Gramin Shiksha Kendra has had an eventful and busy last few months- with a continued focus on innovative academic practices, early childhood care, strengthening the agency of our 'Umang' Programme cohort of adolescent girls, enhancing the capacity of our teachers, and engaging with de-notified tribal and nomadic communities. I am happy to share that despite the prevalence of the pandemic, we continue to work with the children and our parents' communities to ensure their access to quality education in a safe environment.
The community learning centres set up across villages in the catchment area of our three Uday Schools to compensate for schools being closed, are being diligently maintained- with the teachers providing a space for students to learn, play and socialize every morning. GSK's promotion of self-exploration, creative expression and critical thinking are rooted in its commitment to quality child-centric education. It is, therefore, that along with classroom learning, students engage in an array of fun activities, ranging from creative work for the bi-monthly magazine to understanding concepts through experiential projects such as maintaining kitchen gardens at their homes, running community libraries, planning their own restaurant ventures, personalizing their identity cards, conducting census surveys in their communities, etc. Notably, we have conducted two Facebook Live assemblies. At the Uday Community Schools, the assemblies are a part of the learning process and an important aspect of the day. We believe that such a gathering is a powerful means to encourage children and teachers, and build a sense of community within them. The objectives are to create a blissful environment, provide opportunities for expression and interaction, share knowledge, inspire confidence in the students and lay the foundations for a democratic learning space. No child in our schools wants to miss their assembly! We were delighted to have had hundreds of viewers tune in to the lives and get a taste of what a typical morning at Uday looks like; you can do the same by checking out our Facebook page.
For children aged 0-5 years, teachers are continuing interactions with parents, especially mothers, to engage the young ones in activities that aid their motor and cognitive skills, and psycho-social development, through easy-to-comprehend assignments to carry out at home. Special emphasis is on their physical growth; monthly growth monitoring exercise is conducted and parents of those children indicating any degree of malnutrition are made aware of ways to enhance their wards' nutritional levels.
Regular meetings of School Management Committees (SMCs) of government schools is crucial for holding authorities accountable to promised learning levels of children, performance of teachers and overall functioning of the school infrastructure. We work with the parents' community, which comprise these SMCs, to build their awareness and confidence for raising pertinent issues about their wards' education and demand solutions.
GSK is committed to its Umang cohort of 30 adolescent girls in Shyampura, in an attempt to enhance their agency through academic support, digital literacy and and life skills development. Efforts to scale the programme and reach more young girls across villages in the catchment area of the organisation are underway. Recently, an excursion was organised for them- a day of some travel, fun with friends and a whole lot of learning! Beginning at the revered Kala Gora Temple, getting to know about this enduring remnant of Tantric traditional and its rich history of over 1500 years, the field trip ended with an exploration of GSK's STEM laboratory at Bodal. Here the girls acquired varied thematic knowledge, and even conducted several experiments and tests themselves. Additionally, soon after the excursion, a showcasing event was organised at Shyampura where the girls did experiments, and shared their knowledge about scientific and mathematical concepts- their learnings in class as well as from the laboratory visit. This was primarily to promote learning through activities, as well as to encourage these timid young girls to speak with confidence!
The Baori Basti in Sawai Madhopur is occupied by socio-economically disadvantaged denotified tribes. Here, the persisting issues include water scarcity, constant tiffs with officials while acquiring ration, unsanitary conditions- exacerbated when the rains cause water-logging and overflowing sewage, unsteady income, lack of access to education and healthcare, helplessness during medical emergencies, malnutrition and alcoholism. Despite being considered a crucial vote-bank by political aspirants, and the community's needs being regularly articulated to the authorities, the necessary work is yet to be done. Apart from having distributed ration of food worth lakhs during the lock-down and providing support in cases of medical emergencies, GSK is seeking to provide the children at the slum a structured learning environment through daily study sessions- in an attempt to ease them into eventual enrolment to the teaching, playing and socialising set-ups at nearby government schools. Apart from supporting these first-generation learners, using its usual child-centric and multi-grade/multi-level approach, the team is also helping the Baori community get Aadhaar, Pension and Voter ID cards made, constructively communicate with local leadership and access welfare schemes. Research is being undertaken to understand the value of the supply chains they are a part of, to develop suitable livelihood-oriented interventions.
