Literacy Focus – July 2016

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

“Moving around the country, I see that Total ­Literacy and the TEACH Programme has gained tremendous ­momentum among Rotarians and Rotary in India. In the past one year we made huge advancement and ­breakthrough in the programme and I must congratulate each one of you for having done a commendable job this year. My compliments to all of YOU.

The response generated at the Presidential Conference in Kolkata and the footfall at the TEACH booth in the Seoul Rotary Convention reflects we are moving ahead in the right direction. I am especially happy to see the success of ‘Asha Kiran … a ray of hope’ and the effective use of social media in it. I thank you all for your generous ­contribution towards this project to send children back to school.

The other programmes have also gained momentum and there will be a quantum leap in implementing them, especially with the important partnerships forged. In two years I envision an India, where every government school will be digitised, thousands of schools will be Happy Schools, thousands of teachers trained and 200,000 ­children sent back to school. All of this will be possible with your tremendous efforts and initiatives. I also ­compliment the National Committee and the RILM staff for the efforts put in by them.

Inspiration comes from a successful beginning and the last Rotary year has paved out the path for a strong base for Total literacy for the TEACH programme. As we begin a new Rotary year, I wish the very best to all of you in your mission to achieve ‘Total Literacy and Quality Education.’ Let’s keep the flag of Literacy flying high with full fervour and fire.”

Regards
Shekhar Mehta
Chair, Rotary India Literacy Mission

 

T-E-A-C-H at SEOUL

Showcasing T-E-A-C-H projects at the Rotary International Convention’s House of Friendship was a significant milestone for RILM this year. The overwhelming response generated over the five days at Seoul proved we are moving ahead in the right path. Termed as the best booth at HOF this year, the T-E-A-C-H stall was ­buzzing with senior Rotary leadership and Convention attendees.

With visitors from Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, USA, ­Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Nepal, ­Ireland, ­Bangladesh, ­Canada, Germany, Korea, Tanzania, ­Brazil, Argentina etc, the TEACH ­programme reached out to those who want to take up and implement it in areas where literacy is a big challenge. The e-learning vertical had the maximum takers, along with Asha Kiran and the Happy School programmes.

Seeing the response of the ­visitors and establishing new ­partnerships, this Convention proved to be an important foothold for RILM. We are hopeful that TEACH will lay the foundation for a revolution in the global education and literacy.

RILM’s partners

At the Kolkata ­Presidential ­Conference held in March, RILM signed partnership with ­Maharashtra Knowledge ­Corporation ­Limited, ­Kailash ­Satyarthi ­Children’s ­Foundation, Friends of Tribals’ ­Society, ­Macmillan Publishers India Private Limited, British Council India, the HRD Ministry and Naik Worldwide Library (For details, read Rotary News, April’16 issue).

Furthermore, RILM has effected an ­agreement with Wizdoms ­Libraries to establish libraries in schools, and ­Eurokids International to equip schools with adequate infrastructure.

 

Glimpses of T-E-A-C-H programme in 2015-16

TEACHER SUPPORT

Aiming to assist the Central and State governments’ on-going efforts, our aim is to improve the professional abilities and performance of teachers in selected government/government-aided primary/elementary schools through better training and use of modern teaching aids to enhance the learning outcome of students.

As of June 2016

• l Around 5,596 teachers were trained
• l Over 4,700 teachers recognised with the ‘Nation Builder Awards.’

E-LEARNING

The E-learning programme aims to improve the language abilities and better comprehension of students/teachers through usage of standard language and pronunciation in voice-overs and concepts in audio-visual format.

The module comes in an LCD projector as an integrated product where the software is already uploaded. This single classroom installation is affordable and of high quality.

As of June 2016

• 5,459 e-learning modules installed across the country
• 1,350 ongoing installation of e-learning modules
• More than 21,83,600 children are benefitting from this project

ADULT LITERACY

RILM’s Adult Literacy programme seeks to educate non-literates above 15 years in urban and rural areas and skill them by leveraging available government assistance.

As of June 2016

• 69,978 student volunteers engaged in teaching an equal number of adults
• Around 600 Adult Literacy Centres are running across the country.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The Child Development programme called Asha Kiran … a ray of hope is to send out-of-school ­children back to schools. The ­objective is to mainstream these ­children to State-funded primary/elementary schools. Asha Kiran children are:

• Those in the age group 7 to 14 who have never been to school or not attending school for more than 45 days without any information to school and laggard in comparison to his/her age and class.

As of June 2016

• RILM has currently entered into an agreement with 28 NGOs spread over 10 States to send 32,867 out-of-school and dropout children. 50,000 ­children have been ­identified to be taken under this ­programme.

HAPPY SCHOOL

This project comprises activities to provide/upgrade ­infrastructure and co-scholastic facilities in government/government-aided primary schools to make them attractive for students and teachers.

As of June 2016

• Out of the 1,000 targeted, 789 government/­government-aided primary schools have been transformed into Happy Schools.

Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in India

Dear Inner Wheel Club Members,

My compliments to you for your outstanding work done in the T-E-A-C-H programme, ­especially for Asha Kiran … a ray of hope and Happy Schools. Thank you for your ­constant ­support, ­remarkable energy and ­generous ­contributions. We at RILM are continually ­inspired by your ­dedication and generosity and successful implementation of the T-E-A-C-H programme.

I hope to see the fervour and enthusiasm doubling this year to meet our goals of making India literate. We hope the Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in India will continue to support RILM’s ­T-E-A-C-H ­programme and make it a roaring success in the upcoming Rotary Year.

Regards
Shekhar Mehta, Chair, RILM

 

ACTIVITY SNAPSHOTS

• Adults from 70 Adult Literacy centres in IWD 314 are ready to appear for their NLMA examination.
• Clubs in IWD 314 organised ­various teachers’ training workshops. A total of 325 teachers were trained on ­science experiment, classroom management strategies, importance of hygiene and effective use of teaching aids.
• IWC Mysore Central, D 318, ­inaugurated its third Happy School and a toilet block.
• IWC Gwalior, D 305, has made four Happy Schools in five months.
• IWD 317 inaugurated the 14th Happy School sponsored by IWC Hubli.