Lessons from Practice

By Santhakumar V | Apr 25, 2024

There is a need to collect and market widely a variety of goods and services which can be provided by wet-tropical forests in a sustainable manner. In that sense, carbon finance can also be useful. However, despite the global talk about carbon and biodiversity finance, this money has yet to reach communities which protect forests. A report on the work of a private company in Borneo Island, West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

By Aruna Jyothi and Ira Joshi | Mar 29, 2024

Muktangan​’s work is grounded in the principles of community participation in education. It strongly believes that members of the community must be mobilised to facilitate and sustain change.

By V Santhakumar, Rema Devi | Jan 10, 2019

We look at the work of Quest Alliance with the government schools in the Samastipur district of Bihar. This intervention was started as part of the School Dropout Prevention Pilot (SDPP) programme, a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in four countries during 2011 – 15.

By Santhakumar V, Rema Devi | Jan 29, 2019

It may not be desirable to advocate for a separate curriculum for tribal children. Instead, teaching should be localised to achieve the objectives of the present curriculum.

Lok Biradari Prakalp, Hemalkasa, Maharashtra

By Santhakumar V, Rema Devi and Anant Gangola | Dec 13, 2023

It has been noted that Scheduled Tribe families with a literate head of the household have a significantly lesser chance of being below the poverty line. Similarly, even a few years of school education may enhance the chances of getting rural non-farm employment which has notably a higher wage than agricultural work.

By Santhakumar V and Rema Devi | May 11, 2023

In Gujarat, the line departments remain the nodal agencies for the implementation of almost all development and welfare schemes. This limits the local decision-making process and reiterates the dependence of local bodies on state and central governments for resources and programmes. 

By Kaustubh Rau and Monica Kaushik | Feb 7, 2023

The model of conservation of village commons shown by the Kunjer Gram Panchayat is easily replicable and can be replicated across the state. It is recommended that regular training programmes be offered by the District Administration where village officials from all districts in Rajasthan can be called to see the benefits associated with such conservation measures.

Grassroots Leadership Development Programme, CORO, Mumbai 

By Santhakumar V and S Das Antoni Arokianathan | Dec 13, 2022

Women need to understand the deep-rooted social beliefs that make them dependent on their husbands. They need to view education and employment as the main basis for their personal, financial and social security and then see marriage as a possible relationship between two equal human beings.

Grassroots Leadership Development Programme, CORO, Mumbai 

By Santhakumar V and S Das Antoni Arokianathan | Dec 1, 2022

Almost all the Fellows came not only from poor families and marginalised groups but also from difficult and/​or disabling circumstances. Most of them encountered different forms of discrimination. Girls and women have faced sexual harassment and violence in their social context. 

By Santhakumar V and Subrat Kumar Mishra | Nov 16, 2022

In this essay, we look at the work of Utthan sahayaks in supporting those children who are identified as lagging behind in learning. This is based on a short-period fieldwork in three schools in the Mundra region of Kutch district in Gujarat.

By Santhakumar V and Subrat Kumar Mishra | Sep 28, 2022

We take a look at the Gyanodaya project of the Adani Foundation in the Godda district of Jharkhand. As part of this, the Foundation has provided basic infrastructure (including TV sets) for smart classrooms and digital learning materials to 293 government schools in the district. These learning materials, prepared by ​‘Eckovation’ – an edu-tech company, are based on the Jharkhand State Board syllabus.

द्वारा: शेफ़ाली त्रिपाठी मेहता, अंकुर मदान | Feb 9, 2022

दिव्यांगता सम्बन्धी जागरूकता पर आरुषि द्वारा निर्मित लगभग 120 पोस्टर बांग्लादेश, श्रीलंका और पाकिस्तान के गैर‑सरकारी संगठनों सहित, सरकारी एजेंसियों और निजी संगठनों द्वारा इस्तेमाल किए जाते हैं, जो दिव्यांगता से सम्बन्धित मुद्दों के लिए समर्थन जुटाने और जागरूकता फैलाने के लिए इस्तेमाल में लाए जाते हैं। उर्दू, असमिया, गुरुमुखी, बंगाली और तेलुगु सहित कई भारतीय भाषाओं में अनुवादित पोस्टर देश भर में प्रदर्शित किए गए हैं।

