As a boy, ‘Vishwa’ had to trudge several kilometres on rocky, dry terrain to reach his nondescript school. He went on to become one of India’s greatest engineers and visionaries, earning a knighthood and the title ‘Bharat Ratna’ among many other accolades.

For his innumerable services to society, the birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, September 15, is celebrated as Engineer’s Day.

But one of his most far-sighted achievements is probably the importance he gave to education and the thousands of schools and institutions that he set up when he was the Diwan of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore (1912-1918).

And in a great tribute to him, a rejuvenation of sorts is happening now in his hometown, Muddenahalli.

Government High School Muddenahalli in Chigatenahalli village, Chikkaballapur District, is a school founded in 2006 at the foothills of Nandi Hills. It was inaugurated on Independence Day as the first model government school in the district – changing the destiny of many students.

The compound is bright and welcoming, the pathway to the Anganwadi doubles up as a game board, pictures of great English, Hindi and Kannada authors of the past beam down from the walls in the Languages Lab, the ceilings have been painted with stars, and in the Science Lab, Warli art is used to depict the human skeleton, test tubes, rockets and mobile cell towers!

All these creative ideas came from teachers and government officers. The artwork was envisioned and executed by drawing teachers working in government schools in the district.

So how did a modest government school get transformed into a modern, smart school that promises to be a visual and mental treat for its students?

“The result is totally due to the creativity, drive and hard work of our entire team,” says Fouzia Taranum, IAS, and Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Chikkaballapur. “We have very good, highly-motivated teachers who come from a merit-based selection process. Together with officials of various government departments, the MNREGA team, the Panchayat Development team and the many volunteers and donors, we came up with a plan to create model schools and anganwadis in each of the 28 Zilla Parishad constituencies. But more schools heard about this, and now we have 38 schools and 50 anganwadis on our list,” she adds.

Cheerful anganwadis for early learners

The National Education Policy 2020 emphasises early childhood education in these words: “The learning process for a child commences immediately at birth. Evidence from neuroscience shows that over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs before the age of 6, indicating the critical importance of developmentally appropriate care and stimulation of the brain in a child’s early years to promote sustained and healthy brain development and growth.”

Even before the NEP was released in July 2020, the Chikkaballapur team had done its survey and drawn up plans to improve the infrastructure of the schools and anganwadis using funds allotted through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

More than improving just the physical space, they wanted to make the anganwadis an energising and inspiring space. High school teachers collaborated to create a manual for anganwadis teachers, a guidebook in English and Kannada called ‘Chinnari Champs’.

The COVID pandemic may be keeping the little ones away from anganwadis and schools. Still, their teachers have been making innovative teaching aids and stocking anganwadis with storybooks and well-made Channapatna toys. Outside, old tyres and eucalyptus wood have been repurposed to build safe and attractive play areas. Moringa, banana and curry leaf plants have been planted alongside herb gardens. The heady waft of change is in the air already.

Concentrating on Education

When Fouzia Taranum, IAS Batch of 2015, was posted to Chikkaballapur in August 2019, her focus was on education. The mid-term Class 10 exams showed that the district stood 20th among the 34 educational districts. Teachers and officials sat down to discuss how things could be improved for the 15,000 students who had to write the board examinations in March 2020.

“When I went on field trips, I was very impressed that teachers were working voluntarily during the holidays to help students to prepare for their exams,” says the CEO.

Through the holidays, teachers worked to create helpful worksheets, made home visits, and mentored small groups of students. Students were also taken to the actual centres where they were likely to write their final exams so that they could be familiar with this new setting. The 3000 students who were identified as slower learners were given additional help.

When the results were announced in August, many headlines read: ‘Chikkaballapur district tops in Karnataka Class 10 exams’.

Sports, academics and more

The model school with its spanking new kho-kho, kabaddi and volley-ball courts, well-equipped social sciences, mathematics and science labs, and a serene yoga and meditation room await students. The aesthetics in the Languages Lab is meant to help children develop Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW).

Owing to the COVID situation, students have not yet started coming to school. Instead, they are helped to become self-learners through the Karnataka government’s Vidyagama programme, where teachers meet students in places like community halls, religious places or under trees.

The team had developed the model school on an approach called BALA (Building as a Learning Aid). “But improving infrastructure like building toilets and labs in educational institutions is comparatively easy. We wanted to bring about behavioural change too,” says Fouzia Taranum.

Going by the support received by the Chikkaballapur ZP team from the local communities, the members are confident that change is definitely in the air. They are sure that students will benefit greatly from schools like the model school in Muddenahalli. Maybe, the schools will even give rise to young girls and boys like Vishwa, the boy who grew up to be Sir M. Visvesvaraya!

Mala Kumar is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of several books for children including ‘Sir M. Visvesvaraya: The Man who Built Bridges, Dams and a Nation’ published by Pratham Books.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

“In rural areas such as Cheruia or Bansa of Uttar Pradesh, it is hard to find girls who are pursuing their education. Boys who are studying do not continue their education after 10th grade as they join daily labour or start working in their family business. Some who are motivated to continue their education do not have access to the necessary study material,” says Jatin Lalit, a resident of Bansa, Uttar Pradesh, and a 22-year-old law student at Galgotias University, Noida.

So how does one fix a problem like this? Jatin has the answer –

“Libraries are vital to rural communities because it provides access to information and encourages young people to expand their knowledge,”

Which is why, early in August, along with his college senior Praveen Kumar, Jatin took up the task of setting up a community library at Cheruia village, in Baliya district.

The community library at Cheruia was open to the public in the first week of September and is set up at a public resthouse in the village. It has over 600 books – 200 educational books and 400 storybooks primarily written in Hindi. Jatin says the community library aims to address all these issues and provide them a safe space to learn.

Jatin says, “There are 30 students who visit the library regularly, and spend half a day or sometimes more to read. We aim to create a repository with 5000 books which will directly benefit 7000 people living in and around Cheruia.”

How did they set it up?

Since 2016, Jatin has been part of The Community Library Project (TCLP) – A Delhi-based organisation focussed on setting up community libraries in rural areas. By volunteering, he has helped to set up many community libraries in rural areas.

He says that setting up a community library requires two essentials –

1. A place to set it up free of cost
2. A minimum of 50 people who are interested to visit the library regularly.

“The first criteria is usually easy to fulfill. In Cheruia’s case, Praveen got permission from local authorities who allowed us to use a public resthouse where travellers or homeless people would spend the night. We were given two rooms, a small hall, and the verandah as a sit-out for readers. With help from friends and acquaintances in the village – bookshelves were built and the library was painted. For the second criterion, after surveying seven villages, we noticed 110 students were preparing for government examinations and had no access to study material. The books they needed were available only at shops located in the city. Apart from that, 100 people said they were willing to read every day if they had access to books.”

To conduct the survey the duo gathered 50 volunteers who would go door-to-door to ask a resident’s opinion about opening a community library.

With funds from Praveen’s family and favours from the villagers, the duo set up the library at Cheruia within a few weeks. In the meantime, they created campaigns on social media to collect books.

“Since the requirements were purely educational we created a wishlist on Amazon. People can choose to buy one book or twenty books, it is their choice. But, we decided to only buy what was necessary for the people here. By the end of August, TCLP donated 100 storybooks and kind strangers who supported the initiative purchased books over Amazon to our address, and we have collected 600 books to date,” says Jatin.

Ayush Choudhary, a class 12 student from Cheruia district believes this library will help him score above 90% in his board exam and pursue B.Com in the future.

He says, “I have been visiting there every day since it was opened and I refer to study material. Currently, there are not many books available for 12th standard students but there are NCERT books for lower grades which help me strengthen my foundational concepts. Apart from that, the library is a good space to clear my mind and focus on studies for a few hours every day.”

Impact of a community library

Jatin believes that if rural people continue to study beyond 10th grade, it will change their life and their living conditions.

“After setting up several libraries along with TCLP, I have witnessed how students in rural areas are motivated to study. Some have even gone ahead to crack tough competitive exams. A community library helps students overcome socio-economic disadvantages, and supports everyone who wishes to educate themselves. I aim to help people in rural areas across India set up libraries and increase awareness about the importance of education,” says Jatin.

Within a few weeks after the launch – the Cheruia library has helped 23 students get access to study material and revision books that prepared them for the National Defence Academy exam. Now, Jatin has decided to open one more in Bansa village, his hometown.

