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Uyare is an Education Project implemented by ATMA Foundation, providing online learning support to underprivileged children, including those residing in children's homes.
Children who hail from socio-economically deprived backgrounds face various challenges in academics. They have no safe homes - either due to poor economic conditions, absence of functional parents, or due to other serious issues in the family or social environment. Due to lack of proper health care, nutrition and emotional support in early years, they face difficulties in learning and have poor confidence and self-esteem. Uyare looks forward to providing a firm academic foundation and enhanced learning skills to these children.
600 plus children, both girls and boys, from 36 child care institutions across Kerala have so far benefited from this project. This includes students from tribal communities whose social status is very precarious. Regular online classes in various subjects were provided to the children, with the support of 30 plus volunteer teachers from different parts of the world. ATMA Foundation has also sourced support to these children in getting learning materials including digital devices.
Uyare participants receive regular online sessions on the fundamentals of different subjects, including mathematics, English, science, social studies, and Malayalam. The purpose of these sessions is to identify the gaps in learning and bridge them. The students are provided a solid fundamental knowledge of the disciplines through individualised, engaging sessions with formal and informal follow-ups. Each student is evaluated, and specific activities are given to them, based on their skill level.
For several subjects, regular classes that follow the school curriculum are offered. This enhances the kids' comprehension and processing of what they learn in class and helps them perform better academically. In order to help the kids become bolder and more dedicated, we gave them sessions to help them overcome their exam-day anxiety.
For kids in grades X and XII, specialised subject-based tutoring is offered in order to assist them to perform well in their board exams. We create exam- focused lessons for the learners prior to their exams by responding to last year's test questions.
We use learner-centered practices in the project and try our best to assist the kids in resolving both their specific and general problems with learning and development. The project creates workable answers to the educational issues faced by disadvantaged kids without family assistance. Additionally, we provided them with daily advice on how to enhance their lives in order to provide them a higher quality of life. Thus, we give them instructions on how to practise yoga, exercises, meditation, sports, and handicrafts. This is primarily done to assess and identify the pupils' interest needs, for which we used the multiple intelligence theory.
The courses emphasise activities as well. Classes often feature live quiz shows, student presentations, group discussions, games, etc. Also, the pupils are given chances to showcase their artistic abilities.
Expert trainers instruct the children in spoken English. These sessions are given for students of all age groups, including college students. The children are given the required support to overcome their anxiety of speaking English and to develop their communication abilities. The students' personal development is greatly aided by the live interactive sessions. The majority of the pupils are intimidated by English; therefore, the trainer first establishes a rapport with them to make them feel at ease during the lessons. Google Meet is the platform we use for teaching. A specialised training programme called Easy English was also introduced to enhance language skills.
Making reading a habit in their lives is another task we gave them. To improve their reading comprehension and linguistic skills, Mr. C. K. Suresh, the director of the ATMA Foundation, inspired them to read one book each week and to make notes.
To spark the children's interest in a variety of disciplines, special sessions with illustrious academicians and teachers are organised periodically. Sessions on Vedic Mathematics, Learning Chemistry through Music and other topics were organised and were thoroughly enjoyed by the learners. The students were given special awareness workshops covering pertinent subjects like traffic safety, child abuse, and menstrual hygiene. On special days like Health Day, Environmental Day, Independence Day, etc., we conducted programmes to promote the students' innate talents and skills. They engaged in activities like drawing and colouring, speech competitions, poster-making, and craft with vigour. The pupils attended an online session with the celebrated writer Mr Ruskin Bond, followed by a session on writing with Indian novelist Ms Khyrunnisa.
Regular monitoring and evaluation is done, based on predetermined indicators in Key Result Areas. Through this, the students themselves get an idea where they stand as well. It also provides an insight to the teachers so that they can give extra attention where required. The organisation also gets an idea about the impact and effectiveness of the project.
Together with academics, the children also participate in a variety of programmes geared towards motivation, leadership, financial literacy, and other topics. Value education is a crucial component of education that focuses on instilling moral and ethical ideals in children, and we provide value education workshops to our children once a month in order to help them build a firm foundation of values in their lives. It attempts to aid pupils in comprehending and appreciating the value of virtues such as integrity, accountability, respect, compassion, and other characteristics necessary for living a happy and meaningful life.
Special sessions on career options are given to senior students, with focus on how to go about choosing their career. Students can later avail individual career counselling too. Uyare students have benefitted from such sessions, and have chosen varied career streams according to their aptitudes. We have children who have chosen Bachelors in varied subjects like Physical Education, Multimedia, Designing, etc after recognising and acknowledging their own talents and realising the opportunities in these fields.
The UYARE online classes offer a forum for communication between the students and teachers who are located all over the world. There is a sense of community and cooperative learning among the children, and they like getting to know their peers.
Physical health of the children is also a very important factor in their growth and development. Uyare has sessions by health experts on various aspects of health and hygiene. ATMA Foundation occasionally distributes nutririon kits to the children in CCIs. The children have sessions on Yoga, and are encouraged to practise daily. All these help the students to have a focused mind and help their holistic development.
Regular capacity building sessions are organised for the volunteer teachers. This helps them to enhance their capabilities, share their success stories, learn from each other and also to voice and resolve their challenges. Experts from the fields of education, social work, management, psychology, etc interact with and guide the volunteer teachers during these interactive online sessions.
The initial response and success of the Uyare project has prompted us to expand the project further. With the covid situation fully resolved, and students having got back to regular schooling, timely changes are required too. The action plan for the upcoming academic year includes the following components:
Virtual classrooms will be set up in CCIs and other centres (local clubs, LSG institutions etc) with teaching assistants in every class. This will make sure that the students get the full benefit of offline classes, along with exposure to expert teachers from across the world.
Camps & workshops, both residential and non-residential, will be organised for Uyare students. There will be camps focussing on life skills, leadership development, etc, and also subject-based camps like English camp, maths camp, etc- which will help the students gain more competency in the particular subject. It will also help them gain more confidence in their academics.
