Ganga Box: Schoolnet India begins a public awareness campaign in collaboration with NMCG and GIZ

by Shrutee K/DNS

The campaign targets to reach teachers and students across 50 schools in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and German development agency (GIZ) in India are working together on the bilateral cooperation project 'Support to Ganga Rejuvenation'; in which participatory and hands-on learning, transformational learning resources are designed for the Indian schools to bring out attitudinal and behavioural change in the school children towards conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga river.

To revitalize the Ganga river and establish its significance amongst teachers and school students, Schoolnet India Limited as an implementing partner trained 100 teachers across 50 schools in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to raise awareness and sensitize the teachers towards use of participatory and hands-on learning tools and approaches including games, which then will be further integrated into subject curriculum.

Emphasizing on the need for the awareness, Schoolnet India Limited, team lead Mr Vagish Jha said, “Cleaning the Ganga has remained a perennial attraction for many and every minute efforts to restore Ganga to its former glory plays a substantial role. Rejuvenation of any river and Ganga, in particular, is not possible until and unless the public is aware of its responsibility and plays an active role. We believe in the immense potential of these young school children to greatly influence their families and friends spreading awareness about the conservation of the river and keeping it clean.”

This intervention will be carried out in four different phases. In the preliminary stage, a group of teachers will be trained to carry out innovative and interactive teaching methods to integrate the message of Ganga Box effectively in the classroom. In the second phase, the teachers will roll out the Ganga Box in their schools and classrooms and be technically supported and hand-held while they do the roll-out. In the third phase, potential teachers who could act as a facilitator to form the state resource pool will be identified based on the first two phases. These teachers will then be trained as ‘master facilitators’ who would, in turn, train teachers in other schools, thus supporting the implementation of the ‘Ganga Box’. A closeout dissemination workshop will be held with multiple stakeholders to (a) share the experiences and lessons learnt and get a feedback and (b) discuss the plan for taking this forward and need for further support, if any. (http://www.schoolnetindia.com/)

Schoolnet India Limited (Schoolnet), along with its subsidiaries, focuses on the global “demographic dividend” opportunity, with its 3Es agenda (Education, Employability and Employment) through 3 key offerings:

Edtech solutions to K-12 schools for improved teaching-learning-assessment outcomes

Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) services for enhancing employability and job-linkages

Providing English language education and skills to enable a global-ready workforce

Over the years, Schoolnet Group has created significant reach and impact at scale through its owned and diversified intellectual properties and partnerships with more than 45,000 institutions. Having established its presence across 32 States and Union Territories of India, in more than 40,000 schools and with a network of 200 Institutes of Skills, Schoolnet directly impacts 15 million people on a daily basis, with a potential to reach out to a further 120 million in the catchment. Globally, Schoolnet delivers programmes in 17 countries of Africa, the Middle East and South-East Asia.