How this teacher couple in Nashik ushered in development to their small village

A teacher couple in a zila parishad primary school in Maharashtra’s Nashik has changed the face of education in their village, inadvertently addressing water and power shortages and the challenges thrown up by the pandemic.Mumbai: Sampat Kokane and Savita Adhav, armed with 16 and 12 years of teaching experience respectively, dreamt of having an ideal education system in their village of Jambhulwadi in the Adgaon block. They embarked on their journey with a student strength of 50, aiming to provide not just knowledge but other crucial life skills to their students.But how do you create an environment conducive for learning in a village with little access to water and electricity, and when a global pandemic has barred gatherings?The teacher couple, in their efforts towards running the ideal school, ended up bringing the village community together with an NGO to implement a rural development plan to light up houses and provide access to water, realising bringing and keeping kids in school demanded a more holistic and integrated development of their surroundings.“Something that started as an effort towards better education resulted in the provision of water and electricity in the village,” said Pratibha Pai, founder-director of Project Chirag, crediting Kokane for convincing her team that Jambhulwadi village needed development through solar-lighting and solar-based water lift irrigation.Village development planKokane and Adhav’s journey was far from easy, but they were helped along the way by villagers who saw how invested the couple were in rebuilding the school, and the pains they were taking to educate their students.The main problem the teachers faced was poor attendance or dropout by students which was a result of the larger issues plaguing the village such as water and electricity shortages. During their interactions with the students at school, the couple got to know what kind of homes they came from, their problems, family life and lifestyle. For instance, they learnt that women in the village households had to go far to fetch water and their absence from home was impacting the attendance of children at school. With the mothers away filling water pitchers, the teachers noticed that many children were either not turning up for class or coming to study on an empty stomach.  “During the monsoon, mothers or other female members of a household go to the water source earlier in the day to fill their pots. During this time, the school-going kids get late for classes. Many would come without eating breakfast, and would later run away home for food and not return. But the mid-day meal has helped in this,” Adhav shared. The teachers shared a vision to transform the school and the quality of education being imparted (Picture credit - Dev Kotak)The teachers’ observation was corroborated by Pai, who said that when her project team conducted an assessment of Jambhulwadi, they were shocked to find that the hamlet’s most basic needs were not being met.Pai said, “There was irregular electricity in homes and school, a major scarcity of pure drinking water, the school was in need of repairs and above all, livelihood options were as good as zero as the men of the village migrated to nearby cities and towns for work. With 85 houses and a population of 550, Jambhulwadi would drop into complete darkness during the monsoons.” She added, “Sampat Kokane approached us asking for installation of solar lighting in the school at a time when the entire village was in darkness.”Project Chirag, which also specialises in rural electrification, had carried out an Integrated Village Development project in the Adgaon main village in January 2020, which resulted in zero migration of villagers to other areas. Seeing the success of the project, nearby hamlets came forward to request similar support. In Jambhulwadi, the demand was led by the teacher couple who had been battling the problem of migrating parents pulling their kids out of school.As Project Chirag got to work in Jambhulwadi, what followed was solar electrification at the home and school level, solar-powered water lifts to make water available both for drinking and domestic use, as well as initiatives to promote agriculture, filtration of drinking water and community education.The locals too pitched in the development work by contributing small sums of money to ramp up facilities.Another key focus of Kokane and Adhav, who have taught in the village for several years now, was to create a positive study environment for students, even at their homes. This involved counselling parents to not migrate from the village to the grape farms in nearby Nashik for work.“We have counselled parents that moving children out of school will affect their education. Their mindset is now changing and many parents have started leaving their kids behind with their grandparents in the village,” said Adhav.School with a differenceAccording to Kokane, he and his wife always yearned to go beyond normal curriculum-based teaching. “It is important for children to learn other life skills and become smart. Teaching children what is going on outside the classroom is the need of the hour. The vision was to transform the school and the quality of education being imparted,” he explained, giving the example of a village school having its own garden or even a compost plant on the premises, that “really helps children learn about the environment”.They began implementing innovative methods of teaching in 2018. “We had envisioned what an ideal school should be like, and then we created our own model. We also saw a lot of YouTube videos to get inspiration. The main idea was to maintain student interest through unique ways of study,” said Adhav.The 'maths hut' and 'language hut' provide distraction-free lessons to students (Picture credit - Dev Kotak)Their unique method of teaching consisted of training the kids in problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, creativity, and bonding and team-building activities – all of which would contribute to their holistic development into fine individuals.Another innovation was the setting up of Ganit kutti (maths hut) and Bhasha Vachan kutti (hut for learning the Marathi language) on the school campus for children to go to when distracted in class.Sampat explained, “My wife and I worked tirelessly to change the way the school looks and the kind of learning it offers. We introduced more programmes, converted the school into a digital one and changed teaching methods to suit the needs of students. Because of various interventions, children were encouraged to attend classes regularly.”Winning the trust of parentsEven covid could not distract the teacher couple from their goal. At the height of the pandemic, they decided that classes (education) must go on, and set to work converting an area used for village gatherings into a shed to conduct open-air classes.Said a parent and resident of the hamlet, “They [teachers] hold regular meetings for parents every month. Even during covid, they did not allow studies to get affected. They taught in community halls and open spaces and used masks and sanitisers, ensuring the full safety of our children. We trust them, hence we send our kids every day to their school, knowing they will be taken care of.”The parent revealed that the school is so popular for its unique teaching that people have moved their children to Jambhulwadi only because of the education there. “They come from distances as far away as 40 km, so you can imagine the quality of education imparted at this school.

