Vipasana: Empowering Underprivileged Children Through Holistic Learning

In today's fast-paced and constantly evolving world, education has become an indispensable aspect of every individual's life. However, access to quality education is a privilege that not everyone can afford, especially for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. This inaccessibility to quality education results in millions of children worldwide failing to attain minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, despite attending school.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Education report highlights that over 600 million children and adolescents globally fall into this category, with two-thirds of them in school. It is a significant disadvantage that Indian children from lower socio-economic backgrounds suffer. Inaccessibility to quality education that focuses on the overall development of a child as an individual is a problem that needs addressing.

Shraddha Maanu Foundation's Vipasana program is an after-school initiative aimed at providing a holistic education ecosystem for primary school children located in low-income urban, peri-urban, and rural areas.?The primary objective of the Vipasana program is to cultivate happy and effective classrooms that foster a shift from "passive listeners to active learners," thereby empowering the nation's future builders with the necessary tools and skills for success.

Since its inception in 2018, Shraddha Maanu Foundation has positively impacted the lives of over 700 underprivileged children across Tamil Nadu. The Foundation's curriculum focuses on?FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY?(FLN)?and incorporates child-centric principles that nurture a child's cognitive, moral, emotional, imaginative, social, or spiritual abilities. The program provides a holistic and multidisciplinary learning environment that helps create a happy and nurturing atmosphere for children.

The Vipasana program engages primary school children in after-school education sessions with qualified and trained educators.?Access to quality education is dependent on the availability of quality educators who possess the necessary skills and knowledge to provide an engaging and nurturing learning environment. Capacity building is a very important part of creating impact through Vipasana.?The educators/teachers who deliver Vipasana are trained to keep in mind the requirements of children from low-income communities. They are equipped with teaching methodologies that enable them to effectively engage with and teach students from diverse backgrounds.

At Vipasana, the teacher-to-student ratio is 1:12, allowing for a comfortably-paced learning experience.?The program uses Multiple Intelligence methodologies to transform the syllabus into learning that makes sessions joyful with a mix of lessons, activities, and games. This approach helps students learn better and ensures registry, retention, and recall.?

The Multiple Intelligence methodologies focus on students' core skills and help them develop proficiency in language, math, science?-?FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY SKILLS?and culture. This approach creates an environment of participation, reasoning, and engagement that appeals to every child's unique learning needs. The program aims to build independent learners who are confident in school and in life.

The Vipasana program has a significant impact on children's language and conceptual skills, cognitive and analytical skills, social, cultural and emotional skills. It also builds confidence that paves the way for future and lifelong learning.?The Multiple Intelligence methodology used in the Vipasana program ensures that children receive a holistic education by taking into account the various learning styles and abilities of each child. This methodology recognizes that children possess different kinds of intelligence, such as linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence. By designing the curriculum and learning activities to cater to each child's unique strengths and interests, the program fosters a sense of engagement and enthusiasm for learning. Additionally, the program's focus on foundational literacy and numeracy skills, along with cultural and social skills, ensures that children receive a well-rounded education that prepares them for lifelong learning and success.

The Vipasana program offered by Shraddha Maanu Foundation is a transformative initiative that empowers underprivileged children through holistic learning. By utilizing the multiple intelligence methodology, the program creates an engaging and participatory learning environment that develops language and conceptual skills, cognitive and analytical skills, social, cultural, and emotional skills, and confidence both in school and in life. By providing foundational literacy and numeracy skills and nurturing the overall development of each child, the Vipasana program is paving the way for a future of lifelong learning and resilient future leaders.