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| Home / Children & Education Today: Case Study 1 |
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| Case Study 1: Clips from the field - 1 |
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| The First Step |
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During the process of laying the foundation for Sikshana, I have run into a number of people who have told me that they always felt a calling to volunteer their efforts to field of education. But these same people had not taken any concrete steps because of a lack of resources that help channel their desire to make contributions to the field. I hope this anecdote relating to my efforts in setting up Sikshana in Bangalore city will provide such people with some direction to launch their own efforts.
The whole idea of volunteering my time to improve basic education had been playing in the back of my mind for a long time. One day I overcame my inertia and inhibitions and walked into the nearest government school. I simply offered to help them in any way they saw fit. The teachers in the school were so excited by my offer that they spent nearly an hour going over all their problems and needs! By the end of the hour I had so much more information than I had dreamed of obtaining in this preliminary visit.
Ideas were beginning to form in my head and I was beginning to see different directions for my efforts. A remark made by one of the teachers during this meeting still stands out in my mind and has inspired me to keep my efforts going. She said: "Sir, even if you are unable to adopt our school for any reason (there were some technical hitches then), please go ahead and do something for children at some other school. These children can do with all the help they can get!".
The next step took me to the Block Education Officer, who has the unenviable task of overseeing a thousand schools. He informed me that the Karnataka Government has a scheme under which an individual or an organization can officially adopt a school and be responsible for its upgrade. This needed a legal document to be signed, for which he took all the steps immediately. The entire process was over in less than an hour and I was accorded VIP treatment during the entire proceedings! Copies of the document were sent to all the concerned schools promptly and we were able to start with our program in these schools within three days. It was altogether a surprisingly pleasant experience!
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| Postscript: |
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| The Government and its hierarchy do care for primary education. And there are hundreds of schools waiting for you to step in! You only need to take the first step and you will see the path you need to take.
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Case Studies