Author: Smile Editorial Team

Children’s Day: A Day to Celebrate the Future Citizens and Leaders of India

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date November 13, 2021
No Comments on Children’s Day: A Day to Celebrate the Future Citizens and Leaders of India

Children’s Day is celebrated on November 14 every year. The day marks the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister. He was given the moniker Chacha Nehru because of his fondness for children. His birthday has been designated as Children’s Day since his death in 1964.

Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

What is the significance of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday being designated as Children’s Day?

Nehru Ji had a strong affection for children. He believed that they are the nation’s future creators. If we want to safeguard our future, we must all work together to shape the destiny of these youngsters. Our country began to commemorate his birthday as Children’s Day in honour of this. The main goal of this celebration was to raise awareness among all Indians about the importance of providing children with the opportunity to receive an education. It is their right to follow a suitable path. Therefore, a well-organized and prosperous nation can be built, and the children’s future can also be secured.

Jawaharlal Nehru once said that a nation’s property is not in its repository but in its schools. Thus, we must identify our children as the country’s riches, preserve them, and promote their future. We at Smile Foundation believe in this firmly.

In our country, Children’s Day is celebrated with great enthusiasm. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru is honoured on this memorable day. On this day, the stories of Nehru’s contribution for children are remembered.

His Substantial Contributions

In the context of Indian history, Nehru is significant because he imported and transmitted modern values and methods of thinking. Moreover, he adapted these to Indian situations. Despite India’s ethnic and religious diversity, he emphasised the country’s fundamental oneness. Nehru was genuinely concerned with leading India into the contemporary age of scientific discovery and technical growth. He also instilled in his people a sense of the importance of social care for the destitute and outcasts, as well as a respect for democratic norms.

During his 17 years as Prime Minister, he promoted democratic socialism as the guiding star, emphasising the importance of India achieving both democracy and socialism. He made progress toward that goal with the aid of the Congress Party’s overwhelming majority in parliament during his period of power. Democracy, socialism, unity, and secularism were the four foundations of his domestic policies. During his lifetime, he was largely successful in preserving the edifice anchored by those four pillars.

Nehru’s Philosophy and Our Work

Nehru committed time and effort to developing a coherent national philosophy, in line with his idea that every state required a ‘national philosophy’ to sustain, cohere, and direct it. For him,’modernisation’ was India’s national philosophy, encompassing seven national objectives: national unity, parliamentary democracy, industrialization, socialism, scientific temper, secularism, and non-alignment. He also established the prestigious educational institutions of Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur (IIT) in 1951 and Indian Institute of Kolkata (IIM) in 1961.

The only way to reform them (children) is to win them over with love. So long as a child is unfriendly, you can’t mend his ways.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Even during the pandemic, our work in this regard has not stopped.

In The Spotlight

India Marks National Education Day 2021 on November 11

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date November 11, 2021
No Comments on India Marks National Education Day 2021 on November 11

On the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, India marks National Education Day on November 11 each year. Azad was a celebrated educationist and writer. He served as the first Minister of Education of independent India along with being the Vice President.

Educational institutions across the country mark the day with various activities. Seminars, essay-writing competitions, workshops, and rallies on the importance of literacy and India’s commitment to education are part of the celebrations.

Why is Azad’s birthday marked as National Education Day?

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad made exemplary contributions to the field of education and institution building. It was he who paved the way for modern education in India. He has made many contributions to the field of education. Due to this, Azad is deemed to be the main architect of education in India.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development declared the birthday of ‘the great son of India’ as National Education Day in 2008. Since then, this date celebrates Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s contributions every year.

His significant contributions

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad played a key role in driving the effort to eradicate illiteracy. He emphasized on elementary education and stressed on the importance of secondary education as well.

He played a significant role in the establishment of various educational institutions. Some of these are Indian Institute of Science and Jamia Milia Islamia. His most significant contribution was the establishment of the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951. Over the past few decades, a number of IITs have come up.

