Children's LoveCastles Trust

CLT India (registered as Children's LoveCastles Trust) is an Indian non-profit, non-government organisation based in Jakkur, Bengaluru. It was founded in 1997 by Bhagya Rangarchar. It aims to provide education using technology to the under-served communities and its solutions serve the base of the pyramid.

CLT India
Children's LoveCastles Trust
FounderBhagya Rangachar
Founded atBangalore, India
TypeNon-profit Organisation
HeadquartersJakkur, Bengaluru
Location
  • Bengaluru Urban, Karnataka
Region
India
FieldsEducation, E- Learning, Digital Education
Official language
English, Hindi, Kannada
SubsidiariesCLT International Foundation

It operates an inclusive, low-cost, seamless e-learning delivery model. This model has been implemented in government schools across Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, among other states in India. Its mission is to use technology to create, enhance and monitor the delivery of grass-roots level education in an affordable, scalable and modular manner.

CLT India is working towards strengthening the existing curriculum of government schools with a network of support for pedagogy, technology, infrastructure and mentoring programs through collaborations. This is aimed at inspiring its beneficiaries to get access to tools to become lifelong learners through digital intervention.

CLT India is a certified GuideStar Gold level participant.[1] In an impact assessment study by Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, it was found that 83% schools which were a part of the CLT India’s e-Shala program reported increased enrollments and 72% schools reported reduction in dropouts from their academic course.[2] It was chosen as a Dasra fellow for their Research Publication in partnership with USAID as one of the few change makers that are making a difference in the way girls are impacted in secondary schools. Having scaled up the low cost technology model,[3] CLT's e-Patashale content runs in over 12,000 classrooms in India today.[4]

Key Intervention

CLT India addresses some of the challenges[5] in the rural school education system of India like shortage of teachers with subject expertise, student disengagement and lack of quality learning resources. By giving equal learning opportunities for girls and boys with quality e-learning resources for STEM education, it is hoping to bridge many gaps in the system, including the gender gap and digital divide.

e-Patashale
e-Patashale

e-Patashale is a low-cost digital content repository based on the national curriculum (NCERT) adopted by state board schools in India, facilitating improved learning outcomes for government-run school beneficiaries. The main objective of this project was to devise low-cost solutions for intervention programs that are modifiable, easy to replicate and scale. It helped build a network of Master Teachers to create curriculum-aligned, digital content repositories for K-12; leverage technology for giving access to modern pedagogy and teaching practices.

A teacher using e-Patashale

CLT Resource Centre acts as a hub where pedagogy experts gather and develop educational content. CLT India has been engaging in sourcing qualified teachers and transforming their expertise to low-cost digital education content that is inclusive, scalable and replicable. The content is created by many qualified teachers in urban cities and passed on to in-house developers to develop into course material, transferring the expertise of qualified teachers to rural government schools.
It is now an extensive library of teaching resources for Mathematics, Science and English Grammar courseware for grades 5 to 10. It features interactive multimedia content like videos, slides and PDFs. In addition to notes, it also offers assessments based on the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE). It is currently available in English, Hindi and Kannada. e-Patashale follows the national curriculum closely and is approved and recommended by the State Departments of Education. It is currently available on Windows and Android devices, including PCs, tablets and mobile smartphones. It can be accessed in both non-connectivity environment and online environment as courseware videos and ebooks.[6]

A free teacher training mobile app Jigi & student learning app Jigi Jigi for classes 5-10 are available on Google’s Android Playstore.[7] Jigi is a teacher training application, consisting of a repository of STEM teaching resources. It’s features include teaching points, lesson plans, discussion points, cognitive ability, and CCE. Jigi jigi is a student app with educational content like interactive videos and PDF for multiple subjects. The content on this app is approved by DSERT and mapped to the state syllabus. It also features assessments and lesson videos as per NCERT curriculum.

Other Programs

The organization began its digital education program in 2006 when it started creating educational content for government schools. Prior to this, it was involved in providing mid-day meals to various government schools in Bangalore and had also started a food-bank programme. However, these programs were later scrapped after the Karnataka State Government implemented the midday meal scheme in Jakkur[8].

