Educate 200 Children Near Ranthambore, India

Every New Year is like a new book with empty pages ready to be filled with experiences, challenges and memories. We wish you and your family a very Happy New year. We are ready to fill our books with new stories of the schools and we are hopeful of sharing these stories with you soon as well.

With the end of a long and challenging year and a begining of a new one the Uday Community School Jaganpura has been taking up new challenges, celebrating education and strive to improve the experience of the students at the school. Continue reading to know more. 

Winter Workshop

Winter Workshop from 26^th December – 4^th January was conducted for the capacity building of the teachers. This workshop was focused on improving the current plans and creating a plan for the New Year. The teachers worked on their own subjects. The team worked on building their own knowledge on current affairs, creating new projects for each school and improving the current method of teaching at each of the schools.

Introduction to sexuality education

With the usual activities of the winter workshop the teachers had a new session on sexuality education this time. The organization plans to introduce sexuality education and hygiene to the students as well as the community. The first step is to make the teachers aware. As the direct and active involvement of the teachers with the students and the community is what has helped in creating the education system that we have strived for, it is only right to begin with them.

 The interactive session was concentrating on understanding the importance of sexuality education and the basic discussion of various topics such as gender role, effect of society and culture on sexuality and the teachers understanding on equality. The first discussion began during the winter workshop and has continued with each school since then. The teachers at Jaganpura like the other schools have a healthy discussion on sexuality education on a regular basis to ensure to improve on their knowledge on various topics involved. 

Republic Day!

On the anniversary of the day India became a republic, the day the constitution came into effect, the country celebrates with parades, school functions, marches by children of all ages. In the 3 tiny schools of Uday Samudayik Patshala at Jaganpura the day was conducted with expressive programmes, a tinge of patriotism, collective participation and a lot of enjoyment which was shared with the community.

The school ensured that each student was given the stage for a performance. With small but confident strides the children approached the stage in turns to give the audience the best performance of their life. They shed their fears, inhibitions and their hesitation as they took the stage.

 A sense of pride and joy filled the eyes of every parent after they saw their child’s excited and dedicated performance. They encouraged the students and contributed to the school. The day ended by distributing ladoos to all the students, parents and teachers.

As the day came to an end it was clear that the day of celebration had left the children and the parent’s content. The cheerful faces of the teachers also expressed the satisfaction and the success of the programme. The clubs, co scholastic activities, creative writing, reciting poems and stories and the activities in the assemblies had assisted in many ways to create beautiful performances on Republic Day including dances, poem recitals, theatre performance and speeches. 

Preparation for Science Exhibition (Vistaar)

As a part of community awareness and the outreach programme to the schools the Vistaar teachers decided to conduct science exhibitions at the various schools that they cater to. The exhibition was held to:

1. Boost the participation, confidence and exposure of the children
2. Invite and share the work done at the schools with the community
3. Give an example to the government school on methodologies that can be used to increase student and community participation
4. To celebrate education by sharing it.

The teachers decided to conduct the exhibitions in the month of February. Hence preparations began. Children and teachers began making models and creating charts sheets to represent their work. Community field staff of Uday School Jaganpura went visited all the communities to invite parents, SMC (school management committees) members and community members. “The attendance of the children has increased in hearing about the exhibition as they want to take part. This has never happened before.” The science teacher at Uliyana Government school mentioned. 

The kids are excited to present their work to their families, communities, teachers and other officials. Mr. Bhola Shankar, the Vistaar teachers of the areas around Uday School Jaganpura conducted the exhibition at 5 schools in the area namely: Uliyana, Jamulkheda, Kutalpura Maliyan, Ramsinghpura, Khandoj. 

The school development plan and annual project

With a new year beginning all the schools worked on a specific project with a theme and a yearly plan for the year 2020. Jaganpura took up Holi as their topic and have started working on the same. The project plan includes the basic design of the topic selected and is divided according to the level of the students grade, the interlinking of the project with the topics being taken in various subjects and the existing context of the schools.

The yearly plan for 2020 was based on the reflection of the past quarter and the year to understand the interventions and modifications that are required. These plans include subject, community, school premises, health, hygiene nutrition, curriculum, community interactions etc. The teachers and community staff discuss together and make changes to existing plans and create new ones to improve the education system.

English (It’s Important)

Even though English is the official language of our country there has always been the question of the usability of the language, especially in rural areas. Until recently English was taught as a subject from th 6^th grade. This restricted the possibilities of the students in many ways. It is true that English is not a language that is used for conversation in rural areas but it is important to remember that it is the language used for official documents and it is also the language used for professional purposes. Therefore it is important to give everyone equal opportunities by teaching them English from the beginning.

Uday School does not want to place any boundaries on their students and hopes that each one reaches the goal that they would like to achieve. The School hopes that learning English will not be hurdle for the students in the future and therefore the students are exposed to the subject from the beginning of their schooling. They are introduced to the English words used to describe their day to day life.

One thing that we all know is that a language can only be learnt with practice and use of the language. Therefore the teachers encourage the students to read and discuss the their writing, the children are taught poems and are also encouraged to write their own poems in English. This ensures to create a platform where the children are exposed to using the language on a daily basis. This also encourages students who are hesitant to try talking in English.

At Jaganpura the students are encouraged to write stories, poems and experiences in english and discuss the same in class. The teachers also continue to conduct English learning workshops on a weekly basis to practice and improve their own knowledge on English.

The Year has begun with many celebrations, challenges and experiences. 

With the beginning of a new month we look forward to many new events and experiences with the students and the parents. We are excited to share these with you. We would like to thank you for all the support.

Team

Gramin Shiksha Kendra