GIFT THE GIFT OF EDUCATION TO AN UNDER-SERVED GIRL

Integration of ICT in Education- “From Fishing out coins from the river bed to Computer learning—we enjoy both, however fishing out coins are risky we could get drowned in the turbulent Ganges and lose our lives, not so with computer learning. We can learn, practice, enjoy the stream and the tide on the screen and also teach others”

 About Rajbhavan Unit II Govt. Primary School tide

 The Rajbhavan Unit II School is a Hindi Medium Free Primary School established in the year 1974 in Kolkata, West Bengal within the residential premises of Governor House, so that the children of the staff could be enrolled smoothly in the school.  At present, this school is not only has 100 children from several areas of Dalhousie - BBD Bag, High Court, Stand Road, Decars Lane, Lal Bazar & Esplanade, of which 37 are girls.  The students can study up to Standard IV here, after which they can join the High School nearby.

 In the past, the school was witnessing serious absenteeism and drop outs. These students drop out to work as child labour in nearby tea shops, vegetable vendors and street food stalls. Some opt to fish out coins from the Ganges River bed using a magnet as fishing hook.  The river Ganges is very near to school, and during prayers, devotees throw coins into the river as a mark of respect, which these children are engaged to fish out. As a result, children are were missing school.

 Literacy India Learning Centre with ICT-Based digital learning tool Gyantantra

It was against the murky background of absenteeism and drop-outs that Literacy India entered the school with a three-fold objective:

1. Curb drop-out and habitual absenteeism 
2. Increase roll strength in the school
3. Improve the quality of education

 With introduction of computer learning, two interesting changes took place for both children and their parents. Children accept laptops very well as it helps them to be smarter and complete the course quite easily and fast. Second, the parents realize that computer learning is essential for their children’s future. Both gears trigger the utility of the ICT-based learning course and help to institutionalize it properly.

 Achievements & Impacts:

• Regular home visits and child tracking improved roll strength
• Parent-teacher meeting has curbed the absenteeism
• Parents are themselves coming to the school for enrolling the students for next session
• Children are actively participated in art & craft, general knowledge based quiz and presentations regularly
• 72 children were treated in the eye check-up camp; 6 were identified for spectacles that have already been provided to them
• Teachers Day was celebrated by children who performed a skit. The children gifted all teachers their own artwork

Stories of Change:   Pratima (name changed) Age: 10yrs, Location: Kolkata

 Pratima (name changed) lives on the pavement near Netaji Indoor Stadium at Kolkata. She has one brother and two sisters. She is now in Standard IV. She was enrolled in Standard I to start with and she moved to Standard II without any break. Unfortunately, in Standard III she started being absent often, due to family pressure. Then she started Gyantantra, and composite learning of ICT-based education tools make her back to the academic course again. In six months, she completed Gyantantra and was up to speed in Standard IV. She is very good in drawing and painting. She would like to be a doctor in the future.

 Priyanka (name changed)   Age: 8 yrs, Location: Kolkata

 Priyanka (name changed) favorite subject is mathematics. She dreams of becoming a teacher one day. She is now in Standard III. She has three sisters. Thanks to Gyantantra, Priyanka has shown remarkable improvement in 6 months. She is doing well in all subjects today. Her spelling has improved a lot. She is staying in a garage near high court area. Her father is a fruit vendor while her mother works part-time in a tea-stall nearby. Priyanka is actively involved in school activities such as teachers’ day presentation and also in drawing and painting. 

 Riya (name changed) Age: 8 yrs, Location: Kolkata 

Riya (name changed) is in Standard III. She has 5 brothers and 1 sister. She is in school from the beginning. They live on the pavement at New Secretariat building of Kolkata. Her father is working in a nearby factory and her mother used to work as a housemaid. Riya used to go for fishing out coins from the river along with her brothers. She was not regular to school. To add to her troubles, the family had to shift base from time to time as the Police would evict them from the pavement.  It was constant follow-up and child tracking that led Riya to join school again and get up to speed through ICT-based Gyantantra. Riya is good in Hindi. She can read the newspaper easily. She would like to be a police officer in future. She is inspired by a movie where the police can change & protect the society with truthfulness. She would love to do that in future.

