Success Stories
Change the world
Success takes an investment in time, dedication and sacrifice and it is a true education process. With time and experience the alumni of Uday Schools have grown up to be responsible and successful individuals. The Alumni have ventured out into different fields including:
Science & Commerce
Through the STEAM initiative and the importance given to Science at the schools there has been immense progress in the stream.
Manraj and Priya Meena
Making dreams come true
Priya and Manraj Meena belong to a family of farmers. Priya passed 5th grade and Manraj passed 8th grade from Uday Community School, Jaganpura in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Both followed up on their education sincerely and the main learning they took with them from Uday was their ability to be ‘self-learners’. As a result of this supportive environment at Uday Community Schools, they both clear ed the advanced level of JEE.
Manraj is currently a student at IIT- Gandhinagar
Vijay
I want to be a helping hand
20-year-old Vijay is a combination of sincerity and humour. A graduate of one of the earliest batches from Uday schools, He is now training at a sports academy in Jaipur while continuing his studies—but still comes back to Uday school on regular intervals to visit. You will always find him turning the pages of a newspaper/book in his leisure hours. Everyday Vijay takes out time to read irrespective of the never ending syllabus and daily household chores and whatever he reads he puts his thoughts. A strong proponent for gender equity and always passionate to talk about gender identity issues, he explains – “Everyone should learn, especially girls. This country will only grow once girls are educated on an equal level as boys.”, He says. He aspires to start his own business someday and create employment opportunities for others. “I received help, so I want to help others.” , he says
Leadership
Value based education has been the foundation for the growth of sensitive, confident, supportive individuals who have taken a step towards serving the nation.
Meghraj
flying high
Meghraj, the eldest among his siblings, was brought up by his father who is a small farmer in the area. His father was determined to ensure his children received a good education. The father’s struggle gradually transformed the children, into being more responsible. With his three siblings he completely devoted himself to education while trying to earn a living.
Meghraj graduated with extremely good grades from Uday Community School and went to complete his further studies and graduated in science. He also had interest in theater, sports and even participated at National level tournaments.
After graduation, Meghraj volunteered with us and few other NGOs, helping the village communities. Soon after he applied and was accepted as an ‘air-man’ in the Indian Air Force and is currently a part of the ‘Garuda Force’, a special force created for safety of the national air bases.
Maya
Pave your own path
Maya joined Uday School in 5th grade after studying in a nearby Government School. “Even though I was in fifth class I couldn’t write my own name. I was on the verge of dropping out because of the anxiety of not knowing anything.”, She says. At Uday school, she received the support that she needed. “ I learned to cope with the anxieties I faced over challenges. Overtime I became world ready because of the safe spaces created by my teachers, my parents and the community.”
She is passionate about gender equity. “I want to empower girls so that nobody can stop them in the same way that boys are not stopped and its not only the main subjects that will enable this, but also life skills. You should teach children with love and not fear. Only then children will face life difficulties objectively. “, she says
She is currently undergoing training after being selected by the CRPF under the North railway zone and has proved the capabilities of a person who works hard.
arts
At Udya Schools the holistic approach includes artistic expression through activities such as pottery, carpentry, creative arts, Theatre, Morange – bimonthly children’s magazine, Library, and Co- scholastic clubs. The exposure provided has created new avenues for many who pursue an artistic career.
SEEMA
Stand up and Stand tall
From an early age, Seema excelled at sports, particularly handball. As a student at Uday Community School Jaganpura, she was one of the top players on the girls’ handball team and was the captain of the Rajasthan Under-14 Girls’ Handball Team. When her parents arranged her marriage, 12-year-old Seema turned to her teachers for support. Gramin Shiksha Kendra’s staff members, other NGOs and the District Collector came together to support her and ask her parents not to get her married. Her parents agreed to cancel the engagement. The story was widely reported in the local media. Impressed by Seema’s courage, the District Collector decided to adopt her as a daughter and cover the financial requirements of any further studies. Today, Seema is studying in ninth class at the Sports Academy in Jaipur and was recently selected to play in Nationals.
