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Community Ecosystem Model

India's celebrated Barefoot College helps teach skills to help rural communities, including children, become self-sufficient and sustainable. http://www.barefootcollege.org/ The aim of their educational program is to equip children so that they voluntarily choose to stay in the village and work for its development. They select people from the community to run classes (rather than creating external dependency) & teach skills which are locally relevant.


Activities include socio-economic themes such as child rights, environment, untouchability, money lending from which puppet shows, musicals & street-plays are devised. And they conduct a comprehensive Children's Parliament run on democratic principles. http://bit.ly/amxy0r



The Barefoot College offers a comprehensive mix across education, energy, water, education, health care, handicrafts, waste management, etc. It's an applaudable & extensive venture of what's already happening successfully on the ground. Much to be learnt here – mostly to do with the model's focus on empowerment & locally relevant themes.


Beyond looking at tools and services for education, should we consider the larger community-ecosystem in which they exist?

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