“At Bansa, the villagers and local community were enthusiastic about our project and provided us with a plot of land, on which we plan to construct a common hall for the books, and two reading rooms – one for boys and the other for girls. While the foundational work has started, the entire project would cost about Rs. 2,27,000,” says Jatin.

If you would like to donate funds to help Jatin finish the construction of the community library at Bansa here is a crowdfunding link. Or, you can purchase books for the library at Cheruia by referring to the amazon wishlist.

To know more connect with them on Twitter, Instagram, or send them an email at communitylibrarybansa@gmail.com

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

A free online course aimed at benefitting electrical engineers specialising in communications, networks, signal processing, stochastic control, machine learning, and related areas has been launched by IIT Madras.

Things to know

• Students doing their MTech, MS or PhD are eligible to apply for this programme.
• Professor Krishna Jagannathan, associate professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras and Professor Krishna Jagannathan will be conducting the programme.
• This is a twelve-week programme, during which students will be trained in deriving and proving fundamental results, starting from basic axioms.
• Students who wish to obtain a certificate can take an examination that can do so by paying a sum of Rs 1000.
• An e-certificate with the logos of IIT Madras and NPTEL will be given to students who score the required average assignment and exam marks.

Those students, who wish to check out the course details, can do so by clicking here to access the brochure.

Important dates

• Enrolment ends – 21 September 2020
• Programme commences – 14 September 2020
• Programme ends – 4 December 2020
• Exam date – 19 December 2020

Criteria to get the certificate?

• Students must have an average assignment score, which equals to 25 per cent of the average of best eight assignments out of the total twelve assignments given in the course.
• Students must also get an exam score of 75 per cent of the proctored certification exam score out of 100.
• The final score must be equal to the average assignment score plus the exam score.

How to apply?

Students who qualify and are keen on applying for the course can click here to fill the form.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

To ensure the further development of technical education, the All India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE) has announced a Post Graduate Scholarship Scheme for MTech, ME, MArch and MPharm students for the year 2020-2021.

Under this scheme, qualified students admitted to AICTE approved institutions will receive a scholarship of Rs 12,400 per month for 24 months.

Who can apply:

• Students admitted in AICTE approved Institutions / University Departments. Or students admitted in AICTE approved programs such as Master of Engineering, Master of Technology, Master of Architecture, and Master of Pharmacy programs.
• Students enrolled as a full-time scholar.
• Students having a valid GATE/ GPAT score at the time of admission.

How to apply

Step 1: Student ID verification – Validate your student ID to receive a unique student ID.

Step 2: Once you have registered, you can access the application form.

Step 3: Fill the necessary information and upload the mentioned documents.
Documents required: Scanned PDF copy of GATE/GPAT score card, caste certificate, bank passbook, and Aadhaar card (students of J&K, Meghalaya, and Assam are exempted).

Step 4: After filling the form, respective institutes have to verify the data of candidates admitted to M.Tech/M.E./M.Arch through GATE for the academic years 2020-21.

Step 5: Once it is approved by the institute the scholarship amount will be credited to the bank account of the student.

The last day for institutes to verify the candidate information is December 31, and the scholarship will be provided from the date of commencement of classes or the date of admission.

Things to remember:

• The grant of Post Graduate Scholarship is subject to the condition that the student does not receive any financial assistance in the shape of scholarship, salary, stipend, etc. from any other source during his/her course of study in the Institute.
• Candidates who wish to apply must have a savings bank account in the same name as the student ID.
• It will be obligatory for every post-graduate student to undertake 8 to 10 hours (per week) of work related to teaching and research activities as assigned to him /her by the Institute.
• The student should not leave the course midway.

To know more, read the guidelines in detail here or visit their official website. Candidates can also contact AICTE helpline at 011-26131576-78,80 or send email at pgscholarship@aicte-india.org for more information.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Karan Kumar Gupta, an 18-year-old boy hailing from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand is the son of a newspaper vendor – Kundan Gupta. In their family, Karan is considered to be the perfect example of hard work and determination, because, on September 11, 2020, he passed the IIT JEE exam by scoring 98.54%!

Amazingly, this is not Karan’s first attempt at the JEE (main). In January 2020 he attempted the same exam and scored 97.86 %. He decided to attempt the exam once more to get a better score.

Kundan, who is 45 years old, has been a newspaper hawker all his life. He earns approximately Rs 10,000 every month. But owing to the lockdown the distribution slowed down and he had received a pay cut. But the family kept going.

“My father has always worked hard to ensure that my elder sister and I go to school and college. When it came to my education he would run pillar to post to ensure we would never have to sacrifice it. This always motivated me to work harder. In the 9th standard, I came across a story about Elon Musk. It was about how he founded PayPal (earlier known as X.com), and later sold it to start his entrepreneurial venture – Space X. That day, I told myself that I would work hard to become an entrepreneur like him, research new concepts, and make out-of-the-world innovations. To do that I needed to get into the best institution in the country – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),” says Karan.

Supporting Karan’s dream

In 2019, Karan topped the 10th board exam at Holy Cross School, Hazaribagh. Kundan then enrolled him into the D A V Public school. Here, the fees were high, but since Karan had good scores, he received a scholarship and was asked to pay only half of the total fees.

The same year, he also enrolled himself into Achievers Classes – a tutoring centre in Hazaribagh for the JEE examinations. Here, Directors Ajay Thakur and Arvind Thakur noticed that Karan had talent but could not afford to pay the full amount. So they offered him coaching at a nominal fee.

“When I first met Karan, I asked him why he wanted to study JEE? He replied – I want to become a scientist and then become an entrepreneur. This answer along with the scores in his boards showed that he was a passionate and hardworking student. That is all we needed to enrol him in our institution. He is very punctual, obedient, and never gives excuses for any work assigned to him. Though he did not score the percentage he expected it only motivated him to work harder,” says Arvind Thakur, the Director and Chemistry teacher at Achievers Classes.

Karan’s routine to success

For two years, Karan’s daily routine would be to wake up at 5 AM, freshen up, and revise study material from the previous day’s classes. At 7.30 he left for school by cycle and returned home only after 3 PM.

“Classes started at 8 AM, and the school was three to four km away. This gave me enough time to reach there, spend some time with my friends, and get ready for the classes.”

Once he went back home, he enjoyed his free time until 4.30 PM, post which he would cycle to Achievers Classes located a few streets away, and spend time there until 8 PM preparing for JEE examinations.

“12-14 hours of my day was filled with studies, but I never complained about it. I enjoyed the subject and concepts that were being taught. My favourite class was physics because everything made sense and it was practical. Another subject that I enjoyed is Mathematics because it is purely logical,” says Karan adding that the key to cracking JEE exams is understanding concepts and analysing every question before solving them.

In his 11th standard, noticing that Karan was working hard for his exams, his close friends gifted him six second-hand reference books related to Maths for his birthday. Karan says this was the most thoughtful gift he ever received and uses the same books even today to prepare for the JEE (Advanced) exams.

“Though I have scored a high percentage in the JEE (Main) and received entry into an NIT college, I want to aim higher and write the JEE (Advanced) exams. Getting a high percentage in this exam will give me direct entry into an IIT college, and will also be the gateway to achieving my dream of becoming an entrepreneur.”

With the lockdown, Karan finds himself studying from morning to evening. He believes this will help him score more than 99%. Until last week he would go for a walk/ run in the morning to clear his mind before he picked up his books. But, with the JEE (Advanced) exam scheduled for 27th September, he has immersed himself in revisions and clearing doubts.

Online applications for the University Grants Commission (UGC) Scholarship 2020-21 are being invited from students for three postgraduate scholarships. Students can submit fresh applications as well as apply for renewals if they are already availing the scholarship.

Things to know:

• Students who are keen on applying for the scholarship must do so on or before 30 October 2020.
• The last date by which institutions need to verify the applications is 15 November 2020.
• Students can log in here to fill out the requisite forms.
• There are three kinds of scholarships being given out – Postgraduate scholarship for a single girl child, Postgraduate scholarship for University rank holders, and Postgraduate scholarship for professional courses for SC or ST.

Details Of The UGC Scholarship

Postgraduate scholarship for single girl child

• There are 3000 scholarships for girl students who are admitted in the first year of postgraduate courses.
• The amount of fellowship is Rs 36,200 per annum for a period of two years.
• No additional hostel or medical expenses will be covered under this scholarship.
• Girl student’s upto the age of 30 can apply for this scholarship.
• Those students pursuing a PG degree under distance learning are not eligible for this scholarship.
• Incomplete application forms will be summarily rejected.
• To know more details, click here.

