Why SODEWS?
The gap between the urban and rural quality of life is too wide and unless this gap is narrowed, the overall standard of living in India will not improve. A sample survey conducted on an all India basis by the Government reveals that:
- 70% of tribals
- 65% of backward communities
- 43% of urban people
make their living by physical labor
- 70% of the tribal women are illiterate
In the field of education,
- 53% of girls do not go to schools in villages
- 50% of the children in classes 1 to 5 cannot read in their vernacular languages
- 55% of the children in classes 1 to 5 cannot do simple mathematics
- Almost 1.5 crore children do not go to school at all
In Tamil Nadu, out of nearly 6,50,000 children in Class 12, about 80% of students from private schools form the majority for entry into professional courses.
Deficiencies in the Education field in villages:
Starting from Anganwadis, right up to the secondary schools, the standards are poor. Economic unviability prevents private sector participation in enriching the quality of education in rural areas. Though State and Central Governments spend a lot of money, no visible improvement is seen. Dilapidated school buildings, inadequate space, lack of water and sanitation facilities, poor student-teacher ratios, all add up to the poor standards in rural education.
To ameliorate the situation, we formed SODEWS to aid in uplifting the rural poor in social and economic areas.
What SODEWS does
Education
As an NGO, SODEWS has been working with the Government authorities to improve the standards. We have been accepted as genuine partners in Vellore District of Tamil Nadu. Our role beginning with Anganwadis is as follows:
- Anganwadis: Realizing that unless the base is good, quality cannot be achieved in higher education, SODEWS has taken up 90 Anganwadi centers in three panchayat blocks. These centers are run by the Government and the emphasis given is the noon meal. Though play materials have been supplied, most of the centers either do not have the materials, or have just a few. The upkeep of the centers is poor; lacking in water and sanitation facilities, thus posing a health risk to the children. Above all, these centers have only a cook/maid to take care of the children and not a teacher
The 90 centers we have taken up have around 2700 children in the age group of 3 to 5. SODEWS plans to reorganize these centers as models comparable to any urban based creches, without imposing any financial burden on the rural poor.
Training programs have already started ot change the mindset of the present staff. To ensure quality control, 10 centers will be under the direct supervision of a SODEWS worker (mostly women who are well trained and constantly undergo training, materials for which have been supplied by UNICEF). A total of 9 staff will supervise these centers, focusing on education and health aspects, specifically:
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interaction with parents counseling them on child's health aspects
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ensuring clean surroundings in the centers particularly in the kitchen
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emphasizing the use of toilets, where water is not available, providing storage facilities
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providing play materials and imparting activity based learning (drawing, painting, clay modeling, etc.)
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providing soaps and cleaning materials for personal hygiene and a healthy surrounding (the Government does not provide these)
- Primary Education: Participating in a Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) program, SODEWS trained teachers from 270 primary schools to teach Tamil using modules from Class 3 to 5. The program lasted 10 months, from July 2006 to March 2007, was a great success in that there was a noticeable improvement in the reading capacity and grasping power
Taking this participation further, SODEWS is working on simple methods of teaching the English language, Mathematics and Environmental Science up to Class 5. The reception to these programs is highly encouraging. With resource constraints, it may not be possible to take up all the 270 schools for this program; (for the Tamil program, the Government had provided subsidy) however, SODEWS plans to take up 10 primary schools from each block, totaling 30 for implementing this program.
- Middle and High School Education: SODEWS will enhance the quality of teaching in English, Mathematics and Science, as these subjects are neglected in the rural areas. There is an inherent fear that these subjects are difficult to learn. With a proper approach, like conducting workshops, showing science experiments (we have a box that contains 100 experiments), simplifying mathematics teaching, holding regular quiz programs, showing CDs/DVDs on various subjects (we have CDs on Solar System, Big Bang Theory, Bacteria/Virus, Tsunami, ETC.) the fear can be removed.
- Computer Studies: Computer education is a costly
affair which most of the rural poor cannot afford. Studies
reveal that the jobs
offered by the IT sector are mostly taken by urban based
students. To enable the poor to have an opportunity to have
access to computer education, SODEWS has started opening centers
in the rural areas. Thanks to 3i Infotech, which donated 52 used
computers, and other individuals, there are already 7 centers
with an average of 35 students in each. During long holidays,
the student strength swells to about 70 in each center.
Basic literacy is taught to children up to the age of 6 (painting/drawing) without any fee, while older students learn up to the Diploma level. A maximum fee of Rs. 50 per month is collected to run the centers. The income does not cover the capital and monthly maintenance costs presently, but the service provided has had a great effect in enabling the rural people to be more knowledgeable.
- Adult Literacy: Adult literacy program has been taken up particularly for tribal women. This program not only enables the participants to become literate gradually, but more importantly, helps them to be careful while signing land and debt documents. The course content itself is designed to start with issues relating to litigation while learning the Tamil language from the basics is concurrently done. Each class has about 50 participants with 2 instructors. Regular classes are conducted for 6 hours everyday for 1 month, and subsequent classes are conducted for 2 hours every evening. The participation is good and to ensure sustainability, training in cottage industries is imparted so that while learning becomes a way of life, candle making, soap and detergent production, making pickles and masalas, horticulture, etc. form the employment generation activities.
Education
Lack of medical facilities, ignorance, unhygienic conditions and traditional practices leading to unsanitary condictions, all contribute to a chronic disease-ridden situation in the rural areas.
Educating people about the necessity to keep the environment clean, programs for providing clean drinking water and sanitary facilities are being facilitated with Government assistance.
Health charts on organic systems are shown to adolescent girls to assist them understand natural processes. The hormonal changes disturb the girls psychologically, diluting the attention towards education. To encourage the girls to continue studying further, our women staff offer regular counseling. Home visits are also made to stress the need for girls to study and to discourage the parents from forcing the girls into early-age matrimony.
SODEWS also assists the Government in vaccination programs as well as in HIV/AIDS prevention schemes.
What more does SODEWS want to do
The rural problems are innumerable. The Government has taken several measures to generate employment, introduce social welfare schemes, eradicate diseases, but yet the progress is not visibly seen. The gap between the urban and rural areas is not reducing to the extent that opportunities for a better living for the rural people are less.
NGOs can play a ital role in bridging the gap to ensure that Government resources are usefully applied. Elimination of wastefulness, establishing transparency and accountability, closer contacts with the rural masses can be done only with the intervention of NGOs. A small organization like SODEWS cannot claim to achieve substantially; but to work closely with the people is, in itself, a healthy trend as the fundamental problem of mindset can be changed. These are generalities, but a few specifics are:
- Work towards achieving a Panchayat Raj - Making a village self-sufficient with it's own water resources (check dams, etc.), improve agricultural practices, encourage horticulture, cottage and rural industries
- Expand educational programs - improve the quality in primary, middle and high schools focusing on English language, Mathematics and Science
- Set up more computer centers to provide basic as well as advanced skills
- Aim providing health care by working closely with Government clinics and hospitals, take up public health programs including the construction of toilets for public use and encourage rural people to use private toilets to avoid an unhealthy environment
To sum up, play a role that would help provide basic urban amenities in rural areas without disturbing the traditional values.