Bridging the educational divide

Take up your Citizen Social Responsibility and you can end up seeing a far better and educated India. An initiative by Pratham and ASER Centre aims at tapping the social responsibility of all educated citizens and impart many underserved children quality education in a standard way.

“Lakhon Mein Ek” as the campaign is called, was launched recently in Mumbai and aims at impacting children in 1,00,000 communities and villages by surveying their education levels. This aim is set by alliance of institutions, NGOs, corporates, foundations and individuals who will look forward to reach their goal by January 2016. The objective is to involve residents in assessing the status of schooling and learning in their own communities and to improve this status through their own voluntary action by facilitating necessary interventions.

Aiming at bridging the education gap, the campaign believes that education should be an equalizer and not a divider. “Though most children in the country are enrolled in schools, their learning levels are very low causing an education divide. Our efforts are to build a bridge and reach out to thousands of children and reduce the gap,” says Farida Lambay, co-founder, Pratham.

Adding further she says, “Through our campaign we invite people to look at their own communities, understand how well children can read and do arithmetic, and then ensure that all children can do at least the basics.”

The program appeals people to participate and make a difference by teaching other kids with free training and study material provided through the campaign. Their expected role is:

• Choose at least one locality to make a difference: this could be a village or neighbourhood in an urban area.
• Assess basic reading and arithmetic abilities of all children in this location using Pratham’s simple tool. Find friends and other local people who will help do the assessment.
• Discuss the results with parents and others in the concerned location. If children are not learning, then find a few more people who want to help to improve the situation. Involve village school teachers and officials in the effort.
• Teach children who need help with the basics, using methods and materials designed specifically for this purpose. Do this for just two hours a day for about 50 days, and see the enormous progress children make.
• Share the experience with others around the country and around the world so that more may join the campaign.