A fortuitous encounter with a domestic help challenged preconceptions about their education levels & English proficiency, prompting a needs assessment in low-income neighborhoods.Results showed that marginalized, educated women aspire to be financially independent but face familial & gender-based biases. This assessment underscores the pressing need for interventions that empower these women.
UPASANA is a certificate program in multiple intelligence,to train marginalized women as primary school educators.The program aims to build their physical, emotional, social and cognitive skills,helping them realize their potential as changemakers and future leaders of India.Participants become a part of a supportive network of women.
The program involves 150 hours of classroom instruction and 3 months of on-the-job training, & has successfully reached over 170 women to date.Remarkably, 42% of certified women have become after-school educators at our microcenters, working part-time,while approximately 20% have become edupreneurs teaching primary school children from grades 1-5.
The curriculum is based on the primary school state board syllabus in Tamil Nadu,India,and is delivered mostly online using video conferencing & collaborative platforms.Participants learn to use the internet to perform research for classroom projects, and utilize online resources like YouTube & others.
1. In the past 1-2 years, the pandemic, provided an opportunity to transform UPASANA's program delivery from being an urban-centric classroom training to an effective online training program, reaching women in need in peri-urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu.
2. Restructuring the beneficiary selection process has increased engagement rates upon completion of UPASANA, enabling us in identifying passionate women eager to make a positive impact in the lives of underprivileged children. It also increased our reach to impact more children.
In the next 2-3 years, our goal is to impact 500 marginalized graduate women in creating resilient livelihoods and crafting happy & effective classrooms for 5000 primary school children, empowering them to become independent learners after class 5.
1. To adopt our solution, someone interested can connect with us to understand the program structure, methodology and curriculum.
2. We can collaborate to customize the program & its delivery for their specific context (rural/urban, language), including beneficiary selection.
3. We can support in monitoring & evaluation to ensure effective implementation & impact.
