Volunteer with us

Volunteering at Shantaba Vidyalaya & Vatsalyadham:

Shantaba Vidyalaya is running a school for tribal students in Kukeri village (Navsari District). 700 students from pre-school to STD 12 are currently accessing our educational services. We are one of the few schools in South Gujarat that is consistently delivering a 95% pass result in 10^th & 12^th board exams. Besides academic skills we are working on 21^st century skills like “confidence in communication”, “self-awareness”, “general awareness” and “critical thinking”.  Since we are in a remote village our school struggles to get good resources to train / coach our children in these aspects. We welcome professional or passionate volunteers to contribute their time in the following areas that have been identified as needs by our leaders and staff members:

• Conduct sessions with 1st – 5^th STD students in the areas of:

1. Music and Dance
2. Art and Craft
3. Play based activities (especially related to EVS projects – green games)
4. Outdoor play activities requiring collaborative spirit

• Conduct sessions with 6th – 8th STD students on:

1. Language Development (play games like Scrabble, Pictionary etc)
2. Short Skits (Gujarati/Hindi) to enhance creative expression.
3. Short stories or sharing of real life experiences on travels (PPT recommended)
4. Designing handicraft items using waste or recycled materials
5. Project based workshops connecting subjects/concepts in the syllabus
6. Sports Skills (martial arts and outdoor games)

• Conduct sessions with 9^th – 12^th STD students on:

1. Stress Management
2. Sharing of real life experiences relating to careers and personal journeys
3. Reading in English (articles/blogs) followed by independent writing or group discussion.
4. Careers in Medical Science, Chemicals and Pharma industry)
5. Careers in Arts (Textile, Eco-Tourism, Cosmetics, Graphic Design and Hospitality Industry)

• Professionals with the appropriate backgrounds could conduct sessions with teachers on:

1. Work Life Balance
2. Mentoring and Coaching children based on talents.
3. Leveraging open-source digital tools to cater to children’s individual learning needs.
4. How to deal with children with potential learning disabilities
5. Latest trends in pedagogy across global classrooms

• Professional Volunteers with limited time can also conduct one off talk sessions (1-1.50 hours duration) with adolescent students on topics like:

1. Understanding our personality (SWOT assessment)
2. Service Sector Industry (overview of streams, jobs, competency requirements, career ladders, qualification requirements for entry level jobs etc.).
3. Self-Employment Opportunities (domain overview, vocations, competency/mind-set requirements, qualification requirement, criteria to set up start-up ventures).

• Conduct sessions with interested 7^th, 8^th, 9^th – 11^th STD students as well as IT Faculty on:

1. Basics of Graphic Design using free software like Canva
2. Video editing skills using free software
3. Designing Website using word press
4. How to design impactful presentations
5. Excel Tools for analyzing and archiving data efficiently
6. Emerging Self-Employment Opportunities in the next decade (domain overview, vocations, competency/mind-set requirements, qualification requirement, criteria to set up start-up ventures).

Strategic Interventions requiring more time: (virtual/physical)

• Developing a Testing & Analytics Software to track student knowledge level (MCQ Quiz Pattern)
• Converting Shantaba School designed and pilot tested Quiz Games into an offline App
• Developing a 3 minute Movie on Project Vidyavan (community learning centers operating in remote villages)

*Interested individuals are requested to write to: [email protected] / [email protected]

*Interested individuals are requested to reach out to Mrs. Pratibha Parmar at 9558758918 or Mrs. Preethi Iyer at 8805813661. One can also write to [email protected]

*The volunteering sessions will need advance intimation of at least 14 days in order to allot the suitable slot in the timetable. Weekend slots @ Vatsalyadham will be mostly preferred. The campus also has a Wi-Fi enabled digital screen that could enable virtual sessions. We also have a comfortable stay facility in the campus for skilled volunteers. Built in 2022 with the generous support of Jewelex Foundation, the faculty home has 3 spacious rooms.