A Young Artist at Work

Ken Robinson in his TED talk on ‘School Kills creativity,’ which is the most watched talk on TED, argues that “Creativity is as important as literacy”. Importance of creativity was selected as one of the four 21^st Century Skills along with critical thinking, collaboration and communication. Thus incorporating creativity in classroom can be further used as powerful tool to hone skills like problem solving, critical thinking and decision making required to build children, as citizens of 21^st century. Unlike the traditional way of teaching when the teacher directs students to learn through memorization of concepts and children become mere recipient of information, creativity encourages students to think out of the box and express themselves. In classroom, project based learning plays a vital role to encourage learning by creating as it provides children an opportunity to think of themes, use different tools and materials, manage time, learn with each other and design a model.

Creativity is a valuable skill that cannot be taught but developed in conducive learning environment

Abhishek, a young boy learning at Raj Kumar’s Community Learning Centre dived his hands into what most children of his age could not even think of. Abhishek is a keen observer and fond of watching videos demonstrating car manufacturing. He has been observing a working JCB (Joseph Cyril Bamford) in his village for one month and this drived him to try his hands on designing a JCB model.

Abhishek spent three days with full dedication to gather tools like syringes, pipes and cardboard and completed his model. He managed to find these in and around his home all by himself. He used cardboard to make structure, pipe to connect and syringes to change the directions and facilitate working of JCB to lift thing.

 JCB Model

Abhishek’s family and Raj Kumar, his teacher were happy to see his exceptionally talented work and appreciated his efforts. “ बहुत अच्छा बनाया हैं I अभिषेकं बचपन से ही मेहनती हैं। वह अपनी शिक्षा के प्रति पर्याप्त जिम्मेदार है।” says Abhishek’s mother. For him this is just the beginning, “ये तो शुरवात हैं, अभी बहुत कुछ करना हैं |” says a 13 year old boy who aspires to be an Engineer. He is passionate about his own interest as well as dedicated towards his learning. He spends nearly two hours in self-study. He likes to play badminton and dance.

                                          A JCB Machine by young hands 

The process of creating model by one student inspired others to unleash their potential to create 

The JCB model designed by Abhishek inspired other students in class to explore their talents and thoughts. His classmates started designing models and looked up to Raj Kumar to give them project. 

Aditya, who is also Abhishek’s brother studying in class 4th made a small toy car with the help of battery box of Philips bulb and wheels of broken toy. He also designed a water fall using pipe and thermocol.

Anant, studying in class 1^st with the help of Abhishek made computer using thermocol. 

Ankit, studying in UKG made Chandrayaan using chart paper and with the support of Raj Kumar.

JCB, Water fall, Cement mixer, Chandrayaan, Computer designed by students at Raj Kumar’s Centre

A great teacher can change everything

Raj Kumar, an edu-leader running his community learning centre at Lagma plays supportive role amongst his students to think out of the box. His strong belief that creativity enhances thinking ability and allows children to explore their imagination inspires him to promote creative activities. He encouraged students to try hands on making Chandrayaan, following ISRO news. Going forward, he plans to give children projects on different themes in every two months and practice project based learning in his classroom. He plans to exhibit these models during Saraswati festival to show hidden talents of his students to their parents and community. His constant motivation led Abhishek to design cement mixer and he is intending to make model of his village for Saraswati festival. Raj Kumar is a young enthusiast and these significant changes are glaring example of his perseverant efforts to strengthen primary education in his community and nurture young minds for better tomorrow.

We, at i-Saksham, carry a dream to improve primary education of underserved children and strongly belief that local youths have power to bring the social change and lead their community. Constant coaching, mentoring, and supportive ecosystem are the keys. 

We thank Anubhuti who volunteered with us for all her contribution in this article. 

A Young Artist at Work

Ken Robinson in his TED talk on ‘School Kills creativity,’ which is the most watched talk on TED, argues that “Creativity is as important as literacy”. Importance of creativity was selected as one of the four 21^st Century Skills along with critical thinking, collaboration and communication. Thus incorporating creativity in classroom can be further used as powerful tool to hone skills like problem solving, critical thinking and decision making required to build children, as citizens of 21^st century. Unlike the traditional way of teaching when the teacher directs students to learn through memorization of concepts and children become mere recipient of information, creativity encourages students to think out of the box and express themselves. In classroom, project based learning plays a vital role to encourage learning by creating as it provides children an opportunity to think of themes, use different tools and materials, manage time, learn with each other and design a model.

