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Revision as of 21:17, 7 October 2012 by Mild Bill Hiccup (talk | contribs) ("an" → "a")(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Public school in Tilonia, Rajasthan, India| Barefoot College | |
|---|---|
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| Location | |
| Tilonia, Rajasthan India | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1972 |
| Founder | Bunker Roy |
| Faculty | 10 |
| Enrollment | 400 |
| Campus | Village |
| Website | www |
Barefoot College, known as Social Work and Research Centre, is a non-governmental organization founded by Bunker Roy in 1972. It is a solar-powered school that teaches illiterate women from impoverished Indian villages to become doctors, solar engineers, architects, and other such professions. The school is located at Tilonia village, Rajasthan, India. It serves a population of over 125,000 people. There are now 20 such colleges in 13 states in India.
Founder's philosophy
The organization was established to solve grave problems like drinking water quality, female education, health and sanitation, rural unemployment, income generation, electricity and power, as well as social awareness and the conservation of ecological systems in rural India. Bunker Roy, born to a wealthy Indian family, received what he described as a "very snobby, elitist, expensive education," which he believes imparts arrogance without providing the kind of practical knowledge needed in poor villages. His decision to leave the city for the village estranged him from his parents, furthering his conviction that "such an education can destroy you."
The policy of the Barefoot College is to take women from the poorest of villages and teach them to become professionals without requiring them to read or write. In extreme cases, there are students without verbal fluency in the languages of their teachers. It is the only school with such a policy, as well as the only school in India that is entirely solar-powered. Keeping with the principles of the Barefoot College, solar panels were installed by a Hindu priest with only eight years of schooling, and many of the builders were themselves illiterate.
Criticism
The Barefoot College has attracted a lot of criticism in recent years. The founder of the institution "Bunker Roy" was in the thick of controversy when he tried to illegally take away the credit for designing the Barefoot College from its architect, Neehar Raina. While the world knows about the controversy surrounding the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, it doesn't know about the fraud surrounding the Solar Electrification and the Wastelands Development project.
Bunker Roy took the assistance of a qualified electronics engineer (Kiran Sindhu) to design and implement the Solar Electric Power for his Barefoot College. But he has never acknowledged this engineer and instead promotes a Hindu priest trained by Kiran Sindhu as the Master Trainer / Engineer. Barefoot College also received a grant of Rs. 2.6 million from Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) in 1993 to develop four wasteland sites in the Ajmer District into community forests. While all of these sites continue to be wastelands, the Barefoot College managed to get the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
Cross-cultural collaboration
One program of the Barefoot College brings women from villages in rural Africa (which do not have electricity) to the Barefoot College. They are then trained by local Indian women at the Barefoot College. At the end of their training, they return to Africa with new skills that allow them to install solar electricity in their villages. The college also worked in a similar project in Afghanistan.
Awards
- In 1998, it was awarded the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (Indira Gandhi Environment Award), by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.
- In 2003, the Barefoot College won an Ashden Award for its work bringing solar power to rural villages.
External links
- BBC feature
- UNESCO
- PBS News Hour Article
- The Barefoot Approach, essay from Sumithra Prasanna for the International Museum of Women
References
- http://www.barefootcollege.org/
- Altruism and Compassion in Economic Systems (Media notes). Zurich, Switzerland: Mind and Life Institute. 2010.
{{cite AV media notes}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|director=and|publisherid=(help); Unknown parameter|titlelink=ignored (|title-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|titleyear=ignored (help) - http://www.barefootcollege.org/
- Altruism and Compassion in Economic Systems (Media notes). Zurich, Switzerland: Mind and Life Institute. 2010.
{{cite AV media notes}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|director=and|publisherid=(help); Unknown parameter|titlelink=ignored (|title-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|titleyear=ignored (help) - Sebastian, Sunny, "An award controversy", Frontline, Volume 15 (Issue 16), July 20 – August 02, 2002 (retrieved on 10 January 2012).
- TED Comment (http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html?c=345163)
- "List of Awardees". Ministry of Environment and Forests.
- Barefoot College wins Ashden Award
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