Bright Future Campaign

BRIGHT FUTURE: CHILD EDUCATION CAMPAIGN
Supplementary education program at government schools
NGO Name: Everyside Foundation
Event Location: Thirukandalam, Tamil Nadu
Event Organizer: Beulah Savitha
Date and Time: 10th Feb 2024

Introduction:

As part of the Bright Future: Child Education campaign by Everyside Foundation, a supplementary educational program was initiated on 10th February 2024 at the rural government school located in Thirukandalam, Tamil Nadu. This program aims to create a supportive learning environment for marginalized students enrolled in government schools and aid them in improving their academic performance.

Despite the government’s consistent efforts to impart quality education at the grassroots level of society, many rural schools face challenges such as lack of resources, poor academic performance, high dropout rates, etc. Supplementary educational programs are conducted with these issues in mind and involve teaching and interacting with children after school hours, to provide additional education support to underprivileged school children.

Thirukkandalam village was the location identified for the implementation of the program. This village is located in Uthukkottai Taluka of Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu. Around 480 families are residing in this village. As per the 2011 census, the literacy rate in Thirukkandalam is 45.68% out of which 52.63% of males and 39.04% of females are literate.

This report outlines the objectives to be achieved through this initiative, methodologies employed to achieve the objectives, and challenges faced during the conduction of the program.

Objectives:

  1. Inclusive Education: Ensure that all children receive quality education, irrespective of their socio-economic background and gender.
  2. Comprehensive development: Focus on strengthening all aspects of education, by providing equal importance to the development of intellectual, psychological and ethical knowledge among children.
  3. Interest cultivation: Lend a hand to children in understanding the significant role played by education in their lives and motivate them to exert necessary effort in improving academic performance.
  4. Supportive environment: Create an interactive, safe and friendly learning space between educators and students, enabling children to communicate with confidence and ease.
  5. Community Engagement: Interact with parents and community members to help them realize the importance of sending children to schools and allotting time to spend with their children at home for their educational growth.

Methodologies:

  1. Interactive activities: Identify effective learning methodologies with the help of adequately cited scientific research and studies. Incorporate and develop them in the form of fun and interactive activities such as plays, debates, artwork, etc. Make use of free and open-source resources available and modify them to meet the requirements of children according to age, educational level and cultural background.
  2. Psychological counselling: Provide emotional support to children with assistance from qualified professionals. Help children reduce stress and anxiety associated with exams, homework and personal issues. Teach children the importance of respecting fellow students and encourage them not to indulge in bullying.
  3. Educational field trips: Coordinate with government museums, educational centers, zoos, etc. and arrange educative and entertaining field trips, combining fun and learning to promote inclusive child growth.
  4. Technology-enhanced learning: Make use of digital devices such as projectors and smart televisions to bring safe and quality digital educational content to children’s classrooms. Promote self-learning among children by educating them on effectively utilizing libraries, television programs and child-friendly gadgets for accessing digital content such as e-books, educational games, free learning videos, animations etc.
  5. Parental workshops: Conduct educative sessions and interactive workshops for parents in their local language on the indispensable role played by education in their children’s lives, with a special focus on those with an uneducated background. Help them realize the negative role played by family conflicts in children’s educational and personal lives. Encourage parents to spend more time with children in their homes, especially for assistance in doing their homework.

Challenges and Mitigation

  1. Resource Constraints: The creation and printing of study materials for a large number of students require a significant amount of expenditure. Technology-enabled learning requires heavy investments in digital devices such as projectors and smart televisions.
  2. Safety concerns: Field trips require the following of high safety procedures. Digital safety for children in the utilization of personal devices such as tablets and smartphones is of paramount importance. Educate parents on providing a safe digital learning environment with the help of parental safety applications in their devices, when being utilized by their children for learning.
  3. Trust buildup: Rural schools and families require confidence and trust to effectively let organizations interact with their children. Interact and work together with the local government bodies and leaders to develop a sense of trust and support among the community. Conduct thorough research to understand culturally sensitive factors and customize educational content accordingly.

Conclusion:

We, the Everyside Foundation, through our Brightside campaign, aim to create a world where every child, irrespective of their background, has the chance to overcome their challenges through education. By utilizing innovative approaches and encouraging community engagement, we believe this can spark positive transformation in children’s lives. Envision a world where every child in India, regardless of their cultural roots, has access to quality education. It’s a realm of limitless possibilities, where innovation flourishes, and opportunities are plentiful. By supporting the education of underprivileged children, we are planting the seeds for a more prosperous, equitable, and inclusive nation.

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