Chouthmal Saini
Find your calling
23 year old Chauthamal’s compassion for theatre runs through his veins. And his art of telling stories can take your heart to places. He was 7 when he performed “Ali Baba aur Chaalis Chor” for the first time in front of an audience at Tehri Gharwal – and since then he has never looked back. He holds his ground and culture and yet his thoughts and views about certain things are always receptive to new ideas. He has worked on a script “Ranthambore Jungle Ki Zubaani” and wishes to make an impact.
He recently joined the Forum Theatre Team at GSK to spread awareness on Quality Child-Centred education and issues including child marriage, gender inequality, importance of education etc.
Ashok Nayak
Strive hard and anything is achievable
Ashok Nayak is a first generation learner and alumnus from Uday Community School Fariya. He is from the Bhopa community, whose primary source of livelihood is trading of cattle and labour. The socio-economic condition of the community results in child labor and early marriage. Therefore the call from the coach of Bikaner Sports Academy, to say that Ashok had been selected for the academy brought extreme happiness. He excelled at sports from an early age and participated in state level Kho-Kho tournaments. He was in 10th grade in a nearby government school when he was selected by the academy. When Ashok’s parents were given the news, their beaming faces were witness to the success which was the result of their life’s struggle.
The worried atmosphere returned when the conversation about a fee of Rs. 3000 was disclosed. With the kind of opportunity in hand, and knowing that Ashok was a hardworking and promising child, no one wanted to miss this opportunity. Finally, the community members and the school team collectively generated the required support for Ashok.
Ashok is now in Bikaner enrolled in the Sports Academy as an example that one can see sports as a career prospect as well.
umang impact
By strengthening the agency and providing an alternative space for their empowerment the 29 girls under the Umang Programme have completed their board exam and continued their higher education. Know more about these strong willed girls that have pushed their boundaries.
Sunaina
Working from within her world
There is a dire need to discover so many things related to women and Health- says Sunaina. “The women of my village grossly compromise with their quality of life, especially health. They always hesitate to go to a doctor and even if they visit, the person accompanying her talks about her situation.
We all spot women working hard to attend to all the needs of the family.In our village, the women wake up at 4 am everyday when it is still dark and the rest are as asleep. Carrying heavy loads, having limited time for rest, prolonged bending to do daily chores, have a telling effect on their health. As age advances women start suffering from various health issues, leading to disabling effects or chronic illness for some. I want to give a voice to the withdrawn health status of these women, and create pressures in the distant, rural families to make room for their inclusive growth.” ,Says Sunaina. She is Currently studying in Class 12. She dreams to start working on a way forward to break the archaic stigma, and give voice to the dearth of female health.
Vimla
A father takes a stand for his daughter
“I will cook food for her, lay the table and wash the dishes, but she continue her education”, says Vimla’s father.
There came a time when Vimla was suffering from high fever in her 10th grade. Irregularity in school made her uncertain if she will clear her Board Examinations. Her father didn’t want to let go of all the hard work she had put in for her education.
She travels alone for around 6 kms to the Higher Secondary School every day. The villagers worry about her going to school, but Vimla and her father always find ingenious answers to reply to the community. The life-skills sessions of the Adolescent Programme and constant effort and support of the programme have added values of compassion in Vimla and many other students.
“Education will get expensive after she completes her schooling, but there is a value in letting her continue her studies”, says her father. What is not possible with perseverance effort?
Anuradha
I Want to Learn and then I want to be teach.
“क्लास में किसी एक पड़ाया गया विषय समझ में आ गया हो तो मान जाता है सबको समझ में आ गया होगा।”, Anuradha says ( If even one person has understood a topic in class, it is assumed that everyone would have understand). “During language classes, the children usually do nothing. However, on a rare occasion, you will find some amount of learning. Our teachers make us repeat few sentences for hours, to make sure we know it is important to pronounce it right.”