Postgraduate scholarship for university rank holders

• First and second rank holders at undergraduate level who have secured admission into any postgraduate course would be eligible for this scholarship.
• The amount of scholarship is Rs 3,100 per month, which will be awarded for a period of two years only.
• Only those students who are pursuing their first PG degree will be eligible for this scholarship.
• Students applying for the scholarship should not be more than 30 years of age at the time of applying.
• A total of 3000 scholarships will be awarded under this scheme.
• Incomplete application forms will be summarily rejected.
• To know more details, click here.

Postgraduate Scholarship For Professional Courses For SC or ST

• This scheme was launched primarily to help socially backward students who are keen on pursuing a postgraduate degree in professional subjects like engineering, management, pharmacy etc.
• Students who are selected for this scholarship will be eligible for an amount of Rs 7800 per month for the duration of the degree. For other courses, the amount of scholarship will be paid Rs 4500 per month.
• A total of 1000 scholarships will be disbursed under this scheme.
• Incomplete application forms will be summarily rejected.
• To know more details, click here.

If you wish to access the official notification, click here.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

This article is sponsored by Dell Aarambh.

There are 247 million school-going children in India. But for reasons both immediate and long-term, we are currently in the midst of a transition to a more technology-driven education paradigm. How does that impact these millions of students?

What are the challenges and benefits of going digital? How do we close gaps in learning, or prevent existing ones from widening? What new roles do the parents, schools, and teachers have to take on?

These are some of the problems that Dell seeks to solve as part of its PC for Education initiative –  Dell Aarambh.

Dell Aarambh was motivated by the realisation that we are far behind other developed and developing countries in tech and computer literacy. Students, parents, and teachers were not comfortable using PCs and digital platforms. To tackle, Dell started an initiative directed towards computer awareness and skills. The team trains parents, teachers, and students in tier 2 and 3 cities, where there has been more hesitation in using technology. So far, they have trained 1.5 million students, 90,000 teachers and 130,000 mothers in computer skills for free as part of Dell Aarambh.

To support Dell Aarambh in their mission towards PC literacy and a tech-savvy nation, we at The Better India have started a campaign in honour of teachers who are using technology to drive social change. And to discuss the pertinent questions around digital education, we brought together a few of the leading minds in the ecosystem for an engaging online dialogue.

The Panel

Among the panellists for the webinar were educators, policy-experts and innovators trying to bridge the various divides in education.

Shukla Bose launched the Parikrma Humanity Foundation in 2003 in order to educate children living in the slums of Bengaluru. Osama Manzar, as the founder of Digital Empowerment Foundation, works for digital access and literacy in underserved communities across India through advocacy, research, and grassroots action. Santosh Phad heads Thinksharp Foundation, a social enterprise striving to close the urban-rural education gap by providing quality education infrastructure and resources in various villages of Maharashtra. Anand Prakash has years of experience in digital education as the co-founder of the popular online tutoring platform, Vedantu. Dell Aarambh’s directive force, P Krishnakumar, also joined the panellists in this conversation hosted by The Better India’s Deputy Editor, Tanaya Singh.

Access, Access, Access

Access emerged as an important theme in the conversation: Access to connectivity, access to gadgets, and access to a learning space.

Right off the bat, Osama gets to the crux of the matter: education is moving from 1.4 million schools in the country to 200+ million homes. While we have the technology, the providers, and the content for this transition, access remains an unsolved issue. And even with internet access, how do we deliver these audiovisual interactive classes over a 2G network, which is what is available in most places?

Anand agrees that only about 40% of India has internet access, but they have been able to develop tech at Vedantu to optimise for and stream classes over limited bandwidth. He points out how online platforms can also solve the shortage of teachers, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Anand also noticed that once students come on board well-designed online educational platforms, they stick around. Since the pandemic started, Vedantu’s users have increased from 1 million students per year to 1 million students per month, and many parents and adults are becoming teachers as well.

For Shukla, technology has in fact been a means of access. Despite the nationwide shutdown, they have been able to continue schooling their students who live in slums. This was no easy feat. Their parents were out of jobs and families were starving. Her foundation first distributed ration kits in the impoverished neighbourhoods. Then they handed out paper assignments and audio lessons along with the ration. Shukla crowdsourced 600 smartphones from donors and gave it to their students, through which they now conduct classes.

“It may not be perfect, but it’s important to give students a sense of belonging and continuity in their education, and not have that disconnect. We use technology to stay connected with our children,” says Shukla.

Redesigning Education

According to P Krishnakumar, there are three aspects of rethinking education for today’s world: First, a focus on outcome-based more than output-based learning. Second, bringing stakeholders together. And thirdly, putting the child at the centre of her learning. All of these aspects are enabled by technology.

But a whole spectrum of challenges and solutions have surfaced in the wake of this technological shift – from reimagining learning spaces to etiquettes of muting. For Santosh, one of the biggest concerns is the growing chasm between rural and urban students. As he points out, the new crop of educational apps varies from state to state and even school to school. Rural students and their parents who struggle with English are left behind. He asks – How do we create a universal platform so that education remains standardised across the board?

For more insights, questions, and innovations, join these teachers of tomorrow on a thought-provoking tour of the new landscape of education.

Like this story? Or have something to share?
Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com
Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s 4.00 pm and Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Bhatinda, is getting ready for his online session. A teacher of mathematics with over 18 years experience of teaching at various Kendriya Vidyalaya’s across India, Sanjeev is now at the forefront of a new role – digital educator.

He settles into his chair and opens up two laptops in front of him. One has the zoom application ready, while the other contains the notes he needs for his session. Besides his table sits a glass of water, along with multiple reference books, markers, pens, and a whiteboard, that is placed behind him. These sessions begin at 4.00 pm and go on until 7.00 pm each day of the week.

You have just entered the free online Math class being conducted by Sanjeev Kumar for students of grades 8 and above from all across the globe.

“People have this notion that government school teachers only take their salary every month and do no work. That is exactly what I wish to change,” says Sanjeev, who wishes to play a small part in changing that perception.

With the pandemic induced lockdown announced in March, Sanjeev was sure of wanting to set up a system where he could continue teaching children and says that the exorbitant fees that some of the private players were charging disheartened him.

“I did my own research and understood how I could use technology to reach kids and teach them,” he says.

On 29 March 2020, Sanjeev conducted his first-ever online Math class, in which there were about 50 students. “The first class had children of friends and family, and it was like a test session that I conducted,” he tells me.

His experiment did very well and during his second session on 1 April 2020, he had 350 students join him. “It was then a responsibility that was placed upon me and I had to ensure that I taught them well,” he says.

A government school student all his life, Sanjeev himself decided to become a government school teacher and has been teaching at Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) for about 18 years now. He currently is teaching at KV Bhatinda Cantonment school. He teaches Math to students of grades 8 and above.

Purchased Premium Zoom Account To Continue Free Classes

Since these online sessions that Sanjeev conducts are absolutely free of charge, he mentions that almost Rs 20,000 is put into these efforts each month from his own salary.

“Initially I started using the free Zoom account, but that would give me only forty minutes of class time. I then decided to upgrade the account and spend USD 70 each month on the upgraded account,” he says.

This upgraded account also allows Sanjeev to accommodate 500 students in each online session. “Even though from my end I have ensured that I have the best and fastest internet connection, I see that students from Chhattisgarh and other parts often get logged out during classes because of the connectivity issues that they face,” he says.

To overcome this issue, Sanjeev makes the notes of each session, which he circulates as a PDF file to the students who attend the sessions.

Here’s How You Can Enrol

The system is fairly straightforward. Students can send a Whatsapp message to 9464302178, mentioning the name of the student, class, and name of the school. Once these details are sent, the student will get a confirmation message and be added to a broadcast group. Details of the session will be sent out ten minutes before the session begins.

Sessions are conducted from 4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. every evening after Sanjeev gets done with the regular school hours. There are three batches of sessions conducted each day, and students of grades 8 and above join these sessions. What started off with students from Bhatinda joining has today students from UAE and Malaysia as well.

Simple Living, High Thinking

A testimonial from a student

Without hesitating Sanjeev shares, “I earn Rs 80,000 every month as salary, my wife who is also a teacher earns about the same. Our needs are limited and we have consciously decided to keep aside Rs 20,000 each month, which we can utilise to teach children and be of use.”

