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Integrated learning for kids
Children’s
Lovecastle Trust adopts government schools and helps students to get a hands on
experience of technology.
MARIANNE
FURTADO DE NAZARETH Bhagya
Rangachar has lived in the US and worked as a Software Professional. Like all
Indians after ‘making good’ in a foreign country, like other NRIs, she also had
an overwhelming desire to return to Mother India and use the technology acquired
to help our own.
Bhagya has created the Children’s Lovecastle’s Trust
(CLT) “to build conducive,interactive and creative environments in education through
community awareness, nutrition aids, and alternative educative means to support
children’s education.
She is committed to her vision of combining the
power of technology and the convenience of the school system to make community
education more effective and efficient.
She began the organization six
years ago. Fresh faced little ones crowd a room where they are allowed to compose
their own digital music and burn CD's of the tunes. Slowly we begin to realise
that CLT is not a school, it is a programme which includes mid-day meals, home
work labs, health awareness camps, youth empowerment programmes, creative learning
centres, Woman 2 Woman, among others. “CLT adopts government schools and builds
a support system for the children,” explains Bhagya.
“ Once that is complete,
we organize a local volunteer core group to oversee the programme. We also work
closely with the school betterment committee and the parent community. CLTbuilds
incentives to encourage school attendance and helps create an environment that
is conducive to learning.” The whole system had been very clearly thought out
by Bhagya. “Every programme at CLT is based on a dream or a vision,” she says.
The little ones from the surrounding schools have a hands on experience
on state-of-the-art computers. It was an astonishing sight to see so many under-privileged
children using professional software to create computer based projects inspired
by their own ideas. “This is a community of young people, mentors and staff using
technology as tools for learning,” explained Bhagya.
“Our approach to
learning is the tree house model, where we make education fun.This is done very
simply by a change in the overall approach and we takelearning outside of textbooks
and delete the ponderous label- “school.” The Tree House Modelof learning is a
fine example of integrated learning.This method initiates a ‘chain of learning’
wherein all fields of knowledge are linked to one another harmoniously.”
Bhagya has an interesting Woman 2 Woman programme too. She realises that
in order to bring any change in the community, women are the most effective agents
of change. By this activity she empowers women with information and training on
early childhood care which is vital for “the holistic development of the community..”
Parenting skills and values are imparted to women bringing awareness about parenting
children of all ages, the family and thereby the community. This aims to make
women self reliant to run their families more effectively.
The land is
on a 30 year lease from the government and the place is run with five per cent
employees and ninety five per cent volunteers. “We have asked the Karnataka Government
for help as well,” she reveals. Along with a group of trustees who are alumnus
of IIT's and who live in the US, CLT has grown from a seed in her mind in 1997
to a flower in 2004.
“ It’s not just the students who are excited by
this project but the teachers of these government school too are excited by the
whole process,” says Bhagya.
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