Projects
St. Johns School
Dantherapalli-Giddalur, Andhra Pradesh, India
St. John's School provides an English medium education to children in a very remote, poor, and rural area in Andhra Pradesh. It serves the poorest of the poor in 13 villages that are located within 5 miles of the school. Many of these children come from a class of society known as the Dalits or "Untouchables" and have few to no options to get a quality English education which is very helpful in India.
St. John's School opened in 2014 with 2 grades and 36 students (8 girls). It is in its fifth academic year and has grown to six grades (pre-K to 4th) and 225 students (71 girls). St. John's is accredited and adheres to the Indian government educational requirements.
Providing the students at St. John's with a computer lab will allow them access to an amazing amount of information, as well as allow them to grow and develop in their ability to read, write, create and interact with the Internet. The incredible programs now available through the internet will enrich the lives of and deepen the breadth of education we can provide for the students.
Khidgaon Village School
Khidgaon, Madhya Pradesh, India
Khidgaon is a remote village in India with a population of 2000 people and about 473 houses (mostly mud homes). The rural community in this part of Madhya Pradesh totally depends on agriculture and almost all the people’s livelihood in this region depends on farming and working in the fields. In the past few years, this region has had unusually low rains and has been badly affected by deforestation due to severe effects of climate change.
The only hope for the success of this region can come from educating the masses and providing them modern tools such as educational resources available through the Internet. In absence of a sound curriculum and qualified teachers, the school can use educational packages available for teaching via the Internet if only there are computer terminals with access to the internet. Providing computer literacy training to these students in middle and high school will allow them to look for alternate sources of employment in the neighboring areas. This way, they will be not forced to continue with the failing farming profession of their parents.
Ramkrishna Mission Eklavya Residential School
Jhargram, West Bengal, India
The Eklavya Model Residential School is an entity of the Ram Krishna Mission, where local tribal children are provided shelter, food and education. This area is mostly known as the “Jungal Mahal“ (Forest Palace) due to the dominance of large forest ranges around. The tribal natives are the treasure of this subdivision. Approximately, 25% of the total population are the Schedule Tribes and 15% are the Schedule Caste.
These students are first generation learners and they come from a very poor background. Every effort is being made to address the all-round well-being of this community and to convert this school from an ordinary school to a Centre of Excellence. About 350 tribal students, all of them being first generation learners, are now enrolled in this School all the way till 12th grade (Arts and Science).
This school is in a tribal, remote and forested area with limited access to good teachers and books. The existing teachers on the site are there because they are committed to the cause. The top priority of this school is a modern (technology-based) education so that the teachers and the students can access a quality educational curriculum via the internet. This will enable these students to remain competitive with the nearby cities and develop valuable skillsets needed for a career outside the forest region.