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Laksh Project: PAIS Student Volunteers in India

Rebecca Fletcher - Laksh ProjectVolunteers from Warwick's Laksh project have returned home after a very successful summer. Applications are now open for current students interested in taking part in summer 2015.

The Laksh Foundation is a small NGO near Delhi, India. Over the last three years, Warwick has worked closely with the foundation, developing the partnership from a pilot scheme with just three students helping out in one teaching centre to a programme that now sees multiple groups of Warwick students working across a network of five community schools, supporting the local teachers through introducing innovative methods of teaching and learning, developing the curriculum as well as providing extracurricular tutorial classes and supervision in maths and English to 200+ pupils ages 3-18.

Current PAIS undergraduate student Rebecca Fletcher was one of this year's volunteers, below she writes about her experience.

In July 2014 I spent a month in India, thanks to an amazing Warwick project organised in collaboration with The Laksh Foundation.

Laksh is an NGO which has opened 5 tuition centres in the local villages of Mangar, Dhauj, Alampur and Silakhari, with the centre at Alampur only opening in June 2014. The aim of the tuition centres is to supplement the education that local children receive in government school, which all children have the right to attend since the implementation of the ‘Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act’ 2009.

As a team of four, our main aim was to work with the teachers at Laksh, many of whom are still in education themselves, to improve their lesson planning, their English language skills, and to encourage them to move away from teaching 'by rote'. Between July and September, 3 groups spent a month each at Laksh, and I was a part of group 1.

As it is common for teachers to rely solely on the blackboard when teaching, this is something that we wanted to challenge with the use of songs, games, and other interactive methods. Our aim was to engage the children in new and exciting ways – through music, pictures, quizzes, and games to check their understanding – and to give them a more structured lesson with a starter, main activity, and recap.

By the time we left, we had noticed a change in the confidence levels of both the children and the teachers. On our last day, the teachers performed versions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and we were so happy with their progress, both in terms of confidence and their English skills.

Classes at Laksh focus on Hindi, English, and Maths, but also extend to broader subject areas such as health, hygiene, Science, Geography and Art. Laksh doesn’t turn any child away, and caters to a variety of levels and abilities.

The teachers at Laksh are selfless, and simply want to give their time to help the people around them. I have the utmost respect and admiration for NGOs and charities that aim to support education for the world’s children – and my time in India with The Laksh Foundation has only helped to strengthen this philosophy.

Recruitment for the 2015 project is now open. If you are a current student who enjoys a challenge, you have some teaching experience and you are able to think on your feet then visit www.warwick.ac.uk\laksh to learn more.

Fri 24 Oct 2014, 09:13 | Tags: Undergraduate