PROGRAMME VISION
Our mission is to support projects to -

• Sustain literacy skills
• Foster quality in education
• Encourage education of girls, tribals and minorities
• Promote low cost good quality children's literature

The VidyaGyan Scholarships

The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, in partnership with the Shri Sivasubramaniya Nadar Educational and Charitable (SSN) Trust, has launched a major new initiative-the VidyaGyan Scholarships for Muslim and Dalit girls.

It is well known that Muslim and Dalits are among the most backward educational groups in our country. Very large numbers drop out after primary school. The girl child is particularly vulnerable. Financial constraints are a major factor. The VidyaGyan Scholarships will help mitigate this trend.

The Programme was formally launched at a function in Varanasi on 3 November 2007.

About 150 girls were present with their parents/guardians, along with some school principals, gram pradhans and community leaders. Each girl received a cheque for Rs. 3000, the scholarship amount for six months from July to December 2007. The parents and schools warmly welcomed the initiative.“We are the forgotten people” said on father, an unemployed Muslim weaver. Thank you from my heart for remembering us”.

The programme is focused on the 3 districts of Varanasi, Rae Bareli and Barabanki, with 1440 scholarships awarded altogether in the current year –almost 500 in each district., Two-thirds of these are for girls in class 6 and will be tenable till they pass class 10. the remaining one-third are for girls in class 9 and will continue till they pass class 10. The scholarship amount of Rs. 500 per month will meet expenses towards tuition, uniform, books, stationery and transportation cots. It is generous enough to allow girls to upgrade to better schools in their area.

The initiative has other components beyond the scholarship. Many of the girls are first generation learners. Separate financial provision of Rs. 150 per month has therefore been made for regular group coaching classes to assist their academic progress. A further Rs. 250 per month has been earmarked for computer education and vocational training for girls in classes 9 to 10.

In order to implement the programme, maintain regular contact with the girls and their parents, organize group coaching and computer and vocational training, RGF has selected the following NGOs in each district:

In Varanasi-Human Welfare Association, Children’s Emancipation Society (Project MALA), Sahbhagi Shikshan Kendra, and Vision; in Rae Bareli – Lok Mitra, Sabla, and Sewa; and in Barabanki – Beti Foundation, Gyan Vigyan Samiti UP, and Pashu Shwachhedan Audyogik Utpadan Sahkari Samiti Ltd (PSAUSSL)

Around 1560 awards will be made in the academic year 2008-2009, a little over 500 each in the same districts.

VILLAGE AND SLUM LIBRARY PROJECT

The Foundation has nurtured a countrywide village library programme over the last fourteen years. It is one of our most widely recognized and popular programmes, which is focussed on improving the quality of education for children in marginalized communities and expanding the learning capacity of people. A typical library is located in a public place in the village and has 400-500 books. The librarian is a local educated youth, who is supported by a Village Library Committee. Typically, each library is supported for 2 or 3 years. In all, since 1993, RGF has established a total of 1444 libraries in 22 states, which includes 1344 village and 100 slum libraries. In view of the changing demands from the people and our experience over the years, the Foundation has tried to evolve flexible new models and improve the quality of the libraries and the range of books and activities, they offer. RGF's effort is based on the premise that mere availability of books is not enough. Libraries must be the homes of interesting activities which enthuse and inspire children, and cultivate their literary and imaginative faculties. The attempt has been to try to get books out of the book shelves, and motivate teachers, parents and children to broaden their creative and intellectual horizons.

Librarian training
To further support and nurture the libraries, training programmes are organized to build the capacities of librarians and education volunteers associated with the programme. The trainings are directly organised on a regular basis with resource persons drawn from all over the country. The trainings are usually residential, with intensive sessions and participatory approach to motivate librarians and broaden their creative and academic horizons. The librarians are imparted skills to inspire children and the community to utilize the libraries. Libraries are being developed as centres of activities. Librarians are being trained to attract children to the libraries for sessions on reading aloud and discussing what is read, creative writing, painting, crafts, environment and science education, physical activities like role play, drama, sports and games.

