Pathshala

In 2016, we began working with the local communities of the Gular Dogi region of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. We witnessed poor learning levels across all grades, not just in literacy but also in basic foundational numeracy. We soon realized this was the reality in almost all government schools in the region and recent ASER reports show that this learning gap begins as early as Grade 1, with only 2 out of 10 students actually being able to read as per their grade level. 

Children in the region rely on Government Schools for their education and travel almost 2 hours on average to attend school. However, there they are met with schools riddled with low-quality learning practices, with teachers and school administration apathetic towards education. Further, with parents lacking the awareness of what high-quality learning looks like, the investment and demand for quality learning have been continuously dwindling, leaving children robbed of their fundamental right to quality education. 

This lack of high-quality learning in rural parts of our country is leaving our children under-prepared to make life choices for themselves that can lead them to a path of dignity.

With a need to redesign conversations with the community, we powered our efforts to bring Pathshala, our ‘Rural Education Transformation’ program to life. With a vision of ensuring holistic learning for children living in the villages, we set up a community-led program operating within the Government Senior Secondary School. Through this intervention, we invest and empower the community as a whole to drive change within the learning ecosystem. Working inside and outside the school, ensuring every child receives support for their wellbeing and overall development.  

Our program intervention is anchored in creating meaningful experiences for children through:

1. Learning Support to bridge academic gaps and strengthen every child’s well-being. We do this by offering Foundational Literacy and Numeracy sessions integrated with Social-Emotional Learning.
2. Bridging Access to ensure learning equity. We do this by setting up an Offline and Digital Library to provide educational books, stories, and digital literacy
3. Unlocking Opportunities to build student leadership and equip children with 21st Century Skills. We do this through opportunity Workshops to enhance a child’s exposure to Art, Music, Theatre
, and Career Development. In addition, we work on community development by investing in local youth and community champions to become changemakers

Our program has been operating for children enrolled across Grade 6 to 10 and has shown promising outcomes. We have witnessed the growth of many students like Neha, who at the beginning of the first year was not able to comfortably read at her grade level. Despite being in Grade 8 she had issues in comprehending Grade 1 or 2 English text. However, owing to her exceptional motivation and engagement within three years she was able to raise her learning levels. Today, she is able to comprehend and meaningfully engage with grade-level text. She has also joined our efforts to spread awareness through participation in our adult literacy programs. A few other successes our program has witnessed include:

1. Children leading social transformation projects such as ‘The Laali Project’ to end the stigma around menstruation and spread awareness about menstrual hygiene. This in turn has transformed parents’ attitude towards their children’s capability.
2. The program was selected for the Bili Language International Exchange, giving our students access to a unique language learning experience.
3. The region's first technology-based learning lab was set up, where the Google Bolo Reading Program witnessed the highest student participation

This year we hope to expand our reach, with Sashakt Prathmik, meaning an empowered primary, to support 7 government primary schools catering to 13 villages in the Gulardogi area of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. This project will directly benefit more than 500 students. Our experience with Secondary Schools in the region has helped us identify key problem areas in learning and we aim to strengthen the local government primary schools to solve these key learning gaps.