Support to set up Digital Class & Library in 25 Government Schools in Rural Maharashtra

67% of the Indian population lives in rural areas. According to the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) India Analytical Report 2015-16, 150 of the 200 million students in India are enrolled in rural schools. Out of 1.5 million schools in India, 1.23 million are in rural areas. This makes rural education of utmost importance in India.

However, India faces a huge rural-urban education divide. The quality of education in rural areas is very low. Most low-income families in these areas can only afford to send their children to government schools as education is free and compulsory for the age group six to 14. These schools often have overworked teachers, poor infrastructure, and a lack of educational resources such as textbooks and digital tools. Students also do not have a conducive learning environment during or after school. Rural families often face financial constraints and education is given low priority. All these factors result in little interest in education, low attendance rates, poor learning outcomes and high school dropout rates.

Although enrolment in government and government-aided schools is increasing due to various initiatives, most students do not acquire basic skills like reading, writing and arithmetic skills that improve academic performance and aid in social progress.

Thinksharp Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation started in 2011 has initiated aproject ‘StudyMall’ that provides both, academic and non-academic educational infrastructure to rural children.

The mission of the foundation is: “To improve the quality of education in rural India by providing modern educational infrastructure and better educational resources in partnership with the villages’ community, teachers, government and other stakeholders.”

In order to work towards achieving this, Thinksharp focusses on increasing the motivation to learn among students, better engagement with learning tools, improving their academic performance, higher school attendance rates and reduced dropouts. With a vision “To bridge the rural-urban education divide”, Thinksharp is presently working in 20 villages in Maharashtra state (19 Schools +1 Community Centre) benefitting more than 4,000 children.

Thinksharp is raising funds to set up a Digital Class and Library in 25 Government-run schools (ZP Schools) in 25 different villages in Maharashtra under project StudyMall. This will benefit more than 1,000 children. You can support /donate at https://milaap.org/fundraisers/thinksharp-studymall

Please note, all your donations have tax benefit eligibility. To know more about Thinksharp Foundation, log on to www.thinksharpfoundation.org or write to [email protected] Call on +91 9892 742 011.