द्वारा : वी शांताकुमार एवं सुब्रत मिश्रा | Jan 25, 2022

सामुदायिक वन अधिकारों के प्रभावी और सतत उपयोग की दिशा में आम्ही आमच्या आरोग्यसाठी (AAA) के प्रयास उल्लेखनीय हैं। उनके द्वारा लगभग 560 परिवारों को शामिल करते हुए ज़िले के कोरची ब्लॉक के छह गाँवों में सामुदायिक वन अधिकारों के प्रभावी प्रवर्तन के लिए आदिवासी सामुदायिक संगठनों, ग्राम सभाओं को मज़बूत बनाने के लिए कार्य किया जाता है। इन क्षेत्रों में गोण्ड और कंवर जनजातियाँ निवास करती हैं। प्रयासों का उद्देश्य स्थाई कटाई, और स्थानीय वन, कृषि वनस्पतियाँ और पेड़ उगाने के माध्यम से आजीविका के अवसरों को मज़बूत बनाना था।

द्वारा : वी शांताकुमार एवं रमा देवी | Jan 10, 2022

आनन्दशाला कार्यक्रम के प्रभाव को देखने के बजाय, यह रिपोर्ट भारत के इस हिस्से में स्कूली शिक्षा में सामने आने वाली बड़ी चुनौतियों पर ध्यान केन्द्रित करती है और इन्हें दूर करने के लिए सम्भावित रणनीतियों का भी सुझाव देती है। हम उस भूमिका पर ध्यान केन्द्रित करते हैं जो आनन्दशाला जैसे हस्तक्षेपों द्वारा निभाई जा सकती है और इस कार्यक्रम द्वारा अपनाई गई कुछ निश्चित मुख्य प्रक्रियाओं की पहचान करते हैं।

By Gowthama Rajavelu | July 20, 2021

In terms of the larger insights and learning, this course gave a big picture of EVS to teachers. They could see the importance of taking children out and using the outdoor environment as an effective approach for developing appropriate EVS skills and sensitivities.

By Shankar K | Apr 8, 2021

The challenge of an online course lies in making it interactive and lively to sustain the interest and attention of the participants. In Puducherry, compared to English and Mathematics, there are very few in-service capacity development programmes conducted in Tamil teaching.

By V Santhakumar, Pallavi Deshpande, Akansha Singh, Subrat Kumar Mishra | Feb 5, 2021

The foundation has partnered with a local NGO to implement HBMNC in this area. Young women from the region who have received education up to an undergraduate level or diploma in midwifery or nursing are enlisted for this program. Each of these young women works with about 15 – 16 ASHA workers to enhance their awareness and capacity and ensure that essential care is given to pregnant mothers.

By Gowthama Rajavelu and Naveen Kumar | Dec 24, 2020

In a face-to-face session, the facilitator can always know the participants’ state of mind and can crack a joke or play a game to break the monotony and capture their attention. Also during a face-to-face interactions, power point presentations are only secondary; the facilitator is the primary point of interaction. In online sessions, PowerPoint presentations, play a central role in keeping the participants engaged as a facilitator cannot see the reaction of the participants and the participants cannot see the facilitator.

By Santhakumar V and Rema Devi (with response from KVM) | Dec 18, 2020

The organisation receives funding from individual donors from India and abroad (non-resident Indians). Though ​‘giving’ for charity, altruistic or social purposes is catching up among Indians, this is not enough for an adequate amount of resources flowing towards social purposes. Though many middle-class Indians afford to provide some money towards this, they are yet to see the importance of doing so. There is a lot more money flowing towards religious purposes and festivals than for social purposes.

By Guru Moger | Nov 6, 2020

In the present context of teacher professional development process, the TLC core committee has an important role to play. The TLC is a platform for teacher development through various modes but sustaining and motivating a group of teachers around the TLC to regularly engage in events needs concerted efforts. This is only possible when stakeholders from within the system come together to take the responsibility of identifying the professional needs of teachers and design suitable events to support them. The core committees are playing this role in most of the TLCs in the NEK region.

By Santhakumar V, Rema Devi, Rupsi Garg | Nov 12, 2020

Will the presence of a set of successful organic farmers in Punjab, and the general perception of the safety of organic food products, encourage the majority of farmers in the state to move away from agriculture which uses chemical inputs excessively? Such a movement is needed if the negative impact on soil, water and other dimensions of the natural environment is to be reduced. 

By V Santhakumar, Kerry Shephard and Ritika Gupta | Aug 20, 2020

In general, people are probably reluctant to adopt those eco-friendly behaviour that have a significant personal cost, even though they are aware of the importance of doing so. This is evident from the correlations seen in empirical studies between environmental attitude and low-cost pro-environmental behaviour, such as recycling.

By Shipra Suneja and Rema Devi | Dec 6, 2019

Lakshmi Murmu Smriti Vidyalaya in Chaachanpur, West Bengal run by the Chaachanpur Mahila Kalyan Samiti is an initiative by two women who believed that only education could bring empowerment among the Santhali community.