ASHRAMSHALA PROGRESS REPORT: FEBRUARY 2020

Genesis and Background:

Gandhiji started the Satyagraha Ashram, Sabarmati in the year 1917 to carry out various
constructive activities like production of khadi in order to gain self-reliance in cloth, agriculture,
animal husbandry, cow breeding, eradication of untouchability
and women’s education. After independence, Satyagraha
Ashram was renamed as Sabarmati Harijan Ashram Trust,
which is a registered Trust and continues the work in the area of
girls and women education.

Under Gujarat Harijan Sevak Sangh (GHSS), Shri Ishwarbhai

Patel started the Parikshitlal Majumdar Ashramshala in the
Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram in
1979. Initially, Shri Ishwarbhai
Patel started Ashramshala with
just 7 children from the Valmiki
Figure 1: Mahatma Gandhi community, which is
associated with sweeping and
civic sanitation. These children are often treated as lesser morals
and discriminated as outcasts by society.

Gradually, Ashramshala developed a value-based education

curriculum for boys and girls from Standard 1st – 8th at the
Mahatma Gandhi Ashram Primary School. On an average, each
year, the number of students range between 100 – 120. Besides
studying at this school, the students also live as day scholars at Figure 2: Parikshitlal Majumdar
the Ashram Hostel located within the same premises.

The intention of the hostel life is to provide holistic growth to these children through formal
education, nutrition and health, as well as all round development through engagement with art,
craft, music and cultural immersion experiences.
Activities held on a regular basis at the school and hostel include the following:

Formal Education: For grades 1-5th, there are 2 teachers as for grades 6th – 8th also. Since the
children come from relatively poor backgrounds, they are taught from the scratch on how to hold
the pencil, write legitimately as well as cultivate themselves progressively towards essay writing as
well as arithmetic calculations. Beyond the classroom, two extra hours of coaching is provided at
the hostel for mathematics and Gujarati language. Every Saturday and Sunday, mock tests are
held to check the children’s learning progress. Children with special learning needs are called
“Priya Balak” i.e., Beloved Child, and given personal attention by the teachers to help them catch
up with the rest of the cohort. At present, out of 94 children in total, 21 are Boys and 73 are Girls.

Nutrition and Health: Every day the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner is fixed in order to
meet the daily nutritional supplements of the child. In addition to this, yearly once, food and
nutrition sessions are also held on campus to educate the children about the nutritional value of
the food consumed by them. They are taught about the value of which vegetables to eat and why.

Annually, the children also benefit from Eye Camp, Dental Camp, Thalassemia Camp, personal
hygiene sessions for girls and sanitary pad distribution, gender sessions to talk about feminine
issues as well as a gynaecological camp.

Circles of Sharing and Group Bonding: In order go strength the bond among the students as well
as foster an atmosphere of learning, curiosity and contemplation, there are different kind of circles
hosted for and by the children on a daily basis.
 Suchita Circle is circle in which 12-13 children for a group
and discuss about personal hygiene topics such as how to
bathe properly, fold clothes, arranging their locker,
cutting their nails, combing their hair and brushing their
teeth.

Udaan Circle is a circle that holds space for children’s

curiosity by allowing them a space to raise interesting
questions that intrigue them. These can be brought into
the circle and discussed with their peers without any
judgement.

Library Hour is a time where children are encouraged

to expand their mind through reading books of all
kinds, including comics for fun and learning. Here
too, they are given the library time in groups so they
can discuss what they read with their peer group later
on.

Jai Jagat Circle is hosted monthly once on a

Saturday where children take up a theme and
discuss various aspects of the issue with each
other. This instils the importance of democracy
and tolerance for difference of viewpoints among
the children.

Silent Dinner: Every day, one group of children sit

in silent dinner in order to inculcate the discipline
of silence while eating their food. This allows for a
deepening of their engagement with food and time
to feel gratitude for the meal they have received.
There is also a 10-minute meditation circle called
Aana-Paana held before the children go to bed each
night.
Computer Circle is a time where children get to
experiment and learn modules on computer in
conjunction to their school curriculum. It helps them
build their logical skills as well as prepares them for
various opportunities that technology can open up
for them in the future.

Cultural Activities: Children are encouraged to engage in all kind of art, craft, music, drama and
cultural activities throughout the year, which allows their overall development. As soon as the
children arrive at school at the beginning of the year, there is a Welcome Fest organized to take
them out for art events in order to help them open up and make friends with each other.
Throughout the year, they also celebrate festivals together such as Navratri, Janmashtami, Diwali,
Christmas etc. This allows them to bond with each other in a deeper way.

Art Open House is held every Saturday for 1 hour where children can engage in a random art
activity of their choice. This gives them freedom to express themselves and enjoy themselves at the
same time.

Art Carnival is also held at the end of the school year, where children present their artistic
performances at the Jai Jagat Theatre located on campus. The entire school is invited to watch
their performances and prizes are also given for the best performances.

Learning Visits: Children are taken on learning journeys to other spaces so they get a chance to
go out of the school campus and be exposed to the outer world. This way, they get to expand their
worldview as well as see their Ashram life in a new perspective, when they return. These learning
trips could be to other schools to see how the children over there are learning differently, or to a
slum, where they create awareness about environment by engaging with the community or to a
waste recycling unit such as Paryavaran Mitra, to see how large-scale daily home waste is recycled.
This helps them become better future citizens of the country by becoming more civic-minded.

Science Activities: In order to inspire the children to ask scientific questions, NGO visits are
organized on campus to conduct scientific experiments with the children and help them
understand the nature of reality around them in a deeper manner.

Based on this, the children also put together a science fair at the end of the year, where they explain
to other children about what they learned through these scientific explorations.

Sports Activities: Being fit is an important aspect of a child’s life. Hence, every morning, the
children wake up at 5 am and head to the sports field to participate in games like Kabaddi, Kho-
Kho, Karate, Yoga, Chess, Badminton, Football, Cricket etc. Throughout the year, children
practice their games and at the end of the school year, they participate in Sports Carnival where
win trophies in all games.
In culmination, our intention is to plant seeds of love in every child, awakening in their hearts a
spirit of service through experiments aimed at inner transformation that allows for an integration
of their inner life of rich creativity with their outer life of action. We look to facilitate a ‘Me to We’
journey through the holistic value-based education curriculum. This effort has borne amazing fruit.
Truly transformative love and leadership has come forward through these children in their overall
school endeavours.

Kailash Parmar is a 12-year student of Ashramshala, studying

in 7th grade. At the time of her arrival at this school in 5th grade,
she was a shy and withdrawn girl, but in the past two years, she
has excelled in all areas of studies, besides also becoming a
student leader who won trophy for Kho-Kho and karate during
annual sports day, as well as showcasing artistic skills in
rangoli-making and dance. She is someone whom other
students look to for support, mentorship and encouragement.
Through the holistic education received at Ashramshala, she
has grown into a confident young person who takes initiative
on all fronts in life and makes sure that other children also
benefit from her growth.

Through our “experiments of love” at Gandhi Ashram, we have come to understand that
education is about giving the children wings to fly in all their endeavours. And through this
precious freedom, they learn to express themselves and empower themselves to become the person
that they were always meant to become, deep down.

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