Maulana Azad’s philosophy and our work

Azad had a pure philosophy for India’s education. And Smile Foundation firmly believes in this.

We must not for a moment forget, it is a birthright of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen.”

Our Mission Education programme and related campaigns all focus on the right of each child to receive an education. Keeping in mind the role of children as citizens of tomorrow, we focus on an all-round lifecycle approach to intervene at various stages of a child’s development and health.

Donate now

Insights

The Role of STEM Education in National Education Policy 2020

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date November 10, 2021
No Comments on The Role of STEM Education in National Education Policy 2020

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM) are slowly being recognized as a vital part of education. Thus, the role of STEM education in the National Education Policy 2020 is very important. The need of the hour is to understand why this is so and how we can work on it in conjunction with the changing times.

Why is STEM education important?

The STEM approach has certain aims. Earlier, these four subjects were mostly taught in isolation. Thus, there was the issue of integrating it into the curriculum, Moreover, without this integrated approach, there were also issues with hiring qualified candidates for high-tech jobs.

STEM education has emerged as a common term with reference to shortage of skilled workers and inadequate education in these fields.

STEM education uses new technologies to enhance STEM skills. This also encourages an interest in STEM fields. There are various methods to do this.

Develop a pool of talent by encouraging early learning in science and mathematics.

Strengthen teachers’ skills by providing additional training

Enlarge the scope for students to graduate with STEM skills, equipped with STEM skills.

STEM Education in the National Education Policy

Under the NEP 2020, it will be easy to integrate STEM learning and approach in the updated curricula. The pool of scientists, engineers, and mathematics will be strengthened a great deal if STEM education is introduced in stages at various levels. Some of the measures suggested by the new structure are as follows.

The new policy seeks to encourage experiential learning. Learning objectives, and not rote learning, will be the focus in the future.
Core essentials will become the focus. Emphasis will be on key concepts, ideas, applications and problem-solving. Critical thinking and holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning will be the focus of NEP 2020.
Experiential learning and hands-on learning will play a big part in STEM education.
Introduction of subjects such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Design Thinking will be important for STEM.
An emphasis on Math, computational thinking, machine learning (ML), and data science will now begin at the foundational stage (at age 6).
Students will start learning coding at age 11.

Thus, the NEP has a focus on a multidisciplinary approach. This will enhance conceptual understanding and foster skills such as critical thinking, hands-on training, and creativity. These are all important for STEM education.

The future of STEM learning

STEM learning is integral to every child’s development. With the digital influence in every person’s life, children’s exposure to technology is more than ever now. In a way, they have constant exposure to STEM in their daily lives. Thus, it is important to educate them about the same.

One is more receptive to and capable of learning at a younger age. That is why it is important to inculcate STEM learning from an early age, along with discipline, etiquettes, and social skills.

Insights

Online Education versus Conventional Classroom Method

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date November 8, 2021
No Comments on Online Education versus Conventional Classroom Method

It is no longer news that COVID has altered our way of life. The deadly virus has caused tectonic disruptions in practically every part of our lives. Be it business, entertainment, hospitality, or education – we are still dealing with the fallout. We’re also arguing how long these shifts will last and what the new normal will be in each of these industries. In this situation, a question about our education system becomes pertinent. In the tussle between online education versus conventional classroom method, which will trump?

Can online education take the role of in-person instruction? – The COVID-19 case

Soon after it became evident that this was not a passing infection, educational institutions began to shift toward online teaching. Students and professors swiftly adapted to the shifting ways of teaching and learning.

This success, however, has fueled widespread conjecture that the pandemic has launched a dramatic change. This is particularly in higher education, with many suggesting that online education is the future of college education.

The truth is that the future is no longer so black and white – there is much gray in between. What appears to be on the horizon is a hybrid model of learning — a mix of online and offline components. While on-campus teaching will undoubtedly return (maybe not as soon as we’d like, but it will), there will also be a plethora of online options available for those who want it.

