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Author: Smile Editorial Team

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What NFHS-5 tells us about maternal & child health in India?

What NFHS-5 tells us about maternal & child health in India?

National Family health survey 5 (NFHS-5) is the largest study conducted on men, women, and child health in India to date. It is compiled and released by the Union Health Ministry of India. 

 

Given that India has the most malnourished children in the world, it is important to examine how India is doing in terms of attaining UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.2, which calls for “ending all forms of malnutrition for children under 5 by 2030.”

 

Since NFHS-5 is typical of children both nationally and sub-nationally (at the state and district levels), its results on children’s nutritional status can assist decision-makers in identifying crucial areas for implementing better policies.

 

NFHS-5 says that there is no population boom

 

NFHS-5 dismisses concerns about population surge in the nation. The most recent data show that the country’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is just 2.0. (down from 2.2 in NFHS-4, conducted in the year 2015-16). The UN Population Division defines a TFR of 2.1 as replacement level TFR. This indicates that a population successfully replaces itself at a TFR of 2.1 without expanding or contracting. As a result, a TFR of 2.0 (per NFHS-5) indicates that there is no need for concern about India’s population boom.

 

State of Women and Maternal health in India according to NFHS-5

 

For the economy to flourish, women’s social, economic, cultural, and political rights must be fully developed.

 

India wants to accomplish Sustainable Development Goal No. 5, set by the UN and focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2030. We examine the results ofNFHS-5 to gauge the advancement of women’s rights in the nation.

 

The study zoomed  in to examine state-level variations and discovered some encouraging numbers. There is a considerable increase from 11 states and 2 UTs in the NFHS-4 survey to at least 16 out of 28 states and 6 out of 8 UTs having more than 90% of women engaging in household decision-making in NFHS-5.

 

Top of the ranking were Nagaland (90.2%), Mizoram (98.8%), and Puducherry (97.9%) with Ladakh (80.4%), Jammu & Kashmir (81.6%), Karnataka (82.7%), and Andhra Pradesh (84.1%) performing the poorest.

 

Children’s illnesses

 

The situation with “Childhood illnesses” is more complicated. While the percentage of children getting ORS and zinc for diarrhoea has increased significantly, the prevalence of diarrhoea in the two weeks before the survey in NFHS-5 has decreased only marginally.

 

Since the last study, children’s access to healthcare services when experiencing diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms has remained essentially unchanged. The latter is a crucial finding– despite COVID-19, the number of kids with ARI has not increased.

 

Children’s feeding procedures

 

With the exception of the percentage of children under 3 nursed within an hour of delivery, which remained similar as in NFHS-4, children’s feeding behaviours have substantially improved. The proportion of under 6-months old infants exclusively breastfed increased the most, from 55% in NFHS-4 to 64% in NFHS-5.

 

Nutrition

 

The percentage of stunted kids (low height for age) and underweight (low weight for age) has decreased, according to the NFHS-5 report. The proportion of obese and seriously underweight children has slightly increased.

 

The 8 percentage point increase in the proportion of children with anaemia, from 59% in NFHS-4 to 67% in NFHS-5, is particularly concerning.

 

Smile Foundation’s Role

 

Since gaining independence, India has achieved remarkable advancements in the medical field. However, several alarming statistics from NFHS-5 make it evident that access to healthcare is still a problem.

 

While India’s rural areas continue to have low health indicators, urban slum dwellers’ health conditions and access to healthcare have been revealed to be as appalling and have fewer than 4% of government primary healthcare facilities.

 

Urban slum residents’ poor education and lack of knowledge are the major causes of their poor health. They also avoid going to the local hospital because they don’t want to lose a day’s pay. As a result, the urgent demand for healthcare for the poor is not met.

 

Hence, a two-pronged strategy is required– first, deliver high-quality health services to the doorsteps of the poor; and second, encourage current healthcare seeking behaviour among the impoverished.

 

A mobile healthcare services delivery system is the most realistic option in such a situation. The Smile on Wheels program is an innovative mobile hospital initiative aimed to solve issues with accessibility, mobility, and basic healthcare availability in urban slums and distant rural regions, with a special focus on children and women.

 

More than 15,41,000 children and families have received free medical treatment as a result of the Smile Foundation on Wheels initiative.

