By Team Incident:
A reality in many Indian government schools today is the high number of student dropouts. Due to the lack of guidance and facilities available, many students from poor socio-economic backgrounds become disinterested in studies soon after joining high school. Many are forced to take up jobs by their parents or do household chores as soon as they enter high school. These small kids are expected to become the sole bread earners for their families at a very young age.
In Incident, the annual cultural festival of National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) in Surathkal, a beach schooling programme was initiated last month. Beach Schooling is the flagship event of I-Care, an impactful social initiative conducted during Incident, which is aimed at improving the society we live in. It’s a year-long programme where NITK students volunteer to interact with these kids every day.
Students from poor family backgrounds residing in and around NITK are taught academic and life skills by a group of 10 enthusiastic NITKians. In this modern ‘gurukul’, students are taught not under the banyan tree, but on the NITK beach amidst refreshing air, the enchanting temple bells and the dancing waves of the Arabian Sea. Currently, the programme is conducted in the backyards of the famous Sadashiva Temple in Surathkal.
Tiny tots right from pre-school to pre-teens from high school are mentored. Even though the primary focus is on education, equal importance is given to extracurricular activities as well. Students take part in interesting and fun-filled events like star-gazing, football, cricket, kabaddi, cycling, sand art, etc. The motive behind such activities is to instil confidence in these students and ensure that they bloom into well-rounded, proactive individuals, serving as role models to the society. It also aims to show these kids that economic background will never be a hindrance in achieving their dreams.
The eagerness to learn shown by these kids gives the student volunteers a lot of happiness and satisfaction. They visit the lighthouse every week and gaze at the horizon and get mesmerised by the beauty of nature. Sri Devi, a student from kindergarten, dances and keeps the atmosphere lively. Students sing and create a beautiful atmosphere. Some of them have represented the district in hockey tournaments. This initiative has inspired the kids to such an extent that four members of the same family attend it. Akkamahadevi, a class 4 student, now solves her sister’s math problems, who is a class 7 student! Such is the magic of this initiative! It is the magic that we, at Team Incident, strive to keep alive!
Our mission is to raise awareness about education, get financially or academically poor students interested in studies, make them better individuals by educating them and guide them to the right path of life.
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