Concept:

“Ekal Abhiyan” (The One Teacher School Movement) gives primary education to the underprivileged children to the mainstream of life by taking education to their doorstep in rural & tribal villages. Basic primary education for children in these remote villages would enable them access to further higher education. Even if some students cannot move further for whatever reasons, the basic education of reading, writing, arithmetic, and awareness of hygiene, cleanliness, local sports, rights, moral values, etc. would equip them suitably to live a better life. The need for arranging formal education was manifold like infrastructure and trained teachers which were not easy to manage, the former for financial constraints and later for the availability of trained teachers from the same areas. Arranging teachers from outside was (and still is) not a feasible option for the teachers not well versed with the local language and dialect were not capable of communication with children nor were facilities available for their stay in these remote areas or for commuting from nearby towns.

Value addition:      

The team with 30 years of experience working with tribal and rural communities has taken up integrated and holistic development of villages with special interventions in areas beyond education: health and rural development. The organizational structure developed over three decades providing deep access to remotest areas has been further harnessed for the purpose. Health (Arogya Foundation): Health camps are organized in each block where Ekal schools are run, twice a year catering to various expert medical services to rural communities including free medicines. A special project to eradicate anemia was taken up with women in the age group of 12 to 45 years and children of 2 to 10 years of age and covered 990 villages with a trained health worker functioning in each of these villages. Recently, a telemedicine project was started in Odisha and Jharkhand. Close to 3,000 medical professionals support these services as volunteers.

Development (Ekal Gramothan Foundation): To enhance the income of families, various projects have been undertaken like organic farming, tree plantation, skill development, de-addiction, etc. 19 Mobile computer labs are in operation in remote tribal villages to bridge the digital divide.

Empowerment: The empowerment of rural communities is addressed by educating them on governance issues and tools like RTI through weekly adult schools.

Sanskar: Weekly gatherings are held to inculcate cultural values like de-addiction (from liquor and tobacco), social harmony, patriotism, etc.

Ekal Vidyalayas Structure:

We select a young Matriculate i.e. 10th Pass Boy or a Girl from the same village with the consent of the Village Panchayat & appoint him the teacher. She/he is being trained regularly in six to eight training camps in a year & starts a three-hour non formal school, daily, in an open or a place organized by the Village Panchayat as per time convenient to villagers.

A stationary kit consisting teacher-guidebook, charts, blackboards, notebook, attendance register, etc. is provided by Ekal local Sanch office. Children in the age group of 6 to14 yrs are persuaded to join Ekal Vidyalayas. An Ekal supervisor from the nearby Sanch Office visits every week to overlook operations. Children share their poems, rhymes & lessons with their parents & the change in behavior of the children is being observed by villagers.With time, Village Panchayat & teachers being a part of the same society, take interest & morally adopt the school.Children get an education at Ekal Vidyalayas for four to five years & become capable to join formal schools in the 3rd to 5th class. We keep track of attendance, the boy’s vs. girl student ratio & conduct two written exams in a year.All these operations are being supervised by the Village supervisory body, our offices in cities, states & all India levels.

During the beginning of the Academic session, the Ekal supervisory body from the nearby city visits the parents in the village & students encourage & help students to join the formal school, normally about 5 to 10 kms from the village.

• Syllabus & Curriculum: A national level body of Ekal Abhiyan has designed the monthly wise Syllabus for every year for the smooth functioning of Ekal Vidyalaya. The syllabus of basic education included awareness of health, general cleanliness, sanitary conditions, hygiene, sustainable development & empowerment for self-reliance. Education includes playing, physical training, storytelling, songs, dance, music, yoga and games are essential parts of the system. The syllabus includes: Basic primary education, Health, general cleanliness, sanitary conditions, hygiene, Information about health hazards and preventive methods.The Non-formal method of teaching helps children learn fast. Children studying in Ekal Vidyalayas get a proper learning experience under the guidance of their local teacher from the same village.
• Enrollment of Students:Our selection process is just the children of the age group of 6 to 14 years of age irrespective of religion, caste, or creed. Any child in the village can join Ekal Vidyalaya Teachers and Gram Samiti to persuade & enroll children living in villages.
• There are approximately 25-30 students in a school.
• Activities carried by students in a day: A defined curriculum includes basic education, Storytelling, poems, songs, ethics, and health education.
• Monitoring of the Ekal Vidyalayas in terms of physical and social milestones: A well-defined system is in place to monitor and administer the Ekal Vidyalayas operation is in place.
• Our first supervisory body is the Gram Samiti formed with the consultation of our Ekal nearby office & the Gram Panchayat.
• We have a Sanch Office on 30 Ekal Vidyalayas & a supervisor supported by a two-wheeler who keeps visiting & supervising the Vidyalaya operations.
• On regular bases reports of Vidyalaya are sent to Sanch Office.
• On 16 Sanch we have an Anchal Office supervising 16x30=480 Vidyalayas. [Something like District/ Jila].
• Four to Five Anchal offices report to the Bhag office [480x5=2400 Vidyalayas app]. Thereafter, Main City offices, State office, Regional & head office.
• Program Implementation: The full-time volunteers placed at various levels are the strength and the backbone of the Ekal movement. Their feedback is the key to proper planning, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation which becomes the basis of success for the implementation of a large-scale but low-cost education program.The day-to-day affairs are being looked after by full-time Karyakartas of the organization who are designated on various levels for the purpose.