ANNUAL REPORT 2002 - Asha for Education

Gyanganga: Jherli is one of the most backward and underdeveloped GramPanchayats in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Gyanganga initially started with improving theeducational environment in the primary school level for Jherli Panchayat consisting of threevillages namely Garinda, Railla & Jherli in Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan. The total population ofthese villages is more than 5,000 and the basic occupations of the villagers are cultivation, dailywagelabor and small business.Projects in FocusThe National Service Scheme (NSS) unit ofBirla Institute of Technology and Science ispart of the National Service Schemeintroduced by the Indian Government in 1969. TheNSS team at BITS-Pilani has been working in nearbyvillages for quite some time. The schooling facility inJherli is up to 10th standard and in Raila and Garinda are up to 5th standard. The Government ofRajasthan runs all the schools. The number of school-going children in Jherli, Raila and Garindaare 273, 87 and 59 respectively. Almost fifty percent of them are girls.In addition to targeting the lowest literacy district, Gyanganga is also attempting to build acommunity based education model that could be sustained beyond the initial funding. Theexecution of the project involves working with the local community, panchayat and thegovernment school (and its teachers) to create an education environment that could be sustainedby the local people with the help from the government. The team is currently in dialogue withSchoolNet India to help us with their experience in developing and implementing a communitybased education model.ANNUALREPORT2002pg: 16