State wise distribution of RGF Village and Slum libraries
	States	Rural	Slum
	Andhra Pradesh	135	11
	Assam	43	1
	Bihar	15
	Chattisgarh	70
	Delhi	2	27
	Gujarat	10	10
	Himachal Pradesh	9
	Haryana	20
	Jammu & Kashmir	5
	Jharkhand	31
	Karnataka	33	1
	Kerala	10
	Madhya Pradesh	6	3
	Maharashtra	10
	Manipur	25
	Orissa	120
	Punjab	20
	Rajasthan	254	7
	Tamil Nadu	161
	Uttar Pradesh	106	10
	Uttaranchal	122
	West Bengal	137	30
	Total	1344	100

Snapshots of Library Activities in Abu Road Block, Rajasthan
Six libraries were established in 2006, each with about 400-700 books. The libraries have been actively providing a variety of activities as follows:

• Meetings of women's groups on issues such as maternal health, reproductive health, immunization etc
• Museum Activities- Collecting rocks, leaves, feathers and seeds
• Recreational Activities- drawing, painting, sports and quiz competitions, dialogues, meetings, story writing and story telling sessions.
• Pathak Mela- Community mobilization through book fairs to strengthen linkages and build relationship. Hundreds of colourful books with interesting and educational activities.
• Centre for raising issues of social concern such as question of irregularities in BPL list or irregularities in NREG scheme.
• Vigyan Mela- stalls on science experiments, models of human body, microscope, magical games etc.
• Sustained efforts for continuing education especially for adolescents and youth.

The RGF library started in village T. Gollarahatti, Karnataka, comprises "gollas" (shepherds) and "bhovis" (stone cutters), who are generally considered as nomads. Ranganath, a farmer by occupation and a school committee member, resisted the setting up of a library in their village. He feared that English books and magazines would distract children from their studies. The youth club formed in the village supported the initiative and convinced Ranganath about its value. Ranganath reluctantly agreed to support it. The youth forum motivated more youth and men to take advantage of it. School children and their parents started to come to the library in increasing numbers. Ranganath was happy to find many useful books in Kannada not seen by him all his life. He too got interested and became one of the library's regular visitors. The school teachers have also started borrowing books for their own reading and share information with their students. The library has become a hub for activities and social gatherings in the village.

Diksha - story of a shy girl, Sanwara village Diksha is a nine years old shy & demure girl from Sanwara village. She is a member of the Sanwara village library. Diksha has read lot of books in the library she loves to get lost in the beautiful and imaginative world of books - story books being her favorite. She remembers names of at least 50 books which she has read. She loves to recite stories with full expression to others. Apart from reading books, Diksha also likes to draw sketches and play. She plays indigenous games as well as cricket, kho-kho etc. According to her, she spends her free time in the library reading books newspapers. Library has been able to bring a positive change in her personality. It has transformed her dull & mundane life into an adventurous & exciting journey .

KASHMIR INITIATIVE FOR QUALITY EDUCATION

Jammu & Kashmir has acquired a special focus in RGF's programmes in the last few years. The initiatives related to quality of education were further developed during the year, and academic depth added to them. Programmes with the government were initiated to promote improvements in schools, and innovative educational methodologies and child centered activities were expanded through programmes with non-government organisations and institutions. Expertise from outside the state was brought in to supplement local resources.

Review of Quality of Education
A meeting entitled 'Towards Child Centered Quality Education in J&K' was organised in Jammu in April 2006 to share the observations of the studies undertaken in collaboration with MHRD and State Project Office of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, J&K. The meeting was attended by senior state and MHRD officials, representatives of state level academic institutions. Each institution agreed to prepare its own plan for developing a holistic programme to improve textbooks, teacher training and classroom transactions in the whole state.

The process of teacher training was initiated by RGF in 2005 with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan J&K. When the Ministry of Human Resource Development undertook a review of quality of education, including Observation of Classroom Transactions and Textbook Analysis, RGF was involved in planning the process, organizing meetings and field studies and preparing the final report in consultation with experts. The review of Classroom Transactions was led by Prof. Anita Rampal. The participatory process, from January to April 2006 involved 40 Resource Teachers from all over the state. The meeting in April was a culmination of the year long process. The actual implementation of the holistic quality enhancement education plan is still awaited from the state.

Discovering Srinagar workshops series

A series of workshops were conducted in 2006, using modern interactive processes with children on curriculum related themes for social science and environment education. The cutting edge concepts take forward the methodologies recommended by the National Curriculum Framework. Mr. Feisal Alkazi and Ms. Priti Jain of Creative Learning, a Delhi based educational training and resource group, conceived the workshops. The objective of the workshops was to enable the children to relate their curriculum with their own lived environment, generate respect for their heritage and culture and equip them to comprehend the events shaping their lives from a historical perspective. The workshops were coordinated and organised by Help Foundation. Children (50) and teachers (10) from 5 schools and institutions participated in the series of 5 workshops. The 50 odd participants belong to an interesting range of schools, children whose parents are fishermen in a school started by the Help Foundation; children from the Lal Ded School at Ganpati Mandi, a minority school with Hindu and Sikh kids as well; a school on the banks of the Jhelum; Ameena Kadal government school which includes several children from distant areas; and children from single parent families in the Shehjhar orphanage. All the children were from middle school. The workshops were conducted in English and Hindustani, all participants seemed to understand English perfectly even though they couldn't speak it fluently.

