Implementing Bagless Day Program in Government Schools to Create Awareness of Vocational Education

The article is contributed by Col Ashutosh Kulkarni(Retd).  For more information, please write to ashutosh@dssf.org.in.

The Door Step School Foundation (DSSF), a Section 8 Company, has taken on this mission with a deep commitment to fostering foundational literacy and numeracy among children from underserved backgrounds. Over the years, DSSF has implemented a variety of Community and School Intervention Programs that have reached more than 1 million children, impacting the lives of more than 70,000 children annually in Pune alone. Throughout our evolution, our programs have consistently centered around the core objective of fostering the 3R’s—Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic—empowering children to become lifelong learners. Our mission has been aligned with SDG 4, promoting inclusive education for all, and resonates with the principles of NIPUN Bharat (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding) as outlined in NEP 2020.

In its ongoing efforts to empower the next generation, DSSF has introduced SUPANTH (Sustainable Upliftment And Training with Honour), a project aimed at providing youth from marginalized communities with access to skill development and vocational training. The focus of this initiative is to ensure universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary school by 2025, as the fundamental prerequisite for further educational advancement. With a steadfast commitment to these goals, we continue to prepare 3- to 5-year-old children for formal schooling while also strengthening the foundational literacy, numeracy, and reading skills of 6- to 14-year-olds, ensuring that they reach age-appropriate competency levels.

This article details the objectives, implementation, and impact of DSSF’s programs, particularly focusing on their innovative 10-day vocational exposure program designed for students in Grades 6-8. Through this initiative, DSSF not only seeks to address immediate educational needs but also to build a foundation for sustainable livelihoods for future generations.

Fostering Vocational Skills in Government Schools Through 10 Bagless Day Program

SUPANTH (Sustainable Upliftment And Training with Honour) is a recently introduced project of the Door Step School Foundation with a vision of guiding youth from marginalized communities towards better employment opportunities by improving access to skills training and building a positive approach among the younger generation towards various vocations. SUPANTH has taken up the mission to empower children and youth by providing them with sustainable avenues for skill development, enabling them to earn a livelihood with honour, in line with the National Mission of Skill India.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mentions that every student will take a 10-day course during Grades 6-8, offering exposure and hands-on experience in a sampling of important vocational crafts.

Door Step School Foundation firmly believes that an intervention of this kind is the need of the hour, and hence we are working to spread awareness of the same in schools within Pune city.

Program Objectives

1. The 10-day program will create a unique environment for students in the classroom, providing them with the opportunity to interact with various vocational tradespeople from the neighborhood, including accomplished ex-military personnel, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals.
2. The program also includes a one-day outdoor visit, where each class will be taken on a 3- to 4-hour visit to a manufacturing factory, a village theme park, or a vocational school/nursery. Here, students will have the opportunity to observe hands-on activities in progress and gain awareness of the rich heritage and culture of our villages, as well as the roots of vocational education in our society.
3. The program includes immersive, activity-based sessions in origami and other crafts using paper and easily available, inexpensive materials.

Also read: Launch of guidelines for implementation of 10 bagless days in schools

To begin with, we formulated a 10-day syllabus for Grades 6-8 for the 10 bagless days, with the aim of creating awareness about different vocations/trades. We also had this module approved by the Education Department and endorsed by authorities like SCERT and DIAT. The program was piloted in 4 schools (180 students) with 6th standard students during FY 2021-22, from January to March 2022. With overwhelming responses from schools, we continued this program for FY 2022-23 and 2023-24, making a remarkable impact on 540 and 688 students, respectively. Since then, 1,408 students from 9 schools in Pune have benefited from this program through classroom sessions, outdoor visits, guest lectures, and art & craft activities. During our sessions at the schools, we also make an effort to communicate with both the school staff and the parents of the students.

Through this program, students of each grade are exposed to 20-25 different vocational trades from various industries, such as nursing, lab technician, automobile, electromechanics, tailoring, gardening, journalism, electrician, design, beautician, and more. The students are given opportunities to handle tools and equipment whenever feasible to spark their interest.