Will one, however, take precedence over the other? No, because each has distinguishing features that make them worthwhile. People will learn to combine the two.

However, when it comes to choosing one over the other for college education, one argument can say that online learning can never truly replace an on-campus experience.

The immersive campus life is not the same as the virtual one

It’s not just about textbook learning and lectures in class. It is also about making lifelong friends and communicating with people from all over the world and having fervent debates late into the night over copious cups of tea. It is about sociability and adaptability – about learning to live alone in a new culture, new city, or even new country.

As you go away from the comfort of your home, it teaches you to be independent. Online college deprives students of these important life lessons.

Online education versus conventional classroom method

It may be easier to adapt standard theoretical subjects to online learning. However, this is not the case for a wide range of disciplines and fields in which students choose to specialize. Online learning deprives students of key resources such as labs and studios, which are required for particular disciplines and cannot be replicated at home.

For vocational majors such as theatre, cinema, music, and dance (to name a few), the shift to online learning is taking away more than it is providing. Being on campus also permits classes to go on field trips in their field of study. It allows students to see real-life applications of the things they’re studying. Online classes will find it difficult to replace this.

A case study

In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts in Karnataka, a study was undertaken to assess teachers’ and students’ attitudes regarding online classrooms.

The research was carried out utilizing data acquired through two distinct structured questionnaires for students and teachers in the Karnataka districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. The data was entered into a data software and evaluated using descriptive statistics.

According to the findings of the survey, students are comfortable with online classrooms and receive adequate assistance from teachers. However, they do not feel that online classes will replace traditional classroom instruction. It also discovers that teachers are having difficulty giving online classes as a result of a lack of sufficient training and development for doing so. Technical concerns are the most significant impediment to the efficacy of online classes.

Most institutions and universities consider incorporating online classes into their curriculum. As a result, it is critical to solicit feedback from participants in online programs before applying for them. This survey may assist institutions in gaining a general understanding of online classrooms among teachers and students.

The Internet and new technology have gained relevance in all industries, including education, creating opportunities for online classes. Furthermore, the global COVID pandemic has increased the importance of online classes. In this light, it is critical to comprehend student–teacher views of online classes.

Will Internet learning take the place of traditional classroom instruction?

While it is laudable that the education sector reacted so swiftly to the epidemic, allowing those even outside of official education settings to attend lectures, conversations, and readings, there is no denying that online education (particularly for universities) comes with its own set of issues.

It can be restrictive, and it risks perpetuating the misconception that university is only about theoretical academics. As a result, the future of education must be a healthy balance of online and offline — with the former serving as a supplement to the latter.

Insights

Are philanthropic efforts sufficient to curb issues such as world hunger?

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date November 5, 2021
No Comments on Are philanthropic efforts sufficient to curb issues such as world hunger?

Philanthropy is often counted upon to help mitigate various issues and crises. Many are of the opinion that it is the moral responsibility of the ultra rich to share their resources and money for the benefit of others. However, can we really say that $6 billion dollars donated by the world’s billionaires can help solve an issue like the world hunger crisis?

***

A recent war of words on Twitter has once again sparked this debate. This time, it is billionaire Elon Musk against UN World Food Programme. A controversy erupted when UN WFP Executive Director David Beasley said in an interview that just a fraction of the wealth of the world’s billionaires could solve world hunger. In response, Musk tweeted that he will sell his Tesla shares and donate $6 billion (2 per cent of his wealth) if the UN WFP could describe how the money will be used to solve world hunger.

As it turns out, Beasley responded to Musk saying that he had been misquoted. $6 billion will not solve world hunger. But it will resolve a host of other issues that lead to hunger in various degrees. Geopolitical instability and mass migration have pushed 42 million people to the brink of starvation. This is an unprecedented crisis, brought on by COVID, climate and conflict.

While the richest people in the world could possibly play a vital role in mitigating hunger, as urged by UN WFP, the problem goes much deeper than the availability of funds.

