Home | About us |Our Supporters| Contact Us | How can I help| Publications | Sadhna
 
    Education    
 




Seva Mandir started its interventions with Adult Literacy Programme in late 60s. However, overtime Seva Mandir’s interventions became more integrated and comprehensive. Within the Education Programme, the focus shifted to children’s education, especially since there were a large no. of children who were deprived of schooling.
   

The objectives of the Education Program are:

 
Ensure quality education to enable children in the age group of 6–14 years who are deprived of education to read and write independently with comprehension.
To enable communities through these interventions on quality education to experience an alternative and meaningful education.
    To work proactively towards enabling communities to demand quality education from the government.  

The Education Program works along 3 lines:		  
1. Children’s Education    
2. Youth Education  
3. Continuing Education  
1. For Child Education, there are 3 programs:
Non Formal Education Centres
Literacy Camps  
Educational intervention in Urban Slums  
Non Formal Education Centres :

NFE centres are usually run in those areas where no other school facilities are easily accessible and for those sections of society who are unable to participate in the formal schooling system for one reason or another. Local and trained teachers help the children to acquire basic numeric and literacy skills, up to a standard equivalent to class 3 in government schools.

Through its 171 Non-Formal Education (NFE) centres, Seva Mandir reached out to 4,396 children in the age-group 6 to 14, the majority of whom are from the poorest sections of society. 		 
Bal Melas
   

Bal Melas are also organised under the children’s component of the education programme to (i) provide children with a break from their routine life and give them a chance to interact with outsiders including other children and other villagers; (ii) provide the children with an opportunity to engage in various creative activities, thereby further contributing to their overall development; (iii) provide an opportunity for the host village to get together and strengthen solidarity; and (iv) provide Seva Mandir with an opportunity to interact with the entire village and have discussions on children’s issues. This year, it is estimated that more than 1359 children participated in Bal Melas across the blocks (including urban block). Participation of the villagers was also high in terms of contributions – including both financial and logistical support, and the provision of food.
  
Learning Camps

To reach out to those children who are not able to regularly attend a school or NFE, Seva Mandir organises residential learning camps. During the course of the year, 3 camps were conducted in which a total of 448 children participated. It is taken as a positive sign that after attending the camps children have gained confidence and decided to go to school.
 
Urban Slums

Seva Mandir has been working in the urban slums of Udaipur for several years. However, concentrated work has only been initiated in the last three years and, even today, Seva Mandir is still in the process of refining its strategy. The work on education has two primary components – the Bal Samuh and the Bal Shramik Schools.

10 Bal Samuhs are being run for 209 children to help students complete their homework, to improve their educational status and to keep them involved in studies so that lagging behind or low attainment doesn’t lead to them getting pushed out. Since the Bal Samuhs are only run for two hours every day, not much can be covered beyond homework. Parents contribute a monthly fee ranging from Rs.5 to Rs.10 for each child enrolled in the Bal Samuhs.

In collaboration with the Labour Ministry (GoI) and the Udaipur Child Labour Project Society, Seva Mandir runs two Bal Shramik Schools in Govardhan Vilas and Mullatalai, with 50 children enrolled in each. Activities undertaken through these schools, in addition to providing basic education, include providing meals to children, teaching children to make paper bags, and conducting health examinations of all the children. Any child diagnosed as suffering from a disease is referred to a Government hospital. If additional assistance is required, the Child Line (an emergency hotline for children in need) team provides the required support

 
2. Youth Education      
Those falling in the age group of 14 –30 are defined as Youth, particularly those falling in lower half age group. This age group faces multiple pressures both economically and socially. To involve this segment with Education, Seva Mandir runs Youth Centers and Residential Camps at which key issues are addressed as well efforts are are made to equip the participants with functional literacy.
  
  Youth literacy camps      
 

This year, three residential literacy camps were conducted for rural youth in which a total of 79 people (including youth, SHG members, paraworkers and GVC members) participated, with 23 people coming for two camps.
 
Youth Resource Centers    
 

Seva Mandir’s experience over the last few years, has revealed that the literacy camps are not interesting enough for the youth as stand-alone activities. Hence work was initiated on the idea of a YRC. Work with youth has been started in three villages (Saru, Madri, Delwara) and initial steps have been made in three more villages (Kagmandada, Baleecha and Sada). YRCs are envisaged as providing a forum for the youth to come together and interact with each other, thereby encouraging and enabling a continuous dialogue and interaction with and between the youth. The idea is to use this platform to create a mass of young adults who are able to engage with the modern world in a responsible way. A variety of activities have been considered for the YRCs to achieve these objectives including dissemination of information, providing support and training to the youth, etc. also to provide a way of integrating all the development interventions on a common platform and to ensure continuity. The work has been carried out by a team composed of both Seva Mandir staff and volunteers.
  
3. Continuing Education Programme  
     

As the name indicates, the main aim is to keep the link of village people with education continued. Libraries are used as a means for same. At present, there are 44 libraries being run in rural areas to provide the local communities with access to a variety of relevant reading materials. The idea behind this is to provide continued support to literate people and to ensure that there is scope for tapping into the benefits of being literate. Libraries are used primarily by students from NFEs.