Seva Mandir is participating in India’s Giving Challenge 2011. We are championing our rural school for this project. Our target is to raise at least 5 lacs during this challenge. There is a also a matching grant of 65 Lac rupees, if we win the challenge. You will also be able to read periodic latest updates/ stories /articles on the program you are supporting.
The following article will tell you more about the rural schools and how can you help children of Udaipur to win the education.
Introduction:
Education has been one of the core programs of Seva Mandir since its inception. With the passage of time the strategies and pedagogy has been developed and modified whenever and wherever needed. Rural Schools are single teachers-schools catering to 25-30 rural children (6-14 years of age). The teachers belong to the same village and have a desire to help his/her village children with education. At present 188 Rural Schools (also known as Shiksha Kendra) are running in 186 villages which are reaching out to 5,694 students. Every year more than 1,000 new students are enrolled and over 800 children graduate from these schools and join Government schools.
Enrollment & Classroom structure:
At the time of enrollment children are graded into three groups viz A, B, & C, according to their learning levels. The highest level is A, after completing this level they graduate from Rural Schools. The C level is for the beginners. The children are taught Hindi (language) and Maths. In addition, they are also taught Science and Environment in a way that children can relate to with their practical knowledge. Recently the children are also taught English. There are group activities, worksheets, flash cards, story books, posters, charts and outdoor activities that make classroom learning interesting and joyful. These activities encourage children to think and reason on their own.
The instructors often have schooling till 8th or 10th standard. They receive several rounds of trainings to engage with children of different learning levels in the same classroom. The trainings also strengthen their conceptual understanding of the subjects they teach (math and language). Building their capacities allow them to design the classroom more context-oriented, child centered and interesting. Currently there are 200 teachers in these 188 schools. A few rural schools have more than one teacher where the enrollment is beyond 25 children in one school. Visit a one-minute video to see a rural school.
Impact:
Every year more than 840-850 students graduate from our school and take admission in government schools for higher studies. Studies have shown that these children outperform over other children who have not been to rural schools in the past. On an average a child attends rural school for 3 years and after graduation they often are admitted to class 6 in government schools. A study done recently has indicated that 87.5% children were still found in government schools who have graduated from these rural schools in the past. This is a significant impact as most of these children otherwise drop out early from schools due to non comprehension.
In many cases the local communities have demanded for quality education from the government schools. It is largely due to the fact that these communities have experienced the quality education in rural schools. Watch another video of one of these schools
How you can help:
It costs Rs 2000 ($ 44) to send one child to rural school for a year. The opportunity of reaching to these children for you is tenfold at the moment. For, Seva Mandir is participating in an online fundraising challenge – “India Giving Challenge, 2011” starting from 6th September to 20th October 2011. There is also a chance to win a matching grant of Rs 65 lacs ($141,304) if we receive most donations with most number of unique donors.
We encourage you to support rural children of Udaipur so that they win this challenge. The minimum amount we are requesting is 400/- that enables a child to attend school for 66 days. You can donate us by a
Ø Debit or credit card or
Ø Net banking or
Ø Demand draft/cheque favoring Give India.
Please click on to our iGive page.
You will get tax benefits for your donation if you are a citizen of India/UK/USA. For any assistance and details please write to Khushboo at rmu@sevamandir.org
Keep visiting this page for periodic updates about the challenge and the program you are supporting.
The occasion was graced by our Chief Guest Ms. Joelle, Regional English Language Officer of the American Center, Ms. Neelima Khetan, one of the trustees and Ms. Priyanka Singh, Chief Executive of Seva Mandir. All the teachers, colleagues from Seva Mandir and Vidya Bhawan had participated in the ceremony.
Before three years, her days would be spent in helping her mother in the household chores. Besides this, she would take care of her newly born younger brother and would also assist her father in farming. In the afternoon she would hear noise of children rushing to home after attending the rural school. While listening to those sounds Jasmine would wonder if she could also go to school and learn things she can only dream about. 