A year-long pilot of free evening maths classes in 40 government schools has lifted the Class 10 maths pass rate in Amrauli district from 61% to 78%, according to an assessment released by the district education office.
The classes ran from 4.30 pm to 6 pm, five days a week, in school buildings that would otherwise be locked after lunch. They were taught by regular teachers paid an extra allowance and by 60 trained volunteers, most of them recent graduates from the same villages.
"Many children do not have anyone at home who can help with maths homework," said district education officer Shalini Verma. "The evening class gave them a quiet room, a teacher and two more hours of practice every day."
What the pilot found
- Attendance mattered most. Students who attended at least three evenings a week were nearly twice as likely to score above 60% in maths as those who came rarely.
- Girls gained more. The pass rate for girls rose by 21 percentage points, compared with 13 for boys, partly because schools arranged groups to walk home together.
- Small groups worked. Groups of 15 or fewer students did better than larger ones.
What comes next
The district plans to extend the classes to science next term and to every block in two years, subject to funding. It is also testing a simple weekly quiz on paper so teachers can spot students who are falling behind.
Parents said the biggest change was confidence. "My daughter used to cry before maths tests," said Sunita Yadav, whose daughter passed with 72%. "This year she was explaining sums to her cousins."
Education researchers cautioned that one year of results is a start, and said the district should keep tracking whether the gains last into Classes 11 and 12.
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