135 centers serve as crucial educational hubs in underserved regions

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Center, located in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India, held training for tutors associated with the BEST (Building Effective Solutions Together) and DREAM (Dedicating Resources to Educating and Mentoring towards Combating Child Labor) projects. For the past 25 years, SURABI, the Salesian Project Development Office of Chennai Province, has been dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of rural and tribal communities in Northern Tamil Nadu.

Efforts have been focused on 135 community learning centers, which are crucial educational hubs in underserved regions. The BEST project operates 86 centers and the DREAM project has 20. All the centers have proven effective for help underserved youth with their educational advancement. The centers have provided support for 3,595 tribal and rural children.

The first training session for the tutors focused on effective teaching through storytelling. In the second, tutors learned innovative teaching methods. The final session covered creative approaches to teaching letters and sounds. There were 43 tutors who took part in the training, gaining invaluable knowledge in effective learning methodologies and constitutional rights awareness to help have a positive impact on students and the community.

“Training for tutors is another way Salesians ensure students have access to high-quality education,” said Father Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Rural and tribal youth are often unable to access regular schooling and these learning centers provide a way for them to gain a foundational education and skills for later life.”

India has the world’s fourth largest economy but more than 22% of the country lives in poverty. About 31% of the world’s multidimensionally poor children live in India, according to a report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.

India’s youth face a lack of educational opportunities due to issues of caste, class and gender. Almost 44% of the workforce is illiterate and less than 10% of the working-age population has completed a secondary education. In addition, many secondary school graduates do not have the knowledge and skills to compete in today’s changing job market.

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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco South Asia

Don Bosco South Asia – Transformative capacity building for BEST and DREAM tutors

Salesian Missions – India

SURABI

World Bank – India