Most non-profit organizations in the area of education are swayed by the big picture of Indian education - So many millions of children out of school - So many millions dropping out by a particular grade - Only a small percentage of children attending school, etc. So it is only logical that the thrust of most such organizations has been to support programs that touch large masses of children, which is only possible to do through the existing Government run mass-schooling system. And so these organizations work within this system trying to improve an element like building toilets or helping children read at an early age or doing support programs for children who have dropped out or serving midday meals to increase attendance. Mass programs by their very nature allow for small changes through a minimum program. The need to affect a large mass of children does not allow for depth of change.
The reasons for drop outs and low attendance have little to do with midday meals or toilets or reading programs or teacher retention. The content itself is so poor and delivered even more shabbily, that a child does not wish to come to school. With no visible change in the children, parents have no option but to allow them to drop out and get them into some work, if possible. Earning that Rs. 30/day seems a far better option than sending a child to a school where there is no learning.
Reforming education in India has become a number game. Bigger, it seems, is better.
But is it? The numbers that the Government and the non-profit organizations working together are trying to improve have at best shown a marginal change, if at all any.
Is a child, then, just a number to be improved incrementally?
It is the definition of the problem that provides clarity. What is education? Is it just about attending school and finishing it, somehow? Or is education about preparing a child for life? Any child. Even the poorest.
That is what Parikrma is attempting to do. The huge gap that exists between those who get good education in private schools and those who have access only to the sub-standard Government schooling and now low-cost, poor quality private schools needs to be addressed. It is the content of education that makes education. And that's what needs to be addressed.
Parikrma is, therefore, reforming education inside out, one child at a time, through the content of education that is equal if not the best in the country. Our vision is that we can create a sustainable Model, a clear way for under-served children to transform their lives through top-class education and in the process be a catalyst for effecting fundamental change in the way we educate our poor and the marginalized.