It is the perception that people have of government schools and its teachers that irks Sanjeev, and all he does is to change that. With students from across the globe joining his sessions and benefitting from it, he says, “In doing all this, if I am able to inspire even one other government school teacher to follow suit, I will consider myself a huge success.”

You could log in to YouTube to access Sanjeev’s study material or even connect via his Facebook page.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

If you are a Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) Civil Service Examination (CSE) 2021 aspirant then here’s some news for you.

The Jamia Hamdard Residential Coaching Academy (RCA) has invited applications for their free residential coaching programme for the UPSC CSE 2021 batch.

Things to know about UPSC CSE coaching

• In order for aspirants to be eligible for this free UPSC CSE 2021 coaching, one should have cleared the written examination and interview round conducted by the institute.
• Applications for this open on 30 September 2020 and will close on 20 October 2020.
• Aspirants will be required to pay Rs 200 as registration fee.
• If eligible, aspirants will be invited for an entrance examination on UPSC subjects.
• This entrance examination will be conducted in Delhi and Kannur.
• While the interview will be conducted at the Delhi campus.
• Aspirants who apply for this programme must have a Bachelor’s Degree in any stream.
• A select few aspirants will also be awarded Rs 2000 as a monthly stipend.

 Entrance exam for UPSC CSE coaching

• The entrance exam will consist of multiple-choice questions (MCQ’s) on general studies and CSAT.
• 100 MCQ’s will be asked from the following subjects – History, Geography, Indian Economy and Polity, Constitution of India, Art and Culture, Social issues, Science and Technology, Current Affairs-National and International importance, Logical Reasoning and Analytical Ability, General Mental Ability and Quantitative Aptitude.
• There will be a provision for negative marking in the examination.
• One-third mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.

Important dates

• Last date for applying – 20 October 2020
• Download admit card – 26 October 2020
• Date of entrance test – 31 October 2020
• Date of the result – 10 November 2020
• Personal interview (tentative) – Between 17 to 20 November 2020
• Final result – 24 November 2020
• Induction session – 1 December 2020

About the academy

Established in 2009, the main thrust of the coaching programme is to prepare candidates from the minority community along with SC/ST and women candidates to compete and secure jobs in Government and Public Sector Units, including UPSC.

Academic support and guidance along with personality development interventions are emphasised at the academy to prepare candidates to face the competition for entry into various services.

To access the brochure, you can click here.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Having studied from a local school in Patna, Imbesat Ahmad knows the struggle of not having the right guidance. While he did manage to get admission into IIT Kharagpur, the thought of not studying at MIT bothers him to this date.

He had no idea about SATs until he completed his plus 2. The competitive examination seemed easy to crack, but it was too late by the time he figured it out.

Rather than just complain, he decided to help solve the problem himself. Imbesat started mentoring higher secondary and undergraduate students who wish to appear for competitive examinations in India and abroad after his graduation in 2015.

From conflict-ridden Kashmir to Naxal-affected areas in Maharashtra, Imbesat travels in various states and conducts guidance workshops with government and non-governmental organisations.

In all these workshops, a common element he discovered was that students were not able to understand concepts or solve questions while studying in class. They either would have to wait for their next class or get the doubts cleared online. With so many educational resources online, they were either further confused or did not find an answer specific to their query.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated such problems as many educational online resources developed during the pandemic come with subscription fees, and not all students can afford them.

Realising the dire need to have guidance especially at a time when the future of competitive examinations is uncertain, Imbesat has launched an app called ‘Filo’ along with his batchmate, Salman Shahid and his IIT-Delhi counterpart Shadman Anwer.

The app, which is currently available on android phones, directly connects students with experts to solve doubts in real-time for free.

“The app is for JEE/NEET aspirants and class 11-12 students of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology. The app is built in a way that a student can video call, and only the tutor’s screen will be seen, thus maintaining privacy. There is no limit on time and the number of questions asked. Our expert team consists of undergrads from institutions like IITs, NITs, Medical colleges and some professionals,” Imbesat tells The Better India.

Former Director of IIT-Kharagpur, Partha Chakrabarti and Ministry of Education had shared the details of Filo post its launch that helped Imbesat get many users and tutors within a week.

The app was launched on 28 August, and since then there have more than a thousand downloads and 50,000 minutes of sessions. Imbesat mentions that daily there are 300-500 calls.

How Filo Works With Doubts

After a student downloads the app, he/she has to make an account by logging in.

The student has to choose the subject and then either take a picture of the doubt or type the question in the box and submit. Meanwhile, the tutors who have registered on the app have to mark themselves online to receive the doubts.

“It takes around five minutes to allot the available tutor, and then he/she can take forward all the queries. We have more than 600 registered tutors so, at any given point in the day, there will be at least 4-5 tutors online. If the query remains unanswered, then it will be allocated to a tutor as soon as he/she gets free. We have designed the app in a way that works completely fine on 2g networks also and in case if the internet completely goes off, then the call will not be cut. It will say ‘reconnecting’ until the net comes just like the Whatsapp calling feature,” explains Imbesat.

“I wanted to help students clear their accumulated doubts on Physics. I am currently studying at IIT Kharagpur but as I was also a part of JEE preparation once so I know the kind of negative impact one’s uncleared doubt can have on the final performance in competitive exams like JEE. The satisfaction I get on clearing doubt of my juniors is unmatchable,” says Sneh Bandhu Singh, who has completed over 5,200 minutes of sessions.

Besides, the real time-solving feature, a user can also avail counselling sessions on preparation strategy and time management from the mentors.

“I started using Filo when one of my tuition mates recommended it to me because I’d incessantly cry about how science will be the end of me. My experience with Filo has been fruitful as one night I was sitting and practising indefinite integrals, a math chapter. Even at that odd hour, I was able to get my doubts resolved with quality help. In my second session, I learnt about a few concepts of organic chemistry in a simplified manner considering the subject is like a maze to me,” Divesh Goyal, a user from Kolkata tells The Better India.

Seeing the overwhelming response, Imbesat and his team are currently working on integrating science and math subjects for class 9 and 10. Additionally, they also plan to help users get guidance on appearing for state government job exams in future.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

IIT Roorkee is offering an online course in data science to those interested in learning the foundations of Python scripting and its principles. The course aims to boost your career prospects through innovative and independent learning which includes more than 40 hours of live instructor-led classes and lectures from IIT Roorkee faculty. There will also be three hours of doubt clearing sessions on the weekend.

There are currently 60 seats available and IIT Roorkee will conduct the course over 14 days from 28th October to 10th November. The applications will be accepted on a first come first serve basis.

What does the course cover?

Apart from teaching the foundation of Python scripting, IIT Roorkee aims at providing learners with knowledge in the design and implementation of real-world inspired machine learning and deep learning algorithms applications.

Here are the focus areas of the course:

• Introduction to packages in Python
• Numpy, Pandas, and EDA
• Supervised and unsupervised learning
• Linear Regression and Logistic Regression
• Clustering, and K-means
• NLP (Natural Language Processing)
• Image processing with MLP (Multi-layer perceptron)
• Projects and assignments

Applicants will also be given project work with real-life problems such as handwritten optical image recognition and exploratory analysis on COVID-19. While no experience is required to take the course, a fundamental knowledge of any programming language would be beneficial, says IIT Roorkee.

How to apply?

Online method:
Step 1: Visit this link
Step 2: Enter a valid email address and fill in the necessary information
Step 3: At the end of the application form make the payment of Rs 8000 at the provided link
Before making the payment, you can read about the process in detail here.

Offline method:
Step 1: Download the form here.
Step 2: Draw a demand draft in favour of “Dean SRIC IIT Roorkee”.
Step 3: The DD along with the application form must be posted to Mr Prateek Sharma, EICT Academy, ECE Department, IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand 247667.

To know more, read the offline application process here.

After completion of the course candidates will receive career guidance sessions from industry experts and receive certificates from IIT Roorkee.

If there are any queries, refer to the official website or the official advertisement.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

As on 7 October 2020, the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a notification, in which it deemed 24 Universities across the country as ‘Fake Universities’.

“Students and public are informed that currently 24 self-styled, unrecognised institutions are functioning in contravention of the UGC Act, which have been declared as fake universities and these are not empowered to confer any degree,” UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said, in a statement to PTI.

