Vidya - Education

Introduction  |  Objectives  |  Achievements  |  Activities  |  Future Plans


Introduction

The project is sustaining 33 non-formal education centers in 30 villages out of the 350 villages in the area around the Tejghad Adivasi Academy run by adivasi teachers from the villages. 1300 children attend classes in the 33 non-formal education centers. Between 400 and 500 children out of the 1300 cannot attend classes on a regular basis due to migration of their parents. 600 children in the selected villages have never attended school. The program now has 24 centers which were set up in Panchmahals, Gujarat and 27 centres in Solapur, Latur, Nanded, Satara and Pune districts of Maharashtra for children of nomadic communities in addition to those started in the Tejghad area. Pictorial glossaries as well as relevant study material are published in adivasi languages to facilitate children as well as non adivasi teachers teaching in adivasi areas. Combining the traditional adivasi tradition of oral transmission with technology, the Academy is now planning to launch a Radio Education Programme for reaching out education to 1000 adivasi villages of Gujarat. The program involves teachers running centers in their residential villages since they have a good understanding of the local needs and are better equipped to create understanding of educational needs and encourage education in the village. The programs insures that the teachers are well equipped to combine functional literacy with cultural understanding, and the motivational and interest level among teachers is high and they are dedicated to children’s education.

The main challenges facing Bhasha in the field of education are as follows:

•   Migration of parents for seasonal labor work prevents children from attending classes regularly and throughout the year.

•   Parents are not educated and aware of the advantages of education and are not sending their children to the non-formal schools.

•   Children have to engage in labor work to support the income of their families and thus are unable to attend classes regularly.

•   Children of different age groups and knowledge levels are being taught in one class.

•   The government schools in many of the villages are ineffective due to paucity of competent teachers who are sensitive to the needs      of adivasi children.

•   Several government schools are inappropriately located and cannot be reached by children living in distant areas.

•   The dropout ratio in schools is exceptionally high since adivasi children find it difficult to understand the content of formal      education that is imparted in Gujarati language.