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Learning Loss & Education Recovery: Survey Report 2022

Learning Loss & Education Recovery: Survey Report 2022

Abrief education survey report on the findings and way forward to address the learning loss of school going children post Covid-19 situation in the operational locations of Smile Foundation (Pan India)

 

Setting the Context

 

With the onset of COVID induced lockdown and shutdown of schools, the first of a series of education surveys was conducted by Smile Foundation in April 2020, aimed at assessing the situation on ground, on how could we reach out to the children and ensure they continue their learning engagement. It showed that at that time 56 % of children and their parents did not have access to smartphones which was one of the important means for online education. This revelation prompted to begin efforts on ground to plan innovative and real time modes of teaching methodologies to be able to reach out to maximum number of students and keep them engaged in the learning process with objective of ‘Shiksha Na Ruke’.

 

When the COVID enforced lockdown was slowly being lifted and the schools were beginning to open, Smile Foundation did a nationwide survey on School Readiness and Continuation of learning modes in March 2021. The education survey revealed some encouraging figures, the most important of which indicated that 78% of children wanted to go back to classroom learning, 48% of children were ready to continue in the blended mode of learning and 39% children were partly aware of COVID safety regulations at schools.

 

These education survey studies, in the course of the last 2 years, helped us at Smile Foundation to understand the challenges faced by children in terms of health, nutrition, and progress of education through the several ways of teaching-learning exchanges rolled out during the period. These periodic surveys helped to stay abreast of the new challenges that were unfolding in terms of increasing dropouts, decreased attendance, fall in age-appropriate learning levels among children, and the overall effects on children’s educational, social, and emotional and psychological growth and development.

 

Introduction

 

At the turn of the decade, the untoward occurrence of COVID-19 impelled the education system to rethink, renew and rediscover the teaching-learning processes for children worldwide, to ensure a continuum in learning. The educational institutions across India, braved the challenges of distant locations, absence of network and digital facilities, restrictions in movements, and remote learning from home, to reach out to the children.

 

The recent report, The State of Global Learning Poverty: 2022 Update, a joint publication of the World Bank, UNICEF, FCDO, USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and in partnership with UNESCO, emphasizes that the learning crisis has worsened. It says that before the pandemic around 57% of 10-year-olds were unable to read or write as per their age, which has increased rapidly in the last two years post the pandemic.

 

This report is an attempt to understand the extent of learning loss that has resulted in India through a study conducted through our students’ beneficiaries at Smile Foundation. The study aims to assess the learning gaps and suggest mechanisms to recover the learning loss for the benefit of educationists and educational institutions to improve and innovate the existing teaching-learning methodologies.

 

Broad objectives:

 

  • Reach out to every child and understand the challenges in retaining them in school
  • Assess learning levels
  • Prioritize teaching the fundamentals
  • Increase catch-up learning and progress beyond what was lost
  • Develop psychosocial health and well-being so every child is ready to learn
  • Gender-specific study in school retention
 
Education Survey Coverage

 

Profile of the Respondents:

 

For the education survey, we planned to reach all sections of the students particularly the underserved communities who have limited access to virtual communication to get the right kind of sampling for the survey. Below are few points to note about the profile of the respondents:

 

  • Students studying in Grade II-VIII (Age group 6- 14 years)
  • Equal representation of girls and boys
  • Of all the respondent’s families – 51% are daily wage earners
  • 59% rural, 25% urban, and 16% Aspirational districts population have been covered
  • Of all the parents interviewed – 42% were not literate while 45% had just completed primary education and only 13% had completed high school and above

 

Overview of the Education Survey:

 

Through Smile Foundation’s Pan India footprint, the students identified were those who have continued the learning in spite of all the odds due to Covid-19 and a 5% sample population was taken out of 48000 students to do a survey of those students who are in the grade of class II-VIII.  For this survey we have covered 22 states largely covering Urban, Rural and Aspirational districts.

 

Major Findings

 

The parents explicitly expressed their difficulty to overcome the challenges during COVID to ensure that their children do not miss out on education amidst loss of work, financial crisis, inability to procure proper edibles due to restrictions in movement, and the most important aspect to ensure the safety and health of themselves and their children.The majority of the parents were not able to guide their children adequately in their studies due to several reasons like their educational limitations, absence of proper teaching and learning facilities along with their daily struggle to sustain themselves with family.

 

A round of discussions with teachers who have experience in engaging with children, varying from 5 to more than 20 years, emphasized that less than 50% of children have been able to cope with the learning over the last 2 years and are able to catch up on their age-appropriate learning currently. These are mostly those students who have been regularly performing well prior to the pandemic as well. Hence, bringing the rest of the students to par with their expected learning level will require some time and effort in the upcoming months.

