Udaipur city situated in the southern part of Rajasthan in India is popularly known for its heritage point. Every year around thousands of foreign tourists come to visit and explore. On the other hand the outskirts of the city following the range of 7-10 kilometers are bunched with hundreds of big and small villages. These hundreds of villages are confined under numbers of issues like illiteracy, unemployment, child-labour, infanticide, drought, etc which are the biggest constraints for development. However, Government and various Non Government Organization is working in these contexts.
A study done by MIT University of New York reported that around 30% of children in Udaipur between 6-14 years are out of or never been to school. Despite of many government interventions like Right to education, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan the above percentage draws a dull picture in our mind. There are many reasons which all together sum up the above figure. Children can’t reach to the schools as Government schools are located far from their place or parents need someone who can contribute in the household work and income because majority of the people are Below Poverty line. Many children after enrolling themselves in schools don’t attend the class because of the teacher’s absenteeism, poor facilities provided in the school and low grasping power of children.
Since 1974 Seva Mandir is working in this origin. With the passage of time, lots of changes are made in the strategies and pedagogy. At present 188 Rural School (popularly known as Shiksha Kendra) are running which is reaching out to 5,694 students and every year over 1,000 new students are enrolled.
Children’s capability is assessed before their admission and they get enrolled in three different levels A, B, & C. The highest level is A, after completing this level they are graduated from Rural School. Every year more than 840-850 students graduate from Seva Mandir’s school and take admission in government school their retention rate stands at 87.5% which is comparatively high from other children. More importantly the SKs help in strengthening the retention of children in government schools. The learning provided in the SKs develop children’s basic literacy and academic skills, enabling them to grasp better and even study on their own.
At present school has emerged as a hub of activities ensuring quality education which enables them to read and write independently with comprehension. The pedagogy adopted is child centric, engages the children in different activities. Rural Schools are single teachers-schools in which teachers belong to the same village. They are provided with regular training, certification courses and capacity building sessions which are designed to make teaching more context-oriented, child centered, interesting and enjoyable by strengthening the teachers’ conceptual understanding of the subjects they teach (math and language), and emphasizing the practical aspects of how to conduct classroom transactions. It also works proactively towards enabling the communities to demand quality education from Government.
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Seva Mandir have ensured funds for 4,000 children but They need funds to reach another 1,000 children. The opportunity of reaching out these children now is tenfold for them as They are participating in an online fundraising India Giving Challenge, 2011 starting from of Give India as a part of Joy of Giving week commencing from 6th September till 20th October and They have a chance to win a part of matching grant amounting Rs. 65 lacs.
You can help them by changing the life of one child by sending him/her to school for 1 year with a donation of Rs. 2,000/-. The minimum amount they are requesting is 400/- that enables a child to attend school for 66 days. You can donate them by your
- Debit or credit card or
- Net banking or
- Demand draft/cheque favoring Give India.
Through iGive page. You will get tax benefit if you are citizen of India/UK/USA. GiveIndia will provide e-receipt for every donation. For more details please write to rmu@sevamandir.org
You can also help them by championing our project either by promoting their cause through e-media facebook, blogs and indoor (local businesses, banks, etc) mediums or by donation solicitation.
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A Post By Khushboo Baranwal
Development Professional, Resource Mobilization Unit, Seva mandir