What gives Katha schools the edge?
- KREAD, the Katha Relevant Education for All-round Development is a unique curriculum for life that proactively fosters earth-caring habits in learners and teachers.
- ASBL, the Active Story Based Learning that leads to inquiry and self-propelled learning.
- Its Think-Question-Debate-Act plan anchors our Story Pedagogy in creative classroom practices.
- PAR is our continuous assessment matrix, which has improved our students’ ability to come on PAR with the world. In Katha, PAR stands for Performance, Attendance, Retention. A strong continuous assessment methodology helps track classroom work in non-threatening, non-competitive ways so that teachers can constantly tweak their own pedagogies and practices, and so that we keep our children happy and coming in regularly, and doing well!
In the year 1990, Katha started Jhunjhunwadi, the preschool in the Katha Lab School. We run 54 preschools that are happy places for 3-5 year olds living in 65 slums. Rich magical learning places, our preschools develop a social, artistic and culturally rich environment for children who live in Delhi’s large slum clusters.
The Katha Lab School began in 1990 as a learning centre in the slums of Govindpuri, Delhi, with 5 children. Today we have 9450 children in 43 Katha Schools in Delhi and in the 4 tribal schools of Arunachal Pradesh.
LEAP stands for Katha’s Local Entrepreneurship Advancement Programme. It brings together all the Professional Schools of Katha under one umbrella. All LEAP Schools offer O and A level certification. This goes in tandem with the Grade X and Grade XII national examinations.
KSE, started in 1995, provides vocational and entrepreneurship training with leadership and job shadowing opportunities. This intensive and professional programme works with an objective of helping children stand on their own feet and support their families. The school offers the following programmes:
- Fashion Designing
- Cutting & Tailoring
- Embroidery
- Wood Craft
- Bakery
- Carpentry
The Katha Iinfotech & Ecom School, KITES, trains students from primary to high school, and makes them computer-confident individuals. During the last year, 286 students were awarded ‘O’ and ‘A’ level Certificates. 55 students were employed by IT companies, MNCs and NGOs like Satyam System, Aircel Noida, Reliance Fresh, Birla Sunlife, Signotech India Pvt. Ltd., Agesoft Pvt. Ltd. as well as other firms. [17,900 students have received the KITES certification since 2001.] Two new centres were started last year with the support of CAF and Adobe India, in Tughlakabad, NCT, and Khore Gaon, Haryana.
Katha started its English classes for primary school in 1995-96 at the behest of the community. Our major challenge has been finding skilled English speaking/knowing teachers. Yet in 2001, we started the English Lab and graduated this into the English Academy, again with its unique syllabus that came from our own experience. In 2009, Katha started English classes for teachers.
The 4 Arts, Creative Writing & Journalism, Theatre, Dance & Music, and Fine Arts, fill in the vital culture-activity dimensions to education.
The Katha-Lisu Schools in tribal Arunachal Pradesh are at Gandhigram, 38 mile settlement (Ngwazakha), Hazulu village, Sidikhu village. In the year 2009-2010, the five schools enrolled a total of 245 students, 3-6 years old. Started in 2005, these are part of a community-based programme that help wildlife conservation by reducing hunting pressures on Namdapha National Park. Managed by the local church and Lisu elders from communities that live in remote villages with poor access to health care, education, and employment opportunities. The schools are 136-157 km on foot from the nearest town.
This is an innovative learning programme that works with street children aged 5-17 years, especially girls. Knowing that children working on the streets are unable to go to school, the Katha School on Wheels Programme takes learning to them. Our colourfully painted RTV van touches 10 traffic intersections across South Delhi every day. Filled with fun learning materials, books, puppets and a computer, the vans bring nearly 1,000 children into interactive learning.