There are a number of causes for global hunger. Poverty, unemployment, food shortage and waste, market conditions, climate change, poor infrastructure, war or conflict, quality of nutrition, and discrimination are only a few. To address the issue of sustainable human development and to move towards that goal, an all-round approach is needed.

Issues such as hunger are quite complex. Thus, simple solutions, such as donating $6 billion in funds, cannot work for them. Apart from the logistical problem of providing meals, there are many other things to be taken into consideration.

On one hand, a situation of acute starvation demands urgent, quick, maybe on-time intense effort and resources. On the other hand, mitigating or ending hunger requires world communities and governments to deal with dynamic challenges such as war, pandemic, calamity, discrimination, shortage and wastage of food, lack of infrastructure, state of economy, poverty, and climate change. Moreover, even after hunger is dealt with, malnutrition will continue to be a major focus area that needs to be addressed.

Thus, setting a timeline or a fixed amount for mitigating this humungous task is fruitless. The problem of world hunger can be dealt with through focused and long-term awareness efforts around all these issues.

Insights

Could Vocational Training Be the Path to a Secure Future?

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date November 1, 2021
No Comments on Could Vocational Training Be the Path to a Secure Future?

What is vocational training?

Vocational training is skill-based training that equips one to work in a particular field. This can be in sectors such as banking, health care, finance, computers, trade, tourism, and others. The purpose of vocational training is to impart practical knowledge to the students, over and above theoretical knowledge.

Skilled and efficient employees are the need of the hour. Every industry and every company is seeking well-trained employees. Vocational training helps youth who are just entering the workforce to gain skills. These make them more employable and perform better.

Why is vocational training important?

Skill-based training gives an opportunity to even those who are not academically very good. But that does not mean that vocational training is only for those who are not able to cope academically. Practical industry-based training gives one the knowledge required for a specific job. With the right vocational skills, any learner is better equipped for employment in the long run, whether they scored marks in school or not.

Moreover, academic and vocational learning are complementary to one another. For example, it is important for an engineering student to learn hands-on skills along with theoretical knowledge.

Tayyari Kal Ki providing vocational education

Smile’s Twin e-Learning Program (STeP) aims at skilling youth. It is not just a medium of education but also a means of nurturing their mental health and personality development. STeP facilitates their contribution in making the world a better place.

The livelihood program has succeeded where most ‘vocational’ training courses fail. It addresses the requirement of soft skills needed at the workplace and makes the candidates confident through personality development. So far, Smile Foundation has trained over 47,000 youth through its e-learning programs. More than 28,000 of them have been placed in over 200 brands through 95 operational projects across India.

Since the pandemic, we also had to rethink the program and align it with the current times. Our initiative, Tayyari Kal Ki, is a step towards this. The industry-wise requirement of skilled workers shifted with the pandemic. For instance, healthcare became a booming sector. This livelihood mission is in alignment with the Government of India’s ‘Skill India’ initiative. It aims to skill people in the 18-32 years age bracket. The program is operational through 81 centres across 18 cities in 16 states. We have skilled over 10,000 youth under this initiative till now and created thousands of COVID warriors in the process!

The bigger picture: Vocational training and the New Education Policy

Government of India’s New Education Policy seeks to introduce students to vocational learning from Grade 6 onwards. STeP and Tayyari Kal Ki are both aligned with this goal. In the earlier model, only students from urban areas got exposure to skill training, if at all. The idea behind introducing vocational skills at school and college level was to enable gainful employment for students who drop out of school or college.

Vocational education serves as a tool for those who want to learn a skill or trade quickly but cannot afford to invest time and money in a university degree. It offers more job opportunities and costs much lesser than a conventional degree.

Skill-based training needs to become an important component of our education system—from schools, to universities. This will contribute to a holistic education of youth and create better workers and leaders for the future.

In The Spotlight

Nurturing Livelihoods of Women through Our STeP Programme

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date October 30, 2021
No Comments on Nurturing Livelihoods of Women through Our STeP Programme

⁠Is Self-Employment a Curse for Indian Women?

