Education

Swayambhar Nari believes that education is the main driving force of any kind of development of all sections of the society. To prove this belief, it had started one motivation and supportive education center at Howrah, Jagachha. The name of this support center and Montessori Home is Shilalipi.

Shilalipi (Howrah): In the year 1998, a children school with local disadvantaged students in Howrah was started in the parental home of famous journalist, writer and Magsaysay Award winner Sri Gaurkishor Ghosh. This building was donated by him and his sisters to Swayambhar Nari. Initially it was tough to gather students but at present it has been running on its own steam. There is also an evening coaching center in the school having 25 students of different ages and there is almost same number of students in the main school.

ii) We also started three supportive education centers named ‘Amar Pathshala' at Rajnagar Block of Birbhum District, West Bengal, with the support of  Soceo for the development of tribal children.

Amar Pathshala (Rajnagar Block, Birbhum)
Community-Based Community-Managed Learning Centres (CBMLC)

Most children in Gangmuri Panchayat area in Rajnagar Block of Birbhum, West Bengal, are first generation learners, with none of their parents having attended any formal schooling. The area is mostly populated by tribal population and the literacy rate among adults is below 20%. “Amar Pathshala” (my kindergarten), a joint initiative of “Swayambhar Nari” and SOCEO, is aimed at establishing a number of “Community-Based Community-Managed Learning Centres (CBMLC)” close to these remote and isolated hamlets. The CBMLC is trying to create a bridge for the children to keep up with the curriculum in formal schools reducing the incidences of dropout. Many children are also weak in science and mathematics, which is also of special focus for the centres.

Besides, the uniqueness of Amar Pathshala is its adult literacy programs for the parents, especially the mothers of the children of the centre.

Further, Amar Pathshala has conceived to facilitate the livelihood trainings and entrepreneurial applications, with a special focus on Agriculture. Amar Pathshala will enable the families to increase their income, which will allow the parents to send their children to school regularly and will create a more financially stable home in order to support the child.