Links:
Dear friends,
The past few months have changed all of our lives. The pandemic has made all of us rethink and redefine our daily routines. The Covid-19 lockdown has also affected our schooling system where the schools have been shut down until further notice. The disaster has affected more or less the entire humankind and the most affected are the marginalized and vulnerable communities living in both urban and rural areas.
In such trying times, we are working to find out and experiment with various alternatives to ensure education for all the children. We are also reaching out and providing humanitarian aid to the marginalized de-notified and nomadic communities in Sawai Madhopur who are struggling during the lockdown. During these trying times, having the schools closed down and the education process coming to a standstill, we are concerned about its long- term effect on the children, especially on girls.
Kindly read on to know more about our outreach and experiences of teachers during these days.
Best wishes and stay safe
Gramin Shiksha Kendra,
Virtual Connect and Capacity building
“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”
With the introduction of the computer programme, the teachers and students regularly worked on learning the use of the technology available to them. This learning has helped especially during the lockdown. The teachers have kept in touch with each other and the community with the help of messages and other virtual platforms. They have used various online video conferencing apps to continue their workshops and capacity building, subject wise and project wise through discussions, interactions, readings etc. Our teachers are also spending time in understanding the philosophy of Education and thinking of the ways to implement it in today’s context.
The teachers have also participated in various webinars by other organizations and specialists on various topics to improve their understanding of the current scenario under the lens of Gender, Education, and Development.
Education during the pandemic
Visits to communities
After an easement of the lockdown, teachers visited communities to understand the current condition of the students and families. Apart from the struggles of the community in regards to unemployment and lack of food security one common worry that the community rightfully voiced was the halt in their children’s education and therefore an uncertainty to their future. Parents demanded or questioned the teachers on when the schools would reopen.
Online platforms and its limitation in rural areas
As the lockdown was extended we decided to start reaching out to students with lesson plans and TLM’s through online platforms. However, with practice, we realized that only 15 % of the students had access to smartphones. With the online education having its own pedagogical limitations supported by the lack of IT infrastructure with the community, we decided to explore and experiment the alternative ways of imparting education to the children.
Change of Approach
With the realization on the requirement of beginning learning activities with the students, we decided to provide education at their doorstep. Our teachers have created a safe space for the children where they can play, learn, enjoy, socialize and receive an education while ensuring their safety by providing education at their doorstep. Learning sessions are conducted in outdoor spaces at the village, with a group of not more than 10 students while taking all the safety precautions necessary.
Learning sessions are conducted for 2-3 hours a day through activity-based learning methods, where work is done on the main subjects including Math, Languages, Science and Social studies. We are also planning to implement project work with the students in collaboration with other organizations to promote self-learning.
Children are also given the opportunity to express their emotions and thoughts during the pandemic through creative writing and art. These stories, poems, drawings are published in our bi-monthly magazine- Morange.
We are also raising awareness on COVID within the communities by disseminating verified information and debunking myths.
As the children do not have access to school libraries, we have initiated libraries within the village community. These libraries are maintained by the children volunteers.
Pre-primary Education
Preschool students are approached at home and learning continues with the help of parents and older siblings. Teachers have also been discussing the importance of health, hygiene, sanitation and nutritional health with parents, especially mothers and adolescent girls.
Roop (Breaking barriers)
One of our teachers from Uday Community School Fariya met Roop, a 21-year-old girl from the Bhopa community who was deprived of education and married off at a young age without her knowledge and has two children (Girls of 8 months and 4 years old). He noticed her in the village as she sat with her young one to teach her alphabets and numbers. She wants to break away from the shackles of her community that believe that there is no reason for girls to study and wants to create a better future for her girls and other girls in the community to look forward to. She lives with her father who plays the Sarangi in villages for a livelihood after some issues at her in-laws. Her dream is to start reading and our teachers and other girls from the community are helping her.
