FAQs for volunteers:
1. What is PRAYAS? What is its objective?
Ans. Yes, I have a dream. You too have one, and even those little kids
have theirs. Why not weave all our dreams together, to create a better society
to live in!
True to its Hindi literal, ‘PRAYAS’ , an endeavour of IIT Kanpur
students, is mainly focused on providing education to the marginalized kids, at
least upto the level where they too can dream big. We try to nurture the zeal
in the kids. Quite understandably, we cherish every moment we spend amidst
them. We strive for the overall development of the children, so they can find
and follow their own way whenever they want. Every child we have a chance to
deal with, has a dormant spark waiting to be kindled. Believing in this
philosophy, PRAYAS was started by some enthusiastic members of the IITK community
as an Evening school and was formally incorporated to be Students’ Gymkhana in
2001. We are a voluntary organization and we do not provide any salary or
formal certificate.
The basic objectives of PRAYAS are:
·
To make quality education accessible to those
who are deprived of it.
·
To inculcate values and provide moral education
to the students.
·
To promote personal development of the students
through various co-curricular activities like Music, Sports, Painting, Debates,
Dance, Poetry, etc.
·
To create awareness about Health and Social
issues and also about the ‘Need of Education’ among the students.
·
To develop a methodology of teaching that would
attract the kids towards Education and prevent Drop-outs.
In short, the Aim of PRAYAS is
‘to Inspire and to Enable’.
2. What does voluntary service mean in reference to PRAYAS?
Ans. By voluntary we mean that it is your free will to join
PRAYAS at any time of the semester according to your convenience. But once you
commit to PRAYAS, you are expected to respect your commitment; because life and
career of a lot many kids depends on this.
3. How do I join PRAYAS?
Ans. There is no formal procedure of registration. Just walk
in to New SAC-105/105-1 during 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM, see how it works and talk to
the coordinators and you will be allotted a specific subject / class as per
your convenience and need at PRAYAS.
4. I joined PRAYAS in a ‘chill’ semester. This semester I am very much busy. What should I do?
Ans. It is
understandable that things change here semester-by-semester and even in a
semester. Considering this, you can leave PRAYAS for week(s) or semester(s) by
informing the coordinators in advance so that proper arrangement can be made in
advance and the functioning of PRAYAS is not affected.
5. Do I get an acknowledgment for my services in PRAYAS?
Ans. We do not impart
any formal certificate to the volunteers but we do acknowledge the services
rendered by the volunteers. If they require it while applying for placements or
other places; provided they have completed at least 100 hours of service at
PRAYAS. The coordinators have the rights to ascertain if the contribution is
worth 100 hours of credits.
6. What is the routine of PRAYAS?
Ans. A typical day in PRAYAS follow the following
chronology:
4.20 pm - All the students reach PRAYAS
4.30 pm - Assembly begins (Prayer, Recitation, Attendance and talk by Volunteer)
5.15 pm - Commencement of classes
6.45 pm - End of classes
6.50 pm - Concluding Assembly (National Anthem)
7.00 pm - Most of the students go home. Students of higher classes have extra classes till 8.00 pm
4.20 pm - All the students reach PRAYAS
4.30 pm - Assembly begins (Prayer, Recitation, Attendance and talk by Volunteer)
5.15 pm - Commencement of classes
6.45 pm - End of classes
6.50 pm - Concluding Assembly (National Anthem)
7.00 pm - Most of the students go home. Students of higher classes have extra classes till 8.00 pm
Please note that these timings are season dependent and
may change from time to time.
7. What is the mode of teaching at PRAYAS?
Ans. We use conventional teaching methods i.e. using
portable blackboards and chalk. But we also use other teaching aids like
projector and demonstrations occasionally, to keep the kids interested in
education. We try to keep the class
interactive and encourage the kids to speak out.
8. Which class will I get to teach?
Ans. The volunteers are asked their class and subject
preferences when they join. While we try to consider everyone’s preferences,
one might be allotted a different class if the need be so (according to
vacancy).
9. What is the minimum commitment required as a volunteer at PRAYAS?
Ans. It is preferable that a volunteer takes care of at
least entire one subject of a class. That may mean 2/3 days per week according
to the class allotted.
10. What is the medium of teaching at PRAYAS? What syllabus do we follow?
Ans. The medium of teaching is Hindi. We follow the UP Board
syllabus as most of our kids go to schools which are affiliated to UP Board.