The five themes around which the workshops were organised were -

1. The Built Heritage of Srinagar: Then and Now : Exploring the world of traditional wooden architecture from nineteenth century photographs and site visits to buildings, gardens and bridges. Art and creative writing, model making activities, interviews and questionnaires were designed to explore the theme: People shape buildings and then buildings shape people.
2. ii.A Historical Time Line of Srinagar: Unlike the popular perception that history is a dull, dry subject about dead people, our activities of researching your own identity and roots, devising worksheets to use and activities to carry out in the Srinagar museum, exploring legends.. brought alive Srinagar's history.
3. iii.Culture and Lifestyle: From festivals to food, from costumes to the chinar, from walnut to the wazwan, from the santoor to the shikara; the unique Kashmiri identity was explored through children taking photographs, involving themselves in drama and role plays, finding out about utensils, costumes, instruments and music of the past
4. Arts and Crafts: The world renowned craftsmanship of Kashmir was explored through a series of hands on activities and meeting the highly skilled artisans
5. Natural Environment: Flora and Fauna: From looking through the exquisite miniature albums of Mansur in the court of Jahangir, to actual bird watching activities, work on the Jhelum riverfront , creating herbariums, making 'natural' dyes and colours to designing an art mural and celebrating the spirit of the chinar..

The children also made several field study tours during the workshops, including visits to historic buildings in Srinagar, an obscure Christian cemetery on the banks of the Jhelum, an ancient temple in Martand and a traditional weaving centre in Budgam. The children worked in groups and composed songs in Kashmiri, prepared a wall newspaper, enacted a small play on the 17th century engineer who designed the canal system of the valley, and prepared an exhibition on the art and heritage of Kashmir. The teachers were also active participants in the workshops. A Manual for Teachers relevant for the entire Valley, titled 'Discovering Kashmir', is under preparation. It is hoped that the Manual based on the workshops, would take forward the process, and enable all the children learn exciting aspects of their culture and heritage with a modern, contemporary perspective.

Community Library in Srinagar

A series of creative programmes and workshops for children and teachers are being organized in the library every month on reading, art, theatre, writing, music, and craft. A computer centre in the library gives local children access to learning computers and exploring the internet.

A notable feature of the library is that a number of children from orphanages and institutions for children with disabilities have been given special attention, and transport.

Awards for Creative Writing

The awards were announced through advertisement in local English and Urdu newspapers in Kashmir in August and September 2007. Help Foundation, RGF's local partner was given the responsibility for administrative work and overall local coordination. A jury comprising Prof. Shafi Shauq, Prof. Naseem Shafai, Prof. Neerja Mattoo and Ms. Nighat Shafi reviewed the entries and selected the awards.
The results were announced in the local newspapers, and an award giving function was organised on 14 November 2007 in Tagore Hall, Srinagar.

The focus has been to provide underprivileged children like orphans, children studying in government schools and other institutions an opportunity to see a number of films from the country and abroad. The Festival was held at Tagore Hall, Srinagar from 10-16 November 2007. More than a hundred schools from Srinagar, Anantnag, Kupwara, Budgam, government, private as well as NGO institutions participated in the festival. The Foundation also provided transport to the children of orphanages and other school who could not afford to hire buses. About a thousand children from schools and orphanages saw the films with great enthusiasm.

IMPROVED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT IN SCHOOLS

Improved Learning Environment in Schools (ILES), which is centered on using the Building as a Learning Aid (BaLA), involves the development of a child sensitive, integrated physical learning environment in existing and new rural and urban schools across the country. The concept was developed by Mr. Kabir Vajpeyi and his team at Vinyas, a Delhi-based architectural organisation under a UNICEF project. The programme is being implemented in collaboration with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in different states.

The Foundation initiated a presentation on BaLA to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), which was very positively received. MHRD then took the lead in disseminating its concepts across the country, starting with a meeting of State Education Secretaries. Since 2005-2006, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programmes of 12 states in 2006, including Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan, have included additional amounts per classroom ranging from Rs. 8000 to Rs. 15,000 for BaLA elements in the Annual Work Plans.

