KOTAH PRIDE
(PROJECTS and RESOURCES for INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT and ENGAGEMENT)for STUDENTS and TEACHERS
A Proposal
for Funding Submitted to
Vidya Gyan(A
U.S. based charitable organization)
BRIEF COLLEGE HISTORY:The Jagdish Prasad AdarshVidyaMandirInter
College is located in Village Kotah (Saharanpur district) on
Saharanpur-Muzaffar Nagar highway with its roots as a junior high school
(grades 6-8) since its inception in 1955 under Gram ShikshaPrasarSamitiKotah.It has grown to become an Inter
college with government-aided status up to 10th grade and
self-funded at 11th and 12th grade. The college was
fortunate to receive government approval for offering Physics, Chemistry,
Biology,and Mathematics starting this school year in July/August 2014.
Currently there are a total of about 800 students (450 boys and 350 girls)
studying in the College which is anticipated to grow in the future. The current
students come from 12 villages from within 2-3 km radius of Kotah many of whom
are first generation students from middle to lower middle class families with
little or no guidance of their poorly educated parents. These students have to
pay a higher fees for 11th and 12th grades which is
self-funded with no government aid. The students also have additional financial
burden of buying the text books which are comparatively more expensive.We
believe that students graduating with strong PCM background in 11th
and 12th grade is the first critical step to enable them to compete
in the entrance tests for professional tracks such as engineering, technology,
and medicine and/or admission to degree colleges for completing B.Sc. and BCA.
The students’ success is essentially our mission of providing ‘Adarsh Vidya’ for which this institution
was founded. Additionally, their entry in higher education will be the
essentialstep toward career building and leadership role they will play in the
overall community development in the long run.
KEY AREAS FOR FUNDING:The College has identified the following key areas to request
funding from Vidya Gyan (a U.S. based charitable tax-exempt organization) with
one of its Directors who hails from village Kotah and had completed his 8th
grade education from this very school in 1960. The College leadership and teachers are
committed to developing a partnership with Vidya Gyan aimed at improving
learning among students; encouraging inter-institutional collaboration and
community engagement; building learning
communities and mentoring, and the development of selected facilities and
programs discussed below. The College is requesting funds from Vidya Gyan over
3-4 years to build and sustain PRIDE amongits students who are the future
leaders of this community and beyond.
1.
Science Labs:The College management
has already built the necessary laboratories for hands-on science experiments
but these labs need additional equipment and supplies to offer credible
comprehensive science education for student success.It is our belief that science
is best learned by ‘doing’ and not by rote memorization.
2.
Library: Currently the school has a
modest library with limited resources for teachers to challenge the students
for reading and doing projects outside of their curriculum. Many students from
rural communities are unable to afford essential text books and not even aware of
the advantages of reading books to improve their general knowledge about the
leaders, events, and critical issues in India and the world. The availability
of, and student access to, books in the library will open new avenues for
teachers to assign reading and writing projects as well as encouraging students
to speak on topics researched by them.While we request Vidya Gyan funding for
the library furniture and books, the College will make available a room
measuring approximately 30’X 20’ for the library.
Since students in PCM
track have to pay significantly higher fees, it will be very beneficial if
Vidya Gyan funding will lessen the financial burden on them by providing
science text books on a reduced cost to every student. These text books will be
the property of the library but borrowed by the students for the entire
semester/school year at significantly reduced cost. The books will be returned
to the library in the best possible condition for the use by the next group of
students.
3.
Mentoring and Learning Communities:
Generally the teachers are qualified in the subject matter content but they
have little or no time to offer mentoring and challenging the students
individually and/or in groups. Nor they are sufficiently trained to engage
students in projects that would augment their critical thinking, general
knowledge, and communication (writing and oral) skills. We envision that select
teacher(s) of our college and student mentors from the neighboring Government
Degree College and the Engineering College (located within about 0.5 Km from
our institution) will be encouraged to volunteer and/or partially compensated
for mentoring Learning Communities as a pilot project. The College will develop
an effective mentoring program in close consultation with and technical
assistance from Vidya Gyan leadership and the neighboring institutions. The
College envisions implementing mentoring program across all sections of 9-12
grades over time.
4.