 

  • According to the teachers, less than 50% of children have been able to cope with the learning over the last 2 years and are able to catch up on their age-appropriate learning currently
  • 58% of the teachers were of the opinion that children have missed on social skills and get distracted easily. Their attention span has gone low.
  • 90% of the teachers are willing to learn new practices to help children cope with learning gaps.
  • Parents have started getting more involved in their ward’s education with 47% of the view that there is an increased interaction between them and teachers in schools as well as over calls
  • 38% parents started interacting with teachers by visiting schools, and there is a27%increase of attendance in PTMs
  • 50% of the parents interviewed felt the absence of digital learning resources like devices, networks, and data packs made the learning experience inadequate for the children during the pandemic
  • 31% parents most preferred modes of learning during the pandemic were direct classes in offline mode or cluster classes and 20% felt worksheets and visits by the teachers were very convenient and useful
  • 67% of the parents felt that the children’s learning was not effective during the school closure due to pandemic
  • 69% of parents believe children need more support in Math and English to cope with age-appropriate learning levels
  • There is a lot change in the parent’s keenness among children post pandemic, 58% of parents increased their interactions with children trying to understand what they have learnt in schools, 26% of parents also started spending some quality time with children
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Women Hygiene and Dignity – An Uphill Battle for Rural Women

Women Hygiene and Dignity – An Uphill Battle for Rural Women

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that rural women comprise one-quarter of the world’s population and are potential contributors to a country’s social and economic growth. But despite this, and the key roles that these women play in the economy, they are faced with constant inequalities and challenges that prevent open access to work opportunities, better livelihoods and an improved hygiene landscape.  

 

Women Hygiene and Covid-19 Setbacks

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) only 16% women in India have access to sanitary napkins and proper sanitation facilities in their homes. It is estimated that 82% of females in India lack proper knowledge about a sanitary napkin, its uses and benefits. Even the well-educated urban women are also unaware of healthy hygiene practices during their periods. A poor menstrual hygiene cycle can pose major risks to the lives of women and put them at risk of developing other dangerous illnesses.

 

Unfortunately, efforts to improve women hygiene took a huge step backwards due to the recent pandemic. The successive Covid-19 lockdowns brought a shortage in the number of sanitary pads in India. Most factories were shut and there was marginal production of goods in the country. The  women survived on existing supplies and reserves. The rural and semi-urban areas were the worst hit and even cities got impacted due to the shortage. 

 

Rural Women and their Hygiene

 

To empower rural women and raise the standards of personal feminine hygiene, the  Government of India has come up with various initiatives– Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) started in 2014 places great emphasis on the importance and need for improving existing sanitation facilities, as well as constructing the same where none exist. According to the NITI Aayog 2020 report, SBM has successfully achieved the target of making India open-defecation-free (ODF) by constructing over 109 million household and community toilets in 6,03,175 villages in 706 districts across the country.

 

But to empower rural women in hygiene is an uphill battle and more needs to be done. There needs to be discussion and knowledge-sharing regarding the importance of hygiene. Women need to be educated on how a better personal hygiene routine will translate into better mental health. This will allow them to provide for themselves and their families in a more productive way. 

 

Several issues still persist in making women hygiene a reality. Social taboos, gender  discrimination issues, insufficient financial resources, limited access to money, lack of basic primary education are some of the key challenges they face. The digital revolution also has provided setbacks to the rural woman, whose lack of tech skills have set her back from her  urban peers. What is needed are digital skilling programs that can provide a broad based  educational flexibility as well as financial independence to rural women.

 

Schemes To Improve The Health Situation of Rural Women

 

Several reforms are underway to address all these issues and allow for the holistic development of women. This is done to offer improved convenience, security and self-respect, helping rural women gain a more dignified health security. Government flagship schemes and programmes are started to improve rural women’s stature in society by creating livelihood opportunities. 

 

Amongst the first scheme aimed at uplifting rural women was Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), a sub-scheme of the Integrated Rural Development Program. Launched in 50 village districts, it enabled women to overcome their inhibitions and become financially independent by helping them open bank accounts, buy assets, and take loans from the bank instead of expensive moneylenders.

 

Various schemes such as the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), National Livelihoods Mission, Deen Dayal Upadhayay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), etc. has made significant contributions in creating gender parity and socio-economic empowerment of women in India. Now, rural women have access to education, capacity building, skill development, healthcare facilities and diversified livelihood opportunities through government beneficiary schemes.

 

Looking Forward

 

The upliftment and empowerment of women through strategic and systematic management underlines a nation’s overall progress and growth– economically, culturally, socially and intellectually. A country becomes stronger as its women become more confident, safe and healthy. 