• The National Curriculum Framework by NCERT has the opening section of the School's physical environment describing the concept of using built components as learning aid.
• Department of Elementary Education & Literacy (DoEEL), MHRD through its national submission on elementary school infrastructure gap has included a BaLA thrust in its directive to all the states where school infrastructure gaps are being taken up in a big way. The estimated infrastructure gap was about 10 lakh classrooms across the country at the beginning of the financial year 2006-07.
• UNICEF India has included BaLA in its national level work plan to develop manuals on BaLA for SSA states and also hold national level experience sharing workshops between states.
• BaLA designs are being incorporated in selected public school in Delhi, run by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)

With reference to the RGF-Vinyas-SSA partnerships in Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir, two rounds of training have been held in Karnataka, and a core group comprising engineers, teachers, faculty of State Council of Educational Research and Training and pedagogy coordinators of 10 pilot districts has been set up. In J&K, a 5-day orientation workshop was held in February 2006 at Jammu for the state engineers and pedagogy coordinators from the 6 pilot districts. The processes and designs related to BaLA have been disseminated all over the country, and it is heartening to note that the idea of providing a good physical learning environment for poor children in government schools has been widely accepted.

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

Development of Books

RGF and Pratham jointly created a validated database to selectively list available books in Hindi for children which have been used successfully by educational organisations. A total of 710 books have been identified for launching the website. The process of data entry has been completed and the design has been finalized. The database has been developed for providing validated information and analysis of quality children's literature in Hindi through a website.

QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROJECTS

Area Focussed Village Libraries Pilot Programme, Jodhpur, Rajasthan
As part of the efforts to bring in enhanced cooperation with the government school system, policy level changes have been introduced in a phased manner in the library programme. Integrating libraries with schools, and bringing out-of school children back into the educational mainstream with library resource centres has been started on a pilot basis. The programme involves systematic micro level planning and specific educational outcomes.

The programme is being implemented with Foundation for Education & Development (FED) in Bap. Bap is located in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, at the junction of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner districts in western Rajasthan, in the heart of the Thar desert. Practically all the educational parameters for Bap block are adverse. The overall literacy rate is 46%, with only 26% literacy among females. The male female ratio is around 55:45. It is observed that boys are generally sent for higher studies and girls are forced to work at home.

The project was started in October 2006 and will run for 3 years in the first instance. The project has 10 village libraries supported by the grant from Good Gifts UK, and matching funding from RGF. It also involves development and capacity building of a cadre of local youth in education and related community programmes. Baseline information has been compiled in all the 10 villages on the status of education, reading ability, school infrastructure etc.

Each library serves one gram panchayat, and has about 1000 books, educational and sports material, a large number of periodicals, and basic furniture. A full-time library coordinator is responsible for organizing all the required programmes with the cooperation of the community.

The Integrated Development Project in Jamwa Ramgarh takes forward the achievements of the Natural Resource Management programme being implemented there. Village libraries were started in the area in 2004. The specific objectives of the programmes planned under the Integrated Development Project are - 

• Meet the basic learning needs of children, both in and out of school
• Develop activities related to improving the quality of education available in the local elementary schools
• Provide opportunities for continuing and remedial education
• Improve the educational infrastructure available in the area
• Capacity building of school teachers and training of non-formal teachers
• Increase awareness and participation of the community in the education of children

The project period is 3 years to meet the above objectives and is being implemented in collaboration with Society for All Round Development (SARD). Activities began in 15 villages in November 2006 and has expanded to 22 villages in the area in the year 2007-08.

Nodal Centres have been established in Raiser, Thalli, and Neemla. The Nodal Centres are attractively developed as resource centres for teachers, children and the community. They are located in the centre of the village and are equipped with educational material, books toys, charts, maps and games to supplement the school curriculum. A Cluster Coordinator manages the Nodal Centre, liaises with the local government schools, conducts teachers training and remedial and bridge classes for children.

Twenty two educational centres have also been established in 22 villages across the three panchayats. Out of these, 14 Remedial centres for children studying in classes

2 -3 are held by teachers to help school-going children with learning difficulties. A group of 25-30 children per village with the most serious learning problems, like inability to recognize alphabets have been identified. The remedial centres are run in the government school premises and so far around 425 children have benefited.

For children who have dropped out of school due to various reasons, bridge classes for 2 hours each day have been started. Eight such centres are being run in the area and around 225 children are enrolled in these centres. These children are encouraged to enroll in school again at the beginning of the new academic session in cooperation with the government schools.

The teachers at the Remedial and Bridge centres are mostly local educated youth, selected with the cooperation of the local community. The teachers are provided regular training, won issues such as pedagogy, Teaching Learning Material (TLM), class room processes, record keeping etc.

