Quality education

In January 2019, Sumanth attended a two day workshop by Rubaroo an organization based in Hyderabad with the vision to create an inclusive, just, and equitable world where individuals transcend boundaries through a genuine engagement with the self and the society. This workshop is where he came across the idea of bringing the Indian Constitution and SDGs out on streets. Before this he related with the Constitution, the Preamble, and SDGs as allocated chapters of his civics textbook. But, here he got his first nudge to bring the text to life in order to create change. The workshop was a space where he sat with 25 diverse young people and heard their stories and was thereby able to truly empathise with what they have been through. It gave him an understanding of how inequality and exclusion manifests in society even today. As part of the workshop one of the key processes of experiencing SDGs was to complete some self and social tasks. One of the tasks Sumanth picked up was to create a realistic 10-hour curriculum based on his favorite subject for school children from minority community. This task addressed the intersectionality of cultural and educational fundamental right and Goal 4 of SDGS which revolves around Quality Education.

APPROACH ADOPTED:

Sumanth created a month long curriculum on learning English by integrating more hands on experiential learning and ensure the use of knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development amongst children. His curriculum design comprised of 10 activities around improving spoken English skills of children whose first language is Telugu. To implement his curriculum in the school he approached Telangana Minority educational society and introduced his task and also gives them an overview of how the curriculum would be delivered.

The move was widely appreciated by the teachers and it inspired him further to work with a new zeal. “I used to take the children for a walk in the park, and have them identify at least 2 things that they didn’t know the English word for. In that way they used to learn 2 new words in just a short span. I also realised that the children were enthusiastically open to new ways of learning and a little bit of motivation and out of the box thinking helped them immensely. By a 20 minute activity every day, they were just not learning new words, they were developing a newfound fascination for studies. My job as an educator was easier and much more fun because of the receptive nature of young minds”, says Sumanth.

IMPACTED TARGET GROUP:

A group of 20 students from lower socio-economic background in Hyderabad city, Telangana.

NEXT ON AGENDA:

Sumanth’s dream is to become an entrepreneur and contribute towards improving the education system, to ensure complete, free and quality education for children from weaker socio economic backgrounds. This will enable them to have a joyful learning experience within the framework of traditional education system. He also wants to work on promoting a culture of appreciating diversity and sustainable development.

HOW DID IT CHANGE YOU?

For Sumanth this initiative has opened up new dimensions.  “I was a bit wary of topics like religion and faith, but now I am more open and empathetic about any community that I interact with and talk about. I have become more open minded, diverse in my thoughts. And also the SDG lens has provided me with a new understanding of sustained development especially in the light of current education system”, says Sumanth.