Infrastructure is a critical component in imparting education. With this belief, Prayatna started working in The Paradise Academy, Budhwa Saheed, Dist. Haridwar, Uttarakhand, to support 500 students enrolled in the school.
In accordance with the National Education Policy, 2020, the priority is to provide quality holistic education to the children. As part of this intervention, the school has been provided with infrastructural facilities such as water coolers, construction of separate toilets for boys and girls. The girls’ toilets have been further equipped with sanitary pads, to decrease the drop-out rate among girls, while all the rooms have been equipped with electricity, fans, and desks. To impart 21st century tools, IT labs and science labs were also constructed and equipped with appropriate tools.
Teachers’ training has also been a vital component of the project. After conducting an assessment of the existing capabilities of the teachers, they were trained on various components of pedagogy including subject specific teaching methodologies, creating engaging and interactive lesson plans, forming peer study groups for co-learning and by introducing practical sessions in science classes.
Onset of COVID pandemic brought about new challenges. Due to lock down the students lost their connection with the school and teachers and faced difficulties in coping with the drastic change and to upkeep with the learnings. Prayatna introduced Remedial sessions for the students to ensure that they don’t lag behind in their learnings and stay on track. We also undertook feedback sessions based on the new pedagogy and learning methods and introduced modifications to optimize the learnings.