Bengaluru Students Award-Winning Social Enterprise Bridges Education Gaps In Rural India

Award-Winning Social Enterprise – While education has traditionally crossed the divide between the haves and have-nots, many people have found it difficult to continue their education due to a lack of regional language programmes, particularly in higher education. While the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes the use of regional languages in higher education, the question of which programmes can be created efficiently persists. 
 
Students will not be deprived of technical knowledge by studying in the regional language. A scientific mindset can be cultivated by developing curriculum for STEM programmes. While it is unlikely that technical phrases can be translated verbatim in regional languages, a hybrid approach can be devised. 
 
Students will be better equipped to solve local problems with a global attitude if higher education programmes are offered in regional languages. We can at least close the gap between the English-speaking population and those who talk in their native tongues by valuing our languages. Finally, when paired with skill development, this will assist in the formation of professionals capable of transforming the country from the ground up. 
 
The ‘Sitara‘ team has created content to teach Class 10 students Math and Science. They also recently won the 6th Edition of Azim Premji University’s National Level Science Enterprise Idea Challenge, which attracted 100 teams from all over the country.

Award-Winning Social Enterprise

Detecting the flaws

One of the team’s three members, Shriya Shankar, presented the idea following a personal encounter. She and her teams visited detention houses around the state in 2019 and discovered an education gap. They noticed that while there was internet content producing videos, they lacked a personal touch, particularly in the local regional tongue. 
 
The team spent a year at the home with those children to figure out how they would enjoy the learning process. Because YouTube and WhatsApp are the most accessible platforms, the team decided to use their content there. 
 
Further, they have branched their activities into two lines of work: STEM-related, aka, math and science concepts; and 21st-century skill learning – wherein the team explores a variety of curriculums to have the children think critically, be empathetic and work well in a team. The trust works with government schools and children’s homes in Bengaluru and engages with 10-18 year- olds. 
 
They have 12,900 children who subscribe to their Youtube channel and have spent more than 42,000 hours learning from our content. According to the team, over 31% of subscribers engage in personal interaction to better understand lessons.

More than Kanglish

Sitara also undertakes ‘Citizenship Classes’- a two-month engagement with the children where they are taught their basic rights, and life skills such as how to apply for a Voter ID, how to file a FIR/RTI, etc. 
 
With little access to decent schooling since the epidemic struck and the SSLC Board exams looming, the student-led NGO got down to business. The Foundation has been making SSLC test content in Kannada available on YouTube for free. 
 
All of this is in addition to the trust’s many other projects, such as curating curriculums, promoting learning through creative modules, and teaching life skills. 
 
Ananya V, Shriya Shankar, and Srushti Jayaramu have also stated that they intend to work full-time on ‘Sitara.’ 
 
“Anxious students were contacting and messaging before the Class 10 board exams during the pandemic,” Ananya adds in an interview. “I used to work with a Class 6 girl from an ashram in Bengaluru who was reluctant to talk in front of others,” she recalls of personal gratification and appreciation for their work. Sitara, on the other hand, walked up on stage on her first anniversary and spoke about her time with us. It demonstrated that we are not only concerned with education but also with developing relationships and fostering confidence in our pupils.”