A tribal village from Maharashtra takes fives steps to sustainability

1111MicrosoftInternetExplorer402DocumentNotSpecified7.8 磅Normal0Palghar, Maharashtra: Approximately 190 kilometres from India's financial capital Mumbai, Warghadpada is a predominantly tribal village situated in Mokhada taluka in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. It’s a hilly region, replete with basalt rock and vast stretches of barren land. There is hardly enough water to drink let alone do farming. In addition to the lack of water and livelihood opportunities, it doesn’t have basic amenities such as electricity, education and healthcare.But it’s all in the past now. Warghadpada, a village of five wadis (namely Warghad, Bandarwadi, Bhangrewadi, Varchiwadi and Ghanewadi) is on its way to achieving a five-point sustainability model of clean and renewable energy, health and sanitation, education, social security and livelihood. It now boasts of a water filtration plant, piped water system, irrigation system, solar-energy based electricity for houses and a society-monitored public toilet system.The transformation is a glowing example of the power of the collective, and has been built on the twin principles of bhoodaan (donation of land) and shramdaan (voluntary contribution involving physical activity). In other words, the big landowners agreed to donate some part of their land for the larger cause of the village while the small peasants toiled away to meet these goals. This intervention was led by two NGOs at the tail-end of 2019. While Diganta Swaraj Foundation works in the areas of education, healthcare and livelihood in Maharashtra, Project Chirag works to providing solar home lighting systems to rural households that have no access to electricity."Initially, there was reluctance among the villagers as land is the only asset we have. But when they [the NGOs] explained their plans to us, we could see that it would bring about substantial changes in the area and end our sufferings,” says Madhukar Ghane, who donated his land to build a solar grid near the village, which is mostly inhabited by Warli and Mahadeo Koli tribes. Clean water, good life Until 2019, the villagers used to fetch water by either digging pits or walking to a dam three kilometres away. The villagers didn’t know how to divert the water from the dam and use it judiciously. So that was the first problem that the NGOs resolved by installing a water filtration plant in Warghadpada.The water filtration plant. Credit: Dev Kotak“The water filtration plant consists of a pump submerged inside the lake. It pulls the water through suction up to a height of 80 feet and stores it an overhead tank of 50,000-litre capacity," informs Rahul Tivrekar, the founder and director of Diganta Swaraj Foundation. The plant works on ultra-filtration technology. It’s power-efficient and a good idea for a village that suffers from the irregular electricity supply, he adds. Furthermore, the overhead tank is connected to taps across the village. As a result, the village of over 500 people and 150 cattle at least have access to clean drinking water now. Though the water for irrigation still falls short.   Having said that, the filtration plant has improved the lives of the womenfolk. “Now with at least six taps installed in the village, we don’t have to go to the lake. Our body and feet don't hurt and, most importantly, it saves us three hours daily,” says a woman on the condition of anonymity. The extra time has allowed a few of them to now work as housemaids in the adjoining areas. Earlier, the villagers had to walk three kilometres to fetch water. Credit: Dev KotakThe availability of clean drinking water has led to a drop in the cases of water-borne diseases in the village. An ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker, who did not want to be named, tells 101Reporters, “Earlier our stock of 50 tablets (for cough, fever and dysentery) would last for about two months. But our last stock lasted for eight months!” The tap water facility was followed by the construction of public toilets in the hamlet. This has brought down the instances of open defecation and made the women feel safer. "Earlier, we had to wait till the dark or venture out very early in the morning to the fields. And it was always embarrassing to take someone along to relieve ourselves. [But] after the construction of toilets, we don't have to worry about our security," says another woman anonymously.Solar energy ends electricity woesThe water filtration plant would not run if not for a solar grid that Project Chirag has established on the periphery of the lake. This is because the village of Warghadpada doesn’t get a steady supply of electricity.  The electrical energy received from the grid activates the main control board that draws water from the dam and stores it in the overhead tank. Narendra Ghane, a 30-year-old farmer, who is in charge of operating the main control board, says, “The dam caters to Warghad and Gumbadpada villages. I run the motor for two to three hours every day to meet our requirements and fill up the tank.”Clean energy and lighting have had far-reaching effects. Around 108 households in Warghadpada today have solar home lighting systems comprising of two bulbs, mobile charging facility and a portable lantern installed under Project Chirag. The farmers are able to save close to Rs100 per litre, which they would earlier spend to run the kerosene lamps. The lamps would also give off dangerous fumes, which the villagers don’t have to put up with any more. Now the families have solar-powered lights at home. Credit: Dev Kotak“Load shedding is common here, and for almost four months during the monsoon, we get no electricity. Now we have a solar panel and lamps to help us out,” Asha Khode, a 20-year-old housewife, shares her happiness. Migration curbedThese sustainability programmes have addressed the issue of migration in this tribal village. Labourers, who had returned to their homes during the pandemic, now grow and sell their farm produce in the open markets.The Diganta Swaraj Foundation has begun drives to educate farmers and to train them in new farming methods. The farmers feel it is better to work for nine hours on their field than to work for someone else for lesser wages.However, education does remain a challenge and it has suffered further because of the pandemic. On the one hand, schools and junior colleges within the Zila Parishad aren’t fully equipped to impart e-learning. On the other hand, many children haven’t been able to take online classes since the lockdown because their parents do not own a phone, leave a smartphone.