Inter-institutional Collaboration and Community Engagement:The mentoring program discussed above is in itself a step toward
inter-institutional collaboration. In addition, the college in the first year of Vidya Gyan funding will
engage the neighboring institutions in developing appropriate competitive
activities such as debates, speeches, quizzes, essay writing, sports etc. We hope to implement 2-3 competitive events
by the second year of Vidya Gyan funding to facilitate greater collaboration
and interaction between students, teachers, and leadership of these
institutions with an ultimate goal to seek greater parental/community
engagement in such competitive events.
Our College and
Ramabai Govt. Kanya Inter College are located side by side (separated by a
common wall) which makes it relatively easy to collaborate. Therefore the first year of the grant will
also be used to engage Ramabai College leadership in a dialogue to:
(a)
Use the newly established library as a key
resource for inter-institutional collaboration. The first plausible step will
be to allow students of both colleges to borrow books from each other’s
library. In the future the College will explore if library access is possible
with other institutions and community.
(b)
Explore the possibility of
initiating a Learning Community at Ramabai College and eventually have the
students and mentors of these Learning Communities work collaboratively on
projects/activities which are mutually beneficial, practical, and of interest.
ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS, TIMELINE, and
DELIVERABLES:The College understands that
progress and success of various projects/activities funded by Vidya Gyan must
be regularly assessed and documented with relevant data to support the facts.
This will require an ongoing data collection on various projects and proper
accounting of funds to satisfy Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) requirements as
well as to report back to Vidya Gyan. The assessment of progress will
necessitate coordination of efforts among college leadership, teachers and
employees with due emphasis on the teaching and learning activities of students
who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the project. It is important to note that many of the
areas identified above are interconnected and thus the progress must be
monitored in an integrated fashion. One example of integrated progress of the
library will be the records maintained about its use by students and teachers;
what books are they reading and why; what expectations were set by teachers for
various classroom activities/projects which will encourage students to borrow
and read books; use of library resources for mentoring and competitive events
(#4 and 5).
The following is the suggested timeline and
bulleted deliverables as the project proceeds:
PRE-FUNDING
YEAR 0 (March- June 2015): Ground work
·
Project Submission for Vidya
Gyan approval followed by FCRA approval by MHA
·
Develop a list of books,
laboratory equipment and supplies for ordering
·
Funds transferred from Vidya
Gyan, USA to College bank account
PRIDE
FUNDING YEAR 1 (July 2015- June 2016)
·
Science text books procured and
issued to students
·
Functioning labs and library;
librarian hired
·
Develop a curriculum/set of
activities for mentoring Learning Communities
·
Ongoing dialog with neighboring
institutions for collaborative activities
·
Progress and other required
reports submitted to MHA and Vidya Gyan
PRIDE
FUNDING YEAR 2 (July 2016- June 2017)
·
Well-developed
labs/library/learning community at the College
·
2-3 events/activities organized
through inter-institutional collaboration (possibly align with national
holidays such as August 15 and January 26 with a demonstrated effort for
community engagement and participation
·
A Learning Community at Ramabai
College
·
Progress and other required
reports submitted to MHA and Vidya Gyan
PRIDE
FUNDING YEAR 3 (July 2017- June 2018)
·
All projects at the College
fully operational
·
Comprehensive progress report
and other required documents with data submitted to MHA and Vidya Gyan
·
Inter-institutional
collaboration and community engagement is well established
·
Possible request for additional
funding based on prior success and project outcomes
PRIDE BUDGET: The attached budget is developed to carry out the objectives of the
proposed program for three years July 2015- June 2018. It shows a commitment
from the College and other sources, if any. The college management, principal,
and staff are committed to offer supervision, leadership, and voluntary
assistance for the success of PRIDE as described above. In recognition of the importance of PRIDE
activities, the college further commits, in good faith, to use/reallocate its
own resources and/or seek additional support to sustain the project activities during
and beyond the grant from Vidya Gyan.
The College gives its full assurance that
Vidya Gyan funds will be held in a separate bank account as required by FRCA
and proper accounting procedures will be used. The College will also seek
continuous input and technical assistance from Vidya Gyan Board of Directors,
as necessary. The College fully understands its fiscal responsibilities and
using Vidya Gyan grant funds for the intended purpose as discussed in the
proposal. The College will appropriately acknowledge Vidya Gyan funding as and
when necessary including press release(s) and making the community announcement
which might encourage other donors in the future.
(Suresh Chand Saini) (Pranav
Kumar Gupta)
Principal Manager,
College Management
Jagdish Prasad Adarsh Vidya Mandir Inter College
Kotah
(Saharanpur)