Creativity is a valuable skill that cannot be taught but developed in conducive learning environment

Abhishek, a young boy learning at Raj Kumar’s Community Learning Centre dived his hands into what most children of his age could not even think of. Abhishek is a keen observer and fond of watching videos demonstrating car manufacturing. He has been observing a working JCB (Joseph Cyril Bamford) in his village for one month and this drived him to try his hands on designing a JCB model.

Abhishek spent three days with full dedication to gather tools like syringes, pipes and cardboard and completed his model. He managed to find these in and around his home all by himself. He used cardboard to make structure, pipe to connect and syringes to change the directions and facilitate working of JCB to lift thing.

JCB Model 

Abhishek’s family and Raj Kumar, his teacher were happy to see his exceptionally talented work and appreciated his efforts. “बहुत अच्छा बनाया हैं I अभिषेकं बचपन से ही मेहनती हैं। वह अपनी शिक्षा के प्रति पर्याप्त जिम्मेदार है।” says Abhishek’s mother. For him this is just the beginning, “ये तो शुरवात हैं, अभी बहुत कुछ करना हैं |” says a 13 year old boy who aspires to be an Engineer. He is passionate about his own interest as well as dedicated towards his learning. He spends nearly two hours in self study. He likes to play badminton and dance. 

 A JCB Machine by young hands

The process of creating model by one student inspired others to unleash their potential to create

The JCB model designed by Abhishek inspired other students in class to explore their talents and thoughts. His classmates started designing models and looked up to Raj Kumar to give them project. 

Aditya, who is also Abhishek’s brother studying in class 4th made a small toy car with the help of battery box of Philips bulb and wheels of broken toy. He also designed a water fall using pipe and thermocol.

Anant, studying in class 1^st with the help of Abhishek made computer using thermocol. 

Ankit, studying in UKG made Chandrayaan using chart paper and with the support of Raj Kumar.

Creative models by students at Raj Kumar's Centre

A great teacher can change everything

Raj Kumar, an edu-leader running his community learning centre at Lagma plays supportive role amongst his students to think out of the box. His strong belief that creativity enhances thinking ability and allows children to explore their imagination inspires him to promote creative activities. He encouraged students to try hands on making Chandrayaan, following ISRO news. Going forward, he plans to give children projects on different themes in every two months and practice project based learning in his classroom. He plans to exhibit these models during Saraswati festival to show hidden talents of his students to their parents and community. His constant motivation led Abhishek to design cement mixer and he is intending to make model of his village for Saraswati festival. Raj Kumar is a young enthusiast and these significant changes are glaring example of his perseverant efforts to strengthen primary education in his community and nurture young minds for better tomorrow.

We, at i-Saksham, carry a dream to improve primary education of underserved children and strongly belief that local youths have power to bring the social change and lead their community. Constant coaching, mentoring, and supportive ecosystem are the keys. 

We thank Anubhuti who volunteered with us for all her contribution in this article. 

Innovative Teaching Practices and Enhanced Learning

Albert Einstein once said- “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” Many of your life’s examples must have also made you reflect that creativity brings vibrancy, and we at i-Saksham are trying our best to be as creative as possible when it comes to teaching children. 

How did you learn as a child in your classroom? Would your teacher give a lecture on Mathematics or just bring out some concretes from outside and make you play with it? If there is a yes to the former, how learning through creativity and fun would have transformed you? What if your teachers would come to the classroom every day bringing in some or the other new activity to make learning fun for you?

We, at i-Saksham, have realized that innovative practices in teaching are the way to enhance the teaching performance and the learning experiences of the children. The more innovative a teacher becomes, the easier it is for children to understand the things taught.

Most of the teachers in rural India are appointed on an ad-hoc basis and due to lack of training and mentoring support, they generally lack the skills and support to teach multilevel classes. Due to the absence of other supplementary resources and parent’s illiteracy, this case becomes worst.

i-Saksham, through its fellowship program, is trying to bridge this gap in the rural context by training local youth on innovative pedagogies. Within the course of their 2 years of fellowship, these youths are trained on various pedagogical practices to improve the learning outcomes of children. Some of them are:

Activity-based learning

The more concepts become fun for children, the faster they learn. On each training day at the i-Saksham office, the edu-leaders learn about a number of activities that can make learning fun for children. These activities include rhymes for teaching ascending and descending order, jumping in and out of figures to understand shapes, playing speed games to learn action words, making word maps to enrich vocabulary, etc. 

