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Sangati - MCGM Schools Students’ Feedback

Name: Riya Jaiswal- Std. VI
School: Tirandaj Village Hindi MCGM School
I am very fond of the Sangati programme, I like the stories. I have the Sangati workbook in which I love to write and read. We learnt the Lena Dena game and many songs. We don’t get to read the stories of Sangati anywhere else. Sangati influences and changes our way of thinking. It makes us think deeply before undertaking any task. We also get a chance to express our opinions. My self-confidence has increased and because of writing in the book, my handwriting has also improved. The activity about mothers and grandmothers was very good; it helps us to understand how situation of women has changed over the period. My mother also likes this book very much. I love the colouring activities and because we learn so much from Sangati I like it tremendously.

Name:Munnu Chandrik Ratidas - Std. VI
School: Eksar Tale Pakhadi Hindi MCGM School
I enjoyed reading ‘How Societies Developed’; I got a lot of information from this kit which I think will be useful for me. I enjoyed understanding how the earth came into existence and how life on earth evolved, how agriculture started, how women were also hunter gatherers and the first farmers, and how humans began settling. After that villages and then cities and then countries began to form, and society developed. Kings and emperors fought wars and expanded their empires. Trade routes formed and people were able to exchange goods and knowledge in different parts of the world. First, I used to think that caste and religion has been made by god, but from Sangati I got to know that people have created these divisions. Based on this, they discriminate against each other. This is wrong. If we want to bring about changes in our country and society, we will have to change the way we think. We should not discriminate based on gender. Now I help my mother and sister in household duties. When my sister has her exams I do not let her work in the house and I do all her chores. These are the good things we learn in Sangati and I also enjoy the games very much. I am very proud to be a student of Sangati: Dil pakde dimaag ka haath, aao chale hum Saath Saath.

Name:Karan Vasudev Soni- Std. VI
School: Akurli Road Hindi MCGM School
I like the Sangati programme very much. I have been studying it since Std V. I have learnt, understood, and observed a lot. I also learnt that God did not create different castes or religions. In the story ‘The Thakur’s Well’, and ‘The wall’ are very good stories and taught us a lot. We learnt about caste-based and religion based discrimination. I do not discriminate either at home or in school and if somebody else does I try to make them understand that it is wrong. In ‘So close, yet so far’ was about the inequality between rich and poor. I want to change this situation. I will dream like Sameer (the rich boy) and work hard like Kishore (the poor boy). I like to listen to Sangati stories, play games, sing the songs, We not only listen to the stories but discuss them and write our experinces and opinions in the workbook. For one of the activities in the workbook I interviewed my grandmother, my mother, and my sister and learnt about how women’s situation has been changing. I enjoyed this very much and they too enjoyed it. I want to study Sangati next year also.

Sangati - Ashram Schools Students’ Feedback

Name:Rutika Rajendra Jadhav- Std. VII
School: Chimbipada Ashram School
We were taught the Kit ‘The Way We Live’. I really enjoyed ‘Maya’s story’ - I strongly felt that she should study a lot, because then her younger sister will also follow in her footsteps. I also have a younger brother. I narrated Maya’s Story to him as well and he really loved it. My family does not discriminate based on gender. My brother also helps in household chores according to his age. The story ‘Where there is a wheel . . .’ about women and girls having more freedom after they got cycles; is just like our life, we also cycle from our house to school and other places. I feel much more confident in sharing my views in with others because of Sangati. I really enjoy starting the sessions and love the Sangati slogan ‘Dil pakde dimaag ka haath, aao chalein hum saath saath’. (Thoughts and feelings go hand-in hand, together we will stride and learn.)

Name:Aarya Dinesh Raut- Std. VIII
School: Chimbipada Ashram School
I like Sangati a lot. We got a lot of knowledge about personal, social, environmental, and political changes that keep occurring. I found the part about personal changes very useful, through which I understood the physical and mental changes we undergo as we grow-up from children to young adults. We never got this information at home or through any other book. We understood the importance of menstrual hygiene. We also understood the how we need to respect our own body as well as others. I discussed all this with my mother also and she was very appreciative. Our ashram school is till Std. XII and I really want to continue studying Sangati till then!

Saath Saath - MCGM Schools Students’ Feedback

Name:Tanya Ganesh Waghmare; Std: VIII
School: Abhyudya Nagar Marathi MCGM School
This year we studied the Saath Saath programme. We learnt about the changes that happen in adolescent boys and girls. Earlier, girls could never even think or talk about this subject. If we had any questions, there was nobody to ask. Nobody had talked to us about menstruation; we used to think that menstruation is a very disgusting and secretive thing. Even our mothers never talked about these matters to us. When there were advertisements of sanitary napkins on television, we would look the other way. In school we were taught a little bit about menstruation but this information was only given to girls. Therefore, we always thought that we should never talk about menstruation in the presence of boys. In Saath Saath sessions we have learnt that menstruation is a natural thing and this is not something to be secretive about and we should be able to talk about this openly. In this manner misinformation and superstition will not spread. At home I told my mother also that this is not something to be secretive about. I am very grateful to Saath Saath for clearing these misconceptions.

