In recent years momentum has generated in Gujarat so that almost all children are enrolled in school, even in the most interior villages. However, the education process is still not geared to develop critical thinking and self-learning skills. ARCH is implementing learning support systems especially designed to assist first-generation learners and children of parents with primary education. Our center does not want to replace the formal schools, nor do we want to become tuition classes. Our intention is to intervene in children’s formative years, so our centers cater to children of standards 1-4 (6-10 years of age). Through alternative teaching methods that focus on participation, we hope that our centers will give students a solid foundation in basic skills, and also enable them to grow up as confident and self-expressive individuals. We will focus on:
1. reading and writing
2. basic math operations
3. reading comprehension for all subjects
In 2009-10 ARCH initiated 2 sub-centers, and we intend to start at least 5 centers within a year. The centers are to be run youth selected from the villages themselves, who will be trained and constantly supported by ARCH and collaborating NGOs. An additional objective of ours is to help other NGOs initiate such centers in their work villages. Presently, ARCH has taken up the responsibility of training 40 village youth – men and women – working under Bhansali Trust.