Saturday is thirteen-year-old Sowmiya’s favourite day of the week. Every Saturday, she excitedly runs into the e-library, eager to read her favourite books online. All she has to do is click on the e-Library tab, choose a library based on her age group and language preference. Voila! She has access to uninterrupted learning.
Case study: Sollepura – A 100% Digitally Literate Village
Sowmiya is one of many children who have discovered their love for learning in the village of Sollepura, Tamil Nadu. Just like her, 14-year-old Sagaya Priyanka, another student from Sollepura, has attended all computer classes, mastering shortcut keys and MS PowerPoint. Then there is ten-year-old Leena, who visits the centre to browse the e-Library, with the help of her teacher.
Sollepura is a one-of-its-kind 100% digitally literate village, with each household having one digitally literate person. In this Wi-Fi-enabled village, the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Jan Kalyan Trust has established a Village Information Centre with state-of-the-art facilities to support the villagers through e-schemes, e-banking, online courses, e-libraries, access to job portals, printing services, health insurance, and more.
This one of several digital initiatives by our independent entity, the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Jan Kalyan Trust (ABFRJK Trust). We introduced basic computer education, the need of the hour, in government schools in eight of our model villages. We have set up Village Information Centres and SMART Classrooms at Sollepura, Madiwala and Basavanapura villages.
Our journey towards facilitating quality education across India
- Transforming schools beyond education: Improving the quality of education is of utmost priority. Through the School Transformation Project, signed with the Panvel Municipal Corporation, we aim to transform 11 Panvel Municipal Corporation schools. Last year, we reached out to 14,000+ beneficiaries.
- Making reading a fun hobby: To help children grow beyond schoolwork, community tutors distribute books, with 920+ children developing a healthy reading habit.
- Speaking English with confidence: Our spoken English classes in seven government schools benefitted 960+ students, adding to the quality of education.
- Conducting special classes for competitive exam aspirants: Going beyond basic education, special classes at Gyanarjan Centre provides special coaching for students of 10th to 12th, helping them prepare for and ace competitive exams such as CET and NEET.
- Creating support for good education: Our Academic Support Centres in 8 villages, for children of 1st to 7th standard, help children reach grade-specific competencies. The program has benefitted 280+ children, with 100+ children getting an A+ grade.
- Supporting the ‘Help Vidya Write’ initiative: By collecting notebooks across ABFRL offices, as part of the ‘Help Vidya Write’ initiative, we supported 3,800+ underprivileged students across 27 government schools.
- Enabling higher education: We enabled 80 underprivileged students to pursue their higher education through scholarships.
- Helping female students continue their studies: Through Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) programme, we motivate underprivileged girls to continue their education. Our special coaching classes for Maths, Science, and English benefitted 610+ rural girl students.
Case Study: Rakshitha’s Steady Rise from A Student to Teacher and Warden in Her Own School
Our efforts have brought positive changes to several ambitious minds in rural India. One of our students, Rakshitha from a family of agricultural labourers, enrolled her at our KGBV Residential School. She scored 81 % in the SSLC Examination (2010-11) but had to drop out thereafter. But with the determination to succeed and with timely help from our Trust, she completed B.Ed. and started working as a “Warden” from the same KGBV School where she studied. She is very happy that she can now guide and support several other students like her.
Looking ahead, we will continue working towards providing education at the grassroots level, improving the quality of life, and enabling community building by fostering strong links between the community and its schools so that every child in the country has access to quality education.
