From schools that teach rag pickers to read, to career counselling for tribal youths. From teaching village girls programming to literacy programmes that move away from rote learning. Read about the latest in not just rural education but learning.
Education
A Bal Gram Sabha for kids
By imparting values of democracy and leadership, Bhata Dungariya, a nondescript village in Mandla, is grooming Gen Alpha to take on governance roles in the future.
Learning math, the Vedic way
The ancient wisdom of Vedic Maths is gaining popularity at home and abroad for its enhanced computational proficiencies and problem-solving abilities. In the process it is rekindling love for an otherwise dreaded subject.
Village crime school in Madhya Pradesh grooms next generation of thieves
Kadiya village seems plucked from the pages of a Dickensian novel, but crime here is a profession, taught and executed, as parents hand over their children to local gangs that teach them the dark arts of pickpocketing, bag-snatching, and deceit.
Seed-ing math skills with ancient board games
Who needs hi-tech or even flashcards when rocks, seeds and animals can help teach kids math? Yes, this National Mathematics Day we’re talking old-fashioned board games - still embraced by rural India - that sharpen brains and are fun to play.
Education comes to a community ridiculed as rat-eaters
A school for Musahar girls in Patna, the state capital of Bihar, is challenging the caste system that looked down upon people who “ate rats”. As they get an education, they are slowly rewriting their future.
A saviour school for Assam’s displaced Bengali Muslim children
Musabirul Hoque, a social activist who represents Assam’s displaced Bengali Muslims, sets up a school for children of the community, giving them a fresh chance at life. Village Square does a recce.
Mandla makeover – How MP’s cyber crime hub became a literacy model
When 4,500 volunteers set out to transform Mandla in 2020, it was notorious for its low literacy rates and cyber fraud. It then became the first district in Madhya Pradesh to achieve 100 percent functional literacy.
Bihar’s STEM girls embrace coding to land lucrative jobs
School of Programming, a collaborative initiative of Project Potential and NavGurukul in Kishanganj, is empowering young women from rural Bihar with software coding skills, opening doors to aspirational careers and transforming their future.
An aspirational district’s quest to fix STEM education for girls
Gumla, an aspirational district in Jharkhand, is reimagining STEM education at the school-level through a host of initiatives supported by existing resources and trying new, innovative methods, such as sending girl students to ISRO on an experiential trip.