UGC is considered as the ultimate authority of University education in India and is a constitutional body that came into being in 1956. The UGC regularly conducts checks to ensure that the quality of education in all its approved universities is as per standards.

As per Section 23 of the UGC Act, the use of the term ‘University’ is prohibited from being used, unless explicitly established as one as per Section 3 of the UGC Act.

The notification issued on 7 October, deems the following Universities as fake.

Uttar Pradesh

1. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi

2. Mahila Gram Vidyapith, Allahabad

3. Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Allahabad

4. National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur

5. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Open University, Aligarh

6. Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Mathura

7. Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Noida

8. Pratapgarh and Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad, Noida.

Delhi

9. Commercial University Ltd

10. United Nations University

11. Vocational University

12. ADR Centric Juridicial University

13. Indian Institution of Science and Engineering

14. Vishwakarma Open University for Self Employment

15. Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University)

West Bengal

16. Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine, Kolkata

17. Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research, Kolkata

Odisha 

18. Nababharat Shiksha Parishad, Rourkela

19. North Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology.

 Puducherry 

20. Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education, Puducherry

Andhra Pradesh 

21. Christ New Testament Deemed University, Andhra Pradesh

Maharashtra

22. Raja Arabic University, Nagpur

Kerala

23. St John’s University, Kerala

Karnataka

24. Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Karnataka.

How can you safeguard yourself?

1. Before seeking admission, you must check the list of ‘Fake Universities’ and valid Universities on the UGC website. This list is updated from time to time.
2. Do note that a degree awarded by a Fake University is not valid whether or not the name of the University is on the UGC website.
3. Unfortunately for students already enrolled in a fake university, there is little or no respite.

The Better India, at the time of publishing this article did try and reach out to two of the Universities mentioned above and were told that they are in consultation with their legal team to find a way forward.

However, neither of them was willing to make a statement on record.

To understand how Universities are classified and what students should keep in mind while applying, click here to read more.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Have online classes become the new ‘normal’ in the time of the Coronavirus pandemic?

During his Independence Day speech earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of how India’s online classes have become a ‘culture’ with the ongoing pandemic.

“Online classes have become a culture during the Corona times… digital transaction and online classes, all of it is the new norm now. This goes on to show how the Indian people have started accepting the new normal,” the prime minister said.

It’s no surprise that many in India have gone down the route of taking online classes – they had few other choices with the current situation. Students attend online classes on platforms like Google Meet and Zoom with restrictions still in place for schools from opening up their classrooms.

However, not all children have the good fortune of having fast internet speeds and taking classes online, particularly the underprivileged. There are organisations who have opened up avenues for online and distance learning for these children, and guess what?

If you have the time, dedication, qualification and passion for teaching, but can’t venture out of your home, you can now teach these children thanks to these organisations.

1) eVidyaloka: An e-learning pioneer, eVidyaloka has over 1750 volunteer teachers from over 230 cities in 20 countries teaching online. It also provides two-way live interactive classes to more than 20,000 children in 233 villages in 10 states of India, in seven languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu.

Click here to learn more about the opportunities available.

Also Read: Want to Teach? This Online Platform Will Connect You to Thousands of Students

2) Indian Foundation for Educational Transformation: This organisation works with government schools and under-resourced private schools in remote and hilly areas. They are currently looking for interns to teach children studying in government schools in remote areas of North East India. Volunteers will teach the subject(s) they understand well and will work closely with different stakeholders including principals, parents, peers and students.

Click here to learn more about it.

3) World Youth Council: Students from different universities are volunteering with ‘Teach From Home’, an initiative by the World Youth Council (WYC), a non-profit working to provide education to underprivileged children. Classes are held virtually on WhatsApp or Google Meet if the student has a smartphone. “If not, lessons are also imparted by way of a regular phone call which keeps the student engaged for at least an hour,” as per this report in The Week.

Click here to learn more about it.

4) Bhumi: This is one of India’s largest independent and youth volunteer-driven NGOs. It offers educated youngsters a platform to educate and mentor children from orphanages, slum and village community centres across the country. Over 10,000 children are benefiting from the education programme conducted by Bhumi across India.

Click here to volunteer.

5) A New Road: This Delhi-based non-profit is conducting regular online classes to provide opportunities to the most marginalized children in the city.

“We have entered the second month of online teaching and learning sessions. Until now we have completed nine sessions and must admit, the journey over the past few weeks has been quite heart-warming as we connected meaningfully over subjective learning and discussions around current issues, their impact on individuals and communities. Both learners and faculty are equally excited for being able to explore this new possibility amidst uncertainty and resource insufficiency,” the recently posted on their Facebook page.

6) Donate An Hour: On their Facebook page, this non-profit describes itself as “a volunteering platform which is trying to build a self-sustainable ecosystem for the growth of underprivileged with the help of professionals who believe in donating time – their best resource.” Among a whole host of initiatives, they are also organising online classes for the less fortunate using android TV, computers, projectors that are backed up by internet connection and electricity. They are open to volunteers. Click here to learn more.

7) Teach in Ladakh, Project Parwaaz: Both volunteer-driven organisations, one working in Ladakh and other in Jammu & Kashmir, teach students one-on-one over phone calls due to lack of internet connectivity. Volunteers, many of whom are students themselves, are briefed on the learning levels of each student and given book PDFs to facilitate lesson planning and teach students. Students also depend on videos made by volunteers, sometimes taking help from the local school teachers. You can read about them here and here.

Also Read: How Teenagers Across India Are Helping a Remote Ladakh Village Study

8) Sarvahitey: This Delhi-NCR-based organisation teaches underprivileged students in various study centres. However, when these centres closed, assistance came forward in the form of Youth Online Learning Opportunities.

“The students are now being taught via video conferencing. We have 21 students as of now and are planning to increase the strength of the students. We are conducting online classes for three subjects: General Awareness, English and Science,” notes Sarvahitey on their Facebook page. A key requirement for volunteers is that they know Hindi fluently.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Parents in Leh, Ladakh, would probably not put their children through expensive private schools if there were more government school headmasters like 40-year-old Sonam Gyaltsan.

This national award-winning teacher’s dedication, resourcefulness and diligence have helped transform a once dilapidated government middle school with just 4 students in his native Sakti village, to a model centre for learning with 104 students (ranging from Nursery to Class 8) in the span of just three years.

A government school teacher since 2003, Gyaltsan became the headmaster of the Government Middle School, Taknak, in Sakti village (approximately 50 km from Leh), back in March 2016.

Watch Mr. Sonam Gyaltsan, Head Teacher – Middle School Taknak Sakti in Leh-Ladakh, talking about his initiative to increase school enrollments. He has been confered with National Teachers Award 2020. #OurTeachersOurHeroes #TeachersFromIndiahttps://t.co/lUonoExmlk @EduMinOfIndia pic.twitter.com/hv6XUc3WqU

— MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) September 6, 2020

It’s the quintessential public education success story. Driven by Gyaltsan’s passion, sacrifice and drive, an entire village has come together to participate in this school’s success.

So, how did all this happen?

The Success Story

Located a little below Wari La, the mountain pass above Sakti village that facilitates the movement of people into the picturesque Nubra Valley, the government middle school had only four students when Gyaltsan took over as headmaster. Of the four students, three were children of seasonal Nepali labourers and only one was from Sakti. Unfortunately, such dismal enrollment numbers are common among government schools in Leh district.

In my recent interactions with various government school teachers, the common consensus is that state-run schools in Leh district are not in good shape.

“There are a few children who study there and they are primarily the children of Nepali and Bihari labourers who come to Ladakh for seasonal work. Very few Ladakhi children actually study in these schools. Instead, parents tend to send their wards to more expensive private schools in Leh. Many teachers are more concerned about the side businesses they run — like hotels or guest houses, instead of their jobs. For them, teaching offers an ‘easy’ paycheck,” says Rinchen Dolkar (name changed), a government school teacher.

To address poor enrollment numbers, the first thing Gyaltsan did was conduct a household survey. He had a fair idea of how many children each household had and the family’s income, but he went to individual homes and verified this information.

“Among my own close circle of 8-10 friends, I would ask them to send one of their two or three children to my school, with the assurance that I would revamp it completely,” he says.

In the meantime, Gyaltsan decided to set an example by taking his own daughter Thinles out of a private school and admitting her into his school in 2016. Upon seeing Thinles taking admission there, her friends asked their parents if they could join her as well.