“Isn’t teaching in such a way strange?”, Inquiries Anuradha.
“If I were an English teacher, I’d ask my students to read storybooks, write about their experiences and emotions and think in English so they can speak and write. I’d ask them to take mental notes every time they hear a new word or sentence”, says Anuradha. “My uncle is a language teacher and I ask him so many questions. I want to be an English teacher. I have the longing to know the language and to be able to speak it well. I often hear that English makes you smarter, however I believe that English only makes on look “smarter”. Maybe it’s time to change the form of the learning and teaching a language.” she says.
Savita
Our voices and our actions are our weapons
Her magnetic smile, and her powerful voice will recreate your day. From an early age, Savita excelled at sports, particularly handball and not long ago, she found out about a Handball tournament in the district. Studying in 12th grade in a Senior Secondary School, and having no PT teacher to inform, she asked the principle to provide her with the tournament forms and expeditiously formed the team. Their team won the district championship.
Savita’s energy is magical, She makes radical decisions when needed. “Since the day I have engaged in sports, it’s had a huge impact on how I view myself and how others view me”, says Savita.
“In the future I want to become a PT teacher, In rural India as female physical teachers are few. I want to create platforms and give opportunities to every girl that is hesitant to join sports and the ones who are underrepresented in sports. I also want to break the taboo around menstruation which makes girls withdraw from physical activity. Sports in school shouldn’t be an optional dessert on a menu. So, let’s keep the game strong.” She says.
Guddi
Fighting the peril
Guddi is one of the tall girls and is hard to miss. Her small, bright eyes shone with the intensity of one who longs to reach out.
One afternoon, on her way back home from school in a deserted lane, a boy who was on his bike, tried to touch her. Never imagining to be in such a situation, Guddi broke into a cold sweat and ran away from the place. Later in the evening, she fought the feeling of embarrassment and avoiding the incident and visited the boy’s house to teach him a lesson. With a breath of courage and determination, Guddi stood her ground.
This incident might have prevented her from remaining out of school, but she didn’t see any sense in this logic. “ I can take care of myself and my family.I want to be a policewoman when I grow up and I want to inform every member of my community and the villages around, about the legal options against such acts. ‘not that these acts happen only with women/girls. I want to help everybody.”, she says. Her confidence shows that she has grown so much over the years into a smart, alert and confident young girl.
Pooja
Fighting all odds
It deeply affected Pooja, when girls of her own age miss schools due to their menstruation cycle accompanied with pain, discomfort and unavailability of hygienic sanitary napkins. She is passionate and open to talking about gender issues. There is not even a slight sign of hesitation in her to talk about topic that are often tagged as “taboo”. The harsh realities of girls and women led her to start talking about periods (which is not spoken about ordinarily), to spread awareness about it and she aims to make it a comfortable topic among men and women. She also started to have this conversation with her family members.
She says “The rural picture is still grim where there is a lot of silence on the subject, there are many women who still use cloth repeatedly and have never seen or touched a sanitary napkin.” and for this she would like to work towards awareness, accessibility and affordability at a larger scale. She denounces the school textbooks and says that they don’t cover menstruation. She wants to create a friendly guide to periods which helps girls and women to stay healthy and active during their periods. We really love her spirit of wanting to do good and extra.
Sona
There’s no stopping me!
“At a learning sessions in life-skills of the Adolescent Program, the facilitator asked us to make an image. I made a big square on the white sheet of paper. As a self reflection exercise, I was told to think that this square is me and hence I should make an effort and draw something that represents me. This exercise helped me in being honest with myself.”
16 year old Sona is a girl from a village called Ranwal. Sona has always received the same kind of treatment from her parents as a son would. “The societal norms or the outdated values have often made the girls to look down on themselves.” Says her mother.