An Sports meet was organized in April 2007 wherein about 150 children participated from all the three panchayats. Pravesh Utsav 2007 was orgainsed wherein rallies were held in all the 3 cluster areas and around 500 children participated Creative writing , story telling workshops are held regularly with the children.

Supplementary educational material like workbooks and readers developed by SARD, and based on Rajasthan government school curriculum are being used in the educational centres. The intervention has been received positively by the community.

EDUCATION OF MUSLIM GIRLS

PROJECT EDGE (EDUCATING GIRLS FOR EMPOWERMENT)

Background

Girl children in India are some of the worst sufferers of poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and underdevelopment. The adverse sex ratio, the low age of marriage, the high female morbidity and mortality rates are all obvious indicators of the low status of girls in our society.

The situation is worse in urban areas where inadequate housing leads to overcrowding, lack of privacy and dignity. Absence of sanitation and safe water, lack of access to schools and the prevalent attitude of the society all make the urban girl child, most vulnerable. Large numbers of adolescent and even younger girls form a part of the workforce of our country working to earn so that their families can survive in the adverse conditions. Education for girls is often viewed as an investment with no returns.

In the walled city of Hyderabad, there are thousands of young girls labouring all day to make bangles or plastic bags to eke out a living for themselves. The government schools are few and the dropout rate of girls is alarmingly high. Widespread illiteracy is prevalent through unrecognized child labour.

Some entrepreneurial skills identified for the purpose are:

• Motor winding & repairing
• Mobile repairing
• Dress designing, stitching & embroidery
• Jute/quilted/fancy bags
• Computer Education & DTP
• Toys making
• Beautician course

This will open alternate options of livelihood to the aspiring new generation of women from the districts where the learning opportunities otherwise are far and few.

• To develop community acceptable methods to provide educational interventions to girl children.
• To enhance self esteem, self reliance and leadership qualities in girls by exposing them to a wider world view.
• To motivate the community towards education both by creating awareness about the importance of education as well as by involving the community in the implementation of the programme

The project provides a package of informal, need-based education, training in vocational skills for girl children from minority muslim community who do not have access to school or have dropped out of school. The project works with girls between the age group of 6-18 years.

Four centres in the slum are running in which around 400 girls learn literacy, numeracy and language skills. The language of learning is Urdu. A facilitating and need based curriculum has been evolved by experts after extensive consultations. The teaching-learning process uses a phonetic approach and a series of code identification for reading and writing skills. This is one of the unique and innovative features of the project.

The centers provide a creative, enabling environment, thus enhancing the confidence and self-esteem of girls. Basic life skills training help them to identify their problems and find solutions to those problems. Some of the older girls are also offered vocational training in screen-printing, tailoring, embroidery, desktop publishing beauty care, mehndi designing etc.

Community sensitization and awareness drives are conducted in the beginning of the academic year. Regular interactions with parents are held to sensitise and motivate them for sending their children to the schools. A library is housed in one of the centre and has a collection of books on various themes and topics. Regularly debates and discussions on the emerging current issues are organized at the library. To encourage reader's participation in the library, essay writing and elocution competitions are organized.

Staff capacity building initiatives is a regular feature to bring more efficiency and effectiveness in the field level interventions with the community. Trainings on community mobilization, child psycology, and development of activity based child friendly teaching learning material and documentation were conducted in 2007-08. Continuous efforts towards building the capacities of community motivators is done. Training programmes were also conducted to update the instructors on various policies and amendments of the government towards strengthening the rights of children.

Economic Empowerment and Skill Development
Computer Education
The Bhavani Nagar Centre, which houses the library also, runs a computer center as well. The girls are being taught basics of computers and so far 92 adolescent girls have joined the computer course and benefited from it.

Vocational Trainings
Trainings in hand embroidery, machine embroidery, beautician, mehndi designing, zari zardozi work are conducted in the centres. 25-30 girls in each course in each centre are regularly undergoing the trainings.

QUANTITATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS -2007-08

• 174 children from four motivational centres were mainstreamed into formal schools
• 74 working and non-school going children are mainstreamed through school enrolment campaigns by Mahita
• 32 children from the motivational centres have appeared for 7th Class Board Examinations and 25 children successfully passed the examination
• During the year, 21 SHG groups received 7.25 lakhs as a revolving fund from Andhra Pradesh Minority Finance Corporation
• 75 children from various schools oriented on Child Rights and Child Protection issues
• 92 Adolescent Girls joined the Computer Course at Bhavani Nagar Motivational Centre

The project has significantly brought changes in the lives of women and adolescent girls of the projected slums. Implementation of planned actions towards empowerment of women and adolescent girls through creating collective platforms is bringing changes in the traditional mindsets of the community members thus providing developmental opportunities for the stakeholders.

