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My project, ‘Athvaya’ is a proposal for a complementary plug-in module for schools. The word ‘complementary’ indicates that it is inclusive and right away adopted into the system. It is not alternative ( optional) nor is it supplementary (marginal in net effect).
‘Athvaya’ aims to bring in the missing links in a child’s educational environment and fill in the gaps by focusing on one-to-one mentorship for every child and helps each child learn by himself/herself. It focuses on the schools as the main stakeholder and models the project around it with parents, teachers and other stakeholders, keeping them all in synergy. Parents are seen as important mentors to their children and schools are used to connect to newer activity based teachings and instructions for children.
The scope of the design process was decided after the synthesis of research that emerged from three live field studies titled ‘Project Inteple’, ‘Project Shwas’ and ‘Project Hands for Change’ . The methodology involved setting a stage for compelling engagement and a continuing relationship for the project, identifying the nature of the content by examination of existing lacunae in the system, to strategize and develop new inspired environs for the sustainability of this new model.
The final deliverable included a well-defined, tangible and identifiable plug-in-module which was introduced to all stakeholders. The live version of ‘Athvaya’ has been named ‘Inteple’ .
I am pleased to have been able to use strategic design thinking in the field of early childhood education, thereby making a contribution to India's development. |