A new generation of readers in Deodurg Taluk

Providing opportunities for children to realise their potential © CASP/Plan

In Deodurg Taluk, a rural area, Plan and local partner SAMUHA worked with parents to identify what could be done to improve literacy rates amongst children.

‘Supplementary Schools’ were the result of the collaboration, offering easily accessible, quality educational facilities that provide essential life skills and not just reading, writing and basic arithmetic.

Run by local teachers under the banner of Shikshakara Samuha (Teachers’ Community), they function on a ‘quality school education program model’. Learning is self paced and the emphasis is on a secure learning foundation.

Habeeb Pasha, the teacher in Kurlewardoddi village, where a supplementary school opened 18 months ago, recollects, "The community here refused to send their children to the government primary school which is nearly two miles away... It took quite some time to convince each one to give me their support.”

All Supplementary Schools are now treated on par with government run schools, which entitles them to all the benefits and affiliates accredited to government schools. The future looks bright for the children in Deodorg Taluk.