“After seeing my daughter take admission, the Sarpanach, a member of the school managing committee, and some more friends of mine admitted their children into my school. By the end of 2016, the number of students enrolled increased to 32. When the first eight students enrolled, I assured their parents if the school shut down or anything wrong happened, I would personally get them admission into a good private school and pay their fees as well,” says Gyaltsan.

The next step was to take a look at the textbooks being used at the school. Instead of strictly going by the content prescribed by the local education department, he adopted textbooks being used in Lamdon Model Senior Secondary School (CBSE-affiliated), which ranks among the best private schools in Leh, for students from Class 1 to 6.

This created quite an impression on the parents, who could now see that whatever textbooks were being used at private schools were also being used in this up and coming government school.

But the school was also in desperate need of better infrastructure and sought support from the government. Gyaltsan reached out to the Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), a body of elected representatives for the district, and facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with village representatives.

As per the MoU, the village would guarantee greater enrollment, while the authorities would support the school’s infrastructural needs. On 26th September 2016, the village re-inaugurated the school with 32 students enrolled.

“We changed the name of the school to Government Council Model School, letting people know that the LAHDC was overseeing its progress,” recalls Gyaltsan.

However, there was one more lacuna. The school was a little far from the main village and it was a challenge for students and teachers to walk there every day.

“In March 2017, we relocated the school to the middle of the village and housed the students in the old higher secondary government school building. Besides teaching these children, in the months of April and May, the parents of the 32 children and I helped rebuild the school. One of my friends contributed Rs 1 lakh towards the rebuilding effort. Others donated money to whitewash the school, repair the windows, doors, etc,” he says.

A few months later, contributions even came in from public officials, including the then Member of Parliament Thupstan Chhewang, who gave the school Rs 5 lakh out of his MPLAD fund. This money was used to construct the entire compound wall, an ice-skating rink, a gate, and for some repairs.

All these developments raised enrolment numbers to 62 by the end of 2017. After these numbers began to rise, Gyaltsan started getting calls from neighbouring villages like Chemday, asking whether they could enrol their children into his school. They also asked whether something could be done about transportation so that they could study there.

After running a makeshift bus service for a year, which further increased the enrollment number to 91 by the end of 2018, Gyaltsan needed to invest in a proper bus. With the Rs 3 lakh he had in savings, Gyaltsan took out a Rs 12 lakh loan from the bank. In total, he spent Rs 15 lakh on buying the new bus and is currently paying off the equated monthly instalment (EMI) out of his own salary. Today, the school has students coming in from nearby villages like Chemday, Kharu, Changa and Matselang, among others, thanks to the bus service. As a result, many parents have taken their children out of private schools and admitted them there.

But this isn’t where all the good work ends. As Headmaster, Gyaltsan set up specific classrooms for English, Maths, Science, Hindi and Bothi languages, called ‘laboratories’.

For children studying in nursery, UKG and LKG, he convinced the local Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centre to associate themselves with the school. They were given a classroom and kitchen at the premises to assist with their work and also oversee these children.

More impressively, he helped six students obtain admission into Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, a system of central schools for talented students, predominantly from rural areas, operated by the Ministry of Education. Helping them fill forms, taking extra classes after school hours and tuition over the weekend, Gyaltsan made this happen.

He also conducted teacher training sessions at the school and sought to change the pedagogical approach with significantly less emphasis on rote learning.

“Also, during the winters, all government schools are shut for two months. I keep the school open, although students don’t come with their bags. During these months, students from Class 4 to 8 learn Ladakhi folk songs, traditional instruments, ice-skating, roller-skating, essay writing, and even host cultural programmes,” he says.

“During the two-month winter break last year, Sonam Sir did not go home. He stayed back, taught our children and looked after them. It’s hard to describe his dedication and the wonderful work he is doing in our village. On behalf of all the villagers and parents, I once again congratulate Sonam Sir for the incredible work he has done for us,” says Tashi Namgyal, a parent and resident of Sakti whose three children study at the Model School.

Not Letting Go and The Future

It’s no surprise that earlier this year, the school had to stop new admissions. There was just not enough space for more students. Gyaltsan’s yeoman service to the village has made him so popular in Sakti that when the time came for his transfer in 2019, village representatives and the local councillor went to the education department and had it blocked.

Next on his agenda is setting up a residential hostel for students from Classes 3 to 8. The idea is to keep them engaged with schoolwork after classes end for the day.

This is the sort of difference one headmaster made in a village. If even a third of government school teachers in Leh district took the kind of initiative that Gyaltsan did, Ladakhis would never have to send their children to expensive private schools at home or outside the region.

Watch what the Sarpanch of Sakti village, Sonam Stobdan, has to say about Gyaltsan’s work:

(Edited by Nishi Malhotra)

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), under The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has invited applications for a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Geospatial Applications for Disaster Risk Management.

This is being organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Vienna and Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific (CSSTEAP). It aims to strengthen efforts of disaster management by professionals.

Who can apply?

According to the official notification, this course is free, flexible and available to everyone who wants to enhance their capabilities related to the use of geospatial and Earth observation technologies in disaster risk management.

This course is free of cost and can be taken by government officials, professionals, educators, university students and other stakeholders working in the field of disaster management.

What does it cover?

The course will be conducted in two Tracks or modules.

Track 1 will cover the overview of disaster risk management (DRM) and the relevance of geospatial technologies, and earth observation and disaster management. Participants who complete Track 1 can undertake Track 2. If someone drops out after Track 1 they will be given a certificate for completing the basic module.

Track 2 will cover Earth observation and geospatial intelligence for disaster management, EO system and Hydrometeorological disasters, EO system and geological disasters, and EO system and environmental disasters.

Upon completion of Track 2 candidates will receive a certificate for the entire open online course.

Both tracks are of 12 hours each and can be taken any time during the duration of the course.

How to apply?

Step 1: Visit the IIRS website and register yourself by entering the necessary information on this link.

Step 2: Once you have registered, select the Geospatial Applications for Disaster Risk Management and apply.

The registration opened on October 13 and the last to apply has not been mentioned.

To know more you can visit the official website or read through the official notification.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Ananya and Amulya Gangadhar, nine-year-old twin girls from Hyderabad, will never forget how the water cycle or cyclic nature of water (rain falls – water vapour rises – cloud forms – rain falls again) works. They will not forget this because instead of learning about it from a diagram in a book, they experienced it first hand and understood what it actually means while watching the rain fall in one of the wettest places on earth, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya.

In March 2019, their parents, Ramya Lakshminath and Gangadhar Krishnan (Gangu), took them on a road-trip with the aim of teaching them vital life skills and providing them with unique learning experiences.

The twins are being home-schooled by the parents and from Gangu’s perspective there are no better teachers than nature and direct experiences.

During this ‘road-schooling’ trip, the family travelled 13,000 kilometres in 90 days, visiting 15 states and crossing three international borders (Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh). While they learnt about geography as they went from one state to another, they also seamlessly transitioned to exploring the nuances of agriculture when they lent a hand to plough the fields in Arunachal Pradesh.

“It’s been one amazing journey,” says Gangu, the twins’ father, as he recounts more such experiences.

Travel has always been a constant in the lives of Ramya and Gangu, who travelled with the twins for the first time when they were all of six-months old. Armed with nothing more than the bare necessities, the couple was used to spontaneously driving off to holiday destinations in their car, no matter what the distance. One almost gets the feeling that they were preparing for this lengthy and exciting road trip all these years.

13,000 kilometres, 15 states, 3 international borders in 90 days

In making this trip, the couple wanted to achieve two objectives – equip the girls with life skills and facilitate experiential learning. “We follow a rather minimalistic approach towards travelling. We take only what fits into our car (Tata Nano) and nothing more. We would drive through the day and pitch our tent at night and unfurl our sleeping bags. Wherever possible, we sought shelter with the locals and enjoyed their hospitality as well,” recollects Gangu.

“Throughout our travels we often camped at petrol stations and even slept in our car after parking it on the roadside.”

“We never faced any challenges or experienced any untoward incident.”

The focus has been on the journey – in equal parts entertaining and educative. From having enriching conversations with local residents wherever they went, to spending time learning from women like Nomita Kamdar who is a keen environmentalist and also the recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar in 2019, the twins have had the opportunity to be exposed to many different ideas and ways of life.

