EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
High School Leadership Program
Students in the High School Leadership Program learn core academic (science and mathematics) and interpersonal skills. This virtual learning program allows students across India and Nepal to learn from field experts. All teaching is carried out through live (virtual) videoconferencing. We provide all the technology and resources required to facilitate teaching. The curriculum goes beyond traditional classroom syllabus to include communication, interpersonal and entrepreneurship skills including development of business ideas and writing business plans.
Students enrolled in the High School Leadership Program:
● Get access to quality education.
●Receive necessary technological support to ensure active learning.
●Develop critical cross-cultural communication skills.
● Learn innovative and entrepreneurial skills.
● Develop confidence, leadership, and presentation skills.
● Learn to develop cross-cultural relations with our partners – The Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation Initiative.
Budding entrepreneurs receive critical guidance and support. A highlight of this program is the business plan competition. Students are encouraged to explore creative opportunities, innovate and create a real company. These start-ups are then backed by market research, multiple iterations of prototypes and user testing. Interactions with customers and partnerships help pave the way for success. At present, this program is successfully operating in 4 schools in India and Nepal.
Train – the – Trainer
We believe that quality of education should not be dictated by a region. However, most students do not possess basic skills and knowledge in their formative years. Access to high-quality elementary education is often difficult for children in rural areas. Our Elementary School Leadership Program bridges the gap between student resources and quality education.
Key features of the program include:
● Inclusive and quality elementary education through school leadership programs and effective training of the trainers.
● Students of a similar understanding are grouped together to facilitate improved learning.
● Reduce student absenteeism and drop-out with accessible quality education.
● Digital learning as part of Ek Kadam Aur Foundation’s Computer Literacy Program.
● Provide guidance on financial matters to parents through government schemes information and counselling.
● Boost awareness in parents and community through exhibitions and parent educational programs.
● Build interpersonal skills and expand the scope of learning through edutainment workshops, edu-fun games, tutorials, special coaching, scholarships and participation in competitions.
Scholarships
The Ek Kadam Aur Foundation’s Scholarships provide financial assistance to future leaders. Students are given an opportunity to enhance their learning in their chosen field, and excel. The scholarship is awarded for high school, intermediate college as well as undergraduate or postgraduate degree program at a government or private institution in India. These diverse young minds from science, mathematics, music, sports, engineering, medicine or other areas of study, have the potential to change their lives and support their community.
Key features of the Scholarship Program:
● Entire annual Tuition fee.
● Partial Hostel fees (need-based).
● An allowance to cover the cost of workshops, seminars and personal coaching pertaining to leadership development skills.
● Access to books from the syllabus, and basic supplies (for students in Primary, Middle or High School).
For details, please write to admin@ekkadamaur.org
Internship for US students
The Ek Kadam Aur Foundation Internship supports students looking to enrich their work experience with the public service and international exposure. This program selects students who are passionate about creating change at the grassroots, for an 8 week to 8 month internship. An internship for less than 4 weeks is rarely offered. The internship modules are developed by aligning the individual’s interest and skill areas with the requirements of Ek Kadam Aur Foundation. Every individual offers value – recognising this value and supporting our interns to develop interest in public service is the Foundation’s focus. Interns contribute to the development of under-served communities initiating transformative change for future generations.
Key features:
● Full-time students and working professionals who are students at an academic institution can gain practical experience to support their theoretical learnings.
● Interns can experience and understand development programs at a grassroots level.
● Development of critical reasoning and analytical skills such as program evaluation, research, impact assessment, data collection and analyses, and operational aspects of Foundation’s programs and projects.
● An opportunity to prove that even the most disadvantaged communities can be transformed into thriving communities.
Note: This is an intensive engagement and stipend is usually not offered. All expenses pertaining to field visits in India and Nepal, including domestic air travel, ground transportation, accommodation and meals are covered. International travel, visa fees, and health insurance is the responsibility of US institutions.
Education and technology for the visually challenged
The Ek Kadam Aur Foundation supports inclusive education for everyone. India is currently home to about 2 million blind or visually challenged children (India Vision Institute; ET Health World). Ek Kadam Aur Foundation uses recent technological advancements in the use of both static (e.g., laptops, computers) and mobile technologies (e.g., smart phones) as tools for education and enhanced quality of life of the blind and visually challenged students. This program aims to develop an innovative approach by catering to a small cohort of students at a school for the visually challenged. Feedback from this exercise will be used to better understand how technology can be used to support learning needs for such children.
Key Features:
● Training of visually challenged on the use of computers for access to books and other educational materials and knowledge-gathering through internet.
● Enabling visually challenged to use smart phone for E-mails, texting and audio and video calls.
● Preparing visually challenged to study and compete with students with normal vision.
● Fellowship Program to enable university students to develop training materials for students and methods for impact assessment and scaling of the program.
Active Learning Program
The New Educational Policy of India 2020 laid emphasis on the following:
1. Student-centered learning
2. Encouragement for interactivity, classroom discussions , classroom collaborations, questioning and logical reasoning, scientific temper, evidence based thinking, experiential learning, and investigative-based learning.
3. Twenty-First century skills consisting of critical thinking, creativity, oral and written communication, collaboration and team-work, problem solving, innovation, exploration, environmental awareness, natural resource conservation.
The system of education in schools in India so far is geared to unidirectional knowledge- sharing from teachers to students and follows strict rules around completion of syllabus within allocated time. The objective of the Active Learning Program of Ek Kadam Aur is to transform and redevelop the way the curriculum is traditionally taught, to help schools to effectively introduce and speed up the implementation of New Educational Policy 2020 of India.
This project aims to:
1. Build and develop an Active Learning curriculum across Ek Kadam Aur partner middle schools and high schools.
2. Teach students how to self-guide their own learning.
3. Integrate teamwork and collaboration into the learning process, enabling better retention and skill building.
4. Reinspire students to love learning, and develop true passion for education within themselves.
5. Re-train teachers to foster discussion, belonging, and confidence in their students.
By moving from teacher centered to student centered learning, Active Learning promotes engagement of the students in their own education, an increased interest in learning more topics outside of the syllabus, innovative thinking, connection to real world applications. It encourages discussions with their peers, and hypothesizing and questioning. The program makes learning fun, increases student engagement and confidence.
This program is currently operating at the Ramakrishna Mission High School, in Sitanagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India, with hopes to expand to other schools.