Whole-brain Development

The Issue We Address:

Reports reveal that one out of eight students drop out midway without completing their education and over 62% of all dropouts happen at the school level. Apart from the lure of engaging in economic activities and financial constraints, 20.6 percent of students cited lack of interest towards academic work as the reason to discontinue their studies. The lack of interest is primarily due to their inability to:

  • Give attention to and concentrate on their work.
  • Retain and recall what they have learned.
  • Reason logically and think spatially.
  • Solve problems and take appropriate decisions.
  • Articulate their opinions confidently.
  • Compete with others who fare well academically.

Our Solution:

It is possible to generate interest for learning in children if we can develop their learning skills 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 can analyse information concerning languages and sound. However, the right side of the brain is focused on thinking, creativity and integration of information. Therefore, 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. For example, when children use both hands to move abacus beads in arithmetic calculations, it stimulates cells in the brain’s right and left sides, enhancing visualisation, listening, concentration, logical reasoning, memorising and recalling, along with developing superior mental arithmetic abilities.

The intervention we provide is outside the class hours and will include:
  • Training for teachers/community volunteers.
  • Production and publication of workbooks, and other instructional materials.

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