What our stakeholders have to say

Kasturba Gandhi Firozpur Jhirka is located in Nuh Mewat, 40 KM from Nuh town surrounded by Aravali Hills. In KGBV Jhirka girls come from nearby villages. One of the student’s studying there is Imrana. She is studying in class 8th. She has 3 brothers and 1 sister. Imrana’s father, Md. Shafique has been in touch with SwaTaleem since last year. He is a farmer and his livelihood totally depended on farming. He has been a part of digital sessions along with Imrana. During our parental engagement call he has mentioned that ‘‘ during lock down nobody came forward and talked with them. Only SwaTaleem has been in touch with them. Only Swataleem asked about their wellbeing and about their children's education. Also I have attended many sessions with my daughter and also talked with their coordinators.’’

Divya is studying in Class 10th in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Nagina. Nagina is 20 km from Nuh. She has been in touch with SwaTaleem Foundation for the last 3 years. She is a regular participant of our Digital engagement session. Divya is an active member and participant of Masti ki pathshala and She joins the session on time. Her Hobby is dancing. She has access to a mobile phone in her home. 2 of our KGBV Nagina’s students stay near Divya’s place and they log in for a session with Divya because they don’t have access to a mobile phone, so Divya also helps them to participate in the session.

When SwaTaleem approached us, the first thing I noticed was the very unique name and a set of young devoted individuals determined to make a difference. All the Girls who study in KGBVs have their own unique stories to tell and are really bright. They have a spark in their eyes full of dreams. They just need the right support from all of us, in aiding them in solving their problems and fulfilling their dreams. If the parents are sending them here they are trusting a lot in us, so we should be able to deliver on it. SwaTaleem’s role in aiding to build a congenial environment is really appreciated.

SwaTaleem as an organization works towards creating enabling school communities especially for adolescent Girls. They have been working with various stakeholders in education like teachers, government officials and students .The central scheme of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) ensures access and quality education to the girls of disadvantaged groups of the society. Strengthening the KGBVs being an important mandate of SwaTaleem, makes their work important. They have worked on innovating the KGBVs of Haryana especially in Mewat and Panipat. Through various activities, they impart cognitive skills, language development, socio-emotional skills to girls and empower them to make informed life decisions. Civil society organizations like SwaTaleem can help in making KGBVs the model schools of the nation. I wish them all the success for working towards an equitable society.

I have been in touch with Swa Taleem for almost two years. Their work with disadvantaged girls from remote areas of Haryana, is truly transformational and helps to build a more equitable society. The team is young, motivated and focused and their work which is in close collaboration with the Government, is leading to sustainable solutions in the education of the girl child. I wish them all the best in all their endeavors.

When the pandemic hit, SwaTaleem mobilized quickly to help our girls adjust to the sudden changes thrust upon the world. I was happy to see the team created new channels of communication with the girls and their families in a short time. These channels became lines of support and also of education for the girls. When it became clear that the pandemic would last more than just weeks, SwaTaleem began thinking of innovative ways to reach girls in their own homes so their education could continue. The idea of sending newly recorded content to the girls through cell phones and radio made the best of a difficult situation. I was impressed by this solution since it reached families in remote communities and could be adopted by nearly all families. Though the last year has been difficult, I am proud of the work SwaTaleem has done to adapt to changing circumstances while still doing the best for our girls.