Intel Computer Clubhouse
Children enjoying their time at the clubhouse

In addition to during-school intervention programmes, CLT India also provides after-school intervention. CLT India was selected to host the second Intel Computer Clubhouse in 2002.[9] It is an after-school center for 750 children, ages 9–19, from Jakkur village in Bangalore. Under the guidance of adult mentors, children develop technology skills and create digital projects. Every two years, three children from the clubhouse go to Boston to take part in the Teen Summit, a week-long international youth leadership programme. CLT India is also part of the Adobe Youth Voices program since 2008.

E-Learning

With the help of its digital education content repository e-Patashale, the organization has catered to the growing needs of rural education in India. The organization helped set up a total of 300 E-learning classrooms between 2007 and 2010.

Distance Education

CLT also partnered with Cisco for live distance-teaching in 2011.[10] CLT provided the education content which was delivered remotely using the Cisco® Education Enabled Development (CEED) platform. The program was implemented in 42 classrooms over the period of 2011 to 2014.[11]

Awards and recognition
  • Millenium Alliance award[12] for early grade reading in July 2020
  • e-Patashale shortlisted for QS Reimagine Education award during November 2018[13]
  • Goldman Sachs India cash grant of $50,000 in 2017
  • Bhagya Rangachar awarded one of the 50 Global Social Innovators on World CSR Day, 2017
  • Digital Initiative Awards, 2017 - Times Group
  • Canara Bank Service to Mankind
  • Intel Computer Clubhouse Network Kudos Award 2009[14]
  • e-North East Award 2011 - Jury Special Mention Award for Innovation in Education[15]
  • e-ASiA 2011 Award - 1 of Top 5 Finalists for Best ICT initiatives in Classrooms[16]
  • The Manthan Award South Asia & Asia Pacific 2012 for e-learning content[17]
  • Social Innovation Acceleration Program 2013 by Marico Innovation Foundation[18]
  • Millennium Alliance Award 2013 for low-cost innovation by FICCI and USAID[19]
  • The Manthan Award South West India 2014 in e-Science & Technology[20]
  • South Asia Education Summit Award 2014 in "Mobile initiatives in schools" category

References
  1. "GuideStar India". guidestarindia.org.
  2. (PDF) https://cltindia.org/documents/eSHALA_IMPACT_ASSESSMENT_17APR.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20150923212747/http://www.dasra.org/pdf/kgis_full_report.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "CLT India Classroom Reach". cltindia.org.
  5. India, CLT. "CLT India's Work". cltindia.org. CLT India. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  6. India, CLT. "Kindle Books". amazon.com. CLT India. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. India, CLT. "CLT India Play Store Page". Google Play Store. Google. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. Chandra, Meghana (12 July 2020). "Lessons outside the classroom" (Daily). The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  9. "Intel unveils second Indian Intel computer clubhouse". The DQ Week. 15 April 2003. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  10. "Cisco and Government of Karnataka launch remote education at Hoskote using Cisco Education Enabled Development platform for Inclusive Growth". Cisco Press Release. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  11. "Unique innovations for social development". Live Mint. 2 December 2012.
  12. "Millennium Alliance". millenniumalliance.in. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  13. "https://twitter.com/cltjoy/status/1052420108981850113". Twitter. Retrieved 10 July 2020. External link in |title= (help)
  14. "Kudos Award Certificate" (PDF). Cltindia.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  15. "e-North Award Certificate" (PDF). Cltindia.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  16. "Awards Finalist". Easia.eletsonline.com. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  17. Misra, Aditya (2 December 2012). "Unique innovations for social development". Live Mint. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  18. "Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF) brings 8 more social enterprise projects onboard for its successful Social Innovation Acceleration Program" (PDF). Marico Innovation Foundation Press Release. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  19. "U.S.A, India Announce Innovation, Science, and Technology Awards". Indian Education Diary. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  20. "Winners". Southwestindia.manthanaward.org. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
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