Humanitarian aid (COVID relief)
Sawai Madhopur is home to some highly vulnerable and marginalized communities including De- notified and nomadic communities who are rag pickers, blacksmiths, folk performers, cattle traders, labourers and prostitution etc. The pandemic has worsened their state and some of the households from these communities were left with no source of income leading to food insecurity. We supported these identified communities by providing the dry-ration kits to 1748 households in the district.
Through one of our recent studies, we found that even after the relaxation of the lockdown 93.4% of community members have no source of income.
We are also planning to design a suitable intervention for the De-notified communities of Sawai Madhopur.
Some stories of community members affected by the lockdown:
Health is on a standstill
Jogish is from the Bhopa community from Raikheda. His labour work has come to a stop and has affected his and his son’s life drastically.
"Once the Lockdown began work stopped I have not gotten any wages for a while now. My son has been suffering from a health issue for a few months now. When I took him to the doctor last time they said that they could not determine what it was. Therefore I will have to take him to Jaipur for a checkup but with restrictions on movement and my empty pockets, I have no way of taking him to the doctor. "
As a father, he worries for the condition of his son and the impending difficulties that their family will face if he does not get his job back.
No way other than walking
Lal is from the Pawandi village in Khandar Sawai Madhopur and used to work as a labourer in Jaipur.
"Once the lockdown began work stopped and I had to come home. As there was no other way, I walked home and used all my money on coming back. Once I got here I realized that there was no work I could get here either. We do not have food and we do not have a job. We are cornered from all 4 sides. We haven't gotten help from any other source other than the ration kits we got from GSK and we are thankful for the help. We will be able to manage food for the next month at least."
With the committed efforts by the teachers and parents to ensure education for the children, we are hopeful for a better tomorrow.
We wish you good health during these worrying times.
Warm Regards
Team
Gramin Shiksha Kendra
Note: All the names of individuals have been changed to protect the individual's privacy.
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With a New Year comes new possibilities and challenges. The beginning of the year has been full of memorable moments and celebrations.
Continue reading to know more about the exciting New Year at Gramin Shiksha Knedra.
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 tiny schools of Uday Samudayik Patshalas 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.
Joyous and excited performances of the students also led to active participation and support of the parents. A sense of pride and joy filled the eyes of every parent after they saw their child’s performance. They encouraged the students and contributed to the school and for the students. 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.
Forum Theatre: The theatre of the oppressed.
Awareness is the greatest agent for change.
The Forum Theatre is a group of passionate young boys who would like to reach out to their own communities and societies to increase their awareness on various issues including quality of education, gender biases and other education related topics etc. After many months of training, rehearsals and discussions the group decided to start of their first performance at one of the Uday Samudayik Patshalas.
On Republic Day they travelled to the Uday Samudayik Pathshala at Girirajpura to perform their play “ ”, (change in education) a play that shows the reality of cultural practices including child marriage and gender inequality. It is a story of a young girl, “Kanchan” who dreams of studying and playing with her friends and the challenges she faces in preventing her own marriage.
They reached the school and were welcomed with curious and excited eyes of community members and the children of the school. After a few colourful performances from the students the theatre group took the stage and began their play with a Baal Geet (Poems) namely “ “(Go on and on and on). This was followed by the play.
Everybody’s eyes were fixed on Kanchan and her story. The expressions on their faces showed their familiarity to the challenges that Kanchan faced. Some empathized with Kanchan where as some empathized with Kanchan’s father. As the play progressed the team members created and interactive session by asking for opinions and solutions from the audience, where men, women, children and young girls also expressed their opinions. It opened the conversation on an otherwise hidden issue of the communities.
This is the story of Kanchan which is the story of many young girls and boys and we hope to reach as many of them as possible with the help of the Forum Theatre. This performance was only the beginning of many conversations that the team looks forward to having with the community.
