An excellent
start has been made to IHEU’s campaign against popular superstition
with the launch on 27 August 2007 of a unique Science Education Program
in India.
A project
of two of IHEU’s Member Organisations viz. the Social Development
Foundation (SDF) and the Indian Radical Humanist Association (IRHA),
and fully funded by IHEU with 6000 Euros, the project will engage the
services of a full time resource person, deliver anti-superstition activist
training in several parts of India and also adopt 5 villages and 5 village
schools in remote areas of Nalgonda, one of the most backward districts
of Andhra Pradesh state. At a conservative estimate, the project will
have a direct and long-term impact on 500 school-going children, and
7500 adults.
Nalgonda
district was chosen for the school program because of stories of human
sacrifice and frequent reports of witch killings from this district
which neighbours Hyderabad, one of India’s important IT hubs. Here,
traveling exhibitions with models and charts which could be used in
public outreach programs will be created and distributed to other NGOs
and schools in the neighborhood. Children and their parents would be
given education and information on hygiene, nutrition and health to
improve the lives of those who are victims of dangerous superstition.
Teachers will be offered teacher-training.
“We
are very happy that Mr. Chandraiah, well-known maths populariser and
anti-superstition activist, has joined this two-year program as a full-time
resource person. I am also pleased that during my meetings with them,
all the headmasters and teachers have enthusiastically welcomed the
project. It is very encouraging that the visionary headmasters have
seen that this is more than a school education project; indeed, it is
a program of social reform with schools as an entry point into the community
to spread human values”, said Babu Gogineni, IHEU’s International
Director, while launching the program in the five different schools
where he held meetings with the headmasters and teachers inviting their
support and participation.
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Teachers
from Vemulapally High School offer full support |
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Headmaster of Ravulapenta
High School and his team welcome the initiative |
Chandraiah
is the resource person; Prof. Narendra Nayak, President of Federation
of Indian Rationalist Associations, and National-Level Master Trainer
of the National Network of Science Technology and Communication is a
volunteer advisor.
Engaging Children
Chandraiah has been
recently involved in anti-superstition activities in schools in the
Chirala and Inkolle area of Andhra Pradesh, thanks to privately raised funds.
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No proper
roof, but a good foundation in science at the privately-run Rahul school
in Chirala |
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Chandraiah
teaches songs to children at Laxmidevi Gudem Primary School |
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Learning
can be fun, children at Satya Sai High School in Chirala find out! |
(adopted by the
IHEU-funded project) on the first day.
Now, with IHEU’s support, his activist talents and energy will be available
for the movement full-time for the next two years. One day a week, he
will teach in classes 6, 7, 8 and 9 of each school (ages 11-14) as per
an agreed schedule and syllabus. Four of the schools are High Schools
and one is a primary school, all run by the government, and attracting
pupils from the poorest of the poor families.
A mixture
of song, dance and magic tricks will be used to expose children to the
fun and delights of science and maths. during classes they will be challenged
to think for themselves, and will be exposed to Humanist ideas, and
encouraged to examine their tradition and values. As Humanist ideas
reach them at a young and impressionable age, they are likely to have
long-term impact and even transform the atmosphere in the rural setting
where the project will be implemented.
Involving
Adults
Chandraiah
will be attached to the schools during the school working days and during
the rest of the time he will be engaged in miracle-exposure programs
in the villages adopted and in neighboring villages. He will also travel
to Humanist groups in the region to help in their work.
On weekends,
cultural events and informal activities will be organized in the villages with
local participation: the children will perform in the cultural activities so
that the parents also develop a stake in these activities.
Training
Activists and Scaling up
SDF and
IRHA will also invite Chandraiah and Prof. Nayak to different parts
of the country (Hyderabad, Chirala and Madanepalle in Andhra Pradesh;
Kushinagar, Gazipur and New Delhi in North India; Godhra, Ahmedabad
and Mehmadabad in Gujarat and Bangalore and Mangalore in Karnataka)
to impart training to rationalist activists in exposing miracle claims.
Scaling
Up
There
is a crying need for such programs to be replicated all over Asia and
Africa, and IHEU will work with the implementing organizations and other
partners to document the activities, collate the teaching material,
and using that as a base, and with the help of the rationalist activists
who will have been trained, aim to enlarge the area of work and the
number of schools involved.
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