SHIKSHA Plus Jail Program is currently being implemented in seven districts of Uttar Pradesh with Aligarh as the newest addition in the list of districts. A Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed between SHIKSHA Initiative and Aligarh Jail Administration to implement the Adult Literacy Initiative in jail premises on 26th August 2022. Team SHIKSHA Initiative briefed about various programs being run under SHIKSHA Initiative like SHIKSHA KI GOONJ and SHIKSHA KIRAN. A grand inauguration event was organized on 5th September 2022 also marking the occasion of Teacher’s Day. Team SHIKSHA Initiative briefed about the importance of education in our day to day lives and long-lasting impact it has on our lives. Among the prominent dignitaries, Mr. Brijendra Singh Yadav – Senior Superintendent, Mr. P.K. SinghJailer, along with, Mr. P.K. Mishra, Deputy Jailer were present from Aligarh Jail Administration. From SHIKSHA Initiative, Mr. Robin Sarkar-Project Director, SHIKSHA Initiative, Mr. Lalitendra Bhartiya-Senior Project Manager, Mr. Vijay Anand Verma-Adult Literacy Head along with Ms. Bhawana Sharma, Associate Project Coordinator were present.

SHIKSHA Initiative entered a new domain of providing ‘quality education to adolescent girls’ through its SHIKSHA Samriddhi Program which was launched on 26th August 2022 to ensure that young girls complete their schooling and get an ecosystem for holistic development. The program started by adopting the Govt. Girls Inter College (GGIC) Kamlapur, Sitapur, and Govt. Girls Inter College, BB Nagar, Bulandshahr. The purpose of this project is to extend academic support to the girl students of GGIC and develop college environment to promote personality development and increased learning outcomes. The program also promotes ICT medium of education so the classes of GGIC are converted into smart classes. A transformation centre has also been established in the college, where an Interactive Flat Display Panel (IFDP) is installed to conduct ICT-based classes and other holistic development interventions. Mr. Akshat Kumar Verma, Chief Development Officer, Sitapur was the Chief Guest at the launch of the program. He was warmly welcomed by Mr. Mayank Sinha, Associate General Manager, SHIKSHA Initiative, and Smt. Milan Devi, Principal, GGIC Kamlapur.

SHIKSHA Plus Jail Program by SHIKSHA Initiative was started in Gautam Buddh Nagar Jail on 1st May 2018 with aim to fill the gap and ensure the illiterate inmate learners have access to quality education by initiating the literacy program in full vigour. For this, six selected potential instructors (literate Prisoners) were trained by the SHIKSHA Initiative team for teaching with ICT based technology content. The program came to a halt due to pandemic and it was recently resumed post renewing the Letter of Intent (Lol). The letter of intent was exchanged with Jail Superintendent, Mr. Arun Pratap Singh and Mr. Vijay Anand Verma , Head Adult Literacy , SHIKSHA Initiative. Along with the brief discussion on the program approach & design. Till date, ten batches have been completed with 227 learners.

Principal Secretary of the Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh – Mr. Deepak Kumar visited Sitapur office to interact with the team and discuss about the projects run by SHIKSHA Initiative. He was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Vijaya who was equally keen to know about the program. It was a momentous day for the SHIKSHA family as he wholeheartedly appreciated the efforts and extended his support. SHIKSHA Initiative team was also joined by Capt. Vijay Tewari, Administrator, Vidya Gyan, Sitapur Campus, in welcoming our guests. Mr. Kumar was considerate of the challenges, like lack of electricity supply and poor sanitation in the government schools and assured us that his team is taking the necessary action to resolve the same. Later, on behalf of the organization. Mr. Mayank Sinha submitted a proposal to make Shiv Nadar Foundation an official IT Consultant to the Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh.

Shikhar Malhotra, Director, HCL Corporation and Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation and Dr. Ananya Mukherjee, Vice-Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, visited SHIKSHA Initiative’s ICT enabled classrooms under the SHIKSHA Elementary program and SHIKSHA Plus centre under SHIKSHA Plus, Adult Literacy Initiative in Chanderu Village in Bulandshahr district on April 8th, 2022. Mr. Malhotra and Dr. Mukherjee visited Chanderu Primary School and observed the ICT enabled classes, followed by a fun interaction with the students. They also visited the astronomy lab and interacted with the teachers to understand the impact of the program. They also visited the SHIKSHA Plus centre in Chanderu village, where they interacted with the learners and instructor they observed the class delivery at the centre and adult learners learning basic reading and writing and arithmetic.

Roshni Nadar Malhotra, CEO, HCL Corporation and Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation visited all the programs of SHIKSHA Initiative in Koknamau village of Kasmanda Block of Sitapur on 23rd April 2022. Roshni visited Government Girls Inter College, Kamlapur where SHIKSHA’s newest initiative – All Girls School (AGS) is being implemented. She interacted with the girls and motivated them to excel in their lives. Followed by this, she visited SHIKSHA Plus centre in Koknamau village and met with the learners. She also visited SHIKSHA Kiran program, a mobile literacy initiative for children and adults followed by a trip to SHIKSHA Elementary school where Roshni received a warm welcome from the students, and she also interacted with the teachers and discussed about the impact of the program on the development of the students. Roshni Nadar Malhotra wholeheartedly appreciated the impact created by Team SHIKSHA Initiative and wished good luck for upcoming endeavours.

International women’s day was celebrated with around 500 learners across + SHIKSHA batches. To celebrate the essence of women’s day on March 8th 2022, a series of fun actitivities were + organised by SHIKSHA team. Teachers, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, social health workers and Gram Pradhans were the chief guest in the event. Guests in their interaction with the learners dicsussed about the importance of education, women health and safety and women rights. An awareness rally was carried out in Tillbegampur village by learners and the volunteers with an objective to mobilize the community and highlight the importance of education. During the interaction with community, learners shared their personal stories of triumph and how literacy helped them gain their independence and freedom.

Shiksha Initiative organized an induction training for elementary teachers of Govt. and private schools from 4th to 6th October 2021 for 40 teachers (36 government and 4 private) in two groups. The objectives of the training program include enabling teachers to become competent in innovatively employing the tools of technology to supplement their traditional teaching methods and to provide an overview and understanding of educational policies explicitly dealing with ICT integration.

Adult Literacy program of SHIKSHA was resumed in Bulandshahr Jail post relaxations in COVID-19 restrictions keeping in mind the safety protocols. Since most of the programme came to a halt due to the pandemic, SHIKSHA Initiative aimed to fill the gap and made sure the learners have access to quality education by renewing the Letter of Intent (LOI) and initiating the literacy program in full vigour. Three batches for both male and female 40 inmates were initiated within the jail premises.

SHIKSHA Initiative was invited by Mr. Suresh Kumar Singh, Jail Superintendent, Sitapur in December 2021 to discuss regarding Adult Education Initiative in Sitapur jail. Manoj Shukla, + Resource Coordinator (RC) of S has started the process of batch formation with his team members – Bharat Kishor, Gram Panchayat Samanvayak and Gudiya Mishra, Gram Panchayat Samanvayak by identifying the potential learners and volunteers to run the batches in the male and female barracks separately. Four batches with a total of 90 learners have been formed. A Deputy Jailer is assigned by the jail authorities to look after the initiative.