Of refraction and magnification

Describing a learning moment, Gangu says, “A peacock feather was immersed into a water-filled glass jar. She noticed the bending of the stem at the water surface and that led to an enquiry about the concept of refraction.” While Gangu explained the concept to Ananya, he steered clear of using the term ‘refraction’. However, what she had just chanced upon was a rather important concept taught in physics.

It didn’t end there – she noticed that the part of the feather that was immersed in water was appearing thicker than the part above – and just like that the concept of magnification was learnt! “Just by observing and travelling, I feel the girls have learnt so many concepts that are usually taught in a rather drab manner in school,” says Gangu.

Questions and self-doubt about homeschool

Gangu, who has worked for almost 17 years in the corporate sector, and Ramya, a school teacher, had decided to quit their jobs a while ago and do something they felt more passionate about. Ramya decided to conduct yoga classes and Gangu curated bespoke tours for eco-conscious travellers.

As people who broke away from the everyday rate-race to follow their dreams, they realised the formal education system was shackling their children. Not wanting their girls to grow up in such a constrained environment, they decided to pull them out of the formal education system and homeschool them instead.

They created their own curriculum and developed their own methodologies — the road trip was one such idea.

Like every major life decision this too came with its own set of questions and some guilt in this case. “There are days when we wonder if we have taken the right decision – given that we have never set any agenda for the girls so far, they have been making their own time tables and schedules. There are moments when we question ourselves, but then we see the learning, the compassion and just the kind of life lessons they are learning and we pat ourselves on our backs,” says Gangu.

Has it all been worth it? Definitely, say the couple.

“We believe we are shaping the children to be free and independent thinkers, and not storehouses of information. If you spoon feed all the answers to your children, then they will be limited to only what you know. Let them experience and explore. You will see what a world of difference this learning has on them,” says Gangu in conclusion.

If you would like to get in touch with Gangu and understand more about their travels, you could reach out via Instagram.

(Edited by Nishi Malhotra)

University Grants Commission (UGC), is offering merit-based scholarships to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Candidates who are eligible for the same can apply on or before 30 November, 2020 for four scholarships namely – UGC Ishan Uday Scholarship 2020, UGC Single Girl Child Scholarship 2020, UGC PG Rank Holders Scholarship and UGC SC ST Scholarship.

Things to know:

• Candidates can register at the National Scholarship Portal.
• Candidates will have to click on the new registration window to activate the registration process and generate login credentials.
• Once done, the candidates will be redirected to a page where they can apply.
• Candidates keen on applying for the scholarship must do so on or before 30 November, 2020.
• There are a total of four scholarships being made available for students.

UGC Ishan Uday Scholarship 2020

• Students from the North-East (NE) region of India are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
• The objective of this scholarship is to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in NE Region.
• 10,000 scholarships are available under this scheme.
• Students pursuing a general degree course, technical and professional courses, including medical and paramedical courses are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
• Students applying for this scholarship must be domiciled in the NE region.
• The parents of the students applying for this scholarship, must not have an income exceeding Rs 4.5 lakhs from all sources.
• The student must have completed grade 12 successfully and also secured admission into the first year college programme.
• Students pursuing a course through the open university will not be eligible for this scholarship.
• Students will be eligible to Rs 5400 per month for general degree course and Rs 7800 per month for technical/medical/professional/paramedical courses.

For more details click here.

UGC Single Girl Child Scholarship 2020

• This scholarship is available for single girl students who are pursuing a postgraduate degree.
• The objective of this scholarship is to recognise the value of observance of small family norms.
• Under this scheme there are 300 scholarships available.
• Girl students up to the age of 30 at the time of admission in first year of PG courses are eligible.
• Students who qualify for this scholarship will be given an amount of Rs 36,200 per annum for a period of two years.
• Girl students who do not have any brother or who have a twin are also eligible to apply for this scholarship.

For more details click here.

UGC PG Rank Holders Scholarship

• This scholarship is open to university rank holders who have managed to secure an ‘outstanding performance’ tag at the undergraduate level.
• The objective of this scholarship is to award merit, nurture talent, and also promote study in basic courses in the undergraduate level.
• This scholarship is not applicable to students pursuing a professional course.
• This scholarship is available to students pursuing their first PG Degree only.
• The student must be 30 years of age at the time of admission in the PG course.
• Students who are pursuing a degree via distance education will not be eligible to apply for this scholarship.
• There are 3000 scholarships available under this scheme.
• An amount of Rs 3100 per month will be awarded to the selected students. This is for a period of two years.

For more details click here.

UGC SC ST Scholarship

• The scheme has been initiated to help the deprived section of society and to provide them with an opportunity to undertake postgraduate level studies in professional subjects like Engineering & Technology, Management, Pharmacy etc.
• The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates to pursue postgraduate level studies in professional subjects.
• Under this scheme, 1000 students will be provided with financial assistance.
• Students will be awarded with Rs 7800 per month for the duration of the PG and Rs 4500 per month for other courses.
• Students pursuing a course through distance education will not be eligible for this scholarship.

For more details click here.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Little over a year ago, Rohit Kushwaha, the son of an auto driver from a remote village in Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, was struggling to find quality employment after completing his B.Tech from Parul University, a third-tier private varsity in Gujarat.

(Photo above: L to R – Nishant Chandra and Siddharth Maheshwari, Co-Founders, Newton School)

Campus placements at his varsity had only few companies hire engineering graduates, and who were offering dismally low pay packages.

“It was a tough period, but I knew what improvements were needed. I went online and began searching for platforms on which I could improve my coding skills. In October 2019, I found Newton School. Going through their website, I knew this could give me the right platform to learn coding. After going through a very rigorous admissions process, my classes began the following month on November 25,” recalls Rohit, speaking to The Better India.

Starting out his six-month online course on this edtech platform, he realised that the experience differed from that in college where “there was a lot of theoretical learning, but no practical experience”.

Interestingly enough, Rohit didn’t have to pay a single rupee as down payment before starting his course. The Newton School follows a unique pay after placement criteria. In short, this payment model means that students will pay a fee to the school only after they have obtained a job with an annual pay package of no less than Rs 6 lakh.

After the placement is secured, Newton School provides an income sharing agreement (ISA) with the students. “With Newton School’s ISA a student can enroll and complete the course by paying absolutely nothing and get placed in a top notch company, but agrees to pay back 15% of the monthly income for three years or pay Rs 3 lakh in total (whichever comes first). This way students can learn effectively without the pressure of down payment at the start,” notes the company website.

Today, Rohit is a software engineer working for Toppr, a Mumbai-based ed-tech startup, with an annual pay package of Rs 6 lakh and a potential 10 percent increment after six months.

“Some of my batch mates got offer letters before course completion on April 25, but I took a little time because I was working. Managing time was a little difficult and I missed a couple of job interviews in the process. However, two months after I completed the course I secured a job as a software engineer with Toppr,” says Rohit.

Objectives & Course design

Founded by serial entrepreneurs Siddharth Maheshwari and Nishant Chandra in 2019, the Bengaluru-based Newton School allows people to cross financial and locational barriers to achieve their dream of becoming a great software developer.

“The way China has become the factory of the world, India has the potential to be the office of the world. But most college graduates in India are unemployable, particularly in the software engineering space. We started Newton School to solve this employability problem and make India the developer powerhouse of the world,” says Siddharth Maheshwari.

According to Aspiring Minds, a global job skills credentialing leader, “Over 80 percent of engineering graduates in India are unemployable for any job in the knowledge economy and only 3.84 percent of engineers in the country have the technical, cognitive and linguistic skills required for software-related jobs in start-ups.”

The Newton School offers a platform that helps students from small towns and cities studying in Tier 2 or 3 colleges to bridge the gap in terms of skills and industry exposure with those coming from Tier 1 universities. Teaching them coding and computer programming, the Newton School offers a full stack development course which runs for a period of six months.

The six-month training programme includes 1000+ hours of coding, 50+ hours of soft skills training, live projects, and mentorship oversight. “We ensure students acquire the right sort of industry oriented exposure and then help them obtain a standard of employment commensurate with their upgraded skill set. These students have extremely high potential, but they don’t get the right sort of exposure. On this platform, we help everyone upskill themselves and ensure that they get the right sort of mentorship and motivation,” adds Siddharth.

Classes are designed to keep it highly interactive and student centric. Live online classes with about 50-odd students in one batch are held by Newton School instructors from Monday to Friday from 9 pm to 11 pm, where students code in parallel and can ask questions. Late evenings are convenient for college students and working professionals equally.

