Tata PowerMudra UMPP Promotes Literacy Through Its 'ShikshaSarathi' Programme

<p>Tata PowerMundra UMPP is promoting Project ShikshaSaarthi, which is an education initiative in the region. One of the teachers who participated in the initiative from Mota Kandagara village, has nothing but praise for it. "I have been a teacher for 11 years in government schools, but I have never felt so confident, so enthused, as I do now," she exclaims, "Coastal Gujarat Private Limited (CGPL) has helped me add tremendous professional value to my portfolio. Attending its teachers' training workshop was an eye opener. I picked up many new and innovative methods of teaching, discussed problems commonly faced by all teachers and jointly tried to find solutions to these problems. The training also boosted my skills in management, research and administrative systems. Now I am ready to tackle any challenge that comes my way!"<br><br>Partnered with Pratham Education Foundation, NGOs working to provide quality education to the underprivileged children of India, ShikshaSaarthi was launched as a programme set to transform the profile of school education in 84 schools of Mandvi and Mundra Taluka of Kutch, focusing primarily on the six catchment villages that lay within the CGPL site - Tunda-Vandh, MotaKandagra, Nanabhadia, Tragadi and Modva.<br><br>"Quality is our buzzword. At CGPL, our goal is to ensure that every segment of the local community has access to education. But that alone is not enough. The faculty and facilities provided to the students must be of top notch standard," says a senior CGPL official. Thus, training is an integral part of the project. Every team member who seeks to train the others are made to undergo rigorous training before moving to the field, so that everyone conducting the programme is informed and updated with the latest developments in the field. The partners have constituted dedicated teams of Master Trainers (MTs) for language, mathematics and science, trained by Pratham's education experts. They, in turn, train the Cluster Resource Leaders (CRLs) at the district level and finally, the CRLs train the volunteers within their respective cluster of villages. The more efficient and supremely confident SS brigade is the more ready they are to help revive and rejuvenate Kutch's education system.<br><br>Achievements have been appreciated and shared far and wide and this has been highly motivating for the SS team. As a social enterprise which seeks to improve, strengthen and sustain efforts in the community, it has been a privilege to partner with CGPL, explained the Pratham staff members. And while it is a difficult task, they persevere. "We mould and re-mould our strategy as we move ahead," declares a CGPL member.</p>