In a region that was characterised by an extremely
low awareness about education and there were many
entrenched beliefs against educating girl child,
working on education meant SURE intervened in the
inner realities of the social fabric. There were very few
schools in this region of scattered settlements. With
majority of teachers lacking formal training the
quality of education in these schools was poor. There
was widespread discrimination with children from
SC / ST communities. In a predominantly pastoral
society, where children were initiated into work of
husbanding animals, the importance of modern
education was scarcely realized by majority.
In early nineties, SURE launched a community
movement to create and sustain quality learning
environment in schools and generate awareness
among the communities about importance of
education for all. These initial interventions were in
partnership with Lok Jumbish an ‘Education for All”
initiative of Government of Rajasthan. The staff and
community volunteers aspired to make primary
education accessible to the remote interiors of Thar.
This involved formation of Prerak Dals and Mahila
Samuhs (community forums) at village level to foster
a culture of ownership and management of school
education in their locality. One of the prime task of
these community committees was to achieve
maximum enrolment of children, especially girls.
SURE facilitated regular teacher trainings, exposure
visits, refresher course for teachers to make
classroom transactions enjoyable and meaningful
for children.
SURE implemented Shiksha Karmi Scheme (SKS) of
Government of Rajasthan from 1991 to 2002 in
Balotra. This scheme sought to address paucity of
trained teachers by identifying local village youth for
teacher training. The programme covered around
four thousand five hundred children in 37 day and
69 night schools.
The commitment that got initiated and strengthened during the first decade got translated into a regular intervention with the Binjrad campus working as a regular site for girls camps (Balika Shivirs).
As a result of these camps, many rural girls from remote locations are able to achieve post primary
education in Govt. schools.
Reading Room project was started in 2011 in
Dhorimana block covering around twenty five
schools. Supported by Room To Read, this
programme has facilitated around ten thousand
children to organize children clubs at their villages.
They bring out a children magazine (Baal Patrika)
that enjoys a good readership in the region. The team
works with two hundred teachers and village
communities to inculcate a sense of ownership and
use of library in schools.