IITKAA - Social Events

Education through development work - giving paid services to the community and using this as a means of education that imparts hands - on training in all skills relevant to rural areas.

Shiksha Sopan : Working towards the cause and care of underprivileged.

Shiksha Sopan is a registered NGO run by IITK students and faculty members for upliftment of the underprivileged sections of the society
through meaningful education. The primary aim is to establish an educational institution in underdeveloped localities close to IIT Kanpur that will build knowledgeable, self-dependent, confident, socially conscious beings who would be responsible and sensitive to society. Shiksha Sopan has formulated its education system to achieve three main objectives:

1. Shiksha
Providing pragmatic education in a form that will help to simulate interest among students to learn new things, develop creativity, help them understand social and religious aspects of the society and become responsible citizens. Modern methods of teaching will be employed by well educated and socially motivated teachers. Besides classroom teaching, new ways of teaching by way of examples, routine exercises, live demonstrations, educational trips, games, movie clips etc. will be introduced.

2. Sanskar
Character building and inculcation of moral values to develop sense of altruism, feeling of patriotism and respect for humanity among its disciples and beneficiaries through regular practices is one of our main objectives.

3. Swavlamban
Providing enough technical skills and training to the students in various activities so that they have wherewithal to earn their livelihood. This can be taken up as career option and bread earner for their families.Conducting workshops and lab sessions for various skills like weaving, various handi-crafts, honey bee keeping, horticulture, candle making, earthen pot making, vehicle repairing, poultry farming etc. will be introduced depending upon interest and background of each student so that they get the confidence of doing the things on their own. Imparting feeling of "self dependence" in the students is our main objective.

MOULDING MINDS
It is often said that IITians have been insensitive to the society around them and unaware of local problems. But Shiksha Sopan provides a platform to IITK students, faculty members and staff members to come out of the campus and interact with the neighboring deprived section of the society and endeavor to eliminate wide gap of differences among various classes of society. Working with such goals in mind, we are able to inspire many IIT students for recognizing and fulfilling their responsibilities towards society and making them more sensitive citizen. These efforts help in strengthening the roots of village system by developing a sense of attachment with the soil among IIT students. These motivated students will continue to serve the society at their place of work after leaving IIT in more effective way and will definitely prove to be great asset for society and nation.

Prayas : Rural Development through Education

During the late eighties Vivekananda Samiti, a student wing of IIT Kanpur along with a few volunteers from outside took up the challenge of educating the children of migrant labourers on the campus. This activity led to a cooperative movement of migrant labourers in 1991. A group consisting of IIT students, faculty, and social workers continued to teach kids of the members of the cooperative. Around 1994 some members of IIT community and social workers felt the necessity of an independent forum to address the issue of education and welfare of underprivileged children. Thus a journey began.

Jagriti Bal Vikas Samiti is an organization working for children's education and welfare. It is running schools for the underprivileged children and working towards their social and economic development. It is also attempting to develop an effective and meaningful academic and vocational curriculum, educational materials and teaching kits for primary schools, training the teachers, and establishing alternative employment resources with no undue stress on academic excellence. Jagriti family consists of volunteers and workers from IIT students and faculty, school teachers, villagers, children, and full-time social workers. We are in close collaboration with like minded groups like Prayas, Eklavya, ASHA, and Association of India's Development (AID).

Sponsored by IITK Foundation