Education India Project #1877

Send a Child in India to School for a Year

by Seva Mandir

Send a Child in India to School for a Year

Project Report | Sep 26, 2012
Seva Mandir and Right to Education Act.

By Deepti Ameta | Program In charge of Resource Mobilization

Children enrolled in our Rural Schools!

We would like to thank you for your support during the Photo Contest 2012. Our photo came 3^rd out of 69 entries and we are truly grateful for all your help. Below this letter, we have attached the annual report for our project so that you are able to see how exactly your donations are creating real change.

This year…

11 new Rural Schools (Shiksha Kendras) opened across Rajasthan. Our total schools now stands at 178, reaching 5,861 children, 43% of which are girls, in the five rural blocks in which Seva Mandir works.
20% of students scored level 3 in their end of year exams, compared to the 10% that achieved this in 2010.
24 newly employed teachers attended 6-day initial training sessions, and 84 existing teachers participated in advanced training.
36 teacher meetings were attended where instructors are able to discuss and find solutions to classroom difficulties.
Parent teacher meetings are encouraging local attitudes to turn towards and accept the importance of education for rural children.
English Language Teaching is to be brought in all the five blocks. Local teachers have decided that this will strengthen both child and teacher capacity.
First Aid Kits have been brought to Shiksha Kendras in one of the blocks.
Bal Melas children’s fairs have been reaching hundreds of children across Girwa Block.

Across rural Rajasthan, children attending Shiksha Kendras are achieving higher learning outcomes than those in regular government funded schools. However, their future existence is currently under threat, due to the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) 2009.

The RTE Act prescribes a set of criteria for all educational institutions in India, aimed to promote qualified teachers and decent learning facilities for children. However, their measures are strictly related to human and physical infrastructure instead of learning outcomes. For example, a school under the RTE Act must have rooms of a specific size, running water, toilets and teachers with certain qualifications and salaries.

Although the act aims to inspire rights, in the context of rural Udaipur, there is an enormous shortage of qualified teachers. Teacher absenteeism is also high in most government schools, but these ground issues are not being tackled by the government. Instead, the act simply outlaws informal education centres such as Rural Schools, essentially limiting and removing people’s choices and ability to advocate their children’s education.

In response to this, Seva Mandir is undergoing great efforts to prove to the government that there is an urgent need for non-formal education, at least until official institutions are capable of delivering quality teaching. The following annual report displays the progress we’ve made this year and hence, the reasons why you should continue to support us in facing this challenge.

We hope you enjoyed reading this feedback. Please do share your thoughts on it.

With warm regards,

Deepti

Attachments:

Annual Report, 2012 (DOCX)

2 Attachments

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Aug 3, 2012
Help us winning the Photo Contest with 3 Clicks

By Deepti Ameta | Program In charge of Resource Mobilization

We would like to thank you once again for your continuing support and faith in our work! Your valuable donations have been crucial in helping us make a great difference in people’s lives here in Rajasthan.

We are thrilled to announce that one of our photos has been selected to feature in the Photo Contest 2012 organized by Global Giving. Voting began on August 1, 2012 and will end on August 15, 2012.

Why we want you to Vote for our Photo:

We believe the photo captures the pure spirit of the project ‘Send a Child in India to School for a Year’, and reflects the possibilities that lie ahead. With 3 Clicks, you can help us to win the Photo Contest and the Bonus Cash Prize of $1,000!

How 3 Clicks will Help:

First Click - to vote for our photo following this link http://www.globalgiving.org/poll/vote/?pollOptionId=19,
Second Click- to confirm your vote via an email sent to you in your inbox,
Third Click- to share the beautiful image among your friends, family and networks to spread the word. If you share this with just five people, we most definitely have good chance of success!

Why this Project:

Children (6-14 years old) in villages of Udaipur, India lack access to quality education for a number of reasons. In some cases they belong to very poor families whose per capita consumption is a little more than Rs. 500/-. Often these children support their family incomes by either working as laborers or performing household chores or looking after younger siblings.

With your vote to this project, the Bonus Cash Prize will help us fund an entire rural school to provide quality education to 25 out-of-school and working children for a year. To learn more about one of our schools, please see the enclosed photo story.

With you at our side, our work is made a little less difficult, and our efforts stretch a whole lot further. We therefore, invite you to support us with 3 clicks. Please share your thoughts on this report.

With many thanks,

Your friends at Seva Mandir

Attachments:

Photo Story (PDF)

1 Attachment

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Jun 12, 2012
Your support is creating demand for quality education in India

By Deepti Ameta | Program In charge of Resource Mobilization

Child studying in school

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your overwhelming support to our project ‘Send a Child in India to School for a Year’. With your help, this year we reached out to 5,861 rural, tribal and out of school children through our 178 schools. The main objectives behind running these schools are:

To ensure quality education to children of marginalized communities, in the age group of 6 to 14 years, deprived of education. A focused effort is made to help these children to read comprehensively and write independently.
Provide these children with a strong educational foundation, in order to prepare them for enrollment in regular government schools and also improve retention rates.
Through these interventions on quality education, we enable communities to experience and demand an alternative and meaningful education.

We would like to share that on June 13, 2012 - Bonus Day, all your donations made to our project ‘Send a child to School for a year’ will be matched by 40%. We hope you will join us this Wednesday and support the education of children by donating and spreading the word among friends groups and network.

Below this letter, I share a story from Ranakhera fala, which illustrates a newfound appreciation and demand for quality education at the community level.

Your contribution will help in sustaining the education of rural, tribal and out of school children of India. We look forward to fostering this relationship in the future.

Warm Regards,

Deepti

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Ranakhera fala is a small hamlet of Talai Village located in the Jhadol block. In 2007-08, the village was divided into two parts by a man made pond created as a result of a government project, ‘Mansi Wakal.” As a result of this new division, the only remaining path to reach Ranakhera fala involved crossing the dangerous pond. Also, this division isolated this hamlet from both schools and shops.

Villagers of Ranakhara hamlet became concerned about the education of their children. Hence, they conducted a meeting and approached Seva Mandir to start a school (Shiksha Kendra) in their hamlet.

Sensing a critical demand for a school from villagers, Seva Mandir responded by opening a school in June 2009. A rural teacher recommended by the villagers was appointed and during the first year, 35 students were enrolled. After graduating from this school, 20 students were admitted in government schools to continue their higher studies. Currently, 28 students are enrolled in this school.

In addition to regular classroom activities, events like Makar Sakranti, Independence Day, and Republic Day are celebrated in school with enthusiasm. Such events inspire villagers to send their children to school, as they want them to experience both cultural and educational activities.

Mr. Feroz, the education in-charge of Jhadol block said, ‘this centre became so famous for its quality of education that children from other parts of villages started coming to this centre by crossing the water pool. We intervened in this practice, as there were higher chances of water accident and requested parents to send their children to near-by schools only’.

Links:

Know more about our Education program

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