Planning for Kilol
‘Kilol’ is an annual festival of creative expression and dialogue and dialogue for Uday Patshalas, state schools and local children. Uday Samudayik Pathshala Fariya has been facing various issues including attendance and lack of community participation at the school. To address the issue the organization decided to conduct a Kilol at the school. The preparation started immediately after the Republic day with teachers personally inviting families, schools and government school teachers and officials. The students participated in preparing the school for the Kilol. By painting the walls of the school, cleaning and making TLM’s by themselves, training for the tournament etc. The constant discussions with the parents resulted in the parents deciding to contribute for the food on the day of the Kilol.
Kilol (5th February)
The Kilol was conducted on the 5th of February. The morning began with the teachers and the students running around to set everything in place. From pinning up TLM’s in the room to placing science models in the science corner, from cleaning the rooms to setting up the projector, from practicing for the tournament to preparing the sports ground etc. The teachers pinned up poems and stories that the students wrote with their pictures printed.
The Kilol was a joint event of the village community and the Center for Rural Education in which innovative educational and state of the art educational activities supported by the STREAM program were presented by the children. Other works such as mathematics, clay work, woodwork, painting, origami, library, creative writing were performed and experimental work was done.
Around 400 children and 300 parents were present at the school for the festival and participated in various activities including musical chair (women), Tug of war (men) etc.
The festival was for all the children, teachers and parents to share awareness of education to ensure active participation from everyone in providing a better educational environment and system for the children.
Science Exhibition:
After discussions with the government school teachers and headmasters the Vistaar teachers decided to conduct science exhibitions in some of the Vistaar government schools to showcase the work and progress. All teachers and students from 6th, 7th and 8th grade sat together and made models, charts and videos to represent the work.
Parent, community members and officials were invited to the exhibition to observe the work their children had done. Each school had a diverse set of experiments, explanation, models and games prepared. As the exhibition began they visited the school and were happy to see their children while explaining various experiments and charts to them with excitement. It was for the first time, they were provided with the opportunity to showcase their work and progress to their families, communities and other subject teachers.
Children participated with complete dedication and excitement. The teachers mentioned that most of these students were not able to read but were explaining the models with no difficulty. The teachers also observed that there was a higher percentage of attendance during the preparation of exhibition.
The Vistaar teachers have had an eventful month and they mentioned that it is important encourage such programmes at schools and making up their mind.
Science and Sports Fair at Girirajpura
The teachers and the students at Girirajpura have had an eventful month full of preparation. The Science teacher and the other subject teachers decided to have a fair at the school for the students and the community of Girirajpura and Amli. On the 28th of February after a long preparation the fair was conducted. It was a celebration for the children, teachers and the community.
Around 40 running science and math related models were made, which was explained and demonstrated to the students and teachers of government and private schools and parents. The fair contained Sanskrit , art and language corners as well.
A tournament of Kabbadi and Handball was conducted between the Uday Community Schools of Jaganpura and Girirajpura and the Government school of Amli. Both matches were won by Girirajpura. (2nd time that the school has competed in a tournament)
Throw all the paint you can on the canvas:
Art is not just a special lesson that is disconnected with other forms of learning and doing. Art is a form of expression that comes easily to students and even peeks their interest in daily routine. Recently, children at Uday Community School at Girirajpura had a learning session through artistic activity where they were involved in drawing and painting the walls of their school. In Gramin Shiksha Kendra artistic activity is not a mere entertainment but an integral part of learning, exploring and communicating.
With the assistance of the pottery and sports teacher Mr. Murari Lal and the students painted the walls everyday during club hours. Children from 5th 6th and 7th took turns throughout the week. Once it was completed the students and the teachers labeled the various activities, elements and positions in the painting to create a Print Rich Environment through the walls of the school. The students continue to write down their experience, describe the painting and phrase sentences in English using the painting.
Peep through the colourful strokes by the children and you will see that decoration is one element of visual representation but also a tool for expression.
