- deshkal@gmail.com
- +91 92104 67826
Anandshala is committed to ensuring that every child has access to joyful learning, digital literacy, and essential life skills through its Foundational Computer Learning and Skill Development Programme. The initiative is currently being implemented in two locations: Gautam Buddha Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh (Noida and Greater Noida) and Supaul District, Bihar.
The socio-economic context of these regions presents distinct yet interconnected development challenges. The economy of Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida and Greater Noida) is heavily dependent on circular and temporary migration, primarily from rural Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. This migration pattern sustains a large semi-skilled and low-skilled workforce engaged predominantly in the informal sector. Most migrant workers face insecure employment, low wages, limited access to social security, and inadequate living conditions. Despite rapid urbanization and economic growth, a significant proportion of migrant households continue to experience social and economic vulnerabilities, indicating that urban growth has not translated into equitable development or improved livelihood security.
In contrast, Supaul District, Bihar, is predominantly agrarian and characterized by limited access to quality education, modern skill development opportunities, and sustainable livelihood options. The district lies within the flood-prone Kosi basin, making it highly vulnerable to recurrent floods that adversely affect agriculture, livelihoods, and household incomes. Agriculture remains the principal source of livelihood, with paddy, maize, and jute as the major crops. However, dependence on agriculture, coupled with inadequate infrastructure, limited non-farm employment opportunities, and insufficient access to market-oriented skills, has perpetuated cycles of poverty and economic insecurity.
Across both regions, the target communities primarily comprise first-generation migrant labourers, marginal farmers, landless agricultural workers, and economically disadvantaged households engaged in low-wage and informal occupations such as factory work, construction, domestic work, and other service-sector employment. Their children-particularly adolescent girls-face multiple barriers, including inadequate access to quality education, limited digital exposure, poor learning outcomes, restricted career opportunities, and a lack of market-relevant skills required for gainful employment.
These challenges are further compounded by limited awareness of and access to government welfare schemes and social protection entitlements. The absence of digital literacy, life skills, career guidance, and educational support restricts the aspirations and opportunities of children and young women while preventing families from effectively accessing public services and social security benefits. Consequently, many households remain trapped in an intergenerational cycle of poverty, educational disadvantage, social exclusion, and economic vulnerability.
Against this backdrop, the Foundational Computer Learning and Skill Development Programme seeks to bridge the digital divide by equipping adolescent girls, students, youth and women with foundational computer competencies, employability skills, digital literacy, and life
skills.
Access to quality education for life-long learning, home learning support, increased parental awareness on education coupled with enhanced access to entitlements of social security can enhance lifelong skills, capabilities, functioning, and well-being of children and their families. These two inter linked interventions, one dealing with lifelong learning and the other on increased access to social security entitlements, focusing on girls and their mothers are mutually reinforcing. These together propel families and their children out of the cycle of deprivation enabling a fulfilling life with expanded choices and better social entitlements.
The Anandshala pilot is set to scale across six Shramik Kunj locations in Noida, Greater Noida, and Dadri reaching approximately 500 beneficiaries across these centres.
A small, dedicated team coordinating education, community outreach, and digital learning on the ground in Noida.
Graduate in Psychology, associated with Deshkal Society since 2013
Technology professional experienced in digital skill training
Prof. Emerita in the College of Education, California State University, USA
Odissi dancer; Director, Odissi Akademi; Founder Trustee, Sanchari Foundation
Educationist; Former Director, Research and Training, Dept. of Education, Bihar
“We are grateful to our supporters whose trust, collaboration, and commitment enable us to create meaningful opportunities for education, skill development, and community empowerment.”
“When I visited Anandshala, I was deeply humbled by the gratitude I received. Seeing how my small donation was adding value to lives of children here was a heartwarming experience.”
-Shruti
“I started volunteering with Anandshala a couple of months ago. It gives me immense joy to be able to contribute meaningfully to the lives of children. Children here are quick learners and somewhere along the path of teaching them, I ended up learning more from them.”
-Jayant
Jay Prakash is program Director at Deshkal Society since 2013. He holds a master’s degree in English literature from Magadh University and is currently coordinating for the launch of a new educational setup at Supaul for Deshkal Society.
His interests include research areas in Education, Health and Rural Development. He has successfully executed many government and CSR funded projects for Deshkal Society.
