VSEI
VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO EDUCATION IN INDIA, INC.
A nonprofit, tax-exempt organization working to help education in India

Projects

VSEI was started in late 1968. Over the years, we have received many requests and have taken up various types of projects in different parts of India. We would appreciate your interest and help in getting support for VSEI projects.

VSEI’s projects in India are of different categories:

List of Projects supported by VSEI in the past year.

Project Summary Form

SUMMARY OF SELECTED V.S.E.I. PROJECTS

We summarize below a few selected VSEI projects, which will give you an idea of the types of projects we assist, and the kinds of help they need. In addition to the projects summarized below, VSEI has assisted several other projects in different parts of India, including rural and semi-rural areas in Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, U.P., M.P., Bihar, Jharkand, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

K.L. Institute for the Deaf, Bhavnagar (Gujarat)

This school was started in 1960 by a group of social workers and parents of deaf children in response to local needs. Starting with limited resources, it slowly expanded its facilities and educational programs. Their program emphasizes the following: Providing education and training for the deaf and integrating them in the normal school; Detection of deafness; Promoting preventive measures; and related services which would help in the total rehabilitation of the deaf community. VSEI has assisted them since the early 1980’s, with educational materials, scholarships, sponsorships of children, equipment for science teaching, and funding for services such as getting a part-time specialist for testing children.

Stree Seva Mandir and Prayoga, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)

This institution is devoted to activities for the welfare of women, esp. long-term programs for providing education and vocational training. Started in 1949, Stree Seva Mandir has been dedicated to the cause of the poor and socially backward women and children, and offers education, vocational training, and a variety of services for their benefit. Its activities include vocational training and employment centers, schools, hostels and other services such as Mobile Creches, Day Care Centers, and Maternity Centers. Our assistance to them since the mid-1970’s has been well-utilized towards the welfare of women, which is one of the most important needs in India. Prayoga’s work consists of programs for improving science teaching, including an emphasis on hands-on science teaching.

Rashtriya Vidyalaya Educational Consortium, Bangalore (Karnataka)

This project started with the teacher training institution R.V. Teachers College, whose activities include many aspects of education -- teacher training, developing new methods and materials for teaching at different levels of school, conducting workshops and training sessions for teachers, and advising and guiding schools and teachers in their area. VSEI has been working with them since the early 1970’s. Since the early 1990s, VSEI’s new projects have been managed by the R.V. Educational Consortium (RVEC).

VSEI has assisted them with various resources -- materials for use in Computer Education; teaching materials in all areas of education, especially the sciences; & audio-visual materials ( including videotapes, audiotapes, films, transparencies, CDs and DVDs). Other materials provided for their use include periodicals and books for the teaching of science and mathematics, small science equipment, grants for educational materials and programs, and scholarships for children in schools under their supervision and teacher trainees at R.V. Teachers College.

In 2004, the RVSEI Educational Resource Center was started ( -- a collaborative project of RVEC and VSEI ) for the use of teachers and schools in the area. Several workshops - in Computer Education, Language teaching, and Science Education have been conducted, and will be expanded in scope.

Blind Men's Association & National Association for the Blind (NAB), Mumbai (Maharashtra)

The Blind Men’s Association (BMA), Mumbai, established in 1947, was a unique organization exemplifying the ideal of self-help. It later pioneered the growth of other organizations, the chief among them being the NAB, India. It was recently renamed the Blind Persons Association.

BMA’s schemes, some of which VSEI has assisted, include Scholarships, Home Teaching & Counselling, Braille & Talking Books Library, Book Banks, and projects which help both blind children & the children of blind parents.

VSEI has assisted NAB, Mumbai with educational aids for blind people, equipment for teaching & developing new materials, and more recently, in Computer Education and in the use of text-to-speech software for the blind. VSEI has also assisted NAB branches in Panchmahal District (Gujarat), and in Bangalore (Karnataka).

Prerana Shishu Vidyalaya, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh)

In 1985, a group of young people in Kanpur formed this organization "Prerana", in a predominantly working class locality "Choti Gutiya". Realizing that ignorance and lack of awareness were the root causes of the social iniquity they saw around them, they made education the focus of their efforts. In 1987, they started the Prerana Shishu Vidyalaya (Prerana Children’s School) to serve the poorest of the poor in their area, by teaching the children of the daily wage earners like the rickshaw pullers and maid servants. The classes were held under trees in a park nearby, and a room was rented to keep books, blackboards and equipment. Starting with nursery and preparatory classes, they slowly increased the scope of their activities year by year, adding teachers and increasing the number of children being educated. The school’s needs are for facilities & funds to enable them to extend their programs.

Welfare Society for the Deaf and Retarded, Hooghly (West Bengal)

The primary activity of this society is a school for hearing impaired children in Hooghly. VSEI has been assisting them for several years with general educational materials, hearing aids, classroom teaching equipment for hearing impaired children, computers and accessories, and materials for science education, as well as sponsorships for very needy children.

This project has been visited by a VSEI-Amherst member several times ...read more.

Dhankhet Vidyalaya Gram Unnayan Samity, 24 Parganas (West Bengal)

Dhanket Bidyalaya (meaning "Paddy-field School" ) near Kolkata (W. Bengal), started as a program for teaching science to rural children, and later developed into a wider-scope program encompassing education, health care, and other aspects of rural development.

VSEI has been assisting them since 1987 with educational materials and funding for science education and some of their rural development projects, and more recently by sponsoring needy children.

This project has been recently visited by a VSEI-Amherst member ...read more.

CCDT ( Committed Communities Development Trust ), Mumbai

CCDT’s work addresses a major problem in Mumbai -- the care and rehabilitation of women who are HIV positive, and their children.

Two major programs of CCDT, which VSEI is committed to assisting, are their Vocational Training Program for adult women, and Project CHILD for providing assistance to their children.In the vocational training program, the women are involved in activities such as the making of candles, key chains, jewellery, decorative cloth & handbags, embroidered shirts, decorative cloth folders, crocheted mobile covers and leather wallets. Project CHILD helps the children in the women's families by providing them with the basic educational materials needed for their schooling.

Little Stars School, Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh )

Little Stars School was started in 1996 , to provide an institution for educating the children in some of the poorest working communities in Varanasi, whose education was often neglected because of the economic pressures on their families.

VSEI ’s assistance to the school has been towards some of their most basic needs -- for educational materials, for extending the structures and facilities in the school, and providing basic classroom and library needs. This school is working towards adding the tenth grade, with new programs which will help prepare the students for future careers.

If you have questions, problems or suggestions send an email to vsei@ntplx.net
Last Updated: