About the event
Bewajah foundation organised a session focused on the dynamics of power and violence as well as identity and community. Students took a deep dive into their own lives, embarking on a journey of personal growth. Speakers-Ms. Prasanna and Mr. Gaurav Srivastava
About the event
Study Hall College conducted its orientation. Introducing our new students to our core values.
About the event
Bewajah foundation organised a session focused on personal sharing and enhanced learning in Study Hall College. Speakers-Ms. Prasanna and Mr. Gaurav Srivastava
About the event-
Study Hall College celebrated India’s 77th Independence Day. They commemorated the valour of freedom fighters and pledged to promote national harmony by upholding the values of freedom gender equality and social justice.
About the event-
Study Hall College with Bewajah foundation organised a special session for its students on International Youth Day. This session focused on personal sharing keen observation and patient listening as tools for understanding perspective to build a better society.
Speakers-Ms. Prasanna and Mr. Gaurav Srivastava
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the educational landscape across India and across the globe, as schools and learning institutions have rushed to shift teaching and learning online. However, in this rush, the pre-existing class- and gender-based digital divide has remained glaringly in place, leaving a considerable population of students and learners without remedy. While affluent and well-resourced families have had an almost seamless transition from classroom learning to online learning, children from poor communities have been left behind with no support.
Among its own students, Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) has found that nearly half (44%) of children from a lower socio-economic background do not have access to smartphones or the internet. Of these, the majority are girls. In many cases, no one in the family possesses a smartphone, and so there is no way for them to access the internet. In other cases, a parent (usually a father) may own a smartphone; however, the girl’s access to this phone is often limited because (1) the parent is working throughout the day and takes the phone with them, (2) she belongs to a large family and a single phone is shared among all family members, or (3) her access is restricted because of her gender.
While older students may be able to negotiate access or even possess a phone of their own, the problem is often amplified for students in the primary section. Even in cases where the family owns a phone and is therefore able to receive assignments and access online classes, parents are often illiterate and thus unable to facilitate their young child’s learning.
In order to facilitate access to online classes for children (especially girls) from low socio-economic and otherwise marginalized communities, SHEF proposes to provide digital technology and connectivity to select students, alumni, and teachers, who will then be responsible for facilitating learning in their communities. The project has been named “Digital Saathi,” as one device will facilitate and enable the education and learning of many.
Senior students and alumni of Prerna Girls School and Vidyasthali Kanar Intercollege who lack access and live in communities where access is minimal will receive smartphones on loan for the duration of the crisis. In addition to enabling access to their own classes, students who receive a phone will also be responsible for sharing assignments and information with other students who live nearby, and use the phone to ensure their ability to access their online classes and learning.
Similarly, GyanSetu teachers will be provided with laptops in order to help them facilitate learning in the marginalized communities they serve. This will also enable the expansion of GyanSetu centers’ current function and enable their access to educational resources previously inaccessible by them.
Congratulations to my children and the Study Hall family
Mrs.Meenakshi Bahadur
Vice Principal
Study Hall School
“Yuva Manch is a theater group started by Study Hall Educational Foundation, Several schools and alumni participate in several theater productions featured at Yuva Manch. This year Yuva Manch brings forth productions from Study Hall School, Prerna Girls School, DOSTI School and Vidyasthali School through U.P Tourism auditorium, Gomti Nagar”
‘Natyotsav’, a presentation by ‘Yuva Manch’, our platform for promoting theater among students.
We look forward to your presence and encouragement.
We look forward to your presence and encouragement.
Venue: Uttar Pradesh Paryatan Bhawan ,Gomti Nagar , Lucknow.
Date: 9th & 10th May, 2015
Time: 5:00 pm
Natyotsav Programme Order ( 9th May,2015)
|
5:00 pm to 5:10 pm |
Introduction |
|
5:10 pm to 5:25pm |
Ganit Raja ( Play by Dosti) |
|
5:25pm to 5:45pm |
Dushman koi Nahin( Play by Vidyasthali) |
|
5:45pm to 6:10pm |
Thodi Thodi Aur Bajegi( Play by Junior School) |
|
6:20pm to 7:00pm |
Main Gandhari ( Play by Alumni & students of Senior School) |
|
7:00pm to 7:10pm |
Dance Drama( by CFL students) |
|
7:10pm to 7:20 pm |
Principal’s Address |
Natyotsav Programme Order ( 10th May, 2015)
|
5:00pm to 5:10pm |
Introduction |
|
5:10pm to 5:30pm |
Haan Zindagi Badlegi ( Play by Prerna Girls School) |
|
5:30pm to 5:40pm |
Izzat ( Dance Drama by Prerna Girls School) |
|
5:40pm to 5:50pm |
Song ( by Prerna Girls – filler) |
|
6:00pm to 6:40pm |
Main Gandhari( Play by Alumni & students of Study Hall) |
|
6:40pm to 6:50pm |
Dance Drama ( by students of CFL) |
|
6:50pm to 7:00pm |
Urvashi Aunty’s Address & Certificates |
|
7:00pm to 7 :10pm |
Vote of Thanks by Principal |
“Shivani’s courage and action are a model for girls everywhere, and Prerna continues to show us what girls’ education can and should be. Thank you!”