“My mother has been of invaluable support to me. Had my mother not supported me in my education and reduced the amount of household chores, I wouldn’t have been able to contribute my time in studying. My brother also helps me in deciding my career path, which I would not have known of doing in life otherwise. In future, I want to work hard and join the Civil services”, Says Sona.
community involvement
Kalyan Hiraman
Demand for the future generation
From a village community meeting, a voice asks “What can we do to improve our community’s lives in the long-term ?” It was this simple yet not so easy question that unfolded to the planning and strategies that gave birth to Gramin Shiksha Kendra.73 year old Kalyan Ji’s feel of concern regarding socio-economic situation and limited livelihood opportunities; gave us direction.
Kalyan ji and his family were from the village at Mordungri , that was relocated in 2011 for expansion of the Ranthambhore National Park. Dissatisfied with the status quo of education in the area, Kalyan ji and other like minded people decided to form their own school. After relocation, Kalyan Ji asked Gramin Shiksha Kendra to set up a school for the relocated communities residing in Girirajpura which was established in 2014 on community land. The school grew from just 20 children to 90 children today, teaching children from Anganwadi to grade 7. Kalyan ji is a true leader of development and an inspiration to many.
Communities taking charge of their schools
The focus of GSK’s work is to enable the communities demand to quality education and we are beginning to see the communities understand the nuances of education. These communities have started helping their schools in provisioning the right environment for education. The community of Kundera village donated fans and a water cooler to their school. The community from Mukundpura contributed in the form of installing a main gate and got the toilets repaired in the school premise. The classrooms of Uday School, Jaganpura were damaged by high speed winds and the community pitched in to repair the roofs. In Girirajpura, the community took the responsibility of getting the classroom constructed. They also contributed in the form of ‘Shram-daan’ (labour) while constructing the classroom.
Women taking charge of the SMCs
Gramin Shiksha Kendra emphasizes strongly on the participation of women in the school-related affairs and organizes School Management Committee (SMC) Conferences every year. Earlier, there was a meager participation of women SMC members where only 2-3 women would show up. In the SMC Sammelan (SMC Conference) held in 2017, we witnessed a rise in the participation of women, where 30 women shared their experiences and opinions about education in public. We see this as an important development and the role that women play both as members of the committee and mothers is helping change their perception about themselves, their children, schools and education.
Teachers involvement:
Ms. Sharifa Bano
Changing the education ecosystem
Ms. Sharifa Bano is the head-teacher of Government School, Bodal. GSK adopted the school in the year 2012 for 5 years. Initially she was reluctant to the methods of building a child-centric environment proposed but slowly she began to understand its importance and began supporting the Uday pedagogy. Gradually, she also started to involve parents and SMC’s in all school related matters. Limited funds from the government made Ms. Bano encourage the parents to financially support the maintenance of the otherwise unclean toilets and water facility. While many Schools do not wish to involve the parents in running the ‘Mid-day meals’ programme at school, Sharifa asked parents and SMC’s assistance to keep an eye on the procurement and quality standards of the meal.
The school is now witnessing regular monthly SMC meetings with a pre-decided agenda that is followed by proper documentation. It is not a surprise that the school shows 100 % enrollment. Over 90% regularity. Even 100% enrollment and 80% regularity of children coming at the Bodal Anangwadi, adjacent to the school.
Manju Sharma
Learning a new way and then advocating it.
Government school teachers are trained in a standard way and follow the traditional class room practices. Manju Sharma was no different. She had little exposure to any other form of education. The Vistaar programme helped change that. Through class room demonstrations the Vistaar team exposed her to the multi-level multi-grade system and the use of carefully designed teaching and learning material. While it was a big change for her, she noticed two important changes by doing this. She found that the children were far more attentive when she was speaking while using teaching and learning material and most importantly she was able to see a major change in the learning levels of the children.
The best part however is that she is now sharing these ideas with other government school teachers.