By Ashwini Batra | Program Coordinator
Enrollment is currently 119 girls with an average of 75% weekly attendance.
In July, we visited the school and stayed in the village for 2 days as we wanted to spend the entire day with the students and teachers. The school begins at 6.30 am with the assembly and morning prayer, followed by the singing of the national anthem and a recitation of the preamble to the constitution. We have made an attempt to introduce the reading of the news headlines, but that seems like a chore for both the students and teachers alike. We need to find a way to make this a more meaningful activity for the students.
For our July visit, we were joined by Tejaram, founder of Manthan Sanstha in rural Rajasthan. Manthan Sanstha runs a school and Tejaram has vast experience with teaching concepts using play and arts and craft to teach students like ours. The Instagram posts from our visit illustrate some of this fun learning, including the parade illustrating the shape of a turban, and the earth rotating around the sun. (See the links below to see these posts and follow @forradindia on Instagram.)
The school came alive as the girls showcased their creativity through drawings and craft. Their colorful cloth banners were displayed in each classroom. Map reading was introduced with the aim of getting the students acquainted with their own state as well as the the different parts of the country. Since most of the students have not ventured outside of their village, this is an exciting part of their learning.
Teacher Training
Workshops were conducted for the teachers to refresh the values and goals of their profession and to emphasize the importance of communication, empathy and love, when teaching. This is important given the cultural milieu of the village where caste plays a major role in social interactions.
In August, one of the teachers left the school for personal reasons. After a month of recruitment, we filled the vacancy. The new teacher, Ranjit, has had previous experience in teaching and is helping other teachers with their lesson plans and introducing new activities to the school.
Next Steps
We plan to introduce music and recitation classes as a regular part of the curriculum. We will also ask the teachers to introduce village and district level administration information so the students increase their awareness about government agencies in their immediate environment.
The tailoring unit has moved into a more spacious room so that there is enough space for the trainees to cut and sew as well as to accommodate more machines and store supplies. The next step is to add two more sewing machines to the unit since enrollment in the unit is increasing, and the trainees do not get enough time to learn on the existing two machines.
Your Support
Your contributions make all of this possible. We appreciate your support for the Kaliyachak Girls' School.
Thank you for supporting girls' education in rural Bihar.
Best,
Ashwini Batra
FORRAD
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