Adani Foundation inaugurates Project Utthan

Adani Foundation has partnered with 'Room to Read' to implement the project 'Utthan'. The project was formally inaugurated on April 21, 2018, at Bhat Primary School, Bhat, Gandhinagar.

Bhupendrasinh Manubha Chudasama, Minister for Education (Primary, Secondary and Adult), Higher and Technical Education, Law and Justice, Legislative and Parliamentary affairs, Salt Industry, Cow-Breeding and Civil Aviation was the esteemed chief guest at the inauguration.

"With my experience as a teacher as well as an education minister, I have realised that when an objective has commitment and subsequently full involvement, it is bound to achieve success. A child's mind is like a blank slate, and reading at a young age helps the child develop cognitive skills. When community and government work hand in hand, is when development can be achieved. I thank Adani Foundation for taking up this important initiative and wish them all the best to take this forward to many more schools," he said.

"With the advent of technology, reading and utilising libraries is something long lost, unlike earlier times when libraries used to be an important part of every child's life. I believe knowledge should not be limited to school curriculum. Reading provides not only knowledge but also inculcates cultural values. We are very happy to power 50 schools with Utthan and urge children to optimally use this facility and become good future leaders," added Dr. Priti G. Adani - Chairperson, Adani Foundation.

This project aims at setting up of interactive libraries in 50 government schools, with an aim to develop the habit of reading among children of classes 1 to 5. It is currently implemented in four blocks of Gandhinagar district - Gandhinagar, Mansa, Kalol and Dehgam and a total of 15,500 school children will be able to take advantage these libraries on regular basis. This is happening in Gujarat for the first time and is a pioneering experiment to enhance the learning interest among children by systematic exposure to interesting books and study material.

It conducts point teacher / head master training for professional development and library management. The training focuses on the activities to be conducted in the library by the school teachers with the students. It also focuses on matching the levels of children in each class, check in and checkout of books and a plan of action for the next two months. A six-day library coach training is also imparted with the help of the point teacher and head master focusing on introduction to room to read, roles and responsibilities, library set up, reading activities. They then, train other school teachers to run the library for their respective grades.

All 50 schools have formed School Library Management Committee (SLMC). The members of this committee are mostly from grade 4 and 5, along with few children from lower grades. The committee discusses the roles and responsibilities which include Check in Check out of books, mend the torn reading books and basic library cleanliness.

Recently, the participating schools have been painted, material like Four Open Shelves, Reading Books, Four Desk, Two durries, Jute Display for books, Display Boards, Stationary were also provided to these schools.