The Future of Education Looks Bright with Alankaar:
Introducing Alankaar India Trust, a registered non-profit organization
founded by a team of 8 accordant professionals in March 2018, to create a
positive learning environment for underprivileged kids. They have centers at
Sec-15 Part 2, Sec-14 & Sec-45 across Gurgaon with a total strength of
around 90 kids.
Their team comprises over 60 active volunteers teaching the
underprivileged children every day a week. Along with teaching, Alankaar is a
community that believes in generating awareness on issues related to society,
environment, and general ethics.
The Primary Focus of the
Organization
Alankaar India Trust is a non-profit organization with the vision to
assist the needy while keeping a unilateral focus on education. They believe in
raising awareness and making education their central focus of their students
themselves, making it important for students to grow and prosper.
Courses and Teaching Staff
Recruitment at Alankaar
They focus exclusively on topics such as English and Mathematics. They
also concentrate on other subjects like Science (Chemistry, Biology),
Computers, Art/Crafts, Moral Science. Apart from this, they conduct regular
awareness sessions on saving our environment, decreasing pollution, health
& hygiene, safety, etc.
Their team of teachers (i.e. volunteers) comprises individuals of
different age groups and educational qualifications which challenge perceptions
and ensures creativity. They hire students as well as working professionals;
priority being what value the individual can add to the organisation.
Since its inception, the Alankaar Foundation is fortunate enough to have
found passionate volunteers who take time out from their busy schedule to teach
underprivileged children after office hours or over the weekend. As of now,
funding is limited to hire paid teachers to teach underprivileged children.
Approaching the Biggest Challenges Faced by Indian Education,
But How?
According to them, the major challenge being confronted by Indian
education is the environment the children are being brought up along with the
mindset of parents. The lack of a practical approach in the teaching methods
seems to have a deep impact on the interest of a child in a particular subject.
Considering India’s diverse cultural groups, they believe that the emphasis
should be made on bridging the language barriers.
The problems in the education system can be approached through providing
good quality education in the schools itself, with a focus on children with
special needs. It is also important to encourage a friendly atmosphere for
children; to give students freedom of creativity.
Raising Funds to Support the Organisation:
Alankaar has a serious policy of not approaching any individual or
corporate for funds or donations, but we do accept voluntary funds. The Alankaar
Community comprises 150 volunteers who voluntarily contribute on a requirement
basis.
As for receiving monetary CSR funds from corporates, Shobhit Saxena, the
Co-founder and Chairman of Alankaar India Trust, highlighted, “No, we haven’t received any monetary
CSR Fund from any corporate to date. But yes, we did receive some contributions
in kind (stationery items, etc.) from various corporations in the past
year.”
Evolving the Future with Digital Learning:
Along with generic academic classes, Alankaar conducts awareness-raising
sessions on subjects like digital learning and promotes overall development by
starting with basics such as MS paint, MS Excel, etc. Awareness activities such
as plantation drives along with fun-based competitions are arranged to
strengthen various skills.
They have also started video learning sessions on Phonetics etc. under their digital learning program last year but due to lack of resources, it was discontinued.
About Shobhit Saxena:
Shobhit Saxena is the Co-founder and Chairman of Alankaar India Trust and is also currently working as a lead solution architect at Tata Consultancy Services, Gurgaon.
To bring underprivileged children to the mainstream, Saxena toyed with the idea of giving free classes to train/educate underprivileged kids academically/ vocationally with a group of committed volunteers.
By: abdulla@kazisoftwaresolutions.com
