Bhartiya Gramin Vidyalaya

Projects Completed

Apart from running the school in village Kunaura, the organization has taken upon itself to raise the socio-economic status of the people of the area. Some of the projects completed so far include:

GIRLS’ EDUCATION

Before Bhartiya Gramin Vidyalaya was started, girls of the area were totally deprived of education beyond the fifth grade because their parents were unwilling to send them to schools where there were only male teachers.

Since Bhartiya Gramin Vidyalaya was headed by a woman -- Mrs. Nirmala Misra -- the villagers had no hesitation in sending their daughters to the school. Hundreds of girls of the area completed their matriculation and found meaningful employment, or pursued higher education and married educated, well-to-do men, something they could not hope to do earlier.

For the last two years, the school has also provided two sets of small monthly scholarships – one to girls exclusively, and the other to both boys and girls – based on their academic performance. In the general competition for scholarships, there is a stiff, healthy competition for the scholarships but girls always do better. The school wants to increase the number and amount of scholarships and introduce more such incentives to encourage children.

ADULT EDUCATION FOR WOMEN:

The programme, called the Mahila Condensed Course, was funded in large parts by the Central Social Welfare Board, in which no fee was charged and books and stationary were provided free of cost. The programme was of great help to the women who were either dropouts or had no occasion to go to school, but were willing/needed further education to uplift their family condition. Eight batches of 25 adult women each have been successfully educated to the matriculation level. The programme was implemented in villages Kunaura, Amaniganj and Itaunja where women from dozens of villages received education under the programme. A large number of the 200 women who received education there are employed as instructors in Balwadi and Anganwadi programmes of the Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. Some of them have got employment in health centres and other professions. They are now supplementing their family income and command respect and financial independence in their families

BALWADI:

Under the Balwadi programme, pre-primary and primary class students were provided with high calorie nutrition during school hours. The scheme proved to be an incentive for poor, often malnourished, students to come to school. Batches of 30 children in the age group of 6 to 9 years were selected in consultation with the representatives of Central Social Welfare Board. The children were provided midday refreshment, free education and playground facilities. The programme after running for about 10 years has now been discontinued on account of financial constraints.

CHILD NUTRITION:

A scheme supported by CARE was meant for children below the age of six years. Under this scheme, porridge was given to the school by the sponsoring agency through the state education department. The porridge was cooked in the school and offered to the children at midday as a supplement to their daily food. The scheme was successfully conducted for four years but was discontinued by the Education Department due to lack of support from the funding agency.

WOMEN’S NUTRITION PROGRAMME

The programme was sponsored by the development block of Bakshi-ka-Talab and was meant for pregnant women and infant children. Mrs. Nirmala Misra was convenor of the programme and village women used to assemble in the school campus for receiving the nutrients. Under the programme, the beneficiaries were provided porridge, boiled wheat, soybean oil and other nutrients. The programme was successfully run by the Bhartiya Gramin Vidyalaya according to the norms of the sponsoring agency for the duration it was sanctioned.

MINI DAIRY FOR POOR WOMEN:

This was another Central Social Welfare Board scheme for destitute women conducted by the school. It involved 15 beneficiaries who were selected and provided interest-free loans for starting mini dairies. The loan was payable in instalments from the income generated from the mini dairy project. The scheme proved to be a boon for the 15 families. Bhartiya Gramin Vidyalaya acted as trustee and monitoring agency of the funds that have now been refunded to the government after successful completion of the programme. Beneficiaries are leading a better life than before. This was one of the most successful programmes in the district.

EXTENSION PROGRAMME

Under this programme week-long camps are organized for rural women to educate them on nutrition, general hygiene, family planning, importance of education and rural upliftment. Methods to prepare locally available and inexpensive balanced diet are explained to the women. The programme is sometimes supported by the government’s Block Development Office and at other times by school resources. Rural women are also given training in the areas of advancements in agricultural practices, family planning, child nutrition and general hygiene. Male guardians of school children are invited separately for group discussion on the same subjects. The programme is quite popular and aims to cover environmental problems, tree plantation and surface water management if funds are available.

TAILORING TRAINING FOR WOMEN:

Under this scheme, 64 women were selected from small and marginal farmer families in two batches for a free tailoring training so that they could supplement their family income and save their children from child labour. The scheme was a part of the Integrated Rural Development Programme and was conducted at Itaunja town and Kunaura village. The beneficiaries were given a stipend sanctioned by the funding agency and they were trained totally free of cost. Women were helped in buying  sewing machines from the money they received as stipend,  along with subsidy offered by the government. The trained women were encouraged by the school to start small scale production. Many of them are earning their livelihood through sewing and knitting. In the initial years, Mrs. Misra also helped them marketing the garments they manufactured.

CLOTHES TO THE NEEDY

The school requested persons from urban areas to donate clothes to the poor children and women of the area. Swami Pathik Sewa Samiti and other well wishers of the school help the management distribute warm clothes every year to the poor children and women during the winter season. However, a large number of children come in loose shirts in the harsh winters, and have very few clothes to wear.

EXHIBITIONS

The school compound serves as an ideal site for exhibitions organized by the management to bring about social awareness in the area. Several such programmes have been arranged in the past at Kunaura as well as in urban areas. The school has participated in various exhibitions to sell and exhibit products manufactured by rural women. The school has earned a certificate from the then Governor of Uttar Pradesh for the best stall at Lucknow Mahotsava, an annual and prestigious exposition that draws tens of thousands of people and participating stalls from across the country.

FORESTATION CAMPS

The school conducts forestation camps for the school children. The project of planting and looking after at least one tree is assigned to each student. The scheme brought about a sense of awareness fro environment among the students and affection for the trees planted by them. Due to this scheme the formerly barren area in the school campus is full of greenery now.

WOMEN’S TRAINING IN FOOD PROCESSING

The scheme was supported by the United Nations World Food Programme and was aimed at training rural women in various aspects of food processing. Poor women from the nearby villages, mostly from the backward section of society, were indentified and trained in the school campus.

They were then taught how to start their own cottage industry including the preparation and marketing of food and snack  items like vadi, papad, potato chips, mungaudi, porridge, besan; grinding and packaging of powdered spices The programme has been successfully completed and the women are being motivated to form a cooperative society to run the scheme commercially.

RECREATION

The school organizes a wide range of games and sports activities to develop the personality of students, often encouraging them to engage in rural sports that they have grown up on, even while showcasing to them other games like cricket, football and volleyball. The school also organizes festivals at which children perform in ballets, dramas Ram Lila and other musical events.

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