Education
Environmental education is the focus of CHIRAG's education programme which covers thirty villages in the core project area.
While the organisation is directly involved in the running of pre- and primary- schools and village libraries, a lot of CHIRAG's efforts are towards liasing with the government education department. Consequently, CHIRAG has been instrumental in bringing change in the government educational system at the district and state level.
CHIRAG runs 22 balwadis (pre-school programmes) with 570 children from age 2 to 5 years. To maximise local involvement and ownership, balwari teachers regularly meet and elicit feeback from parents. Teachers have been trained in innovative teaching methods using local, low-cost materials. Children are given health check-ups. About 30 per cent of the contributions towards running these balwadis are met through contributions from parents and village patrons.
The Primary School Support programme has been implemented in 22 Government run schools and 1,990 students are direct beneficiaries. A curriculum on environmental education prepared by CHIRAG has been introduced in these schools, and is being used as a resource material by government training departments in preparing a state-wide curriculum. Establishing links between the CHIRAG primary school teachers (bal shikshaks) and the government is also ongoing to ensure sustainability for the long term existence of the programme.
Another collaborative effort is underway with the National Geographic Channel. This programme involves the use of audio-visual aids, such as video films that deal with both environmental and general knowledge issues. These films are being shown in 80 primary and secondary schools in the region. Children are actively encouraged to participate in question-answer sessions that follow the screenings. This programme has been successful in opening new global vistas for these children and has increased their confidence.
Village Libraries
In order that rural people, especially the youth may inculcate a reading habit, and to make information more easily available, rural libraries were set up by CHIRAG. In addition to a main book bank at Sitla, this programme has now expanded to 30 libraries with about 1,500 members. On average, over 220 books are borrowed per month. Currently the book bank has over 14,000 books while a further 15,000 are in circulation in the libraries.
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