  Vocational training (Project Nandini )

 “Women & Cab services …. no, no ….. This is a man’s job only. That’s what we always heard. But we have taken proper training for driving. Today, we are breadwinners for our families. We help drop children to school and young girls and elderly commuters safely to schools, colleges, hospitals or shopping malls.”

Literacy India Bhati Centre- Literacy India opened up a center in the BhatiKhurd village in the NCR to fight gender discrimination. The community in Bhati Khurd is very close and comprises Gujjars. The girl child in these communities is never allowed to step out of home, not for recreation, not for school. All that is expected from her is that she will get married by the age of 7 to 13 and sent to her in-laws’ house, look after the house and rear children. The concept of girl education and resulting economic empowerment are totally alien to this community. 

Literacy India’s Karigari Janani Project helps improve the status of youth and women in Bhati Khurd by providing them with livelihood options through vocational training, based on need in their local economy, beneficiaries’ preferences and aptitude. Karigari Janani specifically focuses on girls and women. It helps women establish themselves in vocations such as:

• Stitching, embroidery, recycled paper product training, block printing, tie & dye etc.  
• Beauty culture, Agarbatti making, Spa training
• Paper plate making
• Driving and hospitality management
• Eco/Social-tourism

 Our Bhatikhurd centre already has stitching, embroidery, paper plate making activities. Some women are taking driving training as well. It was a real journey of the woman to come out of their home and take on roles that challenge gender inequality in its face. These girls who had taken training of driving are setting example to the community and also for their next generation.  Total 10 women trained under vocation and 3 are activly working as professional driver. 

Stories of Change

 Monika (name changed) Age: 22, Location:  Bhati Village, NCR

Monika from the Bhati Village is among the few who signed up for Driving training at the Literacy India center. Today, she is a trained and licensed driver. She loves driving and is proud of her job. During training, she came across as a quick learner and picked up understanding of signals, maps or technical guidelines easily. She can even cruise at 70 km per hr with elan! Monika finished Standard 12 from Govt.  School but could not get a job after that nor secure admission to the college due to financial constraints. Her father was not willing to send her for driving training. However, she managed to convince him. Today, she is earning Rs. 8,000 a month as a driver.

 “Yes I have come far in life, but the credit goes to Literacy India for making this happen; I am not a mere driver. I am driving the family to regain our lost fate.”

 Rajni ( name changed) Age: 40, Location: Bhati Village New Delhi

 “At the age of 30, I moved from my village to New Delhi, with my husband and two children. I started learning tailoring at Bhati center of Literacy India so I could earn for my family. My husband works as a laborer in a farm house and his income is not enough to sustain us. When I saw women starting driving training at Literacy India, I thought I should give this a shot myself”.

When Rajni realized that stitching and tailoring could not ensure steady income, Rajni decided to support her finances by becoming a driver. The course was rigorous yet exciting. Rajni received hands-on experience on different cars, used simulators, and took practical training on the road as well. Rajni was also trained for self-defense by the Delhi Police and worked on her personality by attending communication classes. During training, they were exposed to many other topics such as gender issues, women’s rights, empowerment, and financial management, sexual and reproductive health. Today, she is a licensed driver earning well and working towards a brighter future for her family.

Links:

• Literacy India 2014- Stories of achievement

DIGITAL INCLUSION FOR EDUCATION & LIVELIHOOD

 “Thrilled and delighted to convey, we are learning computers now- my study is continuing through computers. Yes it is true, it is not like Advertisement through TV channel- it is real—I know it, I can teach my brother and sister also –how to play with computer and games—that ultimately teach him/ her Varnamala, Spelling, word making, Stories and so on……..  ”. 

 About Sadla & Monoharthana in Rajasthan:

 Sadla and Manoharthana are two areas in Rajasthan in Jhalwar district. These two areas are different in natural vegetation compared to desert lands of other parts of Rajasthan. It has rain & wet land, substantially greener. The area is historically rich and also blessed with monsoon rains. It is located on the borders of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, considerably 3 Km distance from Madhya Pradesh. The nearest Railway station is Kota which is at a distance of 200 KM from Manoharthana. The taluka head quarter of Manoharthana is in the old fort of Bhil King. The taluka has four main gates till date and total habitation buildup within the fort area.