Educating and empowering a woman is the first step towards her safe and secure future. And ensuring livelihoods of women is a vital step towards this empowerment. However, it is not just enough to create jobs. We need to make sure that women, and youth in general, possess the necessary skills to not just find a job but also sustain it. Smile Foundation is working towards this sustainable livelihood for thousands of the country’s youth through the STeP initiative. Here are some of our success stories in creating livelihoods for women.

Shivani Tiwari

When Shivani joined the STeP course, she was an introvert. She lacked confidence while speaking. Through the course, she developed good interpersonal skills and her English communication also improved.

Career counselling sessions helped map a path for her future. The financial literacy course of the programme helped her in managing her savings as well.

Now Shivani is working with Paymaster as a Customer Service Executive earning Rs 12,000 per month and good incentives. Her most recent achievement was winning the employee of the month award!

Priyanka Shirke

Priyanka belongs to an underprivileged family from Mumbai. Her father is a carpenter and her mother is a homemaker. She has completed her graduation in commerce. Priyanka wanted to pursue her master’s but due to financial issues she decided to pursue her career from her own earnings.

Priyanka also realized the importance of finding a job in order to support her family. Due to the pandemic and national lockdown, she was unable to find a suitable job.

Priyanka’s goal was to begin earning as soon as possible, so that she could contribute to her family’s income and pursue further education. She decided to improve her core employability skills. She took a step forward to join four months of online STeP training. Through the course, Priyanka received training specific to Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI).

The training has taught her to communicate more effectively and confidently. She also learnt interview and presentation skills.

Priyanka has now secured a job as Junior Office Processing Executive at HDB Financial services with the salary of Rs 14984 per month.

Nisha Chauhan

Belonging to a middle-class family, Nisha is 20 years old and has studied up to 12th standard. Due to her family’s financial problems, she wanted to work.

Nisha began looking for a job after completing HSC. She wanted to help her family financially and support the education of her siblings as well her own education.

Unfortunately, due to lack of confidence, poor communication skills, she was not able to get a job until she found out about Smile Foundation’s health care training programme from a friend. Nisha enrolled with STeP immediately.

After successful completion of training, she got a job as GDA at Care and Cure clinic and is now earning Rs. 10200 per month. She is happy that her contribution is helping her father meet the needs of the family.

In The Spotlight

Entrepreneurship Training for Women: An Important Aspect of Empowering Women

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date October 29, 2021
No Comments on Entrepreneurship Training for Women: An Important Aspect of Empowering Women

In the post-pandemic world, entrepreneurship training for women has gained much-needed momentum. This has become a key focus area for our work with women as well. Women entrepreneurs are slowly becoming an important part of the economy. They contribute significantly not just to their families but also to their communities at large.

Financial independence is a key aspect of women’s empowerment. And thus, through our Swabhiman programme, we are aiming to reach out to women entrepreneurs and equip them with the necessary skills and training to make their enterprises sustainable.

Entrepreneurship Training for Women in Bengaluru

Under our Swabhiman project in Bengaluru we put together a team to provide enterprise development support to women entrepreneurs in Deshapande Guttahalli village in Anekal Tehsil. There are many aspects of entrepreneurship development that need to be addressed at such grassroots level.

Mobilization

Mobilization is the first step towards any activity on the ground. For this particular workshop, we did home visits for about 200 women and gathered information about their livelihoods. Most of the women showed a lot of interest in generating more income, but they did not know how to go about it. Small vendors managing everything on their own need more guidance.

Financial literacy

Assessing existing knowledge plays a key role in any training. The same is true for financial literacy as well. Being an important part of running one’s own business, it is important for entrepreneurs to be financially literate. Savings and investments, loans and borrowings, insurance, and digital transactions were all taught through the sessions on financial literacy.

However, it is important to keep in mind the target group. Thus, stories, examples, and case studies in the local language were used to teach this.

