Launch of ZIIEI in Rajasthan
RUPANTAR, a programme by Sri Aurobindo Society, is transforming the quality of education in the government schools all over the country. It aims at harnessing the power of the people and existing resources. Each project component of RUPANTAR strategically targets the highest impact areas within a state education system—teacher empowerment, vision and insight development among decision makers, leadership skills for education administrators, management skills for principals, empowerment of students, and participation of parents and communities.
RUPANTAR comprises of several projects, with Zero Investment Innovations for Education Initiatives (ZIIEI) and Comprehensive Mental Health Education (CMHE) currently gaining momentum in leaps and bounds. ZIIEI, as an initiative, has spread in 12 different states of India. The age-old British system of education is no longer relevant in the ever-evolving education in 21st century India, and this is where Sri Aurobindo Society’s programme is making new in-roads to bring a change. HDFC Bank has shown its undeterred support to the ZIIEI programme, by helping the programme in its entirety through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.
At an event in Jaipur, the HDFC Bank and Sri Aurobindo Society together came forward once again to mark the beginning of ZIIEI in 12 more states. Qualitative education should be made available to everyone and what better way than ZIIEI to make this effort fruitful.
At a function organized in the city, the initiative was launched by chief guest Shri Vasudev Devnani, Minister of State for Education (Primary and Secondary), Government of Rajasthan, in the presence of Ms. Nusrat Pathan, Head—Corporate Social Responsibility, HDFC Bank; Ms. Smita Bhagat, Branch Banking Head—North, HDFC Bank; Mr. Sambhrant, Director—Education, Sri Aurobindo Society; Mr. Mayank Agarwal, Head—Operations, Sri Aurobindo Society; and other senior officials of the bank and Sri Aurobindo Society.
Shri Devnani was empathic that education should inculcate progressive values and a keenness to learn among the students, and the community has an indispensable role to play in enhancing the quality of education. Mr Sambhrant Sharma expressed, “Sri Aurobindo Society, with the start of this programme, has taken up the initiative of training up the teachers for an innovation-driven education. All the teachers are being motivated to come forward with their zero investment ideas.”
ZIIEI Is Just a Click Away Now
Because of the programme ZIIEI’s immense popularity, there was a need to make the programme available to teachers across the country ‘On a Click’. Therefore, ZIIEI bilingual website was developed and in August 2017 it went live.
As most of the schools covered in the 12 states where ZIIEI has made in-roads fall in the Hindi belt, the website for now is in Hindi and English, and constantly being upgraded to be presented in other Indian languages. The idea is that a teacher sitting in the remotest corner might be a pool of ideas and might be implementing unique efforts in his school but recognizing those efforts and bringing them on to a bigger stage is what ZIIEI programme intends to do, through this website.
While the programme is growing, it is very important that this Initiative for ‘a better tomorrow’ is showcased to the world and this is what www.ZIIEI.com has made possible.
ZIIEI in Media: A Wave of Change in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh
ZIIEI training programmes, acting as a change agent to bring reformation in the government schools, and the other initiatives of RUPANTAR are not going unnoticed. They are grabbing the attention in large parts of the country and there is extensive coverage in media creating awareness, enthusiasm and support for the RUPANTAR programme, the organizations involved and their endeavours. As more people are getting to know about it, more people are showing an interest in getting associated with the mission.
Comprehensive Mental Health Education (CMHE) in Uttarakhand
RUPANTAR’S mental health programme—CMHE—is a three-step cycle where teachers are
• Made aware about these specific disorders
• Trained to identify such children suffering of any such disorders in classrooms
• Enabled to practice an empathetic and sensitive approach towards these children.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between Sri Aurobindo Society and the Uttarakhand government in August 2017, thus paving the way for the CMHE programme going to start in full swing in September. After its successful implementation in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, the programme is all set to bring a fresh lease of life to Uttarakhand’s education system and make it more holistic.
Comprehensive Mental Health Education (CMHE) in Jharkhand
Under the CMHE programme, RUPANTAR has set up a collaboration with Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (RINPAS), Ranchi, Jharkhand, a premier institute, the major activity of which is the care of mental health of people by improving diagnostic and therapeutic facilities, rehabilitation, community outreach programme, teaching and research activities. RINPAS will be conducting psychometric tests for all those children who have been screened under the CMHE guidelines.
