Case Stories
Transforming Lives
By being the catalyst for the children's growth and development, we are guiding them to become
LIFELONG LEARNERS
Name of Student – Pranali Chimda, Age – 9 Years
Facilitator's name – Ashvini Valkar, Location – Village Savade, Taluka Vikramgad, Dist. Palghar
Pranali’s parents work in the fields away from the main village residential area, and often take her along with them. So initially, her absence at the SarvaPrathamik sessions was high. Due to the high absenteeism rate, it took her a while to understand the lesson plan so she was falling behind other children.
Then her parents started to drop her off at the location of the SarvaPrathamik sessions before leaving for the fields, and picked her up at the end of the day. Ever since then, she progressed in her skills rapidly showing a lot of changes in the form of complete homework submitted on time, paying proper attention to lessons and understanding activities. She feels a lot more confident now.
The LSF team has observed that parental interest in supporting the child’s education by focusing on attendance is a critical, and with good parental support the child can thrive.
Name of Student - Muktai Santosh Dhumal, Age – 9 years
Facilitator’s Name - Samruddhi Kankoshe, Residence - Village Brahmangaon, Taluka Wada, Dist. Palghar
Muktai is a very shy and sensitive girl. She belongs to a family that just about manages to make two ends meet, as her father has to work very hard in the agricultural fields to run his family. With two uneducated parents, Muktai does not have a learning centric at home. Her parents cannot help her, although Muktai’s father is keen that she goes to school and gets educated.
At the start of the project in June 2021, the facilitator observed that Muktai was always diffident, she wouldn't step forward and take a lead in the session’s activity. She also looked sad most of the time during the SarvaPrathamik lesson, as she found it very difficult to complete the homework, with no support from parents or anyone else.
The facilitator Samruddhi encouraged Muktai to try to finish her homework on her own, and take help from her friends only if she did not manage to do it on her own. With regular attention & encouragement from the SarvaPrathamik facilitator, Muktai rose from strength to strength, and began doing very well in the session, and leading some of the activities.
She did well with letter sounds - remembering and expressing every sound with it's correct intonation. She also did well with Marathi letter sounds and writing, and was able to read small words with ease. Soon, she expressed desire to excel in English and began working hard to learn every English alphabet letter then read the three and four letter English words.
With time, she was able to use all the five English vowels and read the words that were put before her. She began to relish each session. Inspite of being a first generation learner, with uneducated parents, Muktai at an early age has been able to read and write in both the Marathi and English languages, which is very satisfying for her facilitator and the LSF team.
Name of Student – Kalyani Dhinda, Age – 9 Year
Teacher's name – Ashvini Valkar, Location – Savade, Taluka Wada, Dist. Palghar
Kalyani Ankush Dhinda is a very active girl. She is 9 years old. In many of the lessons imparted through SarvaPrathamik, the use of natural material and making objects from them creatively, would draw Kalyani to participate with complete interest. From clay, leaves, waste card & paper, she had a flair for creating beautiful objects with robust craftsmanship. Over the span of the curriculum year, June 2021 to April 2022, the facilitator observed that she enjoyed creating innovative things. She was partaking in every activity, attending and understanding all the sessions. The lesson plans were so much fun that she was engrossed with great interest and joy. As a result of the ‘SarvaPrathamik Kaushalyapurna Shikshan’ project, her artistic talents began to flourish and along with her education, her good qualities stood out.
Name of Student - Harshad Sadanand Jadhav, Age - 6 years
Facilitator's name - Nita Jadhav, Location – (Khajripada Hamlet at Chimbipada Village, Taluka Bhiwandi, Dist. Thane)
Harshad is a 6-year-old boy from Khajripada. He is a boy from a humble family of farmers consisting of 6 people. His sister is also in the group and his younger brother of 2 years old also attends with Harshad in the session.
Harshad creates much excitement in his group. Whenever he participates in a session, his bright jolly mood brings a lot of cheer to that session. He does every activity assigned to him in a very dramatic way, which brings a smile (and innocent laughter) on the faces of the other children. Harshad says that when he answers any question asked by the LSF facilitator, with his dramatic individual style and choice of words, he feels very proud. A child like Harshad has had the chance to express his individuality and derive joy from every activity, which would not otherwise be entertained in the conventional classroom.
It is evident that children like Harshad who are gifted with the innate skills of art and expression will grow in a healthy wholesome way with an educational system like the SarvaPrathamik project.
Name of Student – Saksham Haresh Patil, Age - 7 year
Facilitator's name - Nita Jadhav, Location – (Valvipada Hamlet at Village Chimbipada, Taluka Bhiwandi, Dist. Thane)
Saksham Haresh Patil is a 7 year old boy from the Valvipada group. It is observed by his facilitator that Saksham is a talented child. In the lesson involving music and art, Saksham's artistic talents stood out very clearly for his facilitator and everyone else in the group. The facilitator showed a video of sea waves and Saksham brought glass bowls and spoons from home, and the next day he created a musical instrument. This project is really giving scope to many children like Saksham, and allowing Saksham the freedom to express his creative talent, by bringing out the best in him. During the lesson relating to time, Saksham would bring his creative skills, to draw a clock on the ground or to play the role of a shopkeeper and use measurements and weights.
We are able to clearly infer from children like Saksham that they need an active & creative space to blossom.
Name of Student – Nayan Vasant Zate, Age – 7 years
Facilitator's Name – Vruchita Devendra Raut, Location – Kelthan
At the beginning of the project, Nayan was too aloof and disinterested to come and participate in the open air class. When he started taking an interest in the different games and activities conducted in many sessions, he realized that this was very different from all that he had experienced in his school. And soon Nayan started participating in every activity. He was able to learn all letters and their sounds. His confidence increased, as the year progressed into newer forms of activity. The facilitator noticed that he would participate in the activity before all the children came in. When the activity was about collecting natural material and making English alphabet letters, he did that with keen interest and skill. For example, he would venture all around the open air class and find the right kind of stones, sticks and grass to handcraft the English alphabet letters.
Nayan’s parents also observed that his rapid progress in learning was due to this innovative project and the active as well as creative methods applied in early & primary learning.
Name of Student – Sanket Valmik Kachare, Age – 9 years
Teacher's name – Vruchita Devendra Raut, Location – Kelthan
Sanket was too shy and afraid to speak at any of the SarvaPrathamik sessions, initially. At the beginning, he was not participating in the activity, and the facilitator had to coax him to pay attention to the activity. As sessions progressed, he started participating more and doing his share of activity with the help of his classmates. The facilitator observed that he liked songs with action to play out. When he was learning the English alphabet letter ‘N’ in one of the sessions, Sanket made a nest from grass, which was neatly woven, and looked very authentic. This ‘learning from doing’ component in the learning process was something that he was enjoying in each session.
Now he completes all activities and homework, without missing out on any of them. He also helps children to speak up while lessons such as ‘talking numbers’ are in progress.
The LSF team observed this common occurrence in many village students that ‘learning by doing’ drew their interest a lot more than just memorizing answers to questions or learning numbers by rote.
