Education for All
From an individual perspective, education sparks a pursuit of knowledge and love for learning, fosters confidence and self-esteem, and helps individuals to maximize their potential and engage in a meaningful manner in the civic, economic, cultural and social aspects of society. Education has been a key focus area of our Chairman, Dr. Pradip Ghosh and the Foundation members, since inception to provide support education for all. Education is critical to the alleviation of poverty; it improves health and productivity, drives gender parity and promotes opportunities for upward mobility. It is the foundation of the nation’s socio-economic development and can be considered the most important investment for progress.
Our goal is to provide high-quality, authentic, real-world, active learning experiences that translates to upward mobility in the society and in the process impact the millions of lives.
The challenge In Post Covid Scenario
India has a burgeoning population with a very young demographic. Over a quarter of India’s 1.3 billion population is under the age of 14 – approximately 300 million children of school-going age who need a good education. And the first eight years of a child’s life is critical – 80% of the child’s brain is developed during this period. It is said that it takes a village to raise a child – parents, teachers, caregivers, friends and peers, and a lattice of public spaces such as schools, playgrounds, libraries, all comprise a modern village. However, in many communities, these linkages do not function well, or at all. At the unit level, the parents’ own levels of education and financial empowerment impact the lives of their children. At the community level, poverty and social barriers hamper the opportunities available to children, and at a systemic level, lack of resources, over-centralization and poor quality-assurance processes produce a sub-par public education system.
Studies show that India’s classrooms have failed to deliver what they are supposed to – learning. The National Achievement Survey conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which covered 2.5 million students, showed that children find it difficult to solve daily life challenges involving time and money, and are unable to read and comprehend at grade level. It’s clear that students need better resources, teachers need to be supported in teaching more effectively, and that the government-led education network of schools needs to be lifted to a better standard.
Strategic Approach of Our Foundation
Foundation has developed a profound understanding of the challenges in the education sector as well as of the needs of various communities and stakeholders across regions. This has resulted in the convergence of the Foundation’s diverse and collective expertise that goes into strengthening not only student education but the entire education sector as well. Primarily Foundation is focusing in different districts of West Bengal.