Annual Project initiation: Environment (Fariya)
With the beginning of a New Year the teachers worked on a theme based project in their annual planning. The teacher of Uday School Fariya Chose Environment as the annual project.
The project has been initiated with introduction of the topic through different subjects and at age appropriate levels. As a part of the project the students were introduced to vermi-compost. The students were given a theoretical understanding of vermi-compost and its advantages. To ensure that the students are given a holistic approach the teachers decided to take it another level. The teachers and the students came together to create a compost pit and have started collecting vegetable waste, , dry waste, cow dung and other wet waste that can be used to produce compost.
The students and teachers excitedly wait for the result of their little compost pit.
Health and Nutrition
With regular documentation of the health condition of the students the teachers understand the nutritional status of every student. The teachers also report the nutritional status of the students to their parents and suggest the parents to meet a doctor. The teachers have been regularly observing the health status of the students. The Uday School teachers at Fariya observed that the students were always tired after running, playing and exercising in the morning.
Many students come to school without eating breakfast and those who do eat do not have a nutritious breakfast which is the most important meal of the day. Therefore the teachers decided to create an intervention. With collections from teachers and students for the cooking club the teachers buy ingredients such as channa. They explain the nutritious value of the ingredient and distribute to all the students after morning exercise.
Tarun Sharma the teacher in charge of the cooking club also uses the platform to introduce various different nutritional recipes. This month the students and Tarun Sharma Ji, made Murrabba with Gooseberry (Amla).
To improve the nutritional status of children it is important for everyone to chip in, the parents, schools and the students.
With every year that passes we strive for improving the quality of education, increase the opportunities and to grow as a community. We are confident that 2020 will also bring new challenges and hurdles and we plan to cross each one of these.With a New Year we would like to thank you for all your support and encouragement. We look forward to the change we can bring together.
Education that celebrates children
Team
Gramin Shiksha Kendra
With every new season come a new story and a new development in the Uday schools. Here are a few of those developments.
Continuous Learning
There is no end to curiosity, no end to learning and no end to improving every step of the way in Gramin Shiksha Kendra. Like every other long vacation the teachers gathered together to learn from each other and broaden their capacity during the Diwali holidays which lasts 8 days. Teachers of all subjects come together to discuss various topics including individual subjects, performance of individual children and how to better their own methods. This ensures proper communication and interaction between teachers of all subjects and all the 3 schools. It provides a platform for a holistic approach to solutions, improvements and even achievements.
The teachers continue to make exciting TLMs (Teaching Learning Material). These are based on two aspects. 1. The topic and how to disintegrate to basic questions that must be answered. 2. On how to explain it to the students. This includes deeper questions such as how a formula was derived and why a cube is a cube and not a cuboid. As a group the teachers also build on their own knowledge.
Co-Curricular Clubs
We are excited to let you know that we have started having clubs in the schools. The health and wellness clubs on school can help in the development of habits, values, attitude and knowledge relating to an individual and community. These clubs can help the students be exposed to specialization of various activities they are interested in. Co-scholastic activities provide our children with another opportunity to socialize with each other based on similar interests.
The teachers always try to integrate different topics and subjects through a particular medium which also makes it easy for the students to relate to the knowledge that the teachers are trying to provide them. For example: The making of "Khaman". The teacher explains the origin of the delicacy, the ingredients, the cost of the ingredients, the price of the dish for a certain number of people, the chemistry involved in the cooking etc. This helps them not only relate to the cooking the dish but also other subjects such as math, science and basic calculations.
Children's Day
November 14th is a day that the children wait for every year. The Uday community schools have a different take on the day and do some interesting activities. As it is the day of children they are allowed to decide the activities that they would like to conduct throughout the day. Among other activities, the school at Jaganpura also conducted a "Mela”. What is a Mela?
A “Mela” (fair) is an event conducted in the school where children either bring something that was grown in their farms, something that they made or something that they would like to sell to the students and teachers and create a market set up at the school. This encourages students to be creative and also encourages students to actively participate in understanding sales and the functioning of a market. Some children jump up with excitement ready to sell what they have grown, made, or bought, whereas the other students and teachers impatiently wait to buy something new.
