We are team Dora the Explorer, a team of two guys – Mayank Khewaria and Nishanth Naik – and we have travelled across the country on the theme – Education in India. We took up the fellowship after our final year as we wanted to experience the world outside this institute before we enter our professional life. So we travelled across 10 states of the country in search of schools, institutes, NGOs and individuals working on primary education. The trip lasted for 42 days and we have gained a lot of insights on our theme and the cross cultural differences within India. Alongside our theme, we also went to some famous sites in each state, tried the local cuisine and put in efforts to get an essence of the place we were staying.
As far as our theme is concerned, we started with this theme as we saw a deficit of quality education in the primary level and we wanted to get an experience of reality and also look for the changes that are coming up. We got a perspective of various systems in place and coming up. As far as the government schools are concerned there have been efforts from the government authorities to raise the standard of schools but the outcome varies across the length and breadth. The efforts have been great in Kerala whereas not satisfactory in rural areas of Odissa. At places like these, NGOs have been putting in efforts for the betterment of the situation like in Danagadi, Odissa or Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The outcome has also been substantial. Private education in India has largely seen commercialisation with a degradation in quality of education. One more focus of our trip was to explore the alternate schooling systems coming up across the country. There are a lot of schools that emphasis on hands-on and experiential learning. We came across schools working on the principles of J. Krishnamurthy that are keen or self-sustenance and all round development of kids. There are also individuals working on betterment of school education by giving them space to build oneself rather than just rot learning. We also came across a start-up in Mysore working on similar lines. Along with the visit to the above sites, we also borrowed some kits from the creative learning centre in IIT Gandhinagar and steered activities and demonstrations in some places.
The travel throughout the country has been one of fun and difficulties. Most of the institutions we visited were off-beat places and getting transport was always an issue. We travelled a lot in local transport. Buses were the main mode of transport in South India. Also, we had to change our plans a lot as we came across new and interesting sites during our journey and hence had to cancel our tickets and re-book them at times. We met a lot of people who threw light on the local culture and traditions as well as gave us their perspective on our theme. Many of these meetings were unexpected and turned out be good and helpful. We made some new friends as we stayed in youth hostels and other dorms. Some of them also helped us through our journey. Overall, this has been a great opportunity to explore the nook and corners of the country and to get a first-hand experience of places.
Dora The Explorer
Mayank Khewaria
Senior Undergraduate
Nishanth Naik
Senior Undergraduate