Once Mr Rabindranath Tagore wisely said, “The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.” His idea of merging education with a community spirit instead of solely focusing on informative knowledge or individualistic aspirations has inspired one NGO — ‘Self Reliant India’. It is an initiative to aid in the progressive development of education in India by creating opportunities in the rural areas of the country. One of its key mechanisms is by providing quality education to the economically weaker sections by participating with students enrolled in Government/ Public schools. They engage with parents, students and teachers to further promote their goal.
Nanhe Kalam — An initiative to tutor students for Jawahar Navodya Schools
Jawahar Navodya Schools (JNVs) are known to provide excellent facilities to enrolled students with a free residential schooling system. It is an excellent resource for families with limited resources to advance their children educationally. However, it requires the students to crack an entrance exam for enrollment. This gives an edge to children who can afford Private Coaching Centres. In order to combat this limitation, SRI came up with a program called Nanhe Kalam to make this process more accessible for students in Government Schools.
It recruits JBT or B.Ed students to further tutor the Grade V students in Government Schools for Navodya Entrance Exams. This works as a dual mechanism by making both the recruitee and the younger students a part of a progressive community that strives for Self Reliance. This program is one of the ways that this NGO uses to fulfil its motto of making India a self-reliant country by strengthing its educational platform.
This NGO allows contributions and participation from volunteers in a vast variety of ways. One can choose to be a Field Volunteer, a Marketing Volunteer or a Content Developing Volunteer to add on their participation in SRI. They also accept elective donations on their website.
One key lesson we can take from Self Reliant India would be to actively take up initiatives for the marginalised sections in India and around the globe to accelerate growth, prosperity and equality. As a new year begins in 2021, we can notice the cracks in our societies and systems and mend them together so that the world is a better place to live in — for us and the generations to come.
Featured Image Credits – SRI