Business Idea Generation

Many women face a specific dilemma when they first start a business. What should the business be? Will I be successful at this? Is it sustainable?

Generating a business idea is a structured process. It includes a few key components that were covered in the entrepreneurship training.

Assess whether or not you have the basic requirements needed to be a successful entrepreneur.
Clearly explain any business idea that comes to your mind.
Identify potential sources of business ideas and create an idea list.
Shortlist and then select the best idea to pursue in order to start your own business.

*Entrepreneurship training for homemade snacks business*

Nurturing the women entrepreneurs

The whole idea of the training was to assess the participants’ socio-economic status and their preparedness to start the business. After due market assessment and brainstorming, a few lucrative business ideas emerged.

Sanitary pads
Tailoring
Handmade cosmetics
Snacks
Cattle rearing
Saree weaving

Our team identified the women who could work together to set up each of these businesses. To help these women achieve success, we are also providing them with technical and hands-on training, as per their requirement.

Insights

Nutrition after the Pandemic: Shifting the Focus from Hunger

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date October 27, 2021
No Comments on Nutrition after the Pandemic: Shifting the Focus from Hunger

With the culmination of Poshan Maah 2021 celebration in September, the issue of malnutrition still remains critical to India. Constant and rigorous communication and action are needed to transform the practices amongst our population on this front. Hunger emerged as a primary concern during the spread of COVID-19. But we have now reached that stage where we can shift the focus to nutrition after the pandemic.

What the numbers say about nutrition

The NFHS-4 shows that one-third of children under 5 years of age are stunted. A third of them are underweight. And almost 2 out of 10 children are nutritionally wasted. Fifty-two per cent of all women in the reproductive age (15-49 years) are anaemic. This could lead to multigenerational effects on human health and development.

The Global Health Index (2021) is calculated on the basis of total undernourishment of the population, child stunting, wasting, and child mortality. It has ranked India at 101 out of 135. Countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan have been ranked higher than India at 64th, 73rd, 75th, and 88th respectively.

Nutrition after the pandemic

Malnutrition has been a major concern in India. Over the last decade, India has been working slowly to address it. The efforts to curb malnutrition got accelerated with the launch of Government of India’s Poshan Abhiyan. This was envisioned as a Jan Andolan or people’s movement, programme in 2018. However, the effect of the pandemic was felt here too. Health systems, food systems, nutrition programmes, and economy were also impacted. This posed a threat to the most vulnerable in the society. COVID-19 brought these efforts to a halt and challenged the entire system.

The coronavirus pandemic has proved to be catastrophic throughout the world. But it has had an especially negative impact on the health and well-being status of women and children in India due to major disruptions in preventive health and nutrition services. The fear of transmission of COVID-19, social distancing, and lockdowns affected public services, especially public health and nutrition, directly or indirectly. Global research in 2020 on the effect of COVID-19 estimated about 14.3 per cent increase in wasting globally. No specific data are available yet to measure the impact of COVID-19 on nutritional status of Indian population. However, we can envisage the impact of this disruption on food supply chain, health system, and broken financial and physical access to food and nutritional services.

How we have adapted

Frontline workers adapted their services to the situation, ensuring delivery of food to the people. Smile Foundation joined hands with their efforts and provided ration to hundreds of families.

Since the COVID-19 vaccine for children is still awaited, nutrition is now more important than ever. Children, pregnant women and lactating women need extra care for their nutrition during this pandemic.

Smile Foundation has been working to address and strengthen the government initiatives to support nutrition activities. We have distributed millions of meals to the vulnerable and affected families during the pandemic. These families found the first and second waves particularly difficult. ‘Build, strengthen, and expand’ is the core modality behind this nutrition programme. Our efforts are based on collaborating, enhancing reach, and impacting lives of the vulnerable population, especially women and children.

