A digital mission in Karnataka
Eighteen months ago, 15 Rotarians from RC Bengaluru Harmony, RID 3191, conducted a six-month pilot programme at five Arivu Kendras, in Kalaburagi district of north Karnataka. Arivu Kendras (knowledge centres) are digital learning centres located near village panchayats in Karnataka; apart from book catalogues, they are equipped with digital screens, laptops, desktops and mobile phones with internet connectivity.
“Around 300 rural children were given training in soft skills and at the end of the digital programme, they wanted us to continue the online classes as this widened their knowledge. The kendra supervisors and district officials praised our efforts to give digital knowledge to rural children,” says Pravin Hungund, club president.
This pilot initiative led the club to sign an MoU with the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department to rollout Project Arivu Kendra, a rural digital literacy mission, at an event to mark National Librarian Day (Aug 12). The online classroom project aims to enhance the soft skills, literacy and numeracy skills of children from backward communities across Karnataka. Covering all the 5,985 village panchayats in the 31 districts of the state, the two-hour online classes on Saturdays are livestreamed from the Panchayat Raj Studio in Bengaluru for children (12–18 years) gathered at the Arivu Kendras in villages.
Apart from empowering the rural communities, “the Kannada classes inspire the children by shaping their physical, emotional and psychological well-being. Life skills like critical thinking, personal growth and how to excel in academics are also taught by a panel of 30 professionals, a few of them Rotarians, who are experts in diverse fields,” explains Hungund. The faculty is being expanded as new subjects are taken up for telecast.
Thirty clubs support the digital mission which has conducted 15 online programmes for 15 lakh children till now. “The project will conduct 35 more classes at Arivu Kendras, covering 50 lakh children by the end of the Rotary year.” Manjunath, superintendent of Arivu Kendra at Mullur panchayat, Mysuru, says, “the online session on sleep deprivation was really informative, thanks to Rotary.” While librarian Sumathi at Havanje centre, Udupi, says, “the one on paper scissors art is so good that the students want direct classes to learn more.”
Arundhathi Chandrasekar, panchayat raj commissioner, says, “the Arivu Kendra programmes address the educational and soft skills needs of rural children. We will continue to support Rotary in this initiative.” While the digital infrastructure is from the government, the operational expenses are met by all the 30 Rotary clubs.
