Today we visited the Rangpar village school which is about 15 minutes away from the Wadhi campus. Students from grade 5 have partnered with the village school and go there once or twice a week to work with the students in small groups; either sports, reading and English, or computers. We were accompanied with four 7th graders who were the first one in the partnership program. Prior to our visit we met with them and they explained the program etc... I was blown away by how introspective they were; how they realized that not only did the village children benefit but how they also grew and learned.
This is a small village of about 600 people. I had some preconceived ideas of what the village would look like (I was anticipating huts, dirt roads etc...) but the village was different. Brick buildings, main area, temple etc... We were told that this is due to its proximity to Rajkot and in 5-10 years it would be just a suburb of the city.
The students were very welcoming, there were about 80 total, grades 1-8. The students would then go on to another school for grades 9-10, and then another one for 11-12. This is a Guajarati medium school, meaning the students are taught in Guajarati the state language. However, like all students they will also study a 2nd and language, typically Hindi and English. We were also told that 15-20 years ago the majority of students would not continue their education and many would get married young however today about 70% will continue on after grade 9 and many aspire to go to college. As we have seen language continues to be a barrier....many jobs require English and while there are many colleges in the state language students will have to known and understand English for the other colleges.
When we arrived at the school they had an assembly and performance for us, then we were shown around the school. It is small with 3 rooms and 4 teachers. The grades are typically mixed together. The government provides the school with the supplies and lunch for the students.
Making Lunch
Computer lab
Lunch is served to encourage poorer students to attend school.
This is where lunch is served from.
Random scenes on the way to the village school
This is a small village of about 600 people. I had some preconceived ideas of what the village would look like (I was anticipating huts, dirt roads etc...) but the village was different. Brick buildings, main area, temple etc... We were told that this is due to its proximity to Rajkot and in 5-10 years it would be just a suburb of the city.
The students were very welcoming, there were about 80 total, grades 1-8. The students would then go on to another school for grades 9-10, and then another one for 11-12. This is a Guajarati medium school, meaning the students are taught in Guajarati the state language. However, like all students they will also study a 2nd and language, typically Hindi and English. We were also told that 15-20 years ago the majority of students would not continue their education and many would get married young however today about 70% will continue on after grade 9 and many aspire to go to college. As we have seen language continues to be a barrier....many jobs require English and while there are many colleges in the state language students will have to known and understand English for the other colleges.
When we arrived at the school they had an assembly and performance for us, then we were shown around the school. It is small with 3 rooms and 4 teachers. The grades are typically mixed together. The government provides the school with the supplies and lunch for the students.
Making Lunch
Lunch is served to encourage poorer students to attend school. 
This is where lunch is served from. 
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