Awareness
Upgradation of School Infrastructure
As per Department of Economic and Social Affairs, additional 101 million children have fallen below minimum reading proficiency levels in 2020. COVID-19 has wiped out 20 years of education gains. Hence, our commitment towards quality education and better learning becomes more significant.
Himachal Pradesh has created a strong network of schools and is rated among top states in education but the state is grappling with problems of poor learning levels, falling enrolment in government schools, shortage of staff and inadequate infrastructure. According to an answer tabled in Himachal assembly in Winter Session, 2019; More than 300 schools in the state have no electricity facility. Some have no toilets and rooms while some schools are running without a building. On ground survey by our team identified following major infrastructure gaps in the Government schools of Hamirpur district:
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TOILETS
- School Staff using the same toilet as
students. - Boys relieving themselves in the open.
- Absence of partitions in Girl’s Toilet.
- Inappropriate ventilation in the toilets.
- No bins/facility for disposing of the
sanitary waste. - Lack of space in the Girls toilet for placing the incinerators.
- Absence of privacy in accessing the toilets.
- Inadequate number of toilets for given school strengths.
- Low hygiene standards.
ROOMS & INFRASTRUCTURE
- Rooms that are declared unsafe limit the number of classrooms and laboratories.
- Dilapidated roof structures.
- Dismaying walls.
- Dearth of computers.
- Limited benches.
- Absence of shed in corridors and staircases.
- Inadequate equipment in laboratories.
PLAYGROUNDS
- Separated from the main school premises.
- Absence of boundary walls.
- Limited space.
- Unfriendly courts/facility.
- Outdated equipment.
REDEVELOPED CLASSROOMS
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REDEVELOPED LABORATORIES
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PROVISION OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER
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REDEVELOPED TOILETS
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EK SE Sreshtha
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Education is a key parameter for sustainable rural development, since, education leads to continuous transformation, culminating in positive social change that evolves over a period of time. The Constitution of India declares, elementary education to be a fundamental right for children of the age group of 6-14 years. In order to meet the demands of the growing population, India has about 6,88,000 primary schools and 1,00,000 secondary schools. But with challenges of scale, the government has its own limitations in terms of budget and infrastructure. Moreover, there are inherent challenges like bandwidth of teachers to accommodate all the students and external factors like financial stability of the families.
India is a diverse country, in terms of culture and also with its geographic realms varying from the islands to the mountains. With abundant rivers, mountains and forests, geography has always added to the challenges of development and welfare. In the hilly areas, the villages are small and scattered. Under such circumstances, to expect successful delivery of quality education, relying only on the government machinery is not fair. Therefore, all the stakeholders of the society like non-profits, entrepreneurs, firms, volunteers etc. need to join hands to ensure equitable access to education.
Early Childhood is a period where brain development is at its peak. Fostering the right developmental abilities in children at this crucial stage has been closely associated with improved outcomes, such as better preparedness for school, enhanced retention and fewer behavioral problems.
Since, primary education is considered as the spring board for latter education, ultimately playing a key role in determining the social and financial profile of a region, ‘Act To Transform’s Rurban Mission would have been incomplete without focusing on the foundational education of kids in the region.
Therefore, in October 2021, we started supporting the foundational knowledge of students with our volunteers conducting evening classes in the panchayats. When the pilot program in the initial 5 panchayats became successful with improved learning levels of students and satisfaction levels of parents, we launched our evening classes program – ‘Ek Se Sreshtha’.
As of now, we are teaching 1500+ students for free in 83 different panchayats of district Hamirpur of Himachal. At all these panchayat-level centers we provide students with:
- White Board
- Chairs
- Floor Mats
- Stationary
- Learning Charts
- Reading Books
- Toys
- Attendance Register
- Teacher’s Diary
WORKSHOP ON YOUTH LEADERSHIP & LIFE SKILLS
In this direction, a workshop on ‘Youth Leadership and People Skills’ was organized in Gautum Girls College, Hamirpur. It was piloted by Prof. Vinay Trivedi (Coordinator, Environment Sanitation Institute). Students were counselled on various youth issues like drug abuse, emotional intelligence and leadership. They were made to introspect and discover the warmth of our relationships with parents, teachers, friends and the society.
The objective behind organizing this workshop is aligned with the objectives of National Youth Policy 2014 –
- Develop a strong and healthy generation equipped to take on future challenges.
- Instill social values and promote community service to strengthen nationalism in the country.
- All round development of youth and adolescents enabling them to shoulder constructive development of the country.
- Support youth at risk and create equitable opportunity for all disadvantaged and marginalized youth.
WORKSHOP ON MENTAL HEALTH
Among the many harmful and lasting impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, the most adverse effect has been on the mental health of school students. Schools have been closed for the longest time in the history of India due to the pandemic. Consequently, many students are now unable to recover from its psychological impact. The closure of schools has not only increased the stress and dilemma of the children but has also affected their socio-emotional side badly. With, the need of the hour to make teachers and students aware of mental health, a workshop for girls of Government Senior Secondary School, Chauri was organized as part of a week-long celebration of International Women’s Day.
The session was conducted by a clinical psychologist, who covered various key aspects related to mental well-being of students like stress, body image, peer pressure etc. Students were counselled about their fears and concerns and guided on preventive care. Like physical health, mental health is also important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. To reduce the stigma around mental health, we would transform a selected group of students from different schools into ambassadors of mental health.
