Original Model
Volunteer For Change is the brainchild of a young change maker: Viren Jain. Having visited government-run schools for a project, he was forcefully struck by the absence of any extracurricular activity in some of these schools. While Saturdays in these schools were supposed to be bag free days, there were practically no extra curricular activities happening in these schools. The kids in these schools were deprived of activities such as art, dance, music or sport - that bring joy and hope and provide creative outlets.
Viren got a core team together with Krishnav Verma, Aryan Chopra and Kaira Jain supporting him. Understanding the criticality of these activities to the holistic development of a child, the three 16-year-olds made up their minds to bring about change. They met with the authorities and realized that it was shortage of resources – human and material – that constrained these government schools from providing extracurricular classes.
The idea is simple: to connect people who have a unique skill and the desire to give back to society with opportunities where they can use their skills to make a real difference in the lives of underprivileged children.
Volunteer For Change was initially engaging with three government-run schools in the Gurugram area in the pilot phase. Later it plans to expand to the rest of NCR-Delhi.
Research shows that creative arts and physical activity have the following impact on young children:
- Develop confidence, independence and creativity
- Learn new skills in a playful and imaginative environment
- Help express their individuality
- Improve cognitive skills, coordination, motor skill development
- Develop social skills, and better communication
- Form connections between the body and brain
- Develop hand-eye coordination and improve fine and gross motor skills
- Learn to work and play in teams
- Improve academic performance
- Develop a skill that can possibly translate into a livelihood later
Adapted Model
After getting approval from the Directorate of Education, Haryana, the Volunteer For Change (VFC) project started in three government schools in Gurgaon in December 2019. With over 70 volunteers by February, the project had transformed into an exciting and inspiring experience for over 300 students.
However, as the pandemic hit, Volunteer For Change's (VFC) extracurricular classes were discontinued. Children in the government schools that VFC had partnered with had limited access to online teaching. What they needed most in terms of their education at this difficult time was one-on-one academic tutoring and to be able to talk to a reliable adult who could mentor them during this uncertain time. Running trial classes with the core team of VFC, we developed an initial strategy to scale the adapted model to all of our students.
The model evolved to meet the need of the hour and switched to academic tutoring through WhatsApp and phone calls. We already have over 200 volunteers teaching English, Mathematics, and Hindi to primary school children of these government schools. While adult volunteers are teaching, students volunteers of Heritage Xperiential Learning School and The British School are working on lesson plans and providing support to the adults.
In collaboration with Heritage Xperiential Learning School, Volunteer for Change has grown to be a movement that started with a handful of high school students. VFC is committed to providing the best possible learning experience to government school students. Students and teachers from Heritage Xperiential Learning School have been providing content and logistics support in the execution of the project.