.
Different methods were used to make this online learning program more effective and interactive using lectures with power point presentations (PPTs), videos and direct question and answer sessions with trainers.
This online learning platform allowed key participants to ask questions during live session on behalf of all participants connected from block office, homes and villages. Experience sharing and learning session were also arranged during live sessions. The facility of Video conferencing and messaging made trainings more interactive and effective. Rest of the participants provided one common WhatsApp mobile number to send their questions or queries.
No training is complete without heartfelt feedback and this online training designed an E-feedback form in regional language (Marathi) on “Google form.” comprising of 10 simple closed ended and 3 open ended questions. Most participants were satisfied with the online workshops and found it as good as classroom training.
While government machineries across Central, State and District are struggling to combat corona virus with limited resources the SHGs have risen to the occasion to face the extraordinary challenge of the global pandemic due to COVID-19 outbreak. They are mitigating shortfalls in supply of face masks & sanitizers and are actively providing vegetables and food, creating awareness among the rural community and even providing banking and financial services at doorstep through the existing network of Bank Sakhis /BC Sakhis at district level.
Despite challenges during lockdown the community cadres, institutions, field level staff are making efforts to plan and promote livelihoods. MSRLM undertook online training workshops to guide and facilitate field level team in planning and execution.
The experience made us realise that online training is one way of staying ahead with the times. We could train almost ten thousand staff and cadre using the digital platform. Knowledge sharing till the community cadre became simple and easy. Additionally it was extremely cost-effective as transport to training centres and cost of training centers was avoided.
People found it convenient to attend the training from their homes or offices. All they needed was access to a smart phone or computer and the internet which most had.
Learning and development strategies are constantly evolving in the modern world.
It is important that government institutions, especially those like NRLM and SRLMs promoting business enterprises through community organizations adapt to new technologies for training and capacity building.
It is only then we can ensure that the communities don't lose their business opportunities.
Online training proved to be an effective way to ensure that SHGs explore the opportunities available to them. As for us, our biggest learning was that to motivate action all we needed was to bring learning to people instead of people to learning !