Oracle Award to SVYM and Asha for Education

Science Education in H.D. Kote Taluk, Mysore district, Karnataka

The Boston chapter of Asha for Education (Asha) and partner Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) have been working with 20 high schools in this region.   Oracle’s grant enables Asha and SVYM to expand this successful initiative to all 91 schools in the taluk, including 12 tribal ashram schools.

Read more about Asha for Education getting a $100,000 Oracle award for Science and Math Education in Government Schools here.

The project started with a mobile science van (vignyana vahini) to enable Science lab equipment to reach rural high schools, and has since developed into a multi-pronged initiative that includes community radio Science broadcasts, a hugely popular Science fair, a budding resource center in Saragur town, and the Science teacher network. In particular, the creation of the Science teacher network enables and empowers teachers and is poised to transform Science teaching in the region. The excitement of the teachers is palpable. A cultural shift away from rote memorization and towards the joy of learning is underway. “If a topic is understood, every topic becomes interesting,” says Shashirekha, a high school Biology teacher in the network. While vacant teacher posts are a persistent problem, Dr. M. A. Balasubramanya, CEO of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, has a long-term vision to permanently address this. “This project will bring intellectual depth, resources, and opportunities for teachers that are unmatched even in urban areas,” he says. “This will attract teachers to this region, who will be happy to accept H.D. Kote appointments for professional development.”   This should be the goal of every rural region.

   Higher primary students working on Science experiments in class

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Oracle funded Science Van at a rural school

More information about two other projects where this award will be utilized: Science Education at Deenbandhu Teacher Resource Center and Asha Chennai’s use of Technology aided teaching

SVYM was recently awarded the ‘Best Indian NGO’. Read more about it here.