The baseline analysis showed that this area is suffering from scope of higher education, the nearest college is about 50km away. The lack of access and opportunities for livelihoods forced the inhabitants for migration. Male folks are dependent on agriculture, however it is seasonal. Few are engaged into tobacco manufacturing. Few families are weavers but they cannot run weaving as they failed to compete with modern system. Women are basically engaged into domestic chores.

 Realizing the need for development, Literacy India started its operation to offer convenience of education and also provision of sustainable livelihoods through proper training. General analysis and observations show that there are hidden talents for stitching and tailoring in this village and nearby villages, just a proper training to make them skilled is required. Women are also interested to take part in stitching & tailoring programme to support their families.

 Literacy India Learning Centre

 Literacy India learning centre itself is a composite. It consists of ICT based Digital learning for children, Karigari Vocational Training of Tailoring & Stitching, Weaving for community both men and women, Computer Learning courses for youth, Proving Agriculture techniques for both men and women farmers. The centralized objective of the program is to provide Education for Children and Livelihood Skill training for the community, so that they will be able to earn sustainable livelihood. 

Gyantantra  Digital Dost – ICT based Digital Learning program:

Gyantantra- ICT based learning is implemented in this centre. The children from surrounding areas are coming here to learn this.  The learning centre caters non-school going, drop-out & school going children.  The software helps the non-school going, drop-out children back to school and school children are improving on the quality education.

 Stories of Changes

 Nandini’s (name changed) father is a farmer. Her mother is house wife. She has two siblings. They are going to govt. school. She is first generation learner. Nandini used to be non-efficient in English Langage when she joined the Gyantantra classes at M.Thana. She was in class III but she only knew Hindi alphabets, and numeric countings. She is a very active girl and keen to learn. She is also a fast learner and a good artist, a little girl with lots of talents. She likes to play Kabaddi, a sport. After attending class for five months, now she can recite English Rhymes, can write alphabets, days and month name, in mathematics, she can do addition, subtractions, multiplication and division. In Hindi she can read and write three letter words. Now she can introduce her family in English.  She has an ambition to become a teacher.

Govind (name changed) is a 9 year old boy. His father is into tobacco manufacturing.  His mother is a house wife. He has four siblings. He along with his brothers and sisters are attending in the Govt. school classes. He is a regular student. Govind is intelligent and active boy. While he got enrolled in Gyantantra, he hardly knew alphabets and  numeric counting.  After attending Gyantantra class for six months, he can read & write three letter Hindi words, in English he can do parts of the body, days and months name, words with phonics, in mathematics he can do basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, he can also do HCF and LC. Apart from academics he can read & write Hindi stories. He is very good in academics now. He has an ambition to become a responsible Police officer. He wants to serve the country.

When Basanti (name changed)  joined Literacy India Sadla center, she knew only Hindi. She could read & write in Hindi and knew only the rudimentary at basics level. She merely knew tables from one to five and basic of addition, subtraction. After being introduced to ‘Gyantantra Digital Dost’ and attending a number of its sessions, today, she can solve a lot more than just basic addition problems. She knows how to multiply, subtract and divide. She can read and write sentences in Hindi and in English, as well. Her parents have a sense of immense satisfaction, seeing their child learn so much, that she could not have acquired if continued to be in that disadvantaged background. They give the credit to Literacy India’s encouraging efforts and innovative teaching practices. Basanti wants to be a teacher. She loves to assist her fellow students.

 Pawani (name changed) joined Literacy India Sadla center with a basics of Hindi, mostly colloquial. She does not know the basic mathematics of multiplication, subtraction & addition. She could only write Hindi with basics.  After being introduced to ‘Gyantantra Digital Dost’ and attending a number of its sessions, today she knows how to multiply, subtract, divide and solve fractions, profit & loss equations. She can read and write sentences in Hindi and in English, as well. She likes Mathematics and Co-curricular parts in Gyantantra. She is very fond of reading stories and answering them on laptop. She is delighted with her progress and continuous improvement. She has an ambition to become a teacher. She is very active and regular student. 