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Bridging post pandemic learning gaps through need based intervention

Bridging post pandemic learning gaps through need based intervention

COVID-19 caused a sudden nationwide closure of all schools. When students and teachers opted for remote teaching, schools found it difficult to deliver the same quality of education, creating post pandemic learning gaps. Families suffered as parents sought to assist their kids adjust to a certain kind of education while working from home or losing their employment.

 

Kudos to those families who were successful in ensuring that their children’s education post pandemic met or exceeded their expectations. Sadly, for lakhs of Indian families, the scenario is different.

 

Intervention during the Pandemic

 

Implementing intervention programmes for children who have fallen behind has proven difficult for school administrators owing to the existing challenges in the Indian education system.

 

How to aid pupils who have experienced incomplete learning? 

 

There is no one technique that works for all children who are falling behind in their studies. By acknowledging these realities, educators should take calculated actions to hasten learning and raise ‘ students’ reading and writing levels.

 

Challenges in Education post COVID-19

 

Students have lagged owing to learning gaps in education due to the pandemic. This is especially true for students from poor socioeconomic backgrounds and those with impairments.

 

To vertically create and amend their curriculum maps, educationists and academicians from each grade level should ideally brainstorm together and devise effective teaching strategies. 

 

Teachers may have changed or stopped teaching specific skills as a result of the closing of the schools. Teachers can mutually discover what their colleagues taught, changed, or removed in the previous school year and make plans appropriately by having all grade level team leaders meet. This will make the editing and designing of curricular maps easier.

 

How can we Solve the Issue of Existing Learning Gaps?

 

To give children time to catch up and learn at their own speed, this method focuses on dispersing the learning over several years and grades.

 

Step 1: Combine grades’ learnings

 

A 3rd -grader starting school for the first time is expected to be familiar with material from grades 1 and 2. To lay the groundwork, the first year can be devoted to learning material from grades 1 and 2. The remaining material for grades 2 and 3 may be absorbed the next year, then some material for grade 4 can be learnt. By the end of grade 4, students should have mastered certain grade-level competencies.

 

Step 2: Divide into small steps

 

To increase flexibility in teaching and learning, the complete curriculum must be broken down into weekly schedules. Teachers that use a modular approach to instruction can better manage their time throughout the year.

 

Step 3: Emphasise important competencies

 

The development of a curriculum for bridging should put an emphasis on fundamental abilities. Children are better equipped to master all facets of the language and use it in a variety of circumstances when literacy instruction is skill-based.

 

To help kids deal with the detrimental psychological effects of the pandemic, a significant Socio-emotional learning (SEL) component should also be incorporated into the curriculum. The usual teaching period should include SEL activities like “circle time” with the students. According to research, SEL can improve academic achievement, with benefits that last long after the programme has ended.

 

Step 4: Continue to monitor student progress

 

Regular classroom evaluation must be incorporated as a crucial curriculum component to assist teachers in adapting their instructions to the students’ requirements. Additionally, teachers may determine where students are and pick up where they left off by evaluating students’ current knowledge and abilities.

A two-year bridge program’s execution must also be well thought out in order to guarantee that the goal is served. We think the implementation strategy should centre on:

 

  • enhancing teachers’ skills through instruction and on-the-job mentoring
  • providing instructors with organised resources like teacher manuals
  • providing students with instructional aids like workbooks
  • keeping an eye on the programme and taking suggestions into consideration while designing it
  • including parents to support at-home learning and moderating student conduct.

 

Smile Foundation’s Role

 

Smile Foundation has been actively involved to reduce the school dropout rate among students. Click here to donate for education and build a stronger India together.

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How to be a future-ready job aspirant

How to be a future-ready job aspirant

The future is increasingly unpredictable! What is valuable today can very well become redundant in the next 5 years. Keeping this small but valuable piece of information in mind would help you study numbers and patterns. The insight will help you understand how to make yourself a future-ready aspirant. Then comes the age-old question– Is talent enough? The answer is both yes and no! Talent is the core upon which everything gets built; however, other aspects contribute equally to the trajectory of one’s success. Your soft skills, pursuing livelihood training programs and looping in relevant news would add to your existing job skills and make a huge difference for your future aspirations.

 

Job skills for young career aspirants 

 

If you look at the job market today, it’s not hard to see why it’s so competitive. The job skills you need to succeed in this environment are changing quickly and employers are looking for people who can keep up with those changes. They want employees who can enroll in skill development programmes, learn new technologies, adapt to changing markets, and work well on teams.

 

To be a future-ready job aspirant, you need to invest time in developing your digital skills while also doing regular exercises that will help improve your critical thinking skills. You should also consider improving your technical and practical abilities through working on projects such as building websites or apps — even if they don’t have anything directly related to your future career path right away!

