News from Centres across India

National Science Day – Nurturing Innovative Ideas

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

National Science Day is an annual event celebrated across India on February 28th to commemorate the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist Sir C.V. Raman. On this day, the students of Literacy India celebrated the wonders of science by engaging in activities that fostered a culture of STEM-inspired abilities, curiosity, and problem-solving skills among rural and semi-urban students.

The excitement was palpable at all the Literacy India Learning Centres, where students participated in a range of activities that highlighted the role of science in our daily lives. From Leh to Jharkhand and from West Bengal to Rajasthan, the students of Literacy India came together to celebrate National Science Day.During the celebration, students were encouraged to develop innovative ideas and models rooted in science that could help solve community-level issues. The students rose to the challenge, and their efforts yielded impressive results.

Jharkhand Reporting

STEM Champions: INSPIRE Awards – Catching them Young

The INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge) is a program executed by DST in collaboration with the National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF). Its objective is to inspire students aged between 10 to 15 years and studying in classes 6 to 10. Every year, 12,000 students from different states are selected for the award. In the Bokaro district, out of the 260 middle schools, Literacy India Jharna, two student projects were selected. Among these projects was Vijay Bouri’s project, which aimed to address the electricity issue in his village. He used two pins, a round magnet, and copper wire to generate power.

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

Rohit Kumar’s Low-Cost Fan with Study Light

A Creative Solution for Summer Comfort

Rohit Kumar, a Grade VIII student, embarked on a project to address the issue of staying cool and well-lit during the summer months especially while studying. His solution involved creating a low-cost fan with a study light.

 To achieve this, Rohit used a variety of materials including a mobile box, three batteries, two switches, some colorful lights, a motor, and a fan blade. He carefully assembled these components to create a functional fan with an attached study light, which could be powered by batteries.

 By using his creativity and resourcefulness, Rohit successfully completed his project and created a cost-effective solution for staying cool and focused while studying during the hot summer months. His project highlights the importance of innovation and problem-solving skills, which can be cultivated through hands-on learning experiences such as these.

Delhi NCR – Events Updates

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

Literacy India’s Donor and CSR Partner, Witzeal Technologies India’s team led by  Ms Urnita Sareen, Ms Sana Ahmed, and Ms Ruchi, organized & conducted a session to celebrate International Women’s Day on the UN theme “Digitall: Innovation and Technology For Gender Equality in Young Adolescents Girls”, who are under Tech Skill Training Project of Literacy India. Company Employees provided insight about Women’s Day and how women lead in several fields and play a vital role in the economy, fulfilling their family’s financial needs and strengthening an inclusive work culture. They also visited the Stall of Science project made especially by girl students. The presence of ladies from the corporate world boosted their confidence at our centre and helped them understand the contribution of Women in Technology.

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

In an Inter-school/NGO competition on Science, Society, and Environmental Gurugram, organized by KPMG, the students of Literacy India emerged as the winners and bagged the 1st Prize. Their working model on “Self-Sustainable Village” was a testament to their creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills.

The winning model showcased the students’ understanding of sustainability and their ability to apply scientific concepts to solve real-world problems. The model was designed to help create a self-sustainable village that could meet its energy needs through renewable sources, reduce waste, and promote local agriculture.

The students’ efforts were commendable, and their achievement was a demonstration of the power of STEM education in fostering creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills. The Literacy India Learning Centre played a crucial role in providing students with access to quality education and resources that helped them develop these skills.

Through such events particularly on National Science Day, Literacy India is helping to bridge the gap between rural and urban students and provide underprivileged children with opportunities to develop skills that will stand in good stead in the 21st century. The focus on STEM education is particularly important, given the increasing demand for professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math-related fields.

Special Webinar

Celebrating International Women’s Day: Not Just Today But Everyday

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

Women beneficiaries under different projects of Literacy India come from humble backgrounds, and many face their daily struggles and challenges resolutely.  On International Women’s Day, Dell Technologies organised an interesting one-on-one session with women beneficiaries of Literacy India on the theme “Embracing Equity- Equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, It’s must-have” element.  Led by women employees of Dell these engaging sessions had participation from over 200 women across six centres of Literacy India representing 6 Indian states of West Bengal, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana. Discussions covered a variety of issues including Health & Hygiene and Work and Family Life Balance and covered women from different generations.

