Madhya Pradesh, January 25, 2021: Driven by the conviction that children’s education is the cornerstone of future growth and progress of our country, Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala, on the occasion of International Day of Education announced that they have successfully empowered one lakh teachers in Madhya Pradesh, through their Digital First initiative to help improve English literacy levels in government schools. The Teacher Empowerment programme which helps teachers improve English proficiency of their students aims to ultimately uplift the lives of many students, making them literate in the language of opportunities; leading to better higher-education opportunities, improved life-long earning potential, and access to a wider world.
The outbreak of global COVID-19 has disrupted education infrastructure in our country. Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh and NGO partner – LeapForWord, has been working towards upskilling teachers in English with the help of technology. The programme uses apps including YouTube and WhatsApp to provide content in a highly structured form to teachers in the state. Considering it has been a challenge for most of the teachers to impart education online, this helps them to get trained but also teach effectively. As part of the training, teachers are also provided with digital-ready aids and self-learning materials through WhatsApp.
Speaking about the announcement, Koshy George, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Limited said, “Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala has always believed that education is the core foundation for our country’s growth. We are glad that we have been able to train one lakh teachers. While we have always been committed to improving education outcomes, these teachers have been instrumental in helping us achieve our vision. Their hard work and perseverance have been key to helping us provide continued education to these children even during the lockdown. We are hopeful to bring more teachers on board who can join in our efforts to harness the power of education and thereby drive positive change in the lives of their students.”
Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala has remained true to its purpose of providing underprivileged children with opportunities and access to education, contributing 5 per cent of the profits of Nihar Shanti Amla towards the same. Under Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala initiative, various programmes such as IVR-based Spoken English programme, App-based Virtual School and WhatsApp-based Teacher Empowerment Programme are being actively conducted to further the cause of children’s education. These programmes are technologically enabled for implementation across India’s Hindi-speaking States. Further, during the nation-wide lockdown, Nihar Shanti Pathshala Funwala launched the PadhaiPe Lockdown Nahi campaign, which ensured students could keep learning English even at home safely.