MIL KE CHALO ASSSOCIATION (MKCA)

Supported by: Wipro

Mil Ke Chalo Association

About the organization

Mil Ke Chalo Association has selected education as the main tool for bringing the necessary change amidst rural populations. We use science as a medium to develop scientific temperament. Activity-based learning remains at the core of all projects with the broader objective of developing a scientific temperament among the beneficiary groups.

Vision: To develop Scientific Temperament in rural youth for nation-building in the coming future

Mission: To incorporate more activity-based and project-based Learning, as well as critical thinking in school education

Location

We are working in the rural area of Amalner Tehsil of Jalgaon District in Maharashtra state. This region of North Maharashtra, comprising of Jalgaon, Dhule, and Nandurbar Districts is known as ‘Khandesh.’ The main spoken language in rural areas here is ‘Khandeshi’. Amalner is a well-known town in the Khandesh region and these villages are within a 20 km radius around it. According to the census of 2011, the total population of Amalner block was 2,87,849, out of which 67 percent were in rural areas. Main problem in rural areas includes the lack of education. The rural folk pay less attention to education. In addition, the quality of education is poor. The education system is characterized by poor implementation of assessment systems and frequent language barriers.

Program updates

Details of Projects funded by Wipro: The four programs through which we are engaging with our stakeholders are as follows.

The vidnyan vedh program mainly involves activities to clarify scientific concepts with related activities and discussions. We have piloted a vidnyan vedh program this year for class six in one school center.

The vidnyan ghar is a community learning center in Wavade village which is used as an experimental lab for various educational methodologies we are interested in. We are continuously engaging with the same 25 to 30 participants for the last two years. We have noticed visible changes in their thinking process and behavior when compared with the VV participants while conducting the same activities with the same age group. In both the above programs same importance has been given to content as well as the thought process of students. More weight has been given to hands-on activities as most of the rural students are kinesthetic learners.

The vidnyan jagruti program was started this year to work with government school science teachers to improve the impact of our work and make it more sustainable. School mapping, teachers’ interaction, and communication with local government bodies were some of the key features of the initiative. A teachers’ panel was also instituted.

And finally, the akshar vel program, which is a foundational literacy and numeracy program. The age group for participants in the akshar vel program has been shifted from primary school students to those 10 to 15 years of age. This decision has been made to make the intervention sustainable, in the light of the learnings from being mentored by Khelghar for a year. Now we are doing a pilot project in one Zila Parishad primary school for 20 participants from classes two and three.

Plan for next Year

• More efforts for the other 2 stakeholders with widened reach: Teachers and parents.
• Separate team for research and development.
• Planned efforts for team building and capacity building.
• Initiation of proper channels for fundraising.
• Increasing the efforts on basic literacy programs with separate teams.
• Planned efforts for increasing the number of capable team members for all programs.