Barefoot College

Barefoot College, previously known as the Social Work and Research Centre ("SWRC")^[1] is a voluntary organisation working in the fields of education, skill development, health, drinking water, women empowerment and electrification through solar power for the upliftment of rural people,^[2] which was founded by Bunker Roy in 1972. It is registered under Friends of Tilonia Inc.^[3]

Barefoot College
Location
Tilonia , Rajasthan India
Information
Type	Public
Established	1972
Founder	Bunker Roy
Campus	Tilonia
Website	www.barefootcollegetilonia.org

The "Villagers' Barefoot College" in the village of Tilonia gives lessons in reading, writing and accounting to adults and children especially the "drop-outs, cop-outs and wash-outs." Girls heavily outnumber boys in the night schools.^[4] In 2008 there were approximately 3,000 children attending 150 night schools.^[5][6]

In the profile acknowledging Roy as one of Time 100 most influential people for his work with the Barefoot College, Greg Mortenson wrote that the grass-roots social entrepreneurship has trained more than 3 million people for jobs in the modern world, "in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs" so that poor students feel comfortable.^[7]

History

Bunker Roy is the founder of what is now called Barefoot College.^[8] After conducting a survey of water supplies in 100 drought prone areas, Roy established the Social Work and Research Centre in 1972.^[8] Its mission soon changed from a focus on water and irrigation to empowerment and sustainability.^[8] The programs focused on siting water pumps near villages and training the local population to maintain them without dependence on outside mechanics, providing training as paramedics for local medical treatment, and on solar power to decrease dependence and time spent on kerosene lighting.^[8] Roy has been named one of the 50 environmentalists who could save the planet by the Guardian and one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.^[9]

Night Schools were begun that allowed students who worked to support their families during the day to still receive training. The organisation has utilised a system of training the trainers to bring skills training to villages.^[10]

In 1997, Kamala Devi became first female solar engineer trained by the college's programs. She continued to work with the college. In 2012, she became the head of the solar unit at Kadampura.^[2]

In March 2023, NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof profiled the organization in his opinion column.^[11]

Methodology

 

Barefoot College founder Bunker Roy speaking about the programs in 2008

The programs are influenced by the Gandhian philosophy of each village being self-reliant.^[5] The policy of the Barefoot College is to take students, primarily women from the poorest of villages and teach them skills such as installing, building and repairing solar lamps and waterpumps without requiring them to read or write. In extreme cases, there are students without verbal fluency in the languages of their teachers.^[12]

The participating villages create a Village Energy and Environment Committee which determines the rates the villagers will pay for the solar panels and identifies which of the poorest residents of the town will go to the college for training.^[5] The students receive 6-month training program learning about solar panels and storage batteries before returning home where they maintain and repair the systems.^[5]

The college does not give out any degrees or certificates.^[13] V. Krishna has described the approach as "de-mystifying high technology" to rural villages to show that with the right training, "the uneducated and semi-literate can operate and manage" items like solar panels and water pumps.^[14]

Rajasthan's traditional art of puppetry has been utilised by the college to "spread information on health, education and human rights".^[15]

Campus

The buildings used for the school have dirt floors and no chairs so that "poor students feel comfortable".^[7]

The campus sits on 8 acres, has rainwater harvesting design and was built by the students.^[16]

Cross-cultural collaboration

In 2012, the Barefoot College became the first NGO partner with UNESCO's Global Partnership for Girls' and Women's Education.^[17] A UNDP funded program of India's Ministry of External Affairs brings women from villages in rural Africa (which do not have electricity) to the school for training, after which they return with new skills to install solar electricity in their villages.^[18] The college entered into an agreement in 2012 to expand the programs for students from Fiji.^[19]

The documentary film Solar Mamas, funded by the Skoll Foundation and the Sundance Institute, follows a Jordanian woman as she joins with other women from around the world to participate in the solar engineering training at Barefoot College.^[20]

An exhibition of photographs taken by the students of the Barefoot College was presented at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.^[4]

From problem to solution

Barefoot College, like all groundbreaking, influential places, started out as simply an idea. Acting upon that idea was what got Barefoot College going. Sanjit “Bunker” Roy wanted to come up with alternative ways to address India’s very prevalent poverty and inequality issues.^[21] This is just what he did. When people care about a certain issue, two types of changes can result. The person could decide to spend as much of their time as they possibly can by volunteering towards a particular cause that changes this certain issue, or, like Roy, they make it their life mission to change the issue themselves and make a livelihood out of helping the problem become a solution.

