In a room full of fifth grade students, Mamata Rani, one of the teachers read aloud to students from a Hindi story book during the weekly library period at a government school in Uttam Nagar, New Delhi. The reading exercise is a part of Room To Read India, a San Francisco based non-profit organisation’s Literacy Programme in collaboration with the Government of India. The aim of the programme is to help primary school students develop into independent readers. “We have set up libraries across 77 government schools in Delhi alone to help children attain foundational literacy skills. These libraries provide access to reading materials in local languages to facilitate ease of learning,” Bharti Gupta, associate, Literary Programme, told FE Education Online.
FE Education met and spoke to an alumni enrolled under Room To Read’s Girls’ Education Programme (GEP) in another government school in Delhi. “My life has changed due to the mentoring received under the programme. I have become more confident and financially independent now,” she said. GEP is a nine year school programme starting with students in sixth grade until they complete 12th grade. It aims to teach girl students life skills, financial planning, provide education and career guidance, among other supports to empower them. As per the officials, the GEP programme has helped the schools in Delhi to prevent dropouts by around 70%.
Family engagement is an integral exercise of Room to Read India’s literacy and girl education programme. Under this, school mentors conduct weekly visits to the homes of students with the aim to make parents an active participant in students’ learning. In the case of the girl education programme, this exercise has helped mitigate the obstacles faced by most female students at the hands of their families to pursue education, Anjana Yadav, Officer, GEP, said. “Families are the hardest to crack through when it comes to convincing them to let their daughter study further. Most female students are made to drop out due to marriage, financial conditions, and prejudice of parents themselves,” she added.
However, despite the reluctance, Room to Read India claims to effectively impart foundational literacy skills among students. The organization further claims to train teachers and librarians in literacy and library best practices. It further claims to have a library rating system in place under which the reading facility is assessed annually to ensure its smooth functioning.