There might be a few kids from English medium or form CBSE board. In that case,
we try to teach the union of the syllabus and try to acquaint all the kids to
the technical terms in both the languages.
11. Oops!! I am weak at Hindi, how will I teach?
Ans. If you have a will to teach, you will grasp the Hindi
words pretty fast. You can get a lot of help from the resources available in
PRAYAS and the volunteers. We have had volunteers from Andhra who didn’t know
Hindi, but because of their passion for teaching, they kept coming and learnt
Hindi a very decent level and left PRAYAS as one of the most popular
volunteers. Also during our stay in the campus, most of learn decent amount of
Hindi and can this is more than enough to teach the kids if you have the
enthusiasm.
12. What kind of kids come to PRAYAS?
Ans. Kids belonging to low
income groups and living nearby the campus come to PRAYAS. Every kid who studies at PRAYAS
is an achievement. We focus on the holistic development of every kid rather
than the academic development of just the bright students, since the
bright students get opportunities and find their way but the ordinary students
are left out and neglected.
13. Is PRAYAS only 1.5 hours of teaching or beyond?
Ans. PRAYAS is way more than just 1.5 hours of teaching. A
lot more commitment on behalf of the volunteer is required to make a
significant difference. It is very important to realize that the conditions
most of the volunteers grew up in were quite different from the condition our
kids grow up in. In order to teach them efficiently, we must understand their
situation. This can be achieved only when we visit their home frequently and
talk to their parents. Also it makes our job easier if we come to PRAYAS with a
little bit of preparation. Going through the technical terms in Hindi and
having a plan for the day can make things more efficient. Good communication with fellow volunteers
teaching the same class helps to coordinate our plans and target; and also to
recognize kids who need more attention than others. Punctuality and regularity
is something we IITians are not used to; but it is important to realize the
impact our irregularity can have. Missing one class on a scheduled day leads to
2 hours of 10 students (20 hours in total) being wasted. If there is some
urgent work, pre-informing about your unavailability can help us arrange some
alternative. Also it is expected that the volunteers of a given class help the
kids in their assembly preparations. Additionally, if the volunteer wants to
demonstrate some experiment / activity, coming prepared is very important.
14. Can I contribute to PRAYAS apart from teaching?
Ans. There are a lot of ways one can contribute to PRAYAS
apart from teaching. You can contribute by teaching any co-curricular skills
like Music, Dance, Fine Arts, etc. during Sundays. Also you can train the kids
in a specific sport on Sundays and Fridays. You can help in content development
from your hostel rooms. Also you can contribute in developing effective
methodology of teaching. You can also help us in collecting educational
resources like beautiful demonstrations, interactive videos, developing 3D
models, primary kit development, studying the model followed in various other
organizations working in the field of education, etc.
15. What happens in the assembly?
Ans. The assembly is intended to help the students develop
their personality traits like oration, logical thinking, compassion, etc. We
also encourage the students to dream big and try to realize their dream by
giving them career counseling and helping them on case-to-case basis. The
assembly gives the kids a platform to put forward their thoughts and discuss
issue that is not encouraged at their homes. The assembly is interactive with
kids and volunteers asking question after every presentation. The schedule of
the assembly is:
·
Week 1 – Hindi poem
·
Week 2 – English poem
·
Week 3 – Talk (The kids choose a topic and put
forward their own thought regarding the topic)
·
Week 4 – Volunteers
·
Monday – Class 3 & 6
·
Tuesday – Class 4 & 7
·
Wednesday – Class 5 & 8
·
Thursday – Class 9 & 10
·
Friday – Class 11
·
Saturday – Class 12
16. Is attending the assembly important?
Ans. Attending the assembly is very important for the
volunteers. The assembly is the only platform we get to shape the personality
of our kids and build their value system. The kids make mistakes during their
presentations and need to be corrected by volunteers. Also the kids expect that
the volunteers teaching them listen to their presentations and help them
improve. The last week of the month is for volunteers to present something in
the assembly. These presentations may serve as ideal for the kids. The kids can
have a benchmark and try to achieve those levels. Also the volunteers need to
put forward their views in a very balanced way and impart values and good
personality trait to the kids.