Resistance and acceptance of the community members have come a long way while implementing the activities. This has been made possible with collaborative team work and rapport building with the community stakeholders.

The socially and financially empowering skills, along with support in finding employment or starting their own enterprise have had a positive effect on the girls and the entire community.

The linkages with the concerned authorities have supplemented in extending the efforts of mainstreaming school dropouts in formal system of education, similarly the linkages with various training institutions have strengthened the capacities of many young and adolescent girls through making them access to advanced vocational skills and livelihoods opportunities. CASE STUDIES

Maimoona lives in Khan Nagar with her family of 8 sisters and 3 brothers and works as a Motivator at RGF's Motivational centre. She is one among the beneficiaries of Mahita's interventions through project EDGE. Maimoona joined the Centre at the age of 16 years and

learnt hand embroidery, mehndi designing besides gaining education at the centres. Maimoona remembers and narrates:

'I was very shy and reserved when I joined the Centre. I learnt Hand Embroidery, Mehndi Designing for a span of one year. The motivators at the centre were very helpful and helped me to learn the skills in a short span. I regularly attended meetings and interactions on issues like gender equity, health and reproductive rights which helped me to become bold and confident. Soon after the completion of the training, I got an opportunity to teach junior batches in the RGF centre itself which enhanced my confidence further. I want to develop my skills further to take up more challenging tasks in my work. My parents are proud of me and respect my concerns and commitment to job.'

Azmath Begum, a 17 years old girl belongs to a poor family, living with parents and 5 brothers and 6 sisters. Her father a hamali worker earns a meagre income for the family. Azmath along with her mother and sisters used to supplement the family income by making incense sticks.

Azmath Begum had studied till class 5th but due to financial constraints, she had to discontinue her studies. On hearing of project EDGE, she persuaded her parents to allow her to attend the centre. The family reluctantly agreed since her joining of centre would be loss of income for her family. But her determination and strong will helped her to join the Motivational Centre.

She was enrolled into Minimum Level Learning Course along with vocational training in tailoring. She is a bright and intelligent girl and appeared for the Board examination of Class 7th. She passed the examination with good marks. She is now determined to do graduation and develop her communication skill in English and earn good livelihood and status in the society. She has also succeeded in persuading her parents to allow younger sisters to join the centers.

Project Darakht-e-Ilm, Mumbai

Project Darakht-e-Ilm, started in 2005 in collaboration with the NGO Majlis, reaches out to deprived families in the Jogeshwari slum in Mumbai. The Project offers educational support and coaching to girls who are studying. Ten young teachers from the locality conduct classes in different mohallas of Jogeshwari, a predominantly Muslim locality, for around 204 students from the poorest households in the area. This has prevented them from dropping out of school.

For the girls and older women who have never been to school, there are literacy classes. Two teachers conduct literacy classes for women. A micro-planning exercise was done to identify the women and a systematic door-to-door awareness programme was conducted to encourage them to attend the classes.

A Community Centre has been established in the project area. A legal cell running at the centre provides legal aid and advocacy to women facing marital and other problems. Workshops related to health and nutrition are also organised at the Centre. A library, funded by RGF from the Good Gifts grant, has also been functioning at the Centre since May 2006. Vocational classes for sewing and embroidery, English speaking and computer training are also held. The Centre has become a hub of activities for citizens in the area, and public events are held on a regular basis. The young teachers are also being supported by the project to complete their own higher education and acquire professional skills.

Towards a new goal – Fatima Sheikh

School education is a taboo in Fatima Sheikh's family. Even boys do not complete their school education. After 8th or 9th class, they are sent to garages or somewhere else for apprenticeship. Girls are not allowed to continue their school education after 7th or 8th class. They are kept busy in household work or on odd jobs where they earn a meagre amount.

Fatima's family migrated to Mumbai from a small village in eastern U.P. Fatima's mother sent her to the local Municipal School and then to Secondary Girls School. She came in contact with RGF's coaching classes for the girls and the co-ordinator noticed her dedication and enthusiasm for education. But her mother wanted her to discontinue her studies after class 9 like others in the family. Her father's income was not enough to support her education.

However, Fatima was encouraged to continue her studies and everything was taken care of in the coaching classes. Students are given all study materials including books and stationery. Competent teachers are also available to guide the children.

