EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES
BAIF has promoted the following formal and non-formal educational initiatives to groom the youth from weaker sections of the society.
Dr. Manibhai Desai Navchetan Secondary School: The Dr. Manibhai Desai Navchetan Madhyamik School at Chonda village in Navsari district of Gujarat, established by the Navchetan Manav Vikas Mandir in 2001, had a vision of providing higher education to tribal children especially girls. With the generous support of Larsen and Toubro Public Charitable Trust, a well-equipped science laboratory and a hostel to accommodate 120 tribal girls were established recently. This secondary school has a strength of 184 girls and 94 boys from 25 villages. The school has an impressive performance record of 75% students passing the Higher Secondary Board examination, thereby helping the tribal youth to pursue engineering, pharmacy, science, nursing and industrial training for a brighter future.
Shikshan-Mitra Programme: This Programme, offers multi-fold training in life education including agriculture, ecology, health and civics for children of 11 to 14 years of age studying in residential tribal schools (Ashram schools) in Ahmednagar and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra. Aligned with the National Education Policy 2020, it facilitates skills development and competencies in creativity and innovation, collaboration and team work, communication skills, problem solving and logical reasoning. Adoption of best practices in preventive health, hygiene, sanitation, sustainable agriculture, animal husbandry, establishment of kitchen garden and plant nursery and conservation of nature, benefitted 338 students.
School-based initiatives on conservation of nature and environment, access to smart learning, smart libraries and support for infrastructure were initiated in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha. Wall paintings in Odisha, brightened the schools and created environmental awareness. In Dausa, Rajasthan, digital classrooms decorated with creative paintings, improved the quality of education, benefitting 3456 students.
Functional Literacy Programme in Bundelkhand Region: 50 Women Literacy Centres were established in the villages covered under 50 Livestock Development Centres in Chitrakoot, Banda and Hamirpur districts to empower these women with functional financial and digital literacy skills benefitting 1250 women to develop confidence and capabilities to enhance their income. The programme helped over 80% of them to read, write and use digital calculators.
Smart School Programme: The Smart School Programme implemented under the HDFC Parivartan initiative, using digital classroom for spoken English, library, science laboratory, safe drinking facilities and repair of classrooms and toilets benefitted more than 2000 students to improve grasping skills, attention span, health and hygiene in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. These initiatives have been empowering the target communities, belonging to weaker sections of the society.