By creating Barefoot College, Bunker Roy has made service-learning his livelihood – he has become an entrepreneur by making his job to be helping the community. Because of his dedication and determination, Barefoot College endeavors to help the poverty and inequality issues by teaching the people in the community the basic skills they need to survive and be effective in their community – without having to hire people to do the simple jobs.^[22] The college also provides women with training to learn how to do things normally dominated by men. It gives the women equality with the men and helps them to become more self-sufficient.^[22] The “professionals” that started out at the college were geologists, economists, doctors, social workers, charted accountants, graduates, and post graduates who wanted to support and help the same cause that Roy did.^[21] By teaching the people how to better themselves and giving them an opportunity to become literate and further their knowledge in practical areas, Barefoot College didn’t just fix the problem of poverty and inequality; it brought the citizens into the solution so that the Indian community would feel that they were doing their part to help their community. They are now more efficient, effective, resourceful, knowledgeable citizens who are fighting to have a productive and profitable society thanks to the brainchild of Sanjit Roy that is Barefoot College.

Awards and achievements

• In 1998, it was awarded the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (Indira Gandhi Environment Award), by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.^[23]
• In 2003, the Barefoot College won an Ashden Award for its work bringing solar power to rural villages.^[24]
• In 2013 it was declared that Bunker Roy would receive a '', along with young activist Malala Yousufzai.^[9]

Returned award

• The creators of the campus near Tilonia received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Originally the award was attributed to "an illiterate farmer", but later the award was corrected and redesignated to read "A young architect, Neehar Raina, prepared the architectural layout and an illiterate farmer from Tilonia, along with 12 other Barefoot Architects, constructed the buildings." when the presenters became aware of the involvement of professional architect Neehar Raina.^[16] Because of the inclusion of Raina, Roy did not accept the award on behalf of the school and returned it.^[25]

Notable participants

• Nauroti Devi, former Sarpanch of Harmada Gram Panchayat in Rajasthan.

External links

• , essay from Sumithra Prasanna for the International Museum of Women

See also

• Paulo Freire
• Szekely, E.; Mason, M. (2018). "Complexity theory, the capability approach, and the sustainability of development initiatives in education". Journal of Education Policy. doi:10.1080/02680939.2018.1465999.
• The Solar Night Schools Programme, The Barefoot College ∗ India
• Szekely, E.; Mason, M. (2016). Global Agendas Versus Local Needs in Educational Development: The Barefoot College’s Solar Night Schools Program in India. In: Robertson M., Tsang P. (eds) Everyday Knowledge, Education and Sustainable Futures. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects. Vol. 30. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0216-8_11.

References

1. The Barefoot College in Tilonia, 1997, Author: Sanjit (Bunker) Roy, Publisher:Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi
2. Sarita Brara (30 October 2012). "Lead kindly light". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
3. "Donate : Barefoot College". Retrieved 29 March 2017.
4. Sanjay Suri. "In pictures: Villagers' Barefoot College". BBC Online. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
5. Elkington, John; Hartigan, Pamela (1 February 2008). The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World. Harvard Business Press. pp. 52–. ISBN 9781422104064. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
6. Fred de Sam Lazaro (6 October 2008). . PBS. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
7. Mortenson, Greg. (29 April 2010) Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy The 2010 TIME 100 17 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine. TIME. Retrieved on 2 June 2012.
8. John, Mary (2003). Children's Rights and Power: Charging Up for a New Century. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. pp. 232–. ISBN 9781853026584. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
9. "India's Bunker Roy and Pakistan's Malala Yousufzai to receive top US award". Press Trust of India. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
10. Osler, Audrey (2000). Citizenship and Democracy in Schools: Diversity, Identity, Equality. Trentham Books. pp. 170–. ISBN 9781858562223. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
11. Kristof, Nicholas (22 March 2023). "Can't Read? Here's a 'Barefoot College' for You". Retrieved 22 March 2023 – via NYTimes.com.
12. "Barefoot College". Retrieved 29 March 2017.
13. Rothstein, Mitchell Grant (1 June 2010). Self-management and Leadership Development. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 499–. ISBN 9781848443235. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
14. Krishna, V (14 September 2005). Singh, M. (ed.). Meeting Basic Learning Needs in the Informal Sector: Integrating Education and Training for Decent Work, Empowerment and Citizenship. Springer. pp. 200–. ISBN 9781402034268. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
15. Lonely Planet Rajasthan, Delhi & Agra 2nd Edition. Lonely Planet. 1 October 2008. pp. 207–. ISBN 9781741046908. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
16. Jain, Sonu (1 July 2002). "Tilonia's Barefoot campus, now the bare facts". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
17. "India's Barefoot College and UNESCO join forces for Girls' and Women's Empowerment". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
18. "Mujer Sana Hoy - Health and Wellbeing tips for all Women". Retrieved 29 March 2017.
19. DAWN GIBSON (22 November 2012). "Women get $550,000 -". Fiji Times. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
20. Killian Fox (17 November 2012). "Documentary-makers join forces to expose the evil of global poverty". Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
21. "Our Story". Barefoot College. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
22. "Living With Gandhi". Barefoot College. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
23. "List of Awardees". Ministry of Environment and Forests.
24. "Solar energy brings light and employment". 24 November 2003. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
25. "Swiss award for Bunker Roy". The Hindu. 22 September 2002. Retrieved 23 November 2012.