Committee Reports: Bhavishya Yaan 2020-2021

Director-in-charge: Rtn. Pratap Padode
Chair: Rtn. Manish Reshamwala
Co-Chair: Rtn. Akhil Sanghi
Members: PP Arun Sanghi, PP Ramesh Narayan, Rtn. Jamshed Vakharia, Rtn. Madhusudan Daga, Rtn. Alok Sekhsaria, Rtn. Rajesh Shah, Rtn. Shivkumar Israni, Rtn. Manoj Patodia, Rtn. Ptn. Avaan Vakharia, Rtn. Ptn. Beena Yargop, Rtn. Ptn. Ekta Shah, Rtn. Ptn. Jaya Prasad, Rtn. Ptn. Priyanka Jatia, Ms. Rashmi Bapna.

Bhavishya Yaan has been one of the star programmes of the Rotary Club of Bombay and has been doing wonders. This has been one of the programmes that managed to hold its identity and was of immense help to the various students in spite of the lockdown.

The heroes of this programme are the coordinators of the six schools who have tirelessly worked along with Neeta from Vidya and the teams of Vidya to ensure that the students continued with their education in this time of e-learning. The key words were tablets, online and internet – words that were never known to these children of Bhavishya Yaan schools which were municipal schools.

However, both the teachers and students adapted fast and well to result in kids becoming more smart and tech savvy. Below are some of the highlights of the programme and what each school has achieved in the words of the coordinators themselves, for the academic year 2020-2021.

Rashmi Bapna, East Byculla Municipal Secondary School
– School is a COVID quarantine centre with the full premises being used
– Distribution of 10 Tablets , 7 smart phones
– Distributed Threptin biscuits
– Gave books to 10th Std students
– Organised Diwali and Summer camp
– Scholarship cheques to deserving students

Ekta Shah, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg Municipal Secondary School
We began online classes on WhatsApp and Zoom, in June, 2020. Initially, we faced challenges due to a lack of smart phones and internet connectivity, with students having moved to their villages. Gradually, things settled down. As students and teachers adapted to the online system, not only did RCB donate notebooks, tablets and smart phones, but also monthly ration kits to BY children and their families who were struggling during the lockdown.

Since then, to facilitate online learning, we have created chat groups on WhatsApp for students for better coordination of online activities between them and the teachers. Online worksheets are regularly shared with the children who, in turn, post their answers which are corrected and the feedback is shared with them. Online classes are conducted over the Zoom platform thrice a week covering English grammar, quizzes, comprehension, and storytelling.

Once our routine classes came on track, we started our extra-curricular activities like online yoga and art classes. We celebrated Christmas and Republic Day online.

Rotaractors kept the energy and brought a new variety of online things to our children. Rotaractors of HR College taught our children Mandala Art and Math Magic. Rotaractors of Hinduja College did two Vocabulary Building sessions.

Rotaractors of KC college organised an online Chess Workshop. We wrapped up our year with a week-long summer camp. The Disney Summer Camp was a beautiful experience for the children with learning combined with various fun activities. It was a fruitful week where the children imbibed new skills and also improved their general knowledge.

Jaya Prasad, N M Joshi Marg Municipal Secondary School
We at NMJ, barring the computer classes which require physical presence, held regular English classes from class 1 to 10 every day, albeit with a lesser number of hours. We celebrated everything online: Republic and Independence Days, workshops on various topics and art such as Warli, six weeks of story sessions for all the classes conducted by IB Students of Fazlani School, plays, debates, all accompanied by a lot of fun and frolic. Plus the Summer Camp with the Full House Finale. For those students interested in general knowledge, a daily 1.5 hours class is being held by the BY Mentor at NMJ.

Sadly, they missed out on snacks and outings. To compensate we, at NMJ, organised lots of gifts for the students and ensured that they got it. We also held competitions for them and felicitated them with prizes.

We endeavoured to make the abnormal situation as normal as possible. For this purpose, the NMJ BY Staff held regular interactions to ensure not just to reinvent activities but also continuously adapt themselves to the challenging scenario as it unfolded so that the children could feel comfortable and at ease.

Beena Yargop, Colaba Municipal Secondary School
By July 2020, BY teachers from Colaba secondary school were able to get in touch with their students and form Whatsapp Groups. Online classes began with once a week classes for standards 7 & 8 and twice a week classes for standards 9 & 10. Grammar topics were covered and worksheets shared on WhatsApp. Spoken English activity was also added. Zoom classes were begun.

4 Tablets and 17 smart phones were distributed by RCB for Colaba kids in standards 9 & 10 to enable more children to participate in online classes. 20% of our online students now have RCB sponsored tablets/ smart phones. SSC students were given exam test paper sets which they solved in their online class with BY teachers.

The Disney summer camp was conducted in April 2021 post the exams. Children watched videos and discussed their favourite characters. They made flipbooks, Mickey Mouse masks, crowns and other artwork.

Avaan Vakharia, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal School
Online classes were held for std 5-10. At the start of the year, ration packets consisting of rice, dal, sugar, oil, tea etc were distributed to 20 children.

Model examination papers and previous years’ papers were distributed to the 10th and teachers helped to solve them.
Online math classes for std 7/8/9 were held daily to help out children who have missed out on these classes in school.

Online shows like the circus were arranged for all.

Alumni are in constant discussions over current topics and topics of interest.

Current 10th attended a finishing school held online with 10th also taking part in current topic discussions.

Tablets distributed to children whose attendance is good.

Face to face classes for standard 10 held for a short period before the second Covid wave.

Priyanka Jatia, Prabhadevi Municipal Secondary School
Close to 60 students have regularly attended online classes. They have adapted to the new routine by doing worksheets and activities based on the curriculum.

Some students struggled with not being able to attend classes online due to the lack of internet in their localities or due to the absence of devices available at home. Fortunately, a donor was kind enough to give our students tabs. Five students from Prabhadevi were the recipients of them and are thrilled to be able to use them and not miss out on education.

Throughout the year, we have tried to encourage them and not miss out on celebrations of Diwali and Christmas. The teachers organised games and activities based on the occasion. At the end of the year, there was a summer camp on the theme ‘Disney’ where the children had a great time doing activities, worksheets, arts and crafts and more based on the theme and learning about Disney too!