GIFT THE GIFT OF EDUCATION TO AN UNDER-SERVED GIRL

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:

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