17. What are the teaching resources available at PRAYAS?
Ans. We have sufficient amount of portable blackboards,
chalk sets, mats etc. to carry out classes efficiently at any location in the
New SAC. We also have additional teaching tools like visual aids through
multimedia projector, 4 computers to acquaint the kids with them, a fully
equipped science laboratory, some interactive models for primary teaching, home
theatre system and a library consisting of textbooks, reference books and other
books for general knowledge, story books, comics, etc. We have sufficient resources
to teach the kids in a way that would attract them towards education and keep
them motivated.
18. Is reserving one day for sports justified?
Ans. At PARAYS, we teach the kids at their usual play time.
Hence our kids have very limited physical exercise and do not get to play games
and sports. Not all the students are good at studying; there are some who are
more interested in sports or other co-curricular activities. We believe in
providing an opportunity to the kids to explore a plethora of options and
choose the stream that is best suited for them. Also physical exercise would
help the kids to remain healthy. This would help in the kids’ overall
development. Hence we have one day in the week (Friday) dedicated for games and
sports.
19. Why in and around campus only?
Ans. The problem with the education system in India is
ubiquitous. But we have to choose a starting point. What better starting point
than our own locality? We believe that it is our moral obligation to contribute
back to the people who have been serving us for so long. Also proximity factor
plays a pivotal role.
20. Why do we focus on every kid rather than emphasizing on bright kids?
Ans. We cannot bring about a change by selectively helping a
small section. The bright kids always get opportunities to excel while the
average lot remains neglected, especially in the low income groups. And these
are the kids who need special attention. This does not mean that we exclude the
bright kids who come to us.
21. Why is addressing health issue important?
Ans. As we all know, proper physical, mental and social
well-being are important prerequisites for good learning. Of all these,
physical health is the easiest to take care of. We have experienced that many
of the kids in PRAYAS suffer from various ailments, a few having really serious
problems which generally go unnoticed
due to ignorance or are deliberately overlooked due to financial constraints.
So, unless we address this aspect too, we cannot educate kids properly.
22. Why are we planning to help the kids get higher education / jobs?
Ans. We believe that higher education gives a life changing
exposure and is therefore necessary whether one goes for a job or not. In
absence of continued support, the kids generally drop out after 12th
and might feel that what they had dreamed under conducive patronage of PRAYAS
are unrealizable and it might shatter their very faith in education. To
preserve this faith so that they can serve as a strong base for their future
generation, it is necessary to help them till college education.
23. What do we plan for the kids’ higher education?
Ans. Along with regular counseling, encouragement, and help,
financial support in form of book grant, partial fee payment, is imperative for
helping the kids through college. In case of extremely poor financial
condition, we plan to contribute a section of the college fee from PRAYAS.
24. What kind of workshops do we plan to organize and why?
Ans. We believe in the holistic development of our kids’
personality. It is important to expose the kids to various skills and train
them in their field of interest. Many workshops have been organized for the
kids at PRAYAS in the recent past. Some of these are for charcoal sketching,
mime, comics making, etc. Most of these events are serendipitous and unplanned.
These events expose the kids towards many skills which can help them in their
future. Also it provides a refreshing break for the kids from their routine
life.
25. Why are we investing in organizing trips to blind schools, schools for the differently abled and excursion?
Ans. We believe that making the kids aware and sensitive to
social issues is an integral part of their education. Hence organizing trips to
place like blind schools, schools for differently-abled, etc. will help them to
evolve as human beings and appreciate these kids. These trips also serve to
motivate our kids to learn from their experience and try to overcome the
obstacles they face in life. We believe that constant motivation is vital for
the kids to excel.
26. Why do we celebrate major festivals at PRAYAS?
Ans. Generally our kids do not get to celebrate these
festivals at home due to financial and social constraints. So here at PRAYAS we
try to give them a joy, love and affection of these festivities by celebrating together
and distributing sweets. This also helps in nurturing a loving relationship
between the kids and the volunteers.
27. What is the need of the Annual Function?
Ans. The Annual Function is the only opportunity our kids
get to showcase their cultural talents. We believe that this is an integral
part of their education. This event marks the annual highlight of PRAYAS and
serves as a common platform for the interaction of the kids, their parents, the
volunteers and the other campus residents. It helps the kids to boost their
confidence and that of the parents in their kids.
If you have any query related to the above FAQs, please feel
free to contact any of the following:
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