Background
Organisation & Funds
Objectives
Leadership
Activities
Water
Related Schemes
Health
& Hygiene
Youth
Development
Learning
Centres
Temper
for Science in rural
India
Women's
Empowerment
Activism
against Social ills
Protection
of Heritage
War
Widows
Adventure
Watershed Development
Water Harvesting
Small Community Microhydel Lighting
Refurbishing Village Primary
Schools
Resuscitation & Recharging
of rural wells
Social Forestry
Rural Dwelling
Learning Centres 'PRAGYA'-Computer Kiosks
C community Learning centres can provide distance education through audio/visual/computer aids without which remote villages cannot become self reliant and self sustaining as the education divide becomes gaping between the urban and the rural. A learning centre integrated with water source can become the focal point for community development more meaningfully and also cater to the needs of adjoining communities too creating a learning net. In this context a village computer kiosk can have multifold functions in not only closing the digital divide and exposing specially children and girls who are most adaptable to computers, but also providing a data base for development for the communities and a source of income generation. These facilities need to be created block by block along with the water related projects so that exposure, awareness and skills can be on a firm and sustainable foundation. The aim is to create a specific configuration for the village-learning center so that it can progressively unfold distance education in its entire scope. The widening gap in education and health can never be reversed without distance education in rural India. There is an urgent need to shore up non formal education at the primary and secondary levels specifically in the Hindi belt. Access to learning through the Internet with wireless connectivity is the only answer in these regions. Our villages are way behind even Africa in digital divide. A learning center must have an integral library, which can be developed into a rural library and a science component. Our progress in this field is slow for lack of funding but collection of material has already commenced.
Our projects integrate women’s education focusing on grooming of children in the their villages and acquiring basics of health. Young girls are encouraged to pick up abilities, which can get them into the primary schools in their own communities. As a beginning we have put girls through a one-year distance education course on early childhood grooming and managing a village school, conducted by National Open School. Below the first batch of students.
These girls (and one boy) will appear for their final examination
in Oct this year. The response is very heartening.
Dr Maj Meeta Singh with the first group of girls undergoung health training.
(Funded By Tata)
Tutorial on Primary teachers
training course.
(Funded By Tata)
