Education
The Padho Padhao Initiative
In the middle of the 21st century, a lot of young children are still unable to get access to basic education and academically Mathematics and English are the biggest reason students fail exams, drop out of school and leave studies altogether. This situation must no longer be attributed to inherited poverty. 48% students in India are deprived of higher secondary education and 76% students do not make it to the college.
Even students who are enrolled in school, around 52% of standard 5 students cannot read a standard 2 level text and only 43.3% students in class 8th can solve a 3 digit to 1 digit division problem in mathematics. Out of 46 students in class 12th enrolled in a Higher Secondary School in Munirka 45 students passed 12th Board CBSE Examination but only 5 went to a college in the academic year 2016-17. Almost more than 70 % of the students dropped out before reaching 12th grade and whoever were able to pass 12th grade, only 10% of them were able to reach college.
By The Padho-Padhao Initiative, we try to bridge the gap between what a kid knows what s/he should know as per his/her age. The Literacy and Numeracy emerged as focus areas where the struggle of students is tremendous, combining it with other socio-economic variables can lead to a disastrous consequence. We support students by running after school classes in Hindi, English and Mathematics, our methods are child centric, activity based and put in effect after good amount of research from our team. Hence our students learn quickly and are able to come to the grade level in 2-3 years of support. The results of the students who have been supported by The Padho-Padhao Initiative at the end of second year of support.
Early Childhood Program
In this program, we educate the children under the age group of 4-6 years and prepare them with the basic conduct to get admitted to the school.
We enrol kids of younger age making them learn and play. We have developed our own “Teaching learning method” (TLM) material. The whole curriculum is set accordingly to the age of the children where activity based learning such as learning poems, teaching them phonics, developing their motor skills, etc. are performed. The whole idea behind this program is to make every child habitual to go to school and make them familiar about the school environment. Also, it helps in providing those children who are yet to go to school to build confidence.
Achievements
Kalpana, an underprivileged girl from Nepal, moved to Delhi with her parents in search of a better life. Her father worked as a taxi driver, and her mother as a sanitation worker in people's homes. Despite their hard work, the family faced a severe debt crisis, and it seemed their only option was to return to Nepal. This dire situation threatened Kalpana's education, as she was on the verge of dropping out of 8th grade. During this challenging period, CEHRO INDIA stepped in to support the family financially. This timely intervention allowed Kalpana to continue her education without the fear of dropping out. With dedication and determination, she completed her schooling and enrolled in a Hotel Management course. Today, Kalpana works at a prestigious hotel, living a dignified and fulfilling life.
Mahzabeen, an underprivileged girl from a family involved in fish selling, defied all odds to secure an impressive 93.6% in the 2019 CBSE 10th board exams. Despite the financial challenges, which forced her father to take on extra work, Mahzabeen's determination and hard work paid off. After clearing her 12th exams, she successfully gained admission to Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) at Delhi University, with the crucial support of the CEHRO team.
In the heart of Delhi, Sapna and her family arrived from Nepal, hoping for a better life. Her father drove a taxi, while her mother worked as a sanitation worker, striving to make ends meet. But financial troubles soon threatened to force them back home, risking Sapna and her siblings' education. During this tough time, CEHRO stepped in as a lifeline. CEHRO not only provided crucial support but also became a sanctuary where Sapna discovered quilling art—a craft that sparked her imagination and creativity. As Sapna delved deeper into quilling, she not only mastered the art but also found her voice as an instructor at CEHRO. This role not only boosted her confidence but also inspired others around her.Now, Sapna is pursuing her dream as a fashion designer
Devika migrated with her family from Nepal in search of better opportunities. After three years of studying at our center, she successfully passed the highly competitive Vidyagyan examination, a talent search program by the Shiv Nadar Foundation, earning a fellowship for her continued studies.
Volunteer to help build literacy and numeracy
Research Assistant in the Department of Science and Technology
My experience with Cehro India was deeply fulfilling and transformative. Cehro India is dedicated to uplifting underprivileged children through education. As a volunteer, I was immersed in various initiatives aimed at bridging educational gaps for children in underserved communities. Our efforts included regular tutoring sessions, distributing essential school supplies, and organizing interactive learning workshops to make education both accessible and engaging. Witnessing the children's excitement and eagerness to delve into new Things was profoundly moving. Their academic improvements and growing self-confidence were clear indicators of the positive impact of our work.
Additionally, we implemented creative teaching methods, such as interactive games and storytelling, to keep the children engaged and enthusiastic about their studies. These methods not only made learning fun but also helped to reinforce important educational concepts.
Overall, my time with Cehro India reinforced my belief in the transformative power of education as a catalyst for change. It was a deeply enriching experience that left an indelible mark on my personal and professional life, underscoring the importance of giving.