 

Soft skills are your sword and your shield 

 

Communication skills are an essential part of any job search, whether you’re looking for a new position or are already employed. The ability to communicate effectively with your boss and co-workers can make all the difference between being a successful candidate and one who is overlooked.

 

In addition to being able to express yourself in writing, speaking, and listening situations (and understanding how these three components work together), effective communicators use body language appropriately when speaking on the phone or in person. Other things that effective communicators do well are–

 

  • They don’t stare at each other or cross their arms.
  • They answer questions directly rather than avoiding them altogether.
  • They listen intently without interrupting.

 

This list could go on forever! The point is that communication isn’t just about what words come out of your mouth—it’s also about how well you listen as well as how much eye contact you make during conversations. 

 

If someone asks you, “So tell me about yourself.” you should probably say something along these lines– “Well first off let me just tell everyone who hasn’t met me yet that I’m awesome at sports!” Or maybe even better– “My favorite movie has always been Swadesh because it shows people that you can always make a difference.”

 

Investing in personal development skills would result in huge returns in the near future. It would help you in developing personal relationships at work that might transmute favorably into great professional outcomes at a later stage in your life.

 

Develop critical thinking skills

 

Critical thinking is a skill that will help you to become a future-ready job aspirant, particularly if you want to work in a field that requires critical thinking. It’s important to develop your critical thinking skills because they can help improve the quality of your work and make sure that it meets high standards.

 

Critical thinking involves asking questions about the world around you and trying to find solutions to problems. This type of questioning has been shown to lead us toward new ways of seeing things and making decisions based on our experiences rather than just following what everyone else does or saying yes when people tell us what we should do (like going along with social norms). 

 

Work on your digital skills

 

Digital skills are an essential part of the modern job market, and you can’t afford to ignore them. According to a report by a highly-valued professional services company, half of all jobs will be replaced by machines in the next 20 years. This means that if you want to find a good job, it’s important that your digital skillset is up-to-date and impressive. The following are some ways how you can improve your digital skills–

 

  • Learn more about web development and programming languages such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript (which can be used for both web design/development & frontend dev)
  • Sign up for online courses where there are free lectures offered by top universities around the world on various topics ranging from data science fundamentals to machine learning algorithms & deep learning frameworks like TensorFlow etc.

 

Reskilling and Upskilling would be the agents of your constant relevance in a competitive job market.

 

Spruce up your technical and practical skills

 

As a future-ready job aspirant, you should learn how to use the latest technology and software. You could start by learning about new technologies that are commonly used in the workplace today like virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotics.

 

You can also learn how to use these tools in your daily life at home or work by practicing them on your own time until they become second nature. This will help you build up an understanding of what it takes for them to function properly which will make it easier when it comes time for an interview later down the line!

 

Upgrade your commercial awareness

 

As a job aspirant, you will be required to develop commercial awareness. What is commercial awareness and how does it help you in the job market?

 

Commercial awareness is an understanding of what goes on in the world of business and how it affects your life. It helps you to think about yourself as an employee or leader who makes decisions based on facts rather than opinions or biases. This can be especially beneficial when applying for jobs because employers want to know if someone can work well under pressure, solve problems quickly, deal with conflict effectively and handle difficult situations calmly (source). 

 

A good way to improve your commercial awareness would be to read up on these topics so that you understand them better than most people around you do already! Also, taking part in job placement training would prepare you better for your future.

 

The role of MSEs in Job Aspirations

 

Bucking global trends, the Indian MSE sector has shown encouraging investment, merger & acquisition – both from national and international players. The sector alone is projected to contribute USD 2 trillion to the Indian economy and create 50 million additional jobs by 2024– a huge number deepening the link between a stronger Indian economy and the future workforce of MSEs.

 

The younger workforce would look for opportunities that are both challenging and rewarding. MSEs have the potential to fuel individual and collective dreams through engaging a workforce dedicated towards the growth and development of the nation

 

Conclusion

 

In our increasingly digital world, it is more important than ever to have digital skills and a flair for learning new technologies. These will help you stay competitive in the job market and make you an attractive candidate for any organization that needs skilled individuals like you.

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School children from pan-India say yes to STEM

School children from pan-India say yes to STEM
STEM education for school children & youth

 

STEM education creates critical thinkers, problem solvers and next – generation innovators.The National Science Foundation predicts that 80% of jobs created in the next decade will require some form of STEM skills. The National Education Policy 2020 also talks about STEM and the interesting ways in which it makes education come alive, such as science experiments, technology integration, puzzles, quizzes, etc. STEM learning helps students develop critical thinking skills at a young age. This allows them to appreciate the idea of innovation and application of scientific principles. School going children and youth, being habituated to the use of technology in their everyday lives, surely stands to benefit from an early introduction to STEM.

