In this digital age, many organizations are giving due importance to adopting innovative and interactive methods in teaching students. Many schools are also realizing the importance of this and integrating animations and videos into the regular classroom courses. Studies have shown that children are able to learn better using these videos and animations because a majority of the population are visual learners. The government is also adopting measures to provide educational videos to students in rural areas with the help of cable operators. This approach can also be utilized to provide education to girls who belong to underprivileged communities and drop out of schools due to financial constraints. There are a few significant organizations who are working for this cause in India.
What and How
Wheels Global Foundation (WGF) is an organization started by the alumni of IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). This organization aims at using the advancement of technology in rural areas in order to provide basic services of better quality. These include better health, sustainability, water, lifestyles, and education facilities. Pratham is the largest educational NGO (Non-government organization) in India. They currently have their operations in 33 centers that are spread across 9 Indian states. This includes close to 200 learning sites. The 9 Indian states are Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telangana and Gujarat. Pratham focusses on supporting female dropouts in these states.
These two organizations are planning to join hands in order to promote girls’ education in 5 states in India. They will primarily focus on providing their services to the undeserved communities within the 5 states. Pratham currently has a program – Second Chance program – which helps girls over the age of 14 years to earn their 10th standard diploma by completing their secondary school education. Wheels Global Foundation will enhance this program further by providing digital learning resources.
This partnership aims to reach 1,700 students with the ‘Second Chance’ program by using their digital learning tools. They will distribute these resources through the laptops and tablets that would already have content from Pratham. The subjects covered are Maths, English, and Science. There will also be a section for ‘Spoken tutorials’. These ‘Spoken tutorials’ are a unique digital educational tool that Pratham provides at its learning sites for close to 25-30 students.
Expert Opinion
Hiten Ghosh, President, WGF, said that with the help of these digital tools, young adults will be able to grasp the concepts at their own pace, which is a vital factor.
Renu Seth, Head, Pratham’s Second Program, said that with the aid of these digital teaching methods, they want to provide the girls with access to interactive and engaging content that is very different from conventional textbooks. She also said they wish to improve the outcomes in the examinations by providing the girls with this innovative learning experience.