Thus Fatima, in spite of all odds, passed her SSC exams. Her parents were very happy. Encouraged by the co-ordinator Fatima joined a local girl's college where she faced the language problem as all the subjects were in English. However, the Centre helped her with English and she gave her exams and passed successfully.

Her journey continues. Meanwhile, she also learnt tailoring in the Community Centre. She does stitching at home and supports her family. The Centre helped her to learn and earn. Now Fatima wants to become a teacher. Let us hope for the best.

Project Vision, Varanasi
Project Vision, in collaboration with CRY (Child Relief and You), is aimed at ensuring holistic child rights to the children of the most disadvantaged Muslim weaver community in the Nakhi Ghat area of Varanasi City. It was started in July 2006. The project is working among Muslim women and children, and all the project workers are women belonging to the minority community. The Muslim weavers of Varanasi have been undergoing immense hardships due to the loss of traditional markets. They live in slums that even today hardly have any school or primary health facility. Most families survive on one meal a day. The main activities undertaken by the project are -

• Awareness generation about health issues and infant mortality, immunisation and birth registration.
• Provision of basic health facilities for women and children
• Setting up of 2 non-formal education centres and 2 balwadis for the education of non-school going children.
• Training the teachers and community workers to be able to deliver quality education
• Protection of children, especially the girl child, and prevention of child marriages by working with the community
• Formation of children's groups to ensure their participation in issues which directly affect them
• Linking the community with government schemes and facilities, and lobbying for the establishment of basic health and education centres in the area

About 400 women and children are associated with Project Vision in the most deprived areas of Varanasi city.

Training Teachers in the art of Story-Telling

The Foundation has collaborated with Kathalaya, a Bangalore-based educational resource centre. Kathalaya tries to integrate storytelling into school curricullum, and finding a modern application for this ancient art. The project initiated in Karnataka aims to introduce storytelling as an effective tool thereby empowering teachers, librarians and educators to make their subjects and learning more interesting for children. The focus is to improve effective communication skills of teachers and librarians and train them on designing and implementing lesson plans A total of 10 workshops are planned to be conducted by Kathalaya in Karnataka. Out of which so far 8 workshops have been conducted in Mandya, Uttar Kanara, Bidar, Koppal Tumkur, Mysore and Bangalore in partnership with the Education Department, local NGOs.

School sanitation and hygiene programme

The programme is being implemented in collaboration with RGF's existing village library partner Anekal Rehabilitation Education and Development (READ) Centre, covering 15 primary and upper primary schools in 13 villages of Hulliyar block, Tumkur district in Karnataka.

The programme will create awareness in children and the community related to sanitation and hygiene and their relationship with good health, with a convergence of resources and experiences. The focus of the project is on development of a manual for wider dissemination based on good quality and relevant resource material and its utilization in a pilot way in Tumkur district of Karnataka. The programme is implemented in a participatory interactive methodology involving government school teachers and children. The objectives of the programme -

• To compile a directory of information on available material and its dissemination in a selected area for field testing
• Production of a manual/handbook on good practices, activities and monitoring of programmes for children on sanitation and hygiene
• To make schools and teachers as centres of knowledge dissemination and making them models for change
• Promoting a school environment which is healthy for the children and the communities
• Reduction of the incidence of water and sanitation related diseases among school children.

Educational Software

The Foundation and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) have collaborated on a comprehensive programme to make computer-based learning accessible to people in Indian languages, and thus empower them to broaden their horizons. Making it possible to use Indian languages on the computer is important for the preservation of marginalized languages and cultures that are in danger of being left out of the development paradigm which is increasingly dominated by information technology.
RGF and CSDS are jointly working on the following programmes to achieve some of these objectives :
Directory of information on available educational software

• Fellowships for Localization of Software Content In Regional Languages
• Dissemination workshops on Localization of software

Bridging the Digital Divide –Directory of information on educational software available on proprietary and open source formats

• Categorization of software content - age group, curriculum based, supplementary, creative
• Formats - Copyrights, open source, downloadable
• Production organisations - list of names and contact details
• Availability - Order procedure
• Languages - English, also Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Assamese and Oriya
• Quality - parameters for assessment to be developed

The directory is in the draft stage presently and would be made widely available on CDs and the web for users and educationists

Bridging The Digital Divide – Fellowships for Localization of Content In Regional Languages and their Dissemination

This initiative addresses the issues of both access and quality, and of software and local languages. While several efforts are being made by the corporate sector as well as by international institutions like UNESCO and government’s Department of Information Technology, it is clear that a lot more emphasis needs to be placed to developing open source software in local languages.

