Fund a Kitchen, feed 900 underprivileged girls

Like every other school, organization around the world, BSPES is also facing its fair share of hardships through this pandemic. The school is closed for in-person teaching but the BSPES school staff and teachers are doing a great job with online schooling, given the limited resources in the rural areas. We have around 300 students engaged in virtual learning. The primary students have not been as engaged in this learning process as before. 

Digital platforms like WhatsApp and Youtube have proved to be crucial in students’ learning during this COVID-19 period. 

Here are some examples of videos used to teach.

Class 12 - Link to Chemistry chapter Solid State

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6a86zUpXMU&list=PLlKSnUERQxOR94QJlXMrsH2-ba-0DtW8_&index=3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ6hpSAY0fg&list=PLlKSnERQxOR94QJlXMrsH2-ba-0DtW8_&index=2 

Class 12 - Links to Physics Chapter Wave Optics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIMpI2YtvuQ 

Class 12 - Link for Mathematics notes- Differentiation

https://www.aadharshilastudies.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/DifferentiationMeaning.pdf 

Links to download worksheets and assignments

https://www.studiestoday.com/cbse-class-viii-8.html 

Notes for different classes in Hindi

https://edupedo.com/ncert-pdf-notes-class-9-science/ 

This is a brief explanation of how digital media is being used for our classes. 

WhatsApp Classes - 

• The teacher sends a lecture (a pdf document or an audio lecture of about 5-6min). 
• Students read/listen to this carefully and then the teacher asks questions to see what they have understood and further explains the concepts. 
• The students are encouraged to use Google to look up meanings, definitions, and any other research required. 
• This is also teaching them how to use the internet for self-study. 
• The teacher then gives a classwork assignment to be finished in a set amount of time. 
• Detailed answers are provided and the students match their answers. 
• If they have any questions they can ask via voice messages.  
• Finally, a homework assignment is given to students. 
• As the class ends, the teacher closes the channel for participants. Now, nobody can send messages except the Admins. Students submit their homework to the teacher personally on WhatsApp, not in a group chat.  
• Students who are not able to attend classes online (they don’t have the resources) take the lesson material - notes and assignments offline on a flash drive at the beginning of the week.

Some of the benefits that we have observed during these classroom sessions - 

• Classes are interactive and students feel like they are in their regular classrooms. 
• Every classroom session can be downloaded and shared. 
• External observers can suggest session improvements immediately by sending private messages to the teacher. 
• School-wide messages can be relayed during classes. 
• Self-learning opportunity is at its best. Absent students can go through lessons on their own time, and students can also review the lessons at a future time. 
• The teacher is able to monitor students' participation during the class. 
• This method puts more onus and responsibility onto the student and encourages self-study, which has been missing in our educational system due to the outburst of coaching and tuition centers run by semi-skilled people. 
• It also ensures the availability of good teachers to rural areas. 

Some of the setbacks we have faced due to virtual learning - 

• The responsibility lies with the student to attend and learn. We can’t force them or their family.
• Students might not have access to smartphones all the time. In some cases, it might be more than 1 student in the household attending online classes. 

Now for some success stories. The reason we all do what we do. 

1. Two of our students, having completed the diploma course at NTTF, got their first job - an associate at Samsung R&D Institute, Bangalore India, and as a software tester at Wimmera Systems Pvt Ltd. Bangalore, India
2. Another 2 students were selected for a 3-year diploma course at Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) Bangalore.
3. One of our students got selected for the Masters in Commerce (M.Com) program at Banasthali Vidyapeeth University, Rajasthan India (http://www.banasthali.org/banasthali/wcms/en/home/).  
4. 2 students have joined the skilled development short-term health care courses at Apollo Medskills, New Delhi.(https://www.apollomedskills.com/About_us.aspx). They have been placed in The Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences (ILBS), https://www.ilbs.in/.
5. Another 4 students were selected for the Bachelors in Nursing program at different institutes - Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Vrindavan, Banasthali Vidyapeeth, and Jeevan Jyoti Medical College Aligarh
6. Another student is attending the graduation course at Banasthali Vidyapeeth (http://www.banasthali.org/banasthali/wcms/en/home/)
7. One of the students of BSPES has gone through a rough time when her father fell critically ill 2 years ago. Being the only earning member this strained the family’s finances. Fortunately for them, one of our donors has committed to providing monthly financial support of Rs 10,000 to the family. This has helped with medical support, as well as covering her education. Family and friends also came together to build a small house for the family. 

We are very proud of our students. They have shown us how they like to challenge themselves further. And this is what makes us want to do even more for the underprivileged. The teachers and staff have gone above and beyond in these times to accommodate all those who are willing to learn.

But it is our most generous donors that make all this possible for us. We would like to thank you all again for the tremendous support you have always shown us and hopefully will continue to do so.