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The excitement of ten-year-old Prince Singh cannot be missed as the clock approaches 2pm, signaling the end of the school day at SDMC Pratibha Vidyalaya in the defense colony in Delhi. His favorite part of the day is about to begin – the math lesson after school.
What fuels this love for a subject most of his classmates dread?
Prince says his teacher, Safia Mittal, is the reason he makes the lessons “exciting and fun.” Saviya is one of the 100 student volunteers who have signed up for the “Volunteers for MCD Schools” mobile app, an initiative of Delhi resident Anant Bagrudia, a Class 12 student at Vasant Valley School.
While Prince is in awe of how math can be simplified to such a degree, Savia also thoroughly enjoys the process of teaching. As the two posted their notes, preparing for another class of learning mixed with fun, Anant says that was exactly the impetus with which he launched the mobile app.
“It all started as a passion project,” he explains.
decision to teach children
The 16-year-old, who is currently in the midst of his own studies and extracurricular studies, reflects on the time when an anecdote shared by his mother ended up shaping this unique journey.
Shivani, Anant’s mother will devote hours to educating underprivileged children in MCD schools as part of a volunteer project. Sometime in January, she recalled to her son how one of the many children she would study had caught her eye. Prince, as she later told Anant, was a bright child who could grasp concepts well with proper teaching and assistance.
But now he is struggling,” said Anant’s mother. Determined to help the young boy in some way, Anant accepted the challenge and decided to devote two hours every week to it. Over the video call, he and Prince would bond and learn the nuances of English grammar and the former would resolve the latter’s doubts.
This went on for two months and Anant’s friends – noticing how this experience had changed him – also wanted to help. “However, while many of his fellow students were concerned with the education of disadvantaged children, there was no system in place,” Anant recounts, adding that it was only during the pandemic that the state of the education infrastructure became apparent and gave him the final push he needed to come up with a solution.
“With the shift of school online, countless children from public schools who lack computer facilities and internet connection have lost the opportunity to attend school for almost two full years.” Anant says this means they are left behind in terms of being on par with other children their age who have access to technology.
Digging deeper, find out that Annual report on the state of education 2020 It states that only 8.1 percent of children in public schools attended online classes.
He notes that this has led to a significant education gap that has worsened with the pandemic. He believed that the problem would not go away, but would only intensify as schools reopen. This is because in order to make up for lost time, these children will need additional support to enhance their understanding and supplement their education.
“I witnessed this myself, as I was engaged in Prince’s education,” he notes. “Like Prince, there were many other students who might need urgent support, and whose parents might not be able to afford the lessons without a heavy financial burden.”
This web of problems had only one solution.
Create an app that can stimulate learning
While deciding on the target group for his experiment, Anant chose the children of the MCD School in Delhi. The reason lies in the fact that these schools lack the digital infrastructure to conduct online lessons during the pandemic.
The months from May 2022 to July 2022 were spent negotiating his plans with school authorities, detailing how the extra lessons would greatly benefit the children. The latter was in great agreement with Anant’s proposal. Now it’s time to start using the app.
Having always been fascinated by technology, machine learning, and data science, Anant applied this skill set, and by September of that year, he was ready to go. The platform connects students in need of support and volunteers who want it. Through this model, I hope to instill a spirit of volunteerism in young people and address the educational disparities highlighted by the pandemic, before it is too late.”
Today, there are 19 MCD schools across Delhi – including areas like Kailash Colony, Vasant Vihar, Hauz Khas, Defense Colony and Lajpat Nagar – which are being assisted through the app. The app is available for download from the Google Play Store and has over 100 student volunteers who have signed up to dedicate their time and skills to helping these kids.
“Students from Grade 6 to Grade 10 can volunteer,” says Anant. “Once they have registered with the application, the principal of the MCD school concerned will contact them to explain the needs of the students who require special attention.”
Not only do these student volunteers help children with math, science, English, history, and other academic subjects, but they also conduct chess workshops, music lessons, life skills training, and activities such as solving the Rubik’s Cube, basketball coaching, and more.
These classes are conducted at a time mutually determined by the school and student volunteer depending on the convenience of both. While sometimes they occur after school hours, sometimes they are on weekends.
Rahul Kumar, who teaches in Year 4 at MCD Primary School in Andrews Ganj, says his favorite class was the chess workshop taught by Sara Mehta.
“I learned chess from Sarah, who was very kind and understanding. She helped me learn how to play chess step by step,” he adds. These activities cultivate a spirit of passion among children, broadening their horizons beyond the four walls of the classroom and introducing them to more.
Student volunteers also say these classes are exciting, to say the least. Sarah, who is in Class 11 and has been studying for three months, says the experience has been enriching. “It has become a highlight of my week, something I eagerly anticipate. The children I work with have shown remarkable intelligence, and witnessing their curiosity and growing interest in learning chess has been truly satisfying and personally rewarding.”
Meanwhile, Anant is constantly looking into expanding this idea to reach more schools across Delhi. The young changemaker recently raised money from friends and family and donated 30 tablets to three MCD schools, enabling smarter integration of technology into the curriculum. He noted that through the outreach created by the app, they were able to help more than 600 students.
Looking at the path of this unique endeavor and how it shaped it personally, he says he’s grateful. The love of imparting knowledge along with an idea has now turned into a beacon of hope for many students across the national capital.
If you would like to be a student volunteer, you can download the app here And score yourself.
sources
Annual State of Education Report (Rural) 2020 – Wave 1 Published on October 28, 2020
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