Varanasi, India Nonprofit Questions Role of Educational Institutions

Nirman, a Varanasi nonprofit NGO, recently announced the next phase in its continuing research programs in education and pedagogical technique in India.

(PRWEB) March 20, 2005 -- Nirman (http://www.nirmanweb.com) recently announced the next phase of its ongoing research projects on the educational systems currently prevalent in India. Nirman has been working in the field of development through education for over 15 years, and is comprised of several full-time researchers, scholars, students, and social workers, along with visiting scholars and leading figures in the fields of Anthropology, History, the Fine Arts, and Education from the US and Europe.

Nirman's current research interests focus on artisan communities and the role of education in their lives. The premise Nirman seeks to challenge is that the current system of education in India, no matter how ineffective or out-dated, is a necessity in the lives of rural Indian artisan communities. Instead, Nirman examines the current trends in public and private educational systems in India, and attempts to gain a clearer understanding of the worth of such an education to children from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds.

So far, Nirman has found that Indian education systems are often opposed to traditional, non-formal means of education, especially those in artisan communities. In many cases, artisans send their children to schools in the hopes of giving them a better life, with a more promising future; however, these children often find themselves alienated and, eventually, out of touch with their communities' artisan background and skills, and instead saddled with an education that does not get them a job, and does not seem to improve their lives.

This would seem to indicate that more research and practical innovation was required to create a reformed system of education that does not favor the rich over the poor, or one religious group over another, but instead is more in harmony with the needs and lives of rural India.

Vidyashram, The Southpoint School (http://www.nirmanweb.com/vidyashram/southpoint_school_home.php) was created to address this perceived need for non-elitist, high-quality education freely available for all children, and continues to serve as Nirman's lab school, the practical implementation of ongoing research and pedagogical theory.

The next phase of Nirman's research activities will involve the creation of resource centres for youth around several urban Indian cities, including Varanasi and Lucknow, and the construction of a new campus and research centre near Betawar Village, on the banks of the Ganges River, just south of Varanasi. For more information on Nirman's current projects and events, as well as information on how to get involved, please visit the Nirman site at http://www.nirmanweb.com.

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