Other activities that were conducted were races, cooking traditional food, games etc.
Uday's own kitchen garden
Yes, that’s right. We have 2 new kitchen gardens at the Fariya Uday Community School. The children created the garden with the assistance of the teacher. The plants were chosen on the basis of what is locally grown. Therefore by choosing the local plants the students could relate it to what is grown at home and also understand that the crops are chosen based on the weather condition, nutrients in the soil, water availability etc.
Each plant is planted in a linear manner and are labeled with names from 4 languages: The local language, Hindi, English and the scientific name
The students are responsible for the plants and therefore ensure to take good care of it by watering them, removing the weed and waiting with excitement for any produce.
Beginning where it all began
Our newly made theater group began their work where Gramin Shiksha Kendra began. As the Uday Community School Jaganpura was the first school that was created and the first outreach program of Gramin Shiksha Kendra , the theater group thought that it was only appropriate to begin their interaction from the origin. The theater group has been preparing for the past month and has taken the first step on implementation of their training. They created interactive activities to include the participation of the students as well as the teachers. The activities included exercises, singing songs together and many games. These activities are specifically designed to remove the feeling of hesitation, shyness and helps in increasing confidence, creativity and togetherness. They also tried out activities to show the importance of teamwork and working in harmony. The initiation was ended with loud singing facilitated with active actions and gestures.
Many victories achieved and many more to come
The sports team that includes some graduates from the Uday Community Schools and some students from the school cease to surprise us. The sports team continue to cross many finish lines and inspire us to do more. I am very happy to inform all of you that once again the Umang students and students from the school have won a few more medals at the Student Olympic National Game in athletics. They have won both Silver and Bronze medals in 200m and 100m Running race. Both girls and boys equally represent the school and win.
The sports team continues their hard work by starting their day early by coming to the ground at 5 in the morning even during these cold winters to ensure continuous practice. Their determination is beyond compare and inspiring for other students and teachers.
The journey continues with multiple challenges, events and hurdles. With every step we hope to create a better present for a better future and we are thankful for all the support and encouragement. We could not have continued without the contribution and support that we receive from each one of you and we are very thankful for the same.
Education that celebrates children
Team
Gramin Shiksha Kendra
Links:
Project with Bhasha - A study on 'Denotified and Nomadic Tribes’
Bhasha is a Gujarat based organization, which has been working in language, arts, culture, education and social harmony.
Gramin Shiksha Kendra in cooperation with Bhasha is doing a study to capture the status and life conditions of Denotified Communities across Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. The study is trying to cover the community’s pre-colonial identity, status and occupation and historical transition of the community from ‘community’ to ‘criminal tribe’ to ‘Denotified tribe’. The entire study is aimed to contribute to Recommendations for the future development of these communities. These recommendations would be in the nature of advocacy, sensitization, skill development and resource mobilization. As it’s a long project, we will keep sharing with you the status on the developments in the Project monthly.
Planting trees on school campus:
Summers' gone by. But we obviously need shade to cool down the hot recreation spaces for another year and many more to come.
Our children serve as the primary planters every year which allows them to take ownership of the project and responsibility for the trees and the environment around. This also helps in the aesthetic appearance of the ground and creates outdoor space that can always be used as a teaching tool. In this process of planting, children learn the different species of trees and their value by taking the sense of ownership and responsibility. Though plants stay silent while growing up but they teach us to nurture and stay rooted. Isn't it?
A learning trip of children and teachers:
The path was rugged, narrow and everyone had to watch each step of theirs. With heavy showers in the region from past week, it was late afternoon, and the Uday Paathshala children and teachers went to watch an ongoing affair in the paddy fields. The flooded parcel of arable land was being prepared for the growing season.
While the farmers exhibited their intelligences in logic, aesthetics, and intrapersonal areas, the children would match this real life, meaningful and experience from the field with their subjects.