To bring the advantage of computer technology and the internet to people in different states, RGF is promoting the development of open-source software in 5 languages.  The long-term objective of the programme is to enable people speaking in different languages to access the internet and communicate with people across the digital spectrum.  The programmes would equip people with a technology to communicate as well as to receive communications through regional language software compatible with the international software.

The Sarai programme of CSDS has been promoting Linux based free software and adapting it in 14 Indian languages. RGF has instituted 5 Fellowships in association with CSDS to develop software and disseminate them to NGOs and schools. The languages shortlisted are Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Assamese and Oriya.

To disseminate the softwares, and support those who use them,  a series of workshops will be organized in collaboration with SARAI and Linux groups in different states for government and non-government institutions, Universities and NGOs in the concerned states.

Quality of Education Programme in Sitapur District

Introduction

Sitapur, a district of U.P. situated near Lucknow is spread over 89 kilometers from north to south and 112 kilometers from east to west. River Gomti flanks the western and Southern borders whereas River Ghaghra flanks the eastern side of the Sitapur district.

The project focusses on Biswan block, which is amongst the most backward and lacks educational infrastructure and other basic services. The block has high concentration of vulnerable communities, especially Muslims minority who are below the poverty line, scheduled castes and other backward classes. The geographical poverty of the area combined with educational backwardness compounds the problem further by restricting the livelihood opportunities.

The project is aimed to provide educational opportunities to adolescent girls/women and ensuring their holistic development for empowering them to become participants and leaders in future sustainable processes.

Objectives of the Programme

1. To provide basic education and skills for sustainable livelihoods.
2. To provide non-formal education to out-of-school adolescents in the 11-14 year age groups through bridge courses and then mainstream them in the formal school system.
3. To provide girls between 15-20 years basic education as well as suitable vocational training.
4. To promote awareness of positive practices in health, personal and civic hygiene, nutrition, family welfare, home management and improved infant and child rearing practices.
5. To help adolescent girls gain a better understanding of their environment as well as related social and legal issues as they impact their lives.

The Foundation has collaborated with BETI Foundation, Lucknow on Integrated Education and Livelihoods programme. Ten education cum vocational training centers (EVTC) are being run which provide an opportunity for young girls to receive basic education, along with the knowledge of their physical and psychological health and well being. A total of 512 girls have been identified in all villages who have been enrolled in the centres

Education Programme in Bareilly District, Uttar Pradesh- Project Saksham

Project Saksham is being implemented in Bhojipura block of Bareilly district in western Uttar Pradesh. The area has a significant Muslim population of about forty percent. The status of women is very poor, with illiteracy, large size of family and purdah being factors that hinder women's mobility. Domestic violence is intense, though a less projected problem, along with alcoholism and gambling. Economically, there are skilled women and children engaged in zardozi work. However, there is lack of accessibility to the market, which results in dependency on middlemen

The focus is on working with young women and girls in Bhojipura block. The thrust is on collectivization of women, which in turn gives them strength and confidence to raise their concerns. The specific inputs related to education, awareness of rights and facilities, and personality development are helping in building their knowledge base, and bringing them at par with the' aware' and 'educated'.

Objectives of the Project

1. Initiating functional literacy program among women's Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
2. Formation of adolescent girls clubs for building their self-confidence, enhancing their ability to articulate, challenge social taboos and increase awareness towards various aspects of life.
3. Cater to educational needs (social, economic and political) of women Elected Representatives (WER) and women from SHGs through Centre for Education and Action (CEA).
4. To create an environment where women understand and raise their issues at panchayat and block level. Brief Description of the Project

• Formation of self help groups
• Formation of adolescent girls clubs
• Centers for Education and Action (CEA) for adolescent girls and women SHG members wherein functional literacy programmes are conducted
• Awareness drives and sensitization process for adolescents for personal health and hygiene, reproductive health, gender, life skill issues etc.
• Training programmes for self help group women members and adolescent girls

Rapport building and awareness generation is an important component of the project, and act as a foundation to take the program to the target group. Capacity building for adolescent girls is done on issues like health and sanitation, education, governance, gender, violence against women, sex and sexuality and other issues as per the local context.

Five Centre for Education and Action (CEA) are running where women and adolescent girls get an opportunity to come together, inculcate the habit of sharing and learning from experiences of each other and gaining strength. These centers are established at panchayat level and used as platforms for knowledge generation and resource centers. CEAs are also places where literacy (functional) classes for women are conducted. The centers also provide an opportunity for adolescent girls to attend workshops on life skills, personality development and creative expression.