 

Child for Child in association with QuizforCause

 

With an aim of aligning privileged and underprivileged school children and youth with STEM education through quizzes and hands-on workshops, Smile Foundation conducts several programs across its network of schools in India, and under its Mission Education programme.

 

One of these initiatives is the National STEM Quiz, being held under Smile Foundation’s Child for Child programme. Interestingly, it is being led by the student community itself. Shivansh Gupta from Class XI, Delhi Public School R.K. Puram, and Anushka Singhal pursuing BSc. Computer Science from DDU College, have been successfully conducting the STEM Quiz and related workshops.

 

RoboClub, a premier STEM and Robotics Institute in New Delhi started by Ms. Sunaina Sood, sponsored the STEM Quiz 2022.

 

STEM Quiz 2022

 

The second edition of STEM Quiz (2022) successfully reached out to 10000+ students with 200+ participants from all over the country. The virtual quiz was conducted on August, 14th 2022, with middle and high school students as participants. The quiz had questions in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Computer Science, Logic and Reasoning, etc. The quizzes and workshops encourage youth to participate and test their skills, inspiring them towards hands-on learning and creating awareness on STEM careers.

 

Our heartiest congratulations to all participants and special wishes to all who have occupied the podium positions!

 

We are delighted to present the results for the competition:

 

Category: Class 6th to 8th

 

1st Position: Krishna Sharma, Class 8th, Kalka Public School, Kalkaji, New Delhi
2nd Position: Gagan, Class 7th, Ompee Global School, Manesar, Gurugram, Haryana
3rd Position: Tanveer Kaur, Class 7th, Punjab National Public School, Behrampur Zimidari, Rupnagar, Punjab

 

Category: Class 9th to 11th

 

1st Position: Aarush Salgania, Class 11, Stepping Stones Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh
2nd Position: Gursimran Kaur, Class 11, Punjab National Public School, Behrampur Zimidari, Rupnagar, Punjab
3rd Position: Deepansh Aggarwal, Class 10, Kalka Public School, Kalkaji, New Delhi

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Digital learning can be a game changer in reducing learning disparity

Digital learning can be a game changer in reducing learning disparity

Disruption in Digital Learning

 

Students have embraced technology like birds to air. There have been paradigm shifts in the basic and secondary levels of school education systems throughout the world as a result of the compatibility between kids’ open minds and the seemingly infinite potential of digital technology. Children embraced the quick technological developments that were sweeping the world, whereas adults once found them perplexing.

 

As schools progressively implement interactive classroom teaching and virtual learning systems employing information and communication technology, the truth about this transition is slowly coming into focus. Of course, there were some bumps along the way as the conventional teaching methods gave way to the current modules. Ironically, it was parents and instructors who expressed their concerns, not children.

 

As more schools adopted technology, though, the sceptics came to appreciate what they had been missing. The boundaries and borders of countries, as well as the stone walls of classrooms, are no longer relevant in modern education. Students of all ages learn about fascinating opportunities in their studies as education transforms into a dynamic journey of exploration on beautiful computer displays. Through the combination of software, hardware, digital teaching modules provide holistic solutions that help instructors in the classroom. Interactive learning has evolved from being viewed by teachers and students as simply a “work” to a rewarding experience.

 

Tailored Education

 

Digital learning tools enable students to learn more quickly and also with better understanding. There are interactive practice sessions after learning theoretical information from books. In contrast to traditional education, when boring lectures result in the lowest student-retention ability, as a result, students’ understanding and retention capacities skyrocket. The teachers can then assign each student individualised lessons based on their respective levels. Teachers are in a good position to evaluate each student’s performance once the lessons are turned in.

 

Since it examines learning results, offers corrective inputs, and provides a potent set of solutions for constant student progress, assessment is a crucial component of the e-learning education process. Putting evaluation programmes into place helps teachers identify students’ strong and weak points so that they can design next sessions at the rate at which the students are learning.

 

User-friendly teaching modules reduce teachers’ workload while also making things easier for pupils to comprehend. Additionally, interaction promotes sustained focused attention. All of this guarantees that previously labelled laggards in class can suddenly produce above-average performances.

 

However, the digital edtech start-ups currently operating in the country are made to assist students in getting ready for competitive exams like the JEE, NEET, and Civil Service. The majority of the content for online math and science tutoring and sessions, particularly for high school pupils, is in English.