Fellowship with Jana Sanskriti on Forum Theater
Jana Sanskriti Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed is a Kolkata based largest and longest forum theatre operation that works towards creating a strong community of active and responsible citizens.
Gramin Shiksha Kendra in collaboration with Jana Sanskriti have partnered with a yearlong fellowship. This fellowship is an attempt to take the theatre to the margins.
Our Community leader, Punyaram Gurjar, was selected for this year long fellowship.
Since, Gramin Shiksha Kendra have always worked in close proximity with the community, the learnings and understanding from this fellowship, will help the fellow in looking at reality in an objective manner, in trying to understand and analyze the reasons for every small experience of oppression in one’s life. His experiences from the fellowship shall help in forming agile and active groups in the community and catalyse the scope for introspection and discovery in individuals and society as a whole. As it’s a long year fellowship, we will keep sharing with you the status on the developments monthly.
Publications:
A strong commitment to building healthy and resilient communities.
Dip into on what our Co-founder, Sachin Sachdeva, has to say on supporting community and having a social dialogue with them.
India Development Review: https://idronline.org/rural-education-moving-past-poor-solutions-for-poor-people/?fbclid=IwAR3WSegFeCRaeR6JwmDxrlUjcAkfWfWY3FnKN3QtBxz_HrBpYGfmbqrbeHU
Learning Curve is a publication on Education from Azim Premji University. The approach here is a balance between being an ‘academic’ and ‘practitioner’.
In their recent issue “Textbooks”, the English Programme team of Gramin Shiksha Kendra talks about their experience in making and putting into practice a language teaching programme in the periphery of Ranthambore National Park.
We are thankful to our teachers, the academic facilitators and to the team of Gramin Shiksha Kendra.
Give a read to the article from the below shared link (Page 34 – Page 38).
LearningCurve:https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/pdf/Publications/Learning-Curve/Learning-Curve-Issue-3-2019-low-res.pdf
Computer Education
The computer education program has helped in bridging the digital divide in students and teachers and is directed towards being literate. Both students and teachers are in the process of enabling themselves in using windows paint program, doing typing in Hindi and English, using basic features of applications such as – Microsoft Word and Excel, and making use of the internet facilities. The program is not only helping to explore creativity and imagination but is also helping to understand technology. Recently, 25 children of Uday Community School, Fariya completed a one year of Basic Certification Program in Microsoft Paint offered by the organization “Computer Shiksha”.
A lived experience:
When the floodgates of emotions are open and children learn to express these emotions. An incident shared by our Pre-Primary teacher Sapna.
It was time for the morning assembly. All the children formed a circle in the classroom and started to sing. Because it was summer time, the fans were also turned on. Suddenly, a bird collided with the fan and came near the teacher and fell. When she raised the bird in her hands, all the children came to see the bird. Seeing the bird unconscious, some children ran and brought water in their palm and started pouring water on the bird. On the other hand, some children were staring at the bird from a distance. The children and the teacher together decided to place the bird at a safe place. They kept the bird near a window pane. The bird when came in her senses, flew away and went into its nest. She was still looking at all of us with panic and we were all looking at her in anticipation.
Vistaar (STEAM)
Guiding student’s enquiry, dialogue and Critical Thinking. We are currently working with 18 Government schools to improve the levels of understanding in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Arts.
The difference a functional School Library can make:
Though government schools have libraries, books in many of them have remained under lock and key only. We find that the books are gathering dust behind the dirt-tainted, wood-and-glass almirahs of government school libraries. Recently, with the support of Government School Head Teachers and teachers, we are now trying to reach the books to the hands of the students. Encouraging children to read books will not only inculcate the habit of reading and acquaint them with good literature, but also stimulate their thinking power, which would widen the perspective in the future.
Student Parliament:
Who better than defining the criteria relating to the governance of the school?
It is that time of the year, where the school collectively elects the student body. Such mechanisms allow students to have a say in the running of their school and help them to learn about democratic processes.
