Milestones
2017: Eureka Walk
AID India introduced the Walk 'n' Talk English program in all the Eureka village centers. This initiative was launched to encourage children to learn, read and speak English. This ensure that learning is not just limited to the classroom. Children go around the village and teach their family members and elders how to ask and answer simple questions in English. This creates a buzz of excitement and a sense of achievement in the entire village. During weekends, the children also actively put-up role-plays and songs in English. The Eureka Walk n Talk program not only builds the skills of children, but also boosts their self-confidence.
2016: Integrated Village Development
While many villages lack basic needs, there are few villages where the deprivation is even greater. AID India works in these most backward Irular, Dalit, and tribal villages to improve their quality of life, especially for women and children. Village education centers are set up for the children in these villages. A 'tinkering lab' in the village helps children use their learned skills and knowledge on activities and projects to gain practical application experience. Health awareness classes are held and nutrition supplements are provided to women and children to improve their health. The integrated village development program is a long-term effort that can bring significant difference in the quality of life in these villages.
2016: Eureka Homes
In many villages, there are families and elderly people living in badly conditioned houses made with plastic sheets or in dilapidated structures. Eureka Homes provides a solid shelter for these vulnerable and underprivileged families to live with dignity. The entire village is involved in identifying the families in need of a better home. The family participates actively in the planning and construction of their new home. 244 Eureka Homes have been constructed so far.
2015: Eureka Tab Labs
AID India, in partnership with content providers, has been piloting Eureka Tab Labs in schools and in after-school centers. These tech-enabled classes help children learn English, Math and Science using video lessons and mobile apps. Children learn concepts from videos, practice on apps built for their level of understanding and learning and take periodic assessments. This helps to determine how well they have progressed. Eureka Tab Labs redefine learning and gives them access to good quality education for these children in villages.
2012: Eureka Teacher Training Program
With many years of direct implementation experience, Aid India has become a resource group for several grass-roots organizations and schools all over the State. Aid India has been training more than 1000 school teachers and village tutors on basic skills, innovative activities, learning methodologies, and classroom management techniques to ensure better results for children.
2011: Eureka After School Program
The participation of parents and the community is critical for sustainable quality education. Eureka after-school learning centers were piloted initially in around 250 villages. With help from parents, local youth from the same villages were identified and trained to be Eureka Tutors. These tutors conducted daily evening classes for the children of their village. The success of the pilot program led to the scaling up of the village centers across Tamil Nadu. Today, the Eureka Village centers are being run in 1,063 villages of Tamil Nadu with the following key elements in each village:
Strong Outcome Focus
- Every child's progress is tracked using a simple visual aid called the skill chart. This helps the parents and the community members understand the learning progress of every child.
- Eureka tutors provide additional one-one attention for children lagging in a particular skill to help them achieve their learning goals.
- To motivate children to learn efficiently, certificates and skill stickers are rewarded to them at the end of each learning goal.
Specially Researched Methodology
- Attractive group activity learning kits, games, and workbooks specifically designed to make classes fun, learning-focused and effective for children from marginalized backgrounds.
Parent Engagement and Community Participation
- Eureka tutors discuss children's progress regularly with parents using the skill chart.
- Community involvement is encouraged through Skill Declaration events in each village, where the entire village comes together to measure children's learning progress and celebrate their successes.
2009: Eureka Pre-primary Program
AID India developed and implemented a pre-primary program in 1,000 Govt. Balwadis. Each Balwadi was given an attractive kit with activities for fine motor development, language, and cognitive skills. Teachers were trained on conducting fun activities to ensure that these children were ready for school by the age of 6.
2008: Ariviyal Anandam Science Program
The Eureka Lab-in-a-box kit redefined the Science Lab as a box with everyday objects that drives children to explore them. The Ariviyal Anandam program was conducted in 900 Govt. schools in Krishnagiri and Sivagangai. The program helped children think about concepts and link their observations with the science they learn at school. For the first time, these children started realizing that science is real.
2007: Padippum Inikkum Tamil Reading Skills Program
AID India implemented the Padippum Inikkum Tamil reading program in 7,300 schools. More than 10,000 Govt. school teachers were trained and attractive learning materials were provided for children. The main aspects of the program were:
- Children were grouped according to their reading levels.
- Colorful story posters and attractive materials were given to motivate children to read.
- Teachers were trained on level-specific group activities.
- Daily one hour of focused class was taken by the teacher for the children lagging behind.
- Childrens progress was assessed every month.
The pilot program showed that given a clear goal, a large number of teachers could achieve it in a short period of time. The program also showed that children could start reading fluently very quickly.
2006: Eureka Nursery & Primary Schools
Eureka Schools were founded in 2006 by Aid India and Banca Sella, with the vision of providing high-quality and affordable education to rural children. Most children enrolled in Eureka Schools belong to very poor families residing in villages around these schools. Eureka School makes a promise to all its children that they will achieve their full potential, irrespective of their social and financial disadvantages.
2005: Tsunami Relief
When the Tsunami struck the shores of Tamil Nadu in December 2004, it left the State devastated and shocked. AID India was inundated with relief materials and volunteers. Nearly 1000 volunteers poured in every day from all over the world. AID India sent relief supplies in huge volumes to over 1,00,000 people in 97 villages in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, and Kanchipuram. AID India also organized health camps, health awareness sessions for women, and learning classes for children at the relief camps. Even as the masses started to rebuild their lives, AID India teams stayed back and continued their activities to ensure long-term, sustainable improvement in health and education.
2004: Eureka Library Movement
The innovative 'Library in a bag' initiative was launched to begin a reading movement where children were able to have access to books in their own villages. With simple story cards and easy-to-read graded storybooks, the Eureka library bag was a huge hit among children.
2002: Eureka Books
Eureka Books was started to ensure that children in rural areas have access to quality learning resources. Illustration books in Science and Math, Science concept booklets, bi-lingual storybooks, and other attractive materials were distributed through village stalls, book fairs, and schools to keep education and learning interesting and fun.
2001: Science Clubs & Demo Classes
AID India team began conducting science demonstration classes and formed science clubs in schools. The teams conducted science dialogue classes with children to clear misconceptions about science and helped them understand the concepts with practical application.
2000: Volunteer Chapters
AID India's volunteer movement had gathered momentum by the year 2000. Volunteer chapters were started in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, and New Delhi.
1996: Women & Children's Health and Village Education Centers
AID India's work began in 1996 in partnership with Tamil Nadu Science Forum. They focused on improving health and reducing malnutrition levels among children, pregnant women, and young mothers in over 600 villages. Adolescent health classes and sessions for women were conducted in each village. Simultaneously, the Makkal Palli Iyakkam (People's School Movement) program was launched in 200 villages. The goal behind this program was to mobilize communities, including parents, to educate their children. These centers were run by highly motivated volunteers from the communities, who conducted fun activities for children regularly.