These classes are followed by an hour-long mentor session where a software developer working in major tech companies like Microsoft, HotStar, Amazon, Ola, Oracle, Adobe, Flipkart, IBM, MakeMytrip, PayTM and Zomato, among others, takes a live session with no more than 10 students at a time. These mentors act as guides to the students, helping them not only navigate some of their technical doubts, but also offer insights into latest industry practices.

Students are given daily assignments for regular and consistent practice while the weekends are for contests and quizzes.

“My mentors, who were working as software developers in Ola and Swiggy, helped me navigate these courses. They imparted important industry-related insights. Our classes had about 20 students and were held online. Therefore, getting personal attention to clear our doubts wasn’t very easy during class hours. Our mentors, however, would clear our doubts on a one-on-one basis. Courses like Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) were very hard, but our mentors would encourage and help us stay on course,” recalls Rohit.

“The instructors and mentors on our platform are software developers by profession working in some of India’s top companies. The instructors are passionate about teaching and helping students from Tier 2 or 3 colleges secure a great career in technology. These instructors are hired from the companies they are working with on a part time basis and are given basic stipends as a token of appreciation,” says Nishant.

Student Selection & Unique Payment Model

Newton School identifies students with the most potential from all over India and puts them through an extensive admission process spanning over two weeks in which “student’s motivations and learnability is tested”. As a consequence of their unique fee payment model, lakhs of candidates use the Newton School platform to enrol in a rigorous series of codability and attitude tests, designed to ensure only the best remain.

A final round of interviews conducted by Newton School Experts and focused on communication skills, performance, and passion guarantees that only one percent of applicants make the final cut.

Their website under ISA states that a student will never pay more than Rs 3 lakh “no matter how high” the salary. The payment will be paused if the student leaves or gets fired within three months of joining and will continue after you get a new job. If in case they complete three months in their first job with minimum guaranteed CTC, they have to pay the entire amount irrespective of employment status after that. The ISA expires in a year even if the student doesn’t land a job of Rs 6 lakhs per annum or more after the course completion date. The school then foregoes the payment fees.

The school continues to support their students even after completing the course. There are students who are still interviewing with companies after completion.

“To ensure there is no financial burden on the student and to make education outcome-oriented, the students do not have to pay us anything till they get into a good tech job and start earning,” says Nishant.

Three batches have completed the course since they enrolled their first batch in late 2019. The first batch had a placement rate of above 90 percent with alumni working in companies like Unacademy, Rapido, Toppr, Maersk, 7-eleven, Jumbotail, etc.

“In my friend circle, there were three people who joined the batch after me. Even in the current batch, I have a few friends studying there. More than the prospect of getting a well paying job, what attracted my friends were the skills I had picked up,” says Rohit.

Funding & the Future

Newton School has raised $650,000 in a seed round of funding led by early-stage venture capital firm Nexus Venture Partners. The funding round also saw the participation of Unacademy founders Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh; US-based startup platform AngelList; Srinivas Anumolu, Founder of Upwork; veteran educationists Ajay Gupta and Sahil Aggarwal; and K Ganesh, Founder of GrowthStory.

The school now looks to increase its user capacity to handle thousands of simultaneous learners. They will also prioritise the development of products utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline and personalise the learning journey of each student. The company plans an intake of 10,000 students in 2021.

“Seeing students from Tier 2 or 3 colleges getting packages equal to IITians and watching their lives transform is what gives us great satisfaction. We plan to build a learning platform that can enable lakhs of Indian youths graduating every year to acquire real skills,” says Nishant.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanda Prusty looks at his grandson, who repeats the question for the third time. Over the years, he has become hard on hearing, but his cognitive abilities remain unhindered. Age is clearly taking a toll on his physical health, but his passion remains unbridled.

He grasps the question in the third attempt and begins narrating his story.

“I have taught at least three generations from the same family. You can imagine the number of years I must have put into teaching,” Nanda Prusty of Kantira village in Odisha’s Jajpur district, approximately 100 km from the capital city of Bhubaneswar says.

A smile lights up on the face of his grandson Sarbeswar (30), who acts as the mediator in the conversation.

“My grandfather has been teaching for 70 years. Yes, seven decades. Isn’t that incredible?” asks Sarbeswar, beaming with pride.

Nanda Prusty, popularly known as ‘Nanda sir’ is still young at 102 years. He has the same zest for teaching today that he had when he started.

“I don’t remember the exact year when I started teaching. But, it was really long ago, before India got independence. Everyone in my village was illiterate. So, I was sent to my maternal uncle’s place in Jajpur district to get an education. After I returned, I started teaching others,” Nanda sir recalls.

Sarbeswar, who had grown up listening to the tales of his grandfather from his father, chips in to give more details.

“My grandfather was the only child of his parents. After he finished his education, he got a job at a place which was slightly far away from home. My great-grandfather (Nanda Prusty’s father) couldn’t bear the separation from his only son, so he asked him to quit his job and return home.”

Once back, a young Nanda didn’t find any work to do. He belonged to a family of farmers, and the earning was decent enough to run the house.

“After returning to my village, I would often spot young children roaming around aimlessly. They were all illiterate and couldn’t write one word. Since I also had no work, I decided to teach them. Initially, I had to run after them and pester them to study. It was difficult to convince the children,” says Nanda.

Since there was no school or any infrastructure in the village, he started teaching under a tree. For Nanda, the knowledge sharing exercise was done to help others, and therefore he didn’t take any money.

“I like children. Teaching gave me happiness. I wanted the kids to grow up and become good human beings. So, my intention was too valuable to be compared with money. I didn’t charge a single penny,” he says.

Soon, the popularity grew, and the villagers started sending their children to ‘Nanda sir’ for education. In fact, the elderly also became his students.

“There used to be two shifts – morning shift for the kids and late evening for the elderly. The kids would learn Odia alphabets and a bit of mathematics. The elderly would come to me to learn how to write their names, basically their signature,” Nanda says.

The tradition which started when Nanda was a young boy continues to date. Of course, the villagers now take education more seriously, and the kids go to school regularly. But even then, the villagers send their children to Nanda sir’s classes.

Even today, he gets up around 6 am and takes classes from 7.30 am to 9 am. He retakes classes during the late afternoon hours from 4.30 pm.

“There are about 40 students who attend his classes. All of them are enrolled in the village school but still come to my grandfather twice every day. With all these years of teaching, he has earned respect in the village for which every family wants their child to learn from Nanda sir,” says Sarbeswar.

The tree under which Nanda sir used to teach has been replaced by a temple built by him around seven years back. So, now the classes remain unhindered even during rough weather conditions. The classes were suspended for a few months during the pandemic, but have resumed now.

So far, Nanda sir has not taken any help from the government, nor he intends to do so in future.

“Why should I take help? I taught them for free all these years, so why should I avail any facility now? My only intention is to educate others. That’s all I need. I will continue teaching the children as long as my health permits,” Nanda sir says.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

The European Council for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, is conducting a free online course on the basics of quantum computing.

Things to know

• This is a series of weekly lectures that will be broadcasted through webcasts, which began on 6 November, 2020.
• Every Friday a new lecture will be uploaded.
• For those who missed it, the content of the lecture held on November 6 has been uploaded to the site.
• Elias Fernandez-Combarro Alvarez—an associate professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Oviedo in Spain since 2009 and a cooperation associate at CERN—will be delivering the lectures.
• This session will be for a duration of seven weeks, beginning 6 November, 2020 and ending on 18 December, 2020.
• One does not require to have any prior knowledge of quantum computing to enrol for this programme.
• A good command of basic linear algebra will be helpful.

What will you learn?

Quantum computing is one the most promising new trends in information processing and those who enrol for the programme will be able to learn the following:

• Basic concepts of the quantum circuit model such as qubits, gates and measures will be introduced.
• Important quantum algorithms and protocols, including those that can be implemented with a few qubits like BB84, quantum teleportation, and superdense coding, among others, will be spoken about.
• Recent applications of quantum computing in the fields of optimisation and simulation will be addressed.
• Special emphasis will be paid to the use of quantum annealing, the quantum approximate optimisation algorithm and the variational quantum eigensolver along with quantum machine learning.
• Examples of how these techniques can be used in chemistry simulations and high-energy physics problems will also be provided.

At the end of the webcast, documents and content pertaining to the session will also be uploaded.

For more details about the course click here, and if you have any queries, you can write to QTI-info@cern.ch.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)