Learning vocabulary by making
a map of words

Learning numbers by counting pebbles
  and placing them before the correct number

Teaching through Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs)

Our edu-leaders are trained on using different teaching and learning materials like ganit mala, word cards, phonics sheets, fraction sets, UTH blocks, etc. Along with these TLMs that are provided to them by the organization, the routine of practicing classroom sessions with creativity leads them to make several other TLMs as well. These edu-leaders have created TLMs such as CVC word cards, the ladder of days in a week, number cards, model solar system, etc  

Edu-leaders learning how to
use a ‘ganitmaala’

Children learning through
 ‘ganitmaala’

Managing multi-grade and multi-level classroom

Due to either less number of classrooms against grades or less number of teachers present, students of various grades are, very often, accommodated together in one classroom. With teachers not trained in the art of multi-grade teaching, it hampers the grade-specific learning process. To bridge this gap, i-Saksham trains edu-leaders on multi-grade and multi-level classroom teaching practices so that no child is left unattended and each child can show a positive shift in his/her learning levels. They are being trained on assigning level-appropriate tasks to each group of children from a single topic. The edu-leaders replicate the same practices in their classrooms for effective learning to take place.

A multi-level classroom set up where edu-leader is
 assigning tasks to every group from a single topic

Use of technology

With the advancement in technology and our country moving towards digitalization, it is very important to prepare the up-coming generation for it. Unfortunately, due to poverty and poor access to technology in government schools in the areas we are working with; it becomes almost impossible for children to avail technological resources. i-Saksham provides each of its edu-leaders a smart-phone with appropriate learning content. Along with using the phones for their own learning, these edu-leaders make Mathematics, English and Hindi learning fun for children letting them leverage the benefits of tech. Children use apps like Math Duel to do simple addition and subtraction, Bolo to improve their reading skills, Story Weavers for listening stories etc.

Edu-leaders getting trained on using apps

Children doing addition and subtraction using Math Dual app.

Use of worksheets

With regular practice and iteration, children learn to avoid mistakes. Also in a class of about 30 children, it becomes difficult for the teacher to assign tasks, especially when the class is a multi-level one. That is where the worksheets come into play. i-Saksham uses various laminated worksheets for children to practice what they learn in the classroom and hence improve their learning outcomes. These sheets can be easily rubbed with a wet cloth and can be used multiple times. 

Learning to write alphabets

Children making words from alphabet grids

                   

At one end, where these innovative practices in teaching are making learning fun and interesting for children; it is also bridging the gap of quality trained teachers in the under-served areas. These innovations in teaching are significantly enhancing the learning outcomes of the children and are increasing their attendance as well as participation in the classroom. Avoiding the rote learning methods are giving children the opportunity to learn as they want and express themselves better through various activities. With the continuous implementation of such practices, we are seeing an increased motivation among children and our edu-leaders as well. When parents are being told about these practices during Parents Teacher’s meetings (PTMs), they are able to relate them with their children’s growth and confidence and understand the importance of innovative pedagogy.

We hope to see a day when these practices will be implemented at a larger reach and no child will be left from getting a quality education. We hope for a day when people in the extremism affected regions can dream of better life prospects by virtue of education and our vision of them being educated, skilled and self-reliant would be true.

Abbreviations:

TLM*: Teaching and learning materials that are used in classrooms for better understanding of concepts.

UTH Blocks*: Unit, tens and hundreds blocks to make an understanding of place values.

Ganit Maala*: A teaching and learning material made of beads that is used to teach the concepts of counting, addition, subtraction, and multiplications.

LITERACY THROUGH CREATIVITY: The Love for Letters!

Each letter of the alphabet has a story to tell…

‘T’ tells the story of the Table where the teachers- Sangeeta and Sonam stood up to display on the wall, the poster for Van Mahotsav (Forest Day) for their class children.

‘B’ tells the story of the ‘Bananas and Biscuits’ that Saurabh brought and shared with his hungry friends. 

