Pitara: The Education Store was started by Eklavya Bhopal, a leading NGO in the field of education in India. ARCH is actively associated with Eklavya in many educational programmes, one of which is Pitara.
The main objective of Pitara is to create a space for promoting field-tested teaching and learning materials developed by various organizations, including ARCH, that promote meaningful education. This kind of material is not easily available in India because very few outlets stock them. Pitara also stocks and promotes selected literature from various publishing houses. Pitara sells childrens’ books from well-known publishers like Eklavya, Nehru Book Trust, Children Book Trust.
At Pitara we also demonstrate fundamentals of science using simple, low-cost experiments, and we sell educational math games that are fun as well as educational. We then bring these teaching materials to communities through the book fairs, usually hosted in schools, where students can read, play with math kits, and participate in our science experiment demonstrations. The interactive teaching materials for math and science are made by ARCH and other Indian NGOs, including Navnirmiti and Jodo-Gyan.
We have established three outlets of Pitara in Ahmadabad, Surat, and Anand, and our permanent outlet is on the ARCH Dharampur campus. These outlets are igniting a new excitement for self-learning and also allowing us to forge networks with other groups and individuals working in the educational sector. Most importantly, Pitara has become a vehicle for promoting not only quality children’s books, but effective teaching methods that children can enjoy as well as learn from. The demonstrations are a chance for parents, too, to see that games and hands-on methods are legitimate educational tools. Pitara is exploding with popularity and our educational materials are in high demand!