With generous support from the Guru Krupa Foundation, C2C continues to help an increased number of at-risk girls succeed in their education and personal lives. The Guru Krupa Foundation’s funding has allowed us to support disenfranchised students at the Eklavya School run by Muni Seva Ashram for the last two years. With additional support, we have been able to expand this summer to a second residential campus that will serve almost 200 vulnerable girls in total.
Located in Gujarat, the Eklavya School is unique in that it is a joint venture between the local state government and the school with the goal of serving largely tribal populations from nearby villages. This arrangement helps to solve a problem faced by many people in tribal areas of Gujarat where several villages must share one K-5 school which are often located in peripheral areas, lacking infrastructure and security. Therefore, school enrollment for girls post-5th grade is lower in these regions compared to the national standards in India.
Serving grades 6-12, the girls who attend the Eklavya School are generally first-generation learners in their families and come from the tribal and poverty-stricken communities of the Vadodara region. In alignment with the C2C curriculum and with support from the Guru Krupa Foundation, we have hired residential teachers and implemented intensive teacher training and other curriculum delivery support for C2C Techlab, English, and Vedic Mathematics courses. The goal is to give students the opportunity to develop strong reading, writing, and computer skills as well as to learn important life skills like confidence, creativity, communication, and critical thinking.
The success of our programs and the Guru Krupa Foundation’s support is evident in the graduation rates of the students. For the school year ending in April 2022, the girls in both grades 10 and 12 achieved a 100% passing rate on their board exams. Additionally, three of the C2C girls were admitted into locally well-known undergraduate institutions offering BAMS, BDS, and computer engineering programs. Another Class 12 girl secured admission into a nationally known university – the National Institute of Technology in Surat. All of the other students chose to pursue undergraduate programs across various STEM areas such as physics, chemistry, biology, and nursing.
Both the students and the principal at Eklavya School attribute their success to the knowledge and skills acquired through the C2C Techlab, English, and Vedic Math programs.
Sarekaben, a recent high school graduate and current nursing school student, reports that “C2C programs help me in hospital computer management with proper communication with others. Thanks to C2C for training me in the right direction. Enjoyed classes and now missing those beautiful days of school life.”
Kolcha, a 9th class student in the Eklavya School, reports that despite a number of family difficulties that have made it challenging for her to study properly, she is determined to continue her education and help her family.
Kolcha wants to become a doctor or a cardiologist one day. “C2C provide me so much knowledge in the subject of Computer and English,” Kolcha says. “After joining computer class, I am able to work with computer; my fear got away, and my English is now at a stage from where I can understand the content which I read or someone describe me.”
The students’ successes intensify our determination to continue our work and mission. With the help of supporters like the Guru Krupa Foundation, we will continue to expand both our physical campuses and our comprehensive curriculum so that girls like Serakaben and Kolcha can achieve their lifelong dreams.