P’ tells the story of the Paper with which Parvati decorated her Rakhi and tied on her classmate, Pandav’s wrist.


As more stories get unfolded, we will take a look at the different ways in which the Edu-Leaders of i-Saksham have made learning the Letters of the Alphabet fun, creative and thus effective. And the children? They were only left asking for more. Quite like the letters, each Letter Teaching Technique had a different story to tell, unique memories and observations to be revealed..

Chalk Challenge

·      It seemed as if a page from a Language textbook had come alive on the floor! It all started with a chalk. Two forms were designed by the Edu-Leader, one was a word and the other was the matching picture to it. The children had to simply string the letters together to read the word and identify the matching picture! Oh, and they had to fill up within the chalk outline too. With colours? No! With slippers. And the outcome: children ended up without their slippers but with an increased appetite to practice writing their letters and words the same way, the very next day!

    
      An Inter-Connected Chain of Letters

·        i-Saksham Edu-Leader, Sangeeta was enthusiastic about shared learning. Whether it was to learn a new technique as a teacher or whether it was to involve the class in a co-operative group activity, sharing was the key to learn! Sangeeta said, “The children were tracing the letter ‘a’ on each others’ backs. This is a technique that I learnt from my Buddy, Sonam Bharti. It helped those children especially who were having difficulty in writing.”


      Flash The Cards

The i-Saksham Edu-Leaders use Letter Cards in many different ways to engage the children. The cards could be hung up on the wall and their sequences altered so that children develop a more solid foundation of letter and phonic sound comprehension. Several classroom games too have been developed using these Letter Cards. One of them includes randomly picking up a Letter Card, identifying it and singing a rhyme that begins with the letter.

In this picture, Edu Leader Sangeeta is teaching children how to construct words using the letter flashcards

Likewise, i-Saksham Edu-Leader, Rohit’s favourite game with his class children is distributing one Letter Card to each child in the class and then calling out a word, say, चमक. The children with each of the letters stand up in the required order to make up the word. 

After building foundational letter recognition and word building skills, Edu-Leader Rohit focusses on developing reading skills. In this picture, he’s encouraging the children to read aloud.

Matra ki Yatra

The matra (vowels in Hindi) are made with thick chart paper and stuck on the board. Children combine it with letters to distinguish between the sounds. Rohit explained, “When we write the words with the matras on the board with a chalk, they get rubbed off easily and children forget. But when the matras remain stuck on the board, the concept remains fresh in the child’s memory for longer.”

Charisma of Colors

Another creative teaching technique involved blending crafts and colours in making words! The colourful beads that would be used for stringing were used innovatively by the teacher, while the children enjoyed practicing the letter forms and uniquely designed them.

Learn with Tech

Educational apps have also been tapped to enrich the learning experience of the letters of the alphabet. Several App based learning games like ‘Hindi Matra Waale’, ‘Varnmala’, ‘Word Swipe’  etc. have  helped the children in writing the letters, and in hearing and saying the sounds, reading and naming the letters, moving their hands smoothly and even recognizing the colours.


As a result of these diverse creative teaching strategies, the children have started taking a deeper interest in not only writing and reading in class, but also helping their fellow classmates in picking up these skills. As one child listens, the other one helps them recognize and name the sound of the letter. As one child names aloud the letter or the word, another child helps him or her by holding the hand and writing that word or letter in the book. And the question that the teachers get asked the most, “didi, when will we do this activity again? Should we learn this again?”

जीविका की कहानी उसी की जुबानी - रोहित की कलम से

जीविका की कहानी उसी की जुबानी  

       
नमस्कार दोस्तों ,
                   पिछले  शनिवार को हमलोग जीविका ग्रुप से मिले एक दुसरे को जाने ! बहुत ही अच्छा लगा सबो से मिलकर ! जैसे की हम सब लोग जानते है , की हमारे गाँव या शहर से हमारे परिवार में से कोई न कोई जीविका ग्रुप से  जुड़े हुए  हैं  !
हमलोग भी जीविका केे बारे में कुछ न-कुछ जानते हैं , लेकिन अाज  हमने इसे  विस्तार से जानने के लिए जीविका का ही  एक सदस्य C.M रोशनी जी से कुछ बातचीत किये !  इनसे हुई बातचीत केे कुछ अंश आप लोगों के समक्ष प्रस्तुत कर रहा हूं !