Where nutrition is concerned, it is important to concentrate on maternal nutrition as well. Thus, building knowledge of caregivers on ante-natal and post-natal care is also an important aspect of enhancing nutrition. Through such interventions, caregivers and women are informed about various aspects of health. Iron and folic acid supplementation, institutional delivery, early and exclusive breastfeeding, timely and age appropriate complementary feeding, complete immunisation are some of them,.

Interventions to ensure good nutrition after the pandemic

Government initiatives such as Poshan Maah are important interventions. However, reaching out to people at the individual level is also important. This is where Anganwadi workers play a vital role. Focusing and endorsing the activities and building capacities of beneficiaries and Anganwadi workers for behaviour change pertaining to food habits is vital for good nutrition.

It is important to realise that malnutrition is mostly preventable. All our efforts at Smile Foundation aim to improve nutritional status of mothers, infants, and young children to promote holistic and healthy development and helping them reach their full potential. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us lessons and has given a central place to health and nutrition. Nutrition is interlinked to various components of development. Smile Foundation strongly believes in constantly working to build a stronger and resilient community to address the challenges to nutrition posed by COVID-19.

Insights

Reverse Migration from Private to Government Schools: A Downward Trend or an Opportunity?

Post author By Smile Editorial Team
Post date October 26, 2021
No Comments on Reverse Migration from Private to Government Schools: A Downward Trend or an Opportunity?

The COVID-19 pandemic left us in the lurch on many things. One of the major curveballs has been education. With constant disruptions and switching to online mode, education has suffered huge setbacks. In the midst of this, an unforeseen trend has emerged. Data shows that there is a reverse migration from private to government schools. And this trend is being seen across different states.

What the data says

In Hyderabad, for instance, over 300 schools are staring at closure with majority of their students ‘missing’ in action. “In many schools, the strength has dropped from 600 in 2019-20 to less than 300 in 2021-22 as many families with meager or no incomes have not been able to pay fees or buy gadgets required to attend online classes. Multiple calls to parents have yielded no response. We are now wondering if we should consider these students as dropouts and shutdown our schools,” said S. Madhusudan, advisor of TRSMA.

“We have observed an up to 20% rise in enrollment from private to government schools. This is largely owing to the inability to pay fees,” said Chava Ravi, General Secretary of Telangana State United Teachers Federation.

Factors behind reverse migration from private to government schools

Inability of parents to pay fees due to loss of jobs, pay cuts, and shutting down of budget schools due to financial crisis have contributed to this phenomenon to a large extent. On the bright side, mid-day meal (or ration kit) provided in government schools is also an important aspect of this. It ensures nutritious meals for one’s child even in face of financial difficulties.

Moreover, as there are no physical classes, parents feel that paying the fee is a waste. At a government school, education is free and their children will automatically be promoted to the next class. The fact that many students and their parents, especially in rural and remote areas, are not interested in online classes or paying the fees, has made matters worse.

During the academic year 2020-21, students attended physical classes for hardly two months. Despite this, as many as 3.8 lakh parents from Telangana, mostly the ones with school-going children, have taken loans to pay the school fee.

Reports suggest that about 900 schools in Telangana have tied up with third-party firms to provide EMI options for parents to clear school fees. This appears as a major factor for students seeking transfer from private to government schools.

What this means for Smile Foundation

Our Mission Education centres charge minimal or no fees compared to the other low budget affordable schools. Thus, for us, this trend has brought about positive results.

Many children who are part of our remedial programs are already enrolled in government schools. Some of our ME NGO partners have seen an increase in students’ enrolment from other low budget schools while retaining the existing students. Additionally, we have being taking other measures to keep children in school or bring them back.

Provision of teaching-learning materials and resources

Counseling of parents and students, encouraging them to continue the learning process, and

Provision of essential ration kits to the students’ families. (This helped us support the parents during the pandemic and enable them to ensure that the learning process for their children continues.)

Way ahead

Government schools can take this opportunity of reverse migration to buck up and get the ball rolling towards improvements in the education system. This unexpected phenomenon can end up making quality education affordable for all.

With inputs from Gargi Kapoor and her team at Mission Education.