3 Months from today, Siddharth joined CEHRO INDIA as a teacher, but he left as a learner.
THE GIRL WHO INSPIRES ME’
So here goes the secret about the book!
She is one of the selected achievers! Her name is Devika, and my inspiration. Yes, I’m inspired by a 5th-grade girl! She won the lucky draw and what did she ask?
She asked for a trip to the national museum! Seriously, can you believe it? We have everything still if we ask, we’ll ask for more. We wouldn’t ask to go to a museum. My favorite book named, “The brief history of time” by Stephen Hawkings, I asked her to come forward and give an autograph on it. So that whenever I read it I realize, I have a lot to learn. – Siddharth Varma (Ed-Mentor at CEHRO)
Community Library Project
The Community Library Project aims to bring knowledge rich resources which will be free to use for all people in the heart of the Munirka Village Community. It will be used as a reading room and a safe space to innovate and create something new. It is to create an inclusive, supportive and progressive space which can act as a catalyst for individual growth and well being.
We believe that kids can learn themselves given the opportunities, platforms and resources. Sugata Mitra’s hole-in-the-wall approach demonstrates the same. The Community Library Project brings world class resources to an under-resourced community for the children and youth of the community. The basic idea is to make the consumers a participant who decides upon the uses, resources and the rules for running the community library. We bring teachers, authors, volunteers and speakers who will interact with the children, youth and women of the community occasionally and regularly. The Community Library Project will be able to support leadership development of its students through encouraging them to use the knowledge they’ve gained while exploring the community library resources. The core focus of The Community Library Project will be;
Why is this important?
We have built an organic environment in which children are trained to select books as per their interest, and handle library records by themselves with little or no supervision. Currently, on an average, 235 books per month are being taken home by children apart from readings happening within the library. There are 2 elementary students who have read more than hundred books.
The 100 Books Challenge
Elementary and Secondary students are encouraged to read as many books as possible by giving them #The100BooksChallenge. After reading 100 books, the reader’s picture and the name will be posted on the #WallofFame.
Outcome
Monitoring and Evaluation
We will be monitoring the enthusiasm and learning outcome of all the children who will be part of our project. Apart from their joyful chit chat about the stories we will be collecting quantitative data. To measure the interest, average number of books read, skills acquired, depreciation & usefulness, we’ll be applying the following tools:
Intended Impact
Role Models & Support Groups – The space will support the development of leaders and support groups from the community that will reach many more people than just the participants.
Free Resources – The educational resources will be free & accessible to all meaning it will reach to the poorest of the poor in the community.
Inclusive, Supportive & Progressive Community – The prototyping of a community which is inclusive, supportive & progressive could provide us insights on scaling the impact.
Community Innovation Centre
CIC majorly runs extra-curricular and co-curricular activities like Quilling, Games, Dance, Drama, Painting and Poetry which are curated as per the interest, abilities and personalities of children building on our belief that each child is unique. The talent of the youth and children of the community gets appreciated, mentored and supported at the Community Innovation Centre.
The children mentioned are those who first are not willing to study but when get lured by the above mentioned skills they started taking education seriously. Now they get appreciated for their particular skill and study as well..
Role of Community Innovation Centre at CEHRO:
Quilling is the art of paper. By folding and rolling paper into different shapes, different products are made. We provide a proper Quilling Teacher to children in summer vacations and after that throughout a year they made hundreds and thousands of different products by teaching themselves and to each other. They adapt a very good skill of colour combination, size matching, rolling paper technique etc.
In games, children actively taking part. Two teams from CEHRO INDIA have taken part in Football and Kho-Kho in Khel Khel Mein Foundation League and Adidas League this year and both the teams were in the runner-up position. A proper coach is provided for their training for a short duration and after that they trained themselves and practice regularly.
The mission of Dance at CEHROINDIA is to build leadership skills in students through the medium of dance. We believe Dance is as important a part of education as Mathematics. Here children teach children.
We visualise a two-part change:
By developing their own dance skills one of the children has participated in Dance India Dance (DID) and was in the competition till the third last round. Children go in a dance academy every two day in a week and practice in weekends. Children are so talented that they practised choreography themselves and trained others too and performed on various events. Every year they visit National School of Drama (NSD) and get inspired.
Children of CEHRO INDIA are talented in Drama, Painting and Poetry also. In every occasion they direct the drama theme and performed it themselves.
A trained artist takes their classes every weekend and now students are well trained and now they paint in canvas board. Students are well engaged with a famous writer and storyteller Usha Chhabra. She constantly involved with children by taking their sessions of poetry, story-telling, museum visits etc.