मैं:  नमस्कार मैं रोहित मैं भी सोनाय का ही रहने वाला हूँ , मैं आपको जीविका में  जुड़े बहुत दिनों से देख रहा हूं ! आप इसके C.M  पद पर भी हैं ! मैं आपसे इसके बारे में कुछ  कुछ जानकारी जानना चाहता हूँ  और आपके  अनुभवों को जानना चाहता हूं !

C.M :  जी हाँ जरूर  क्यों नही, हम जहाँ तक इसके बारे में जानते है आपको जरुर बताएँगे !

मैं : पहले मैं यह जानना चाहूंगा की CM का क्या  कार्य है ? पहले अपने बारे में ही थोड़ा बता दीजिये !
CM: पहले मैं भी एक स द  ही  था , जो इस ग्रुप का जो CM था ! उसका कुछ दिनों से तबियत खराब चला रहा था , तो ग्रुप में दिक्कते होनी लगी इसलिए मुझे उनके स्थान पर चुना गया , तब से मै इसी पद पर हूँ ! 10 ग्रुप पर एक CM को चुना जाता है !  मेरा काम है , की हर  week में अलग - अलग समुह में बैठक कराना मैं इन दसो ग्रुप को सही से चलाऊ और भी लोगों को समुह में जोड़ कर कोशिश करूँ ! इसके अलावा कोई ऋण उठा केे देना ! खाता वही का हिसाब करना ऑफिस में इसके लिए meeting में जाना और भी  कुछ जिम्मेदारी का जो हमें करनी होती है !

मैं:    स्वयं  सहायता समूह क्या हैं ?
CM: स्वयं सहायता समूह महिलाओं का ऐसा समूह है जिससे  महिला  राशि का बचत कर खुद की  सहायता व अपने परिवारों का भरण - पोषण करें !  यह पंच सूत्रों से मिलकर बना है !( i) नियमित सप्ताहिक बैठक (ii) नियमित सप्ताहिक बचत (iii ) नियमित ऋण की मांग (iv ) नियमित  ऋण की वापसी ( v) नियमित लेखांकन ...सभी महिलाएं एकजुट होकर सशक्त हो सके , अपने परेशानियों को खुद निपटा सके ! इस समूह का उद्देश्य यही है कि हम सब महिलाएं एकजुट होकर अपना सहायता कर सकें !

मैं: इसमें  पुरुष क्यों नहीं शामिल हो सकते हैं सिर्फ महिला ही क्यों ?
CM:  (हंसते हुए कहती है ) देखिये ऐसे तो  ज्यादातर पुरुष घर में रहते नहीं है !  जो भी घर का देखभाल हिसाब -किताब  करना होता सब महिलाएं ही  करती है ,  और हम महिलाओं में बचत की भावना होती है ! जहां तक होता  हैं हम लोग बचत करने का बहुत कोशिश करते हैं !

मैं :  इस समूह कितने लोग शामिल हो सकते हैं ?
CM :   एक समूह में अधिकतम लोगों की संख्या 15 होती है लेकिन  कम से कम 10 से 12 लोग शामिल जरूर होनी चाहिए !

मैं : आपको समूह बनाने के लिए क्या - क्या करना पड़ता है?
CM: हमें समूह बनाने के लिए अपने गांव के महिलाओं से मिलना पड़ता है और उन्हें इसके बारे में बताना पड़ता है कि इससे हमें  बहुत  फायदा है  ,इससे हम  जुड़कर अपने राशि में बचत कर सकते हैं और भी कई फायदा उठा सकते हैं !

मैं : इस समूह में कौन - कौन से लोग शामिल हो सकते हैं ?
CM: इस समूह में 18 से ऊपर  वर्ष की महिलाएं और 60 वर्ष से नीचे तक की महिलाएं सिर्फ रह सकती है , इसमें गरीब  महिला और  जिसकी आय कम होती है वह शामिल हो सकते है ,  लेकिन आजकल तो सभी लोग इसमें शामिल हो रहे हैं !  जरूरत नहीं कि इसमें सिर्फ पढ़े-लिखे महिला ही शामिल हो सकती है ,  बस इन्हे इनकी कुछ जानकारी होनी चाहिए !

