Bridging Language

Ideated by Rhea Bhatia and Shivani Patel

During our first trip to the village in India, we realized that most students displayed a desire to learn English. English is a tool that is essential to helping students move on to higher education and become competitive applicants for jobs in the future. After the 10th grade, students apply to junior colleges, most of which teach in English. We want to make sure that students are not held back from getting higher education merely because they lack the resources to learn another language. Therefore, we have been working on an English tutoring program to promote conversational, reading and writing skills amongst students in the GRC school.

We plan to host weekly video calls with students in the 8th-10th standards and have been in contact with various people to assist in developing a curriculum for this program. During these video calls, we will read an English book with them and have conversations in English, discussing whatever they wish to talk about. This will not only boost their confidence in speaking English but also allow us to form deeper relationships with students in the village. Although global changes caused by COVID-19 have hindered our ability to travel to the village, we are still dedicated to using whatever resources we can to make this program successful.

SC Project RISHI wishes to thank all of its donors for providing the funds to make this initiative possible.