Inequality in Education
Children from rural India don’t have access to quality education & their parents are mostly uneducated / studied only upto high school are not able to help their kids in home work, tutoring at home leading to low scores in exams, unable to get admissions in reputed colleges for under-grad / graduation.
I would like to debate the possible means or efforts already being put in by a few NGOs towards solving this problem & could we as individuals do something to reduce the knowledge gap between kids from rural India & Cities?
Possible solution options for enabling better education of rural India kids could be through one of the below…
Hole In The Wall
The Hole in the Wall project is a computer-based learning program that was conceived & implemented by Sugata Mitra, Hole in the Wall Education Limited. The project was designed to provide children in remote and underserved areas with access to computers and the internet, so that they could learn and explore new ideas and concepts. The program was first implemented in India in 1999, and has since expanded to other countries around the world. The goal of the project is to provide children with a self-learning environment, where they can learn at their own pace and in their own way.
We all know such free, public usage computer could create chaos & challenges, but a good oversight / local village level volunteers to handle the basic maintenance & allocation of time to kids could go a long way.
Imagine the impact, if one person from each village who is settled in city — funds this project back in their village? It could uplift the knowledge, open up the curiosity of kids to learn, grow & set higher goals for themselves in their career.
Tablets Setup with Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a nonprofit educational organization founded in 2008 by Salman Khan with the goal of providing free, high-quality educational resources to learners of all ages.
One of the major impacts of Khan Academy is that it has made education accessible to anyone with an internet connection. By providing free educational resources, Khan Academy has made it possible for people around the world to access high-quality educational materials, regardless of their socio-economic status or geographic location. This has opened up new opportunities for learners who may not have had access to traditional forms of education, allowing them to improve their knowledge and skills.
Khan Academy has also had a positive impact on the education system as a whole. By providing a high-quality alternative to traditional forms of education, Khan Academy has helped to drive innovation and change in the education sector. This has led to the development of new technologies and teaching methods, which are being used to improve the quality of education for learners of all ages.
One possible way to help kids in rural India is by providing with a tablet / iPad setup with home screen to Khan Academy, in every government (public) schools. Similar to above idea, can one person from a village who is currently settled in city sponsor a tablet for the Govt. School in their village?
Teach for India
Teach For India is a non-profit organisation that aims to provide children in low-income communities with an excellent education. The organisation recruits and trains college graduates and young professionals to serve as full-time teachers in schools in under-resourced communities for two years.
Teach For India, a company inspired by Teach for America that was started in 1989 by Wendy Koop, seems to have made a positive impact on the education system in India, as the organisation has trained and supported thousands of teachers using the nearly INR 4Cr+ donations they receive in a year, who have in turn provided education to thousands of students in under-resourced communities, you can read the same in their Alumni Impact Report . The organisation has partnered with government agencies and other organisations to advocate for policies and initiatives that can improve access to education in low-income communities.