मैं: क्या इसमें आप लोगों की बैठक भी होती है अगर हां तो कब -  कब और कैसे  ?  इस बैठक में क्या-क्या बताया जाता है ?
CM:  जी हां इसमें बैठक होना बहुत ही जरूरी होता है ! क्योंकि इसका अधिकतर प्रक्रिया बैठक के समय ही होता है ! इस समूह का बैठक सप्ताह में एक बार होता है ,  यह C.M के द्वारा कराया जाता है !   सप्ताह के बैठक में ₹10 जमा करना होता है ,  खाता बही और बचत से संबंधित बातचीत भी होती है ! इसका एक और बैठक होती है ,जो महीने में एक बार होती है,  इसे हम V.O Meeting कहते हैं ! इस बैठक में जितने भी ग्रुप होते हैं , सब एक जगह शामिल होते हैं ! जैसे : इस गाँव में total 12 group है , इन बारहों को इस मीटिंग में शामिल होना  अनिवार्य होता ! इस मीटिंग में ऋण के अलावा और भी कई महत्वपूर्ण जानकारियां मिलती है !

मैं :  जहां तक हम सुने आपके अलावा इसमें और भी कई सदस्य शामिल होते हैं ,वो कौन - कौन होते हैं और उनका  कार्य क्या - क्या होता है ?
CM: हां इसमें मेरे अलावा ,  तीन और मुख्य सदस्य होते हैं !  अध्यक्ष कोषाध्यक्ष और सचिव !  अध्यक्ष का काम होता है खाता बही से संबंधित देखभाल करना ,  कोषाध्यक्ष का काम होता है पैसे का देखभाल करना  और सचिव का काम होता है ग्रुप में लोगों को बुलाना और इस पर  सही से कार्य करवाना !

मैं : इसमें आपके बहुत सारे खाता बही भी होते हैं उसमें आपका  क्या क्या कार्य होता है ?
CM: हां  इसमें   पांच पुस्तिकाए  होती हैं , ऋण पुस्तिका, कार्यवाही पुस्तिका ,लेन देन  पुस्तिका ,बचत पुस्तिका, खाता - बही  अन्य ! (इस इस खाता बहि के नाम से आप समझ रहे होंगे कि इसका क्या कार्य होता होगा )

मैं : इसमें खाता खुलवाने का क्या  प्रक्रिया है ? हम कौन कौन सा बैंक में खाता खुलवा सकते हैं ?
CM:  जहां तक मैं जानता हूं , हमारा ग्रुप का खाता बिहार ग्रामीण बैंक में खुला हुआ है ! और भी अन्य बैंको में खाता खुलवा सकते हैं लेकिन इसके बारे में मुझे जानकारी नहीं है !  खाता खुलवाने के लिए सबसे पहले  कम से कम 10 लोगों की जरूरत होती है ,  उनमें से तीन सदस्य को  अध्यक्ष कोषाध्यक्ष और सचिव  को चुना जाता है ,   और सब मिलकर ग्रुप का कोई नाम रखता है जैसे हमारा ग्रुप का नाम है शिव गुरु ग्रुप  खाता खुलवाने के समय इन तीनों सदस्य का फोटो document  और सिग्नेचर लगता है ,  या खाता किसी का पर्सनल खाता नहीं होता ! जब कभी इस से पैसे निकालने की जरूरत होती है तो इन तीनो सदस्यों का जरूरत होता है !

मैं : क्या इस समूह में आप के अध्यक्ष का और भी कोई नियम होते हैं !
CM:  हां इस समूह में  सदस्य और अध्यक्षों के कुछ नियम होते हैं ! सभी को समय पर बैठक बुलाना होता है !  जो ऋण  है उन्हें समय पर वापस करना होता है ! देर होने पर यह लोग ग्रुप मिलकर कुछ फाइन का भी  करते है , जैसे 5रु. या 10 रूपया  उन सदस्यों को देना आता है जो विलंब करते हैं !  अगर इस में से कोई एक लोग ऋण  नहीं पूरा कर पाए तो सभी सदस्यों को मिलकर इसे पूरा करना होता है ,  क्योंकि इस  समूह को हम सब मिलकर के चलाते हैं  न !  इस समय में तो सभी सदस्य नियम बनाते हैं उसे सभी को  मनना होता है ! अगर कोई सदस्य इस ग्रुप को छोड़ना चाहता तो उसने जो भी ऋण लिया उसे  ब्याज के साथ चुकता करना होता है  अथवा अगर वह नहीं लिए हैं   तो उनका जो भी पैसा निकलता है तो उन्हें खाते से निकाल कर दिया जाता है ! फिर  उन्हें आगे मिलने वाले लाभों से वंचित होना पड़ता है !

