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Indicorps-Saath Learning Program

Aasmå is a learning program for street children from Navrangpura and other nearby locales in Ahmedabad. Its aim is to motivate children who have dropped out of school to earn livelihoods to recognize their own potential, to reach for their individual ‘skies’. It works to inspire in children a love for learning that enables them to transcend the physical and psychological limitations often imposed on them through living and earning an income on the streets. Aasmå sees education as a possible route to self-belief and respect for others. The program is designed to provoke curiosity about the world, tolerance and commitment – qualities that will enable children to navigate their lives in the direction of their aspirations as well as sensitise them to the needs of others.

Aasmå also works to integrate its students into formal schools after attending classes for a period between 8 and 12 months. It functions as a bridge program, preparing a group of children to meet learning targets in Math and Gujarati (outlined by the National Curriculum Framework) for grade one level students in government schools. Our hope is that after working with us and becoming acquainted with a simultaneously creative and disciplined scholastic environment, students (and their parents) will be moved to add to their knowledge beyond the exposure to basic literacy, numeracy and life skills we can offer them.

Aasmå is currently working with a group of 12 students who are between 7 and 13 years old. Classes are held Wednesday to Saturday between 2.30 and 4.30 pm at Mount Carmel School. We teach reading and writing in Gujarati and elementary math as well as hygienic awareness and life skills. Midday meals are provided twice a week when the local temple does not offer them. All of this is conducted by committed volunteer teachers who work alongside the general supervisor of the program in designing curriculum and lesson planning. Classes in core subjects involve oral work, group activities which reinforce conceptual clarity, practice through exercises and weekly worksheets and a monthly outdoor session that attempts to connect the knowledge acquired in classes to the children’s regular routines beyond them. Efforts are also underway to organise our life skills course further and include themes like respect for all religions and gender equality alongside co-operation, responsibility and conflict resolution. Aasmå is a recent project, made up of individuals who are for the most part new to children’s education, so we are continually trying to strengthen our curriculum, develop more effective teaching methods and add motivated individuals to our staff.

The program is a joint initiative by Indicorps and Saath, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to rendering human settlements more equitable through education and infrastructure building.

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