The Rourkela Steel Plant, the Mahavir Yubak Sangh and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Sundargarh) have together initiated a dream project called ‘learning to Read’ (l2R) with a major focus on arousing a sense of interest and involvement in parents in general and pupils in particular towards the process of teaching and learning.
Further, the programme also aims at improving the learning levels of children and bringing the dropouts and out-of-school children back to schools.
The programme was inaugurated by Commissioner, Food & Civil Supplies Madhu Sudan Padhi in the presence of Sundargarh Collector Bhupendra Singh Poonia and Rourkela ADM Rabindranath Mishra along with education officials here on Sunday.
Padhi, in his remark, recommended that “learning to Read” aim to create interest among students for reading and learning. And secondly, the programme should be integrated into the normal system of teaching so that it would be sustainable, said he.
Poonia suggested that the project be professionally managed with the involvement of parents having a long-term impact. The outcome should be examined and it must bring a perceptible change in education in selected schools, he added.
During the first year of the project, it will be in operation in 50 Government Primary Schools covering around 5,000 children.
Presently it is run in 30 schools covering the Rourkela Urban local Body. It is expected that the children included in these positive interventions would benefit in their skills in learning to read and solve problems appropriate to their age, said Ashok Kumar Paikray, the organiser.
Consequently, this small initiative would pave the way for larger programmes with the ultimate goal of empowering every child to come to school and perform well, added he.
The initiative has materialised with support of the CSR unit of the RSP and has been mediated with a team of committed teachers of the Mahavir Yubak Sangh, Odisha with support received from the
parents.