Educate 300 marginalised children in Bihar, India

Greetings from Diksha!

As part of the effort to contain COVID-19 spread, all the public spaces such as schools, offices, universities, educational institutions had to close down to prevent everyone from the hazardous effects of the disease. Taking the government protocols and COVID-19 safety measures we had to shut down the KHEL centers, during the quarter of April to June we engaged in different activities of the KHEL project and in order to stay connected with our students.

Major Activities –

The major activities that took place in this quarter are as follows:

• TELE-COUNSELLING-

Further, it was getting incredibly difficult for us to stay in connection with our students as we had to close our center due to government regulations. Thus, to remedy the situation we started the facility of tele-counselling whereby children could discuss their situations. During these sessions, we got to understand their financial problems as their parents had lost their livelihoods, due to lack of smart phones digital divide is being created.

• RELIEF WORK-

Under our relief work we provided relief kits including nutritional kits and medicine kits to our students along with distribution of ration in the later stage, by far we have provided these relief materials to 250 students of our center.

• FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO THE PARENTS OF OUR STUDENTS

COVID-19 has resulted in loss of livelihood opportunities especially with the daily wage earners, in order to support our students and their parents financially, we are providing them with grant amount in order to start new business opportunities or to expand their existing business which we help them in sustaining financially also will build a strong relation with our students.

• ENGLISH ACCESS MICRSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM-

Under this program the students are being trained and groomed by facilitators on different areas of studies that will help them in becoming a global citizen, in this quarter the students learnt about 21^st century skills, Official Communication- IT and computer skills-email etiquette, and pride month.

• LIBRARY AT YOUR DOORSTEP-

Since many of our students don’t have access to digital mode of learning, we brought learning to their doorstep by providing books from our library and helping them stay connected to academia and work on their communication skills.

• DISTRIBUTION OF STATIONERY ITEMS-

We even distributed stationery items to all our girl students of KHEL center, to motivate them and keep them connected to the fun and learning process.

Volunteer Activities –

During this quarter our volunteers even helped us with tele-counselling and keeping a check over students mental health as well as their family conditions and issues/challenges they have been going through, apart from the same they even actively participated in the process of relief work by volunteering in the distribution process as well.

Future Plans –

• TELE-LEARNING-

Through Tata-tele conferencing we will help in bridging the digital divide for our students and help them with their studies, it can be access by everyone with or without internet and also smart phone is not mandatory for it.

• VOCATIONAL TRAINING-

Taking into account the government guidelines and protocols we will re-starting our vocational course training for the elder students by maintain proper distance and also will take consent from the students before beginning the in-person sessions.

• RE-OPENING OF CENTERS-

With decrease in case and government guidelines we will soon re-open our center for the elder students in batches, so that there is minimum gathering and get started with their academia and supplementary classes

• SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH HIGHER EDUCATION-

Through one of our project one of our donors is willing to support around 7-10 students who are financially weak but are focused and dedicated towards their studies and future, by taking charge of their higher education, from preparing them for interested course to college fees to other requirements

Dear Well wishers,

A very happy and healthy New Year!

We hope that we find a solution and cure for COVID -19 this year.

We are grateful for your kind support to us throughout these years. It has been an insightful journey and we have learnt a lot while on it. 

This quarter began with the celebration of Makar Sakranti at Patna KHEL Center. Students joined the festivities with great enthusiasm to celebrate the beginning of a new year with the hope that they would soon be able to join classes in the normal manner. We are trying to open our KHEL Centers now with minimal physical presence while ensuring all the safety precautions. 

We also celebrated Independence Day on 26th January. The students participated in various dance, drama, songs, debate and quiz competitions to expand their knowledge while also teaching us about India and their futuristic mission and goals for the nation. 

The students participated in huge numbers for “Kabaad se Jugaad”- Art and Craft Exhibition. They showcased their creativity through various products that they had designed. It brought forth their talent while also bringing us all together in the lively KHEL spirit. 

We are currently trying to engage students virtually for our English Access Microscholarship Program. We were hoping to start offline classes, however, could not proceed with the same in order to ensure safety precautions against COVID-19. We are trying to open our KHEL doors for our senior students in order to help them with their upcoming board exams. 

Major Activities:-

We have started to enroll students for our vocational learning course of Diploma in Computer Applications for girl students. 

Plan Ahead:-

We are hoping to start in person classes for all batches from April while ensuring safety precautions. In further news, We hope to start Access classes in offline mode in 2 separate cohorts. 

We are also planning on starting afresh with Jagrik, the civic education program in a small cohort. In the coming quarters, we are trying to strengthen our digital library to inculcate in our students reading culture.