 

In spite of reductions being provided during the pandemic, access for lower-income people is quite limited because yearly memberships can cost a ton of money. Most apps concentrate on coaching and idea clarification. They cannot be held accountable for not reaching everyone since their objectives and business models are diverse.

 

Some Alternatives

 

Some options are less widely recognised and advertised than others. Swayam, a project of the Ministry of Education, provides video courses for Grades 9 through 12, as well as for undergraduate degrees in business, humanities, and science. A student must enrol, carry out the required assignments, and receive a passing grade on the final test in order to receive certification in this programme, developed by the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) alongside professors from the IITs, IGNOU, AICTE, and the NCERT. On DTH, the lectures on video are offered without charge. Before they are made available to the general public, the video courses are being translated into local languages and are currently undergoing expert assessment.

 

The CBSE curriculum is the main emphasis of the NCERT Diksha Learning App. It provides lesson plans to teachers, interesting content for parents and children, worksheets and exercises to aid with conceptual comprehension, and has more than three lakh users. Exercises for practise and review can assist dispel uncertainties.

 

Smile Foundation’s Involvement

 

Smile Foundation has been actively involved in making digital learning accessible to the underprivileged children. Visit here to know how you can contribute and donate for e-learning programme.

Categories
Smile

Pandemic inverts movement against child labour

Pandemic inverts movement against child labour

In the previous 20 years, the struggle against child labour has made great progress. But there is a very serious possibility of going backwards because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Child labour may deteriorate and positive trends may stall, especially in countries where it has resisted reform. We need to take urgent action to avoid and lessen the harm the pandemic has done to children and their families.

 

The full effects of the pandemic are still unknown. However, some of the consequences are quite evident.

 

The pandemic has severely disrupted supply networks, putting industry on hold. Economic uncertainty has grown. Financial markets in many nations are being constrained by tightening credit. Government spending is unable to catch up.

 

There is no denying how serious the current situation is. The pandemic’s progress and effects can now be determined by decisions that countries make. These decisions must involve deliberate steps to end child labour.

 

Opportunities may present themselves to stop children from returning to work in situations when child labour has temporarily decreased, for instance owing to mobility limitations. Deliberate decisions should be made to reduce these dangers, such as extending social protection for low-income families. Potentially drastic decrease in public funding might worsen children’s exposure to dangerous and exploitative types of labour.

 

According to a research by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF, the pandemic would put an extra 9 million children at danger of being forced into child labour worldwide by the end of 2022. The pandemic-related economic crises and school closures in India are likely factors contributing to child labour and dangerous migration. This would also push children deeper into poverty.

 

India is struggling with the deterioration of the child labour problem despite its legal restrictions and measures against it. Many more children have fallen into the trap of forced labour. The conditions for the existing child labourers have gotten worse. As a result, children’s access to school, basic nourishment, and other necessities for their growth and wellness have suffered a significant setback.

 

Smile Foundation has been actively raising voice against child labour in its campaigns. Through our online donation programme, you can support children in breaking free from the grip of poverty. Your donation will make sure underprivileged children have access to dietary assistance, healthcare, and education throughout every stage of their life.

Click here to learn more.

Categories
Education

Educating the Girl Child: How we can ensure it

Educating the Girl Child: How we can ensure it

India still has a long way to go before attaining gender equality, as seen by the country’s lopsided sex ratio of 940 girls to every 1000 males. Unfortunately, a girl child is frequently considered as a “burden” to be passed on. Given the dominating impact of patriarchal ideals, many girls experience gender inequity, stereotypes, and poorer treatment as compared to males.

 

The girl kid frequently ends up on the short end of the stick, regardless of how brilliant and motivated she is. Many girls are kept at home and not sent to school out of fear of exploitation and sexual abuse, only to be married off at an early age of their life.

 

First and foremost, there is survival

 

Despite regulations that forbid selective abortion and sex-determining of a foetus, this practise persists in secret. This has an adverse effect on both the mother’s health and safety as well as the number of females delivered. The physical and emotional health of a woman suffers when she has many pregnancies in the hopes of having a boy since she is held responsible for the baby’s sex. Improved knowledge, stricter enforcement, and oversight of the legislation are necessary to ensure the survival of the female child.

 

Obstacles to obtaining an excellent education

 

Statistics from U-DISE 2015-16 show that 4.10% of girls leave primary school and 16.88% school in secondary school. Numerous teenage girls have a tendency to become irregular in their attendance at school or drop out before finishing their education because of outdated attitudes toward girls’ education, safety concerns, the distance between home and school, the cost of sanitary products, the lack of separate, functional restrooms, and the poor school infrastructure.

