Educate One Girl for One Month in Rural India

KALIYACHAK KANYA SHIKSHA SETU

The Kaliyachak Learning Centre for Girls operates on the premises of Samaj Kalyan Mandal, a community-based organization and a long-term partner of FORRAD’s. The centre has classes from Standard 1 – 6 and runs 6 days a week from 6.30 am to 8.45 am after which the girls return to their chores at home or attend the government day school in the village.

THE SCHOOL IS NOW A LEARNING CENTRE

The year began with the decision to convert the school to a Learning Centre. This was done for several reasons:

All the girls coming here are now enrolled, and most are attending, classes in the government schools.

While their enrollment in the state school is essential and desirable and will help them with their future, the need for our centre however, continues, as the education provided by the schools is as yet inadequate, and most students attending the Centre have not attained learning levels commensurate with their age.

Most students of the centre are first generation literate and do not have an environment that facilitates learning at home. The centre provides a space to prepare them and their parents for school.

STUDENT STRENGTH

The Centre continues to have 141 girls on its rolls. And 24 older girls and young women are participating in the 6 momth training program learning to sew.

ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR

The priority this year was to consolidate the learnings from the workshops conducted for the teachers in the previous year. The teachers were encouraged to make learning more child-centric, interactive and fun. Saturdays are now spent entirely for extracurricular activities. Children do art and craft, enact scenes from their books and play games.

The distribution of nutritious snacks daily. The provision of the snacks encourages the parents to send the girls regularly to the centre. Significantly, the nutrition provided to the girls has helped them achieve parameters of height and weight as per their age. A recent malnutrition assessment of 45 children conducted by FORRAD in the hamlet of Saristabad showed normal readings only for 5 children, 2 who were being breastfed, and 3 who come to our learning centre.

Coordination from the Delhi office. Regular video calls have helped in monitoring the various activities at the centre. The calls have helped identify areas of concern, where teachers themselves require assistance in improving their classes.

Acquiring soft skills. The students attending the centre are first generation learners, and their parents are unable to help them prepare for school. Over time the students have learned to groom themselves for school, be punctual, participate in group events, greet their teachers and acquire similar social skills that will prepare them for more formal environments.

Parent – Teacher meetings. Meetings with guardians are held once in two months and these meetings have helped convey the importance of girl education. It is a platform to discuss the value of encouraging the children to read, do homework, be regular and consistent with their studies. The teachers ask the parents to be more involved in their children’s education and take more responsibility towards their grooming and nutrition.

Children’s day celebrations. 14 November this year had the teachers performing two skits for the children. This was different for both the children and the teachers. The girls were thrilled to see their teachers perform on stage and are now looking forward to enacting short plays in the coming year. The teachers too learned to get over their inhibitions and perform. It became a learning experience for all and an enjoyable one too!

TAILORING CLASSES

The sewing class continues to be very popular with girls and young women of the community. Many more women from the surrounding villages have registered for the class. A new sewing machine was added to the existing machines as more students needed to practice on the machines.

The course lasts 6 months, where each student learns to make everyday items of clothing for women, men and children.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

The school has had a productive and intense year where the aim was to ensure that the teachers were more focused by preparing schedules in advance and adhering to the curriculum. In the coming year we look forward to improving academic performance of all children, and we will concentrate our efforts and focus our work to this end.

The school has had a productive and intense year where the aim was to ensure that the teachers were more focused by preparing schedules in advance and adhering to the curriculum. In the coming year we look forward to improving academic performance of all children, and we will concentrate our efforts and focus our work to this end.

Thank you very much for your solidarity and support. None of this would have been possible without you.

Please click the links below for the full report and for our three year plan for the Centre.

Links:

• www.forrad.org

• Kaliyachak Shiksha Setu December 2023 (PDF)
  
• Kaliyachak Learning Centre - Three Year Plan (PDF)