In Uday Schools, the student’s body addresses the concerns that students may have, any changes they may want to initiate. This is an exciting space where all topics are discussed, dissension is registered and decisions are made. The children collectively participated in the process fairly and transparently way with complete enthusiasm and confidence.
Teachers Day
Our beloved teachers are our greatest assets as they always dedicate their heart and soul to imparting education and open the doors of knowledge and life. Every teacher contributes to a child’s life in more than one way. Anything said or done in their praise is dwarfed in front of what they have done for the organisation. We celebrated this day with our teachers by having a get-together. We also tried to bring a smile on their face by gifting them a reflection of our gratitude.
The room busted into the celebration!
On a blazing heated afternoon, in the wake of school hours, all the teachers were engaged in planning for their next day. Suddenly the Sports Teacher's mobile chimed. The teacher briskly picked up the phone. Yes. It was not an ordinary phone call, but a joyous message about the success of a child's unbroken strife in life and the realization of a teacher's hope. The call was from the Sports Coach of the Bikaner Sports Academy. The coach shared that one of our students, Ashok Nayak, had been selected for the academy. The room busted into a celebration.
Ashok is a first-generation school learner from the Bhopa community. The primary source of livelihood for Bhopas is the trading of cattle to other towns and cities. Seasonal migration is quite often in Raekheda- a hamlet where nearly 50-60 Bhopas' households are settled. The members of the community are landless and live in makeshift temporary mud houses. The social and economic condition of the community results in child labor and marriages at a very young age. Education was a very absurd notion for the community.
Ashok was an earnest hardworking alumnus from Uday Community School - Fariya. He had always excelled at sports from an early age, particularly in Kho-Kho. He graduated from Uday School in 2017-18 and currently pursuing 10th grade in a nearby government school. While he was studying at Uday School, Ashok has also participated in the State level Kho-Kho competition.
Ashok was expected to be present at the academy on very short notice. He was expected to carry all the essential documents and submit an admission fee of Rs.3000. After the call, the sports teacher along with the school team leader did not waste any time sharing the message with Ashok and his parents. The parents and Ashok heaved a sigh of relief, feeling content. Their beaming faces were witness to the success which was the result of their life struggle. They couldn’t ask for more. “What you have done for us, we shall not forget it for life." – said Ashok’s Mother.
As the teachers mentioned the submission of the admission fee, their celebration was turned into silence. It seemed as if, the teachers had asked away their joy. A worried Ashok’s father asked: "Where shall I arrange such a big amount at such short notice?" Ashok's mother added that even she didn't have any ornaments to sell or pawn for money. Disappointed Ashok replied grimly: "My parents do not have much money and it is impossible for us to arrange such a big amount. If you could help arrange it from somewhere, we will return it as soon as we can.
There seemed to be no way out and even the teachers felt helpless. But with the kind of opportunity in hand, and knowing that Ashok was a hardworking and promising child, no one wanted to miss this opportunity. Finally, the community members and the school team collectively generate the required support and help for Ashok.
Ashok is now in Bikaner enrolled in the Sports Academy and paving way for other children from he Bhopa community to choose Sports as one of the career prospects.
Action Research with NCERT
With a progression from last years’ experience, we are excited to share GSK's participation in the NCERT program titled "Researching English language classroom with the teacher". This program aims at involving the teachers in action research in their classroom on a day-to-day basis, thereby encouraging participation and enhancing learning in a school’s context. Our English Language Team collectively worked on small scale research which was perfect to start small and was a great learning experience. During the research, our teachers found out that by applying simple yet effective techniques such as labeling the classroom objects/spaces and asking the students to respond, a dull classroom can be transformed into a lively space!!
Rethinking Education in the Age of Computers:
The computer education program in Uday Community Schools is helping in bridging the digital divide in students and teachers and is directed towards being computer literate. Both students and teachers are in the process of enabling themselves in using windows paint, doing typing in Hindi and English, using basic features of applications such as - Microsoft Word and Excel, and making use of the internet facilities. The program is not only helping to explore creativity and imagination but is also helping to understand technology.
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