 Reena’s (name changed) father is a farmer. Her mother is house wife. She has three siblings. All are going in govt. school. She is first generation learner. Reena used to be inefficient in English Language when she joined the Gyantantra classes at Bakani. A student of class III, but she only knew Hindi alphabets, and numeric countings. She is very active and keen to learn. She likes to play Kabaddi with her friends. After attending class for five months, she has improved a lot. Now she can recognise Alphabets, Days and month name, in mathematics, she can do Addition, subtractions, multiplication and division. In Hindi she can read and write three letter words. Now she can do many more things. Her ambition is to become a Doctor. She also loves to paint. 

 Karigari Tailoring (Vocational training)                                                                               

 Achievements:  In Rajasthan, this project has amazing achievements as it is able to revive the weavers’ community.  In Rajasthan, Sadla village has weavers’ community existing since a long period of time, however because of various reasons this community was in the process of extinction. It was with the constant supports both technical and financial that they were able to received again. At present this community is able to weave & intertwine excellent quality texture that can meet the competition in the market. The interns from IICD regularly visits Sadla, they provide the technical support and skills in designing, colour combination, thread making. Apart from that the women are learning stitching and tailoring. The aim was to make a combination between weaving and tailoring. The overall impacts are as follows:

• 10 started producing threads- per week the production rate is 3 sari per day.
• Threads are transforming into fabric material by them which has a great demand in local market.
• Regular orders from local shops are obtained by them
• Artisan Cards are in the process to be made for artisans
• Entrepreneurs are taking soft loans to start business
• Total 63 students had completed the training during last six months project duration.  
• Already 6 had started business from home

  Stories of Changes:      

Kanti (name changed) is a 20 years old girl from OBC community. She lost her parents in her child hood. Her maternal grandfather had made her born and brought up smoothly. She had studied up to class XII standard. Few days back her maternal grandfather also passed away and her family was in deep financial crises. She was looking for some technical training so that she can earn some money. She came to know about Literacy India tailoring training center from a friend.  She lives in Goriakheda village, 5 KM from Manoharthana. She used to walk 5km every day from her village to Literacy India learning center to attend this programme.  She has been a fast learner and did well in her final examination too. After completing her 6 month tailoring course she has been planning to start her tailoring shop. She borrowed a stitching machine from her maternal uncle and opened the shop at home. Now she can stitch blouse, petticoat and salwar suits.In her village itself ,she is getting good orders . She is earning Rs.80 to 100 perday. She is supporting her family with a good amount. She is grateful to Literacy India as she had got trained that helped her to sustain.

Yashmeen Bee (name changed) is 18 years old girl. She has studied till class 12^th. Her father is a heart patient. Her mother is also not well. She has 5 sisters. Yashmeen has to leave her studies i  between due to financial crises. Yashmin came to know about literacy India from her community. She learnt tailoring and wanted to work and support her family.  Now she is started stitching with mother’s stitching machine. She is taking orders from the M.thana market. She also takes order from Sunday market. She is earning about Rs. 70 to 80 rupees / day. She is keen for more work. She is helping her family. She says” she is obliged to literacy India. She also wants her sisters to complete their education at least up to 10^th Std.”

Fula Bai (name changed) is a 35 years old lady. She lives in Radas Mohalla in M.Thana. Her husband is a hand cart puller. She has two children. Her financial condition is very poor. Both her children goes to school. She is a house wife. She wanted to do some skilled training so that she can earn something and support her husband. Then she joined Literacy India tailoring centre . It was difficult to teach her because she has been very negligent. But some extra classes and special attention by Idrish ji (Centre In Charge, Literacy India Learning Centre at Rajasthan ), led her to complete the tailoring course.

After completing her training in Literacy India she started stitching work at home. She purchased stitching machine. In initial days she was facing difficulties in cutting the cloths so she took help from Idrish ji (Centre in Charge, Literacy India Learning Centre Rajasthan) on cutting & measurement. Now she has learnt a lot and now doing work independently. She is earning about Rs. 100- 150/-per day. Both husband and wife are very happy with this progress.  

Links:

• LI Volunteer Facebook Link