Highlights:
• The NGO imparts inclusive, innovative and internet-driven education.
• Elements to achieve goal are infrastructure, teacher development etc.
• Bal Utsav transformed more than 200 government schools in Karnataka.
A Bengaluru-based education NGO, Bal Utsav, hopes to transform government schools. Through their flagship programmes — iShaala and Sampoorna Shaala — the NGO imparts inclusive, innovative and internet-driven education.
iShaala and Sampoorna Shaala
The difference between the iShaala and Sampoorna Shaala is that iShaala manages about 100 students, a Sampoorna Shaala manages more than 500 students. Bal Utsav has recently taken up a pilot project to convert the Mandal Parishad Primary School (MPPS) in Nizampet of Hyderabad into a model school called iShaala.
Elements to achieve their goals
The elements to achieve their goal are infrastructure, teacher development, scholarships and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Bal Utsav co-founder Ramesh Balasundaram said ,“The idea is to demonstrate that great public education through model schools is possible by optimising the use of resources”.
Facilities in the school
Bal Utsav has partnered with leading edtech firms to provide smart television sets with pre-loaded curriculum content for free in the schools. The children and teachers are then provided with a ‘learning licence,’ so that they can access the content on their smartphones or tablets. Under the WASH program, Bal Utsav is installing a vending machine to dispense sanitary pads. Four coins would be given to each adolescent girl per month, which would fetch 12 pads (three in a pack). An incinerator is also installed so that the used pads can be disposed of safely. Well-performing students who wish to pursue higher education are offered also scholarships.
Bal Utsav, which has transformed more than 200 government schools in Karnataka, is presently targeting to convert one model school per district with a cluster of seven to 10 schools. They are foreseeing the transformation of around 300 schools across Telangana into such model schools, once the State government formally enters into partnership with them, which is under negotiation.