From the Leadership Team, Site-Director of Dell Technologies, Shri Vikhyat Singh, highlighted about the role of women and their contributions in almost all walks of life covering family responsibilities, contributions to the society, and assisting in all important role of nation-building.

Volunteers’ Lead Ms Venita Sejwan, Ms Ritika, Ms Arti Singh and Ms Nupur shared their life experiences and success stories to motivate the women beneficiaries. The event culminated with celebrations and distribution of with sweets, cake, and coffee at all the respective centres. All in all, every participant felt and realised the importance of their identity.

Rajasthan Rocking

Challenging Stereotypes: Two-Wheeler Driving Training

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

This initiative started with the idea to empower young girls and women in the rural community and to train them in two-wheeler driving. This program was designed to bring about a change in the attitude within the community and to help women, especially the young, who may not have access to such training otherwise due to several social impediments. The program focused on helping 20 women gain two- wheeler driving skills.  A 30-day training module was designed with driving lessons being provided on alternate days. The program emphasized the importance of road safety and trained the participants on various driving skills including driving attentively and balancing the bike while carrying a pillion rider. The trainees participated in the training with lot of enthusiasm and wished that besides being independent and mobile they will also be able to manage their daily errands rapidly.  Moreover, the job avenues in the modern times have also enlarged with increased demand for home delivery of products and services, this has created a considerable demand for delivery persons.  Additionally, the training program has helped in breaking gender stereotypes and promoted women’s inclusion and empowerment in the community.

Gurgaon Champions

Khelo India: Dus Ka Dum

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

Children enjoy sports and it makes them fit – physically and emotionally.  There are several values that sports inculcates swiftly yet firmly.  Skills like leadership, strategy, analytical thinking, risk taking, goal setting and team spirit all come unassumingly in a child’scharacter.  This helps in an all rounded  and healthy development of child that helps in building a strong and healthy society.  No gainsaying the fact that the underlying spirit of Khelo India – an initiative of Government of India, also reinforces this and aims to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level.

Recently to celebrate the International Women’s Day, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports organised the Khelo India Dus Ka Dum event between March 10 to March 31.  Some 11 students from Literacy India participated in the Haryana State Judo Competition- Sub Junior category and 7 students have bagged medals.  Ridhi and Shivani secured Gold Medals, Archana bagged Silver, and Jugantara, Preeti, Muskan, Divya bagged Bronze Medals in their respective competitions.

Kudos to Girl Power – our Champions.

World Storytelling Day

Nurturing the Child in Teacher and Cultivating the Adult in the Child

Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Change

Who does not love stories? We all remember the magic of narration of stories shared by our grandparents, parents and family members.

Teacher Priyanka from Literacy India Chingrighata Centre, Kolkata rediscovered herself when she participated in the “Saga Story Telling Competition”, where a select group of students ably trained to assess and evaluate story narration techniques participated as Judges/ Jury members.  She says, “Why not, students can be asked to judge us?  Ultimately it the learning that needs to be transported and reach our students” … they are in good position to evaluate whether knowledge has successfully reached them, in the most child friendly manner.”

This was a pan-India Competition across Literacy India Centres, to commemorate the World Storytelling Day.  Another participant, Renu Sharma from Vidyapeeth School, Gurugram, stated that “I am surprised that I could narrate a story with voice modulation, using hand gestures and facial expression in the allotted two and a half minutes.  I will continue to use props in my classes from now onwards.  I always thought story telling would waste my time, but it simplified my teaching.”

 Priti Thakur, from our Salkia Centre, Kolkata had this to say, “I was hesitant initially, as I had never done teaching through story telling so it appeared challenging, but after attending the Story Telling Workshop I gained a lot of confidence.  I agree, with story narration I can teach my students in an entertaining manner.  The students become attentive, and their response and involvement increase manyfold”.

Ms. Priti Thakur from Literacy India Centre at Salkia, West Bengal, received the 1st position; Ms. Priyanka from Literacy India Centre at Chingrighata, West Bengal got the 2nd position and Ms. Renu Sharma, from Literacy India -Vidyapeeth School got the 3rd position.