मैं : अच्छा, अगर हम फायदा पर बात करें तो इससे  जुड़कर आपको क्या लाभ मिल रहा है ?  क्या आप इससे संतुष्ट हैं ?
CM: हाँ , फायदा तो बहुत मिल रहा तभी तो  समूह से जुड़े हुए हैं ! पहले जब कभी  रुपयो की जरूरत होती थी , तो महाजन केे पास से 5 रु. या 10 रु.   सैकडे के हिसाब से ऋण लेना पड़ता था ! जो बहुत ही ज्यादा होता है ,  लेकिन हमे  इससे 1 रु.  ब्याज की दर से ऋण मिल जाता है , और  जैसे से पिछला ऋण चुकाते जाते है और भी ज्यादा ऋण मिलता है साथ ही साथ - RF:  इलाज के लिए अगर पैसा मिलता है ,तो उसका कोई ब्याज देना नही होता और PF के अलावा और भी अन्य लाभ मिलता है !

मैंने : क्या यह प्रगति पर है ? क्या सरकार इसे आगे बढ़ाने केे लिए  सहयोग कर रही है ? future में आप इसे कहाँ तक देखते है !
CM:  हां यह तो बहुत प्रगति पर है , ऐसे  तो यह एक गैर सरकारी संस्था है ! लेकिन महिलाओं का एकजुटता देखकर सरकार भी हम लोगों को बहुत  मदद कर रही है ! अभी हम हर जगह देख रहे हैं कि हर  महिला जीविका से जुड़ी हुई ,  भविष्य में या और भी आगे बढ़ेगा और हम लोग को बहुत मदद मिलेगी इससे !

मैं : क्या I-Sakham के बारे में आप कुछ सुने हैं !
CM: हाँ , मैं तो बराबर देखता हूं कि i- सक्षम के कुछ लोग आपके सेंटर पर आते रहते हैं ! मैं आपके PTM meeting में भी कई बार शामिल हो चूका हूँ ! इसलिए मुझे पता है इसके बारे में !

मैं : क्या आपको पता है , अब i- सक्षम आपके जिविका केे लिए शिक्षा पर कार्य कर रही है कुछ दिन पहले ही जमुई और  खैरा ब्लॉक केे  गांव से  एक- एक ट्यूटर का चुनाव किया गया और उन्हें पटना में एक  सप्ताह तक आवास में रख ट्रेनिंग दिया गया ! अब वे जमुई में रह कर  2 साल तक ट्रेनिंग करेंगे !  और साथ ही साथ वे अपने गांव के  सरकारी विद्यालय में  पढ़ाएंगे ! इसके लिए उन्हें जीविका तरफ से कुछ fee भी मिलेंगे !
CM: ये तो सच -मुच बहुत बड़ा  खुशखबरी है !  मुझे भी इसके बारे में कहा गया था , लेकिन मैं इन बातों को समझ नहीं पाया ! अगली बार जब कहेंगे तो मैं अपनी तरफ से भी एक tutor को देना चाहूंगा !


मैं : क्या इसके बारे में आप अपने तरफ से कुछ msg देना  चाहेंगे , आपके बातों को कुछ और लोग भी पढ़ रहे होंगे  !
 CM: मैं तो इतना ही कहना  चाहूंगा कि आप ही लोग बच्चे का भविष्य है ! जो भी माता है  एवं बहनें हैं  अपने बच्चे को जरुर  स्कूल भेजे ,  और सभी महिलाएं आपस में एकजुट होकर रहें !  जब हम लोग जागरूक होंगे तभी शिक्षा आगे बढ़ेगी !  धन्यवाद !!

मैं : आपका बहुत - बहुत  धन्यवाद रोशनी जी आपने हमें अपना कीमती समय निकालकर इन सब चीजों की जानकारी  बहुत ही अच्छे से दी !

(फिर हम बात - चीत को  समाप्त करते हैं और अपने अपने घर चले जाते हैं )

रोहित  i -Saksham  फ़ेलोशिप बैच दो में है.