Edu programme for tribal kids of Uttara Kannada begins today

Mangaluru: Sahyadri Sanchaya, supported by NRI Vasudev Aithal, will launch ‘Vana Chethana’, a special education programme for tribal children of Uttara Kannada, at the Government Higher Primary School, Nandolli, Yellapur on Monday.
Dinesh Holla, convenor, Sahyadri Sanchaya, who works to uplift tribals and for protecting the environment, told TOI that last year, through the ‘Vana Belaku’ programme, 36 camps to motivate tribal children, who were not attending schools, towards education, were held. As a follow-up, ‘Vana Chethana’ is being launched.“This is an attempt to ensure that children, especially from Siddi, Halakki, Kunubi and Gauli communities, living in the forests of Yellapur, Joida and Anashi, are not deprived of an education during the pandemic,” he said.
“We hope to reach out to at least 40 schools, and Vasudev Aithal has given a new dimension to the programme. All Samveda e-classes of the government, that are also being telecast on DD Chandana, have been downloaded on a pen drive and handed over to a few schools, along with television sets. We have visited every remote village, and realised that either the children have no access to television sets, and if there is a television set, there is no power supply. Aithal has plans of providing solar inverters to schools,” he said.
Nearly 40 resource persons, from across the state, have agreed to volunteer, and take up various activity-based learning initiatives for the children. “We plan to document the programme and submit a report to the government. If it is successful, this model of learning can be implemented in other remote places of the state,” Holla said.
NRI Vasudev Aithal, who has been in the US for the past 26 years, said early education is fundamental to the success of any child. “If we can make that little change in early education, a lot can be achieved. This is an ad hoc programme to help the less privileged communities,” he said.
Government Higher Primary school, Nandolli, headmaster Bhaskar Naik said that the school was provided with a smart TV and a pen drive last week. “This has been helpful, because students and teachers can pause whenever required, and watch the lessons again,” he said.