– Dr. Glynda Hull,
Elizabeth H. and Eugene A. Shurtleff Chair in Undergraduate Education
University of California, Berkeley
“My god, what an act of bravery indeed, and of education and self-preservation and intelligence.”
– Dr.Kathleen Gallagher
Professor
Canada Research Chair
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
Dr. Urvashi Sahni
Last month, India emblemized its role as the world’s largest democracy as over 800 million eligible voters went to the polls in what may have been the largest democratic event in history. High on the list of priorities for all contesting parties was women’s empowerment, women’s equality and overall safety for women. In fact, surveys show more than 90 percent of Indian voters see combating violence against women as a priority and 75 percent of men and women believe that the political promises made to advocate women’s rights have been inadequate so far.
There is good cause for Indians to be concerned that not enough has been done for women in their country. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, more than 25,000 rape cases were reported across the country in 2012 alone. Out of these, almost 98 percent were committed by a relative or neighbor. Additional statistics are no less troubling: latest estimates suggest that a new case of rape is reported every 22 minutes in India, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes, and a case of cruelty committed by either a husband or husband’s relative occurs every 9 minutes. Forty-seven percent of girls are married by 18 years of age, and 18 percent are married by 15 years of age, resulting in around 39,000 child marriages taking place each day. From a global perspective, 40 percent of the world’s child brides are from India.
Even before girls reach their teenage years, they face distressing challenges in India. Many more girls than boys die before reaching the age of 5. And with female feticide approaching nearly 1 million a year, fewer girls are born. Indeed, our sex ratio is at 914 women to 1,000 men, the lowest it has been since independence in 1947.
Domestic violence and gender disparities are especially pronounced in India’s northern states. Women and girls In Uttar Pradesh, in particular, suffer physical abuse at rates of 18-45 percent, non-consensual sex at rates of 18-40 percent, and physically forced sex at rates of 4-7 percent.
These are terrifying statistics. While the government has tried to boost girls’ education and has made some significant gains (females are now enrolled in primary school almost at parity with men), girls are still far from equal in India. Only 40 percent finish 10th grade. Ultimately, the social climate at home and in communities is too discriminatory to allow for girls being educated or becoming autonomous, equal persons.
Dissatisfied with the government’s efforts, NGOs, women’s movements, journalists, economists, academics and lawyers are promoting their “Womanifesto,” a six-point plan, first drafted last year, that details what needs to be done within the next five years to improve conditions for India’s women and girls. First on the list is “Educate for Equality.” It reads, “We will implement comprehensive, well-funded and long-term public education programs to end the culture of gender-based discrimination and violence. These will include: SMS, radio and TV public service campaigns, accessible lesson plans for schools, and modules for training teachers. To this end we will reach men, women, boys and girls in both urban and rural areas.” Significantly, it specifically speaks of education “for equality,” and not a more watered-down, paternalistic “education for girls.”
The group that I’ve founded, Study Hall Education Foundation (SHEF), has been doing just this. In the last decade, we have adopted the motto of “educate for equality,” understanding that not only is mere enrolment not enough but a gender-neutral academic education is not sufficient to empower girls and will not necessarily lead to better life outcomes. We embed strong, focused, rights-based empowerment programs within schools’ curriculums with very encouraging outcomes. Teachers are led to examine their own gendered mindsets and trained to become advocates for girls’ rights. The teachers then help girls become advocates for themselves and for all girls’ rights. They have a large parent community that they can influence and they use all their interactions with parents as platforms of advocacy.
Our program has reached out to 4,000 adolescent girls, 300 teachers and over 16,000 parents. Teachers have started using their parent teacher meetings to discuss issues like gender discrimination, child marriage, dowry, girls’ right to education and violence against girls. Girls participate in these meetings, using drama to give voice to feelings of oppression and to stake their claim to their right to equal personhood. Interestingly, parent attendance at these meetings has increased 55 percent since the teachers began using them as platforms to discuss gender issues. Teachers report that parents are finding the meetings much more meaningful and are engaging actively in discussions centered on issues that are close to them.
As part of SHEF’s efforts to educate wider communities on gender, we organized a large campaign against child marriage, which impacted approximately 16,000 teachers, students and members of the community. The month-long campaign brought critical dialogues into the classroom, and kicked off discussions with parents at parent teacher meetings. It culminated in a student and teacher-led march through the community, where students and teachers from 43 schools across four districts in Uttar Pradesh shouted slogans against child marriage and for girls rights, performed street plays in the villages and enlisted support from community adults via signature campaigns.
If India is to become a better place for all of its children, then it is vital that we value and respect our daughters. We must move the conversation of girls’ education from “learning outcomes” to “life outcomes” and take up “education for equality” as our mantra across the country. We should include gender education in our curriculum for both boys and girls. And we should teach these lessons not just to our students, but also to their parents and communities in order to construct an egalitarian gender perspective. This is imperative if India is to fulfill its constitutional promise of gender equality.
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