Since its inception, Value Education Trust has received valuable support from its philanthropic corporate partners. As a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, many private and public sector organizations have wholeheartedly come forward to support the causes of VET.
Varied CSR opportunities are made available for companies who choose to partner with us. Below are a few of them:
In India, facts suggest that only a little over one-third of all children who enrol in grade 1 reach grade 8. The dropout rate increases alarmingly after class 5. One of the reasons is the lack of interest shown by the children towards academic work.
It is possible to address the above-said issue and generate interest for studies if we can develop the learning skills of children before the age of 12, or more specifically between 7 and 12 years. The reason being that 75% of the development of neocortex of the brain occurs during this age.
The brain has two hemispheres, the left brain and the right brain. Most children use only the left brain, which provides the ability to analyze information concerning languages and sound. The right side of the brain is focused on thinking, creativity and integration of information. It is vitally important for children to use and stimulate their right brain as well.
Learning to use the abacus tool can help develop the right brain/left brain integration. When children use both hands to move abacus beads in arithmetic calculations, it stimulates cells in both the right and left sides of the brain. This enhances skills such as visualization, listening, concentration, logical reasoning, memorizing and recalling along with developing superior mental arithmetic abilities.
However, the challenge today is that abacus learning programs are accessible only to children of economically forward families. Abacus companies target children of elite families who can afford the training. There are hardly any training centers located in rural areas of the country.
The Value Education Trust addresses this gap by developing the learning skills of children aged 7 to 12 belonging to poor and marginalized families in rural India. We providing children with training in the use and visualization of the abacus tool to achieve whole brain development, leading to enhancing their learning skills.
It is quite shocking to know that in India, a country with a mathematics heritage stretching back to Aryabhata and Ramanujan, the mathematical skills of 230 million children in primary and secondary education are in steep decline!
The recent Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for the year 2018 has reiterated the same.
Here are some hard facts:
If we do a root cause analysis of why a child struggles with maths, we see that it is almost entirely due to how the child has learned maths or has been taught maths. Mathematics is a subject that has the potential to give any child a playground to unleash his/her curiosity. Unfortunately, from a very young age, children are exposed to maths in a highly rote-memorisation oriented manner. They are expected to mug up facts and formulas and solve repetitive drills based on this superficial learning and not the basic concepts vital in understanding maths. Given this, it is not surprising that many children revolt against and hate maths!
One significant way to address the above-said issue is by introducing the children to Vedic Mathematics, which is a collection of simple techniques discovered by the Indian mathematician Shri Bharathi Krishna Tirthaji. The 16 formulae and 13 sub-formulae in Vedic Mathematics can help solve problems in arithmetic, algebra, calculus, geometry, and conics.
As the child learns Vedic Maths techniques, he/she becomes enabled to do complicated calculations mentally. Children who use Vedic Maths to solve problems are seen to be 10-15 times faster than those using standard methods. The ability to do mental calculations quickly will be a significant advantage when the child takes competitive exams.
The challenge today is that Vedic Math’s learning programs are accessible only to children of economically forward families. Training companies target children of elite families who can afford the training. There are hardly any training centers located in the rural areas of the country.
The Value Education Trust develops the mathematical abilities of children aged 11 to 14 belonging to poor and marginalized families in rural India by training them to apply Vedic Math’s techniques to achieve proficiency in solving mathematical problems at the school level.
In a recent survey of about 6,000 young people aged between 15 and 34, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) found that 48 per cent of respondents cited unemployment as India’s biggest problem. But the fact is, it is not unemployment but unemployability that leaves the Indian youth frustrated, dejected and disillusioned.
Why are our youth, especially those from poor economic backgrounds facing unemployability?
We see that the reasons finally boil down to lack of awareness, resources, and access to information.
A solution to tackling the issue of unemployability of youth in our country can be found by providing them with a healthy mix of content, psychometric tests and in-person support which give them the opportunity to:
The challenge is that career development opportunities are primarily limited to youth who can afford the training costs because only few agencies/organizations provide this vital support to those belonging to poor and marginalised families in India.
The Value Education Trust provides young people belonging to low-income families in India with access to career guidance, counselling and academic support to help them pursue professions of their choice.
Value Education Trust,
Bldg.No: 10/24, Bethel Cottage,
Amalloor, Manjadi P.O,
Tiruvalla – 689105
Kerala, India.