 

Then comes the horror of child marriage. Girls who marry young lose their childhood because they must assume adult responsibilities for which they are unprepared, such as running families, having children, making decisions, etc. In addition to impeding her academic progress, it also encourages young girls to become pregnant at an early age, which is bad for both the mother, a teen, and her unborn child’s nutrition and health.

 

Safety worries, and inadequate school facilities

 

Young females are a primary target and frequently suffer from abuse and bullying, which frequently goes undetected. Rural parents are reluctant to send their girls to school, worried about their security.

 

Numerous young girls of menstrual age fall behind in their academics due to severe taboos, a lack of accessible, inexpensive sanitary products, a lack of quality, working restrooms, and poor school facilities.

 

Why are girls not given the proper education?

 

Girls in our culture are not receiving the proper education because of a number of circumstances.

 

  • Neglecting girls’ health and wellbeing
  • Parents and guardians who lack literacy are particularly ignorant of the value of education for females
  • Financial limitations come in many forms and affect schooling
  • A teenage girl performs a number of household chores and work to provide for their family

 

How can we guarantee that young girls get an education?

 

  • To guarantee that their children, especially their daughters, attend school, parents and the community must both recognise the value of girl child’s education and be encouraged to do so. For instance, Scholarship programs for girl children should be encouraged.
  • By removing representations of girls and women in media and advertising that are demeaning, obscene and vulgar for the society.
  • Mothers must receive training on how to impart academic knowledge to their daughters as well as how to develop hygienic health practices.

 

How is Smile Foundation making an impact

 

Through its different programmes, the Smile Foundation is dedicated to empowering young girls and spreading awareness about education in India.

 

Smile Foundation organises counselling sessions for parents to make them recognise the advantages of educating their daughters. Girls and women are often instructed on the necessity and value of maintaining good personal hygiene. To lessen sex-selective prejudice, moms participate in special sessions. Male family members are educated to support their female family members in continuing their education. Young girls receive training in being self-assured, confident, and future leaders of their country.

 

To support and know the details for girl child education in India, please visit here.

Categories
Disaster Relief

Why Donate for Assam Flood Relief?

Why Donate for Assam Flood Relief?

Assam, along with Meghalya, is one of the North Eastern states that receive the highest rainfalls during the monsoon season across the country. Over the last decade, floods and landslides caused by the excessive rainfall have been continuously ravaging the state. This has taken a heavy toll on lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, wildlife and drained a lot of the state’s major resources. In 2022 however, the havoc started earlier when flash floods were brought on by pre-monsoon showers. It has been close to two months now, and people in Assam are still struggling to survive the onslaught. If you have not already donated for Assam Flood Relief, here is why you should do it right away.

 

The Current Situation in Assam

 

The floods and landslides have affected over 47 lakh people across 4,462 villages in 30 districts of Assam. Nearly 23 lakh people have been forced to leave their homes, and 179 have been reported dead. Railways, roads, and bridges are damaged due to landslides. Entire villages are submerged. Some villages are completely cut-off from the mainland, making Assam flood relief operations extremely difficult.

 

Like in every disaster, vulnerable groups including women, children and elders are the worst affected. Battling the situation since May, most families have witnessed their homes and belongings being washed away. They have run out of ration and their savings, and are now on the brink of desperation. While relief is being provided by government and non-governmental organizations, the scale of devastation is huge. Hundreds of families are still waiting for help.

Flood affected families in Assam line up to receive dry ration kits at Smile Foundation’s relief camp

What Are We Doing?

 

Smile Foundation’s disaster response team has been on the ground since May, assessing the need and distributing relief material in the worst affected parts of Assam. The team is working round the clock with a dedicated group of local volunteers, taking timely help to people who need it the most. We are distributing food in the form of dry ration, hygiene and sanitation kits, medicines and other essential items.

 

  • Dry Ration Kits: Rice, Dal, Salt, Oil, Sugar, Chilli Powder, Turmeric Powder, Dalia Flour, Biscuits
  • Hygiene Kits: Sanitary Napkins, Soaps, Hand Sanitizers, Masks & other essentials

 

How Can You Help?

 

The people of Assam need the entire country to come together and stand with them in this time of crisis. Assam Flood Relief operations cannot be a success without your support. Children and families in Assam need us to act and act now! If you donate for Assam Flood Relief through Smile Foundation, we will ensure that every penny is utilized in meeting the most urgent needs of the flood affected children and families. To donate for Assam Flood Relief and join our efforts, please visit https://donate.smilefoundationindia.org/assam-flood-relief

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