Name:Deepika Singh; Std. VIII
School: Prabhodhankar Thackaray
I am very fond of Saath Saath through this we are able to understand different aspects of gender discrimination. I have learnt about the impact of social media, its uses and its harmfulness, sexual harassment. I have learnt about cyber safety, the changes that happen in the body, menstruation, etc. ‘Maya’s Story’ has taught us that there should be no gender discrimination and that girls should not be married early. From this subject I understood who a strong person is. I solved the puzzle ‘Easy or Difficult’ in class. We have to understand the status of women in society and that men and women are equal before we spread this message in society. Therefore, I feel that Saath Saath is very important for students.

Manthan – Students’ Feedback

Name:Sonam Atmaram Kunhade
D.El.Ed. College: St John D’britto D.El.Ed. College, Vasai
During the year I learnt and understood a lot from Manthan. The four main areas of information were teachers, students, how we learn, and our education system. These four sections have been taught very beautifully. Using this information and methodology in the future will be very useful to impart education in the classroom. It also tells you as a teacher what role you have to play and how you should fulfil this role. In the sessions we learnt that every student is unique and we should perceive them accordingly. Understanding the emotional and mental state of the student is very important as it influences classroom behaviour. The programme taught us how to impact the all-round development of children and how to implement certain values in their everyday lives. We understood the role and importance of the teacher in each student’s development, that a classroom should be inclusive, and that a teacher should provide value-based guidance. The syllabus and textbook are explained through examples and stories to makes them easy to understand. Many concepts were clarified through activities and games. We also understood different methods of evaluation. The pedagogy is engaging and should be used by all teachers in the classes because it is a fun way to learn.

Case Study

Name: Pooja Kasle, Class 6
School: Ashokavan Marathi Municipal School Dahisar East
Community: Konkanipada Settlement Dahisar East
Overcoming anger Pooja Kasale participated actively in both online and offline Sangati classes, but it was observed that she often tended to be agressive and quarrelsome during discussions.

During the ongoing sessions in Kit 6, ‘Preparing for the Future’, the represenative conducted the activity ‘Seeing is believing’ (about acknowledging that there are diverse perspectives to look at an issue), after which everyone expressed their views. Students felts that we must be able to examine our ideas about ourselves, about how to relate with those who are different from us, how to respond to unexpected situations, as this helps in deciding what we want to do, and to have some clarity about our future. It can also help us resolve some of the problems we face. In this process we do need to have clarity about our point of view but it is also necessary to take into account other perspectives. After this ‘There is another way’ (a story about anger and dealing with it) was taken up. During the discussion after the story, questions came up about feelings, anger, how often one feels angry, understanding what makes us feel angry, how we respond in such situations. Many students said that Pooja often gets very angry. At this point Pooja was visibly upset and glared at everyone. The representative drew their attention to the worksheet about dealing with situations that made us angry. She also reminded them of 'Jimmedar Kaun?' in Kit 1 and the consequences of not dealing with anger and frustration.

After the class the representative tried to talk to Pooja in private, but Pooja was unresponsive. She remained absent from the next two online classes and did not respond to phone calls. When her friends tried to get her to attend classes she refused to join. After a week or two, she started attending online classes but would not participate. When the representative tried to make her open-up, she logged-out without saying anything but she continued to attend the following classes.

During the face-to-face session in the Basti, children discussed their worksheets; at this point Pooja shared her thoughts. She said at home she often fought with her siblings and neighbors, she admitted to her tendencies of being aggressive. According to her, it was because her siblings mislead her father about the cause of their quarrels, making her the scapegoat. She complained about her sister picking-up fights about minor issues, finally ending-up in physical altercations. This would usually end with Pooja protesting with a ‘hunger-strike’ and isolating herself. She also talked about her neighbour, an aunty who played loud music during their study-time, making it difficult to concentrate; Pooja would retort in same measure. The representative asked her if dealing with these situations diffrently would make her feel any better. She agreed that one has to confront the situations one feels angry and disturbed about, analyse them and find ways to deal with them. Now at home, she does not react to each and every spark of discord with her siblings and only speaks when she must. She also admits to her mistakes. Her siblings’ behaviour has also changed, now that they have begun to understand things. Meanwhile, she has stopped playing loud music as a way of retorting to her neighbour’s loud music. The aunty next door was surprised and asked Pooja, to which she mischievously replied; "since your music is so loud, I don't need to play mine and can save on our expenses". Now the aunty has also changed. Pooja confided to the representative that listening to ‘Pranjol's story’, remembering what happened with Rahul, the discussions in the class and filling in the worksheet helped her; she found these things very useful. Now she is back to being her active self and participates openly in sessions.

The inputs in the Sangati sessions help students to reflect about their situations, look closely at things around them, preparing them to face life.