Support to enable underserved tribal children complete their primary education

How were your school days? Some of us often wish we could go back to those days. Why is that? Was it because we had a carefree life back then?

Most of us can relate to the following scenario. You are 8 years old and your teacher has planned a fun activity for the class today. For the next day, you have made plans with your friends to play kabaddi during the game’s hour. During lunch break, the students share their tiffin and enjoy a healthy meal. As the school day comes to an end, the children count the seconds until the last bell rings. The bell goes off, bags are flung over the shoulders and the little people bolt out of their classroom, running towards the school buses. The premises are filled with laughter.

Now, imagine yourself in the following scenario. You are 8 years old. Although there is a school building in your village, you are unsure if you will have classes today. The only sound heard from the school premises is silence. The nearest functional school is hard to reach for you due to the lack of transportation facilities.

The stark contrast in these two scenarios is precisely the problem our programme is addressing on the ground. A stable primary education becomes a foundation on which an individual is able to develop their skills. As per the Right to Education Act,2009, education is a fundamental right of every child. However, not all children in our programme areas are able to complete their primary education.

Swasthya Swaraj is focused on improving the educational, health and nutritional outcomes of children in 14 government primary schools in Kalahandi, Odisha. This is done with the cooperation of the district education and health department. The means of our process is as follows; -

• Our Shiksha Sathis – they are the key enablers of our programme, instrumental in the grassroot level implementation. The shiksha sathis are literate youth from the local communities, who are trained as educators by our organisation. They encourage the students to come to school and support them throughout the year, using creative teaching materials that make the process of learning a joy for the students.
• Incorporation of activity-based teaching in classrooms, making the process of learning more enjoyable and stimulating.
• Regular engagements with the communities, school management committees and the education department to promote uninterrupted teaching and learning in the schools.
• Regular training of the shiksha sathis on updated teaching processes and materials.
• Development of nutritional gardens on the school premises. The children are taught to tend to the garden and it acts as a teaching medium.
• Regular health check-ups to monitor the health and development status of the children.

Enable children to become agents of change in their communities.

• Improvement in student attendance in the government primary schools we are engaged in.
• Increase in community awareness on their children’s educational and health needs.
• Improvement in health and nutritional levels among the students.
• Decrease in primary school drop-out rate in the programme areas.