Dr. Shruti is an Assistant Professor of English at Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, India. A bilingual writer, translator, editor, and researcher, her work engages with Literary, Gender, Cultural, and South Asian Studies. She holds a PhD from the University of Delhi, where her research explored the literary and cultural representations of sex-workers in India. Her research spans diverse areas including sex-work studies, migration, psychoanalytic criticism, and contemporary cinematic representations. Alongside academia, she has contributed to publishing, media, and creative communication, with writings spanning books, films, podcasts, news portals, and numerous academic and public platforms. Her work is driven by an interest in the intersections of literature, culture, media, and emerging technologies.
Saurabh is an Erasmus Mundus scholar, social worker, and communications consultant. He has worked with non-profit organisations in the UK and Denmark and is currently a Consultant with the Deshkal Society.
Sanjeev Kumar is a graduate in Psychology and has been associated with Deshkal Society since 2013. He is currently serving as a Community Mobiliser, contributing to community outreach and development initiatives. His areas of interest include women’s development, education, and health.
Jayant Chaudhary is a technology professional with experience in web development, data management, and digital skill development. He has trained students from underprivileged backgrounds in fundamental computer skills, including MS Office, web development, and Adobe Photoshop. He has also contributed to web-based systems and database management while coordinating teams and supporting project implementation.
Christine E. Sleeter, PhD is Professor Emerita in the College of Education at California State University Monterey Bay, where she was a founding faculty member. She has served as a visiting professor at universities in the U.S., New Zealand, and Spain, and is a former President of the National Association for Multicultural Education and former Vice President of the American Educational Research Association. A leading scholar of anti-racist multicultural education, ethnic studies, and teacher education, she has published over 170 articles and 22 books, including Critical Multicultural Education (2024). She is an AERA Fellow, NEPC Fellow, and National Academy of Education member, and has received multiple national awards for social justice scholarship
Kavita Dwibedi is one of India’s leading Odissi dancers and a recipient of the prestigious Odisha State Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Trained under her father and guru, the late Shri Hare Krishna Behera, she has performed in over 40 countries and before dignitaries including President Droupadi Murmu. As the Founder of Sanchari Foundation, she is celebrated for her evocative abhinaya, innovative choreography, and vital contributions to globalizing the Odissi dance tradition.
Dr. Ajay Kumar Choubey is an educationist and leader in Delhi known for his work on equity, inclusion, and social justice in education. His vision is to empower educators, students, parents, and communities to become active changemakers who contribute to meaningful social transformation. As an educational leader, he promotes schools as dynamic learning organizations where every participant can grow and realize their potential. His work emphasizes inclusive, child-centered, and innovative pedagogical practices, ensuring that every learner experiences education as an empowering journey toward becoming knowledgeable, confident, and socially responsible.
Shushmita Chatterji Dutt holds degrees in History and Education, including a PhD in Girls’ Education, and has nearly three decades of experience in the education sector. She has worked extensively with major Government of India programmes such as DPEP, Mahila Samakhya, KGBVs, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and Samagra Shiksha. She has also served as Senior Education Specialist with UNICEF in New Delhi and Jaipur, and has worked with the World Bank on poverty-eradication initiatives and with UNESCO on Education for All. Her experience spans national and international NGOs across South Asia. She writes regularly for journals in Education and History, and also paints and exhibits her artwork.
Jyoti Raina is a Professor of Education at Department of Education, Gargi College, Universityof Delhi. She has taught various educational studies courses for the past three decades and has published several academic papers and edited two volumes on educational policy, psychology of learning and initial teacher education. She has a keen interest in school education and serves on the school management committees of both a private and a government school. Her current research interests include teacher education, student-teacher research, and educational policy.
Chaise LaDousa is Director of Education Studies, Hamilton College, USA. He has conducted field research in North India studying languages and the role they play in education and India’s rapidly changing political economy. Another project has focused on the importance of fun in expressive culture in institutions of higher education in the United States. In addition to publishing numerous professional articles, he is the author of Hindi Is Our Ground, English Is Our Sky: Education, Language and Social Class in Contemporary India, published in 2014, and Signs of Play: Faith, Race, and Sex in a College Town, published in 2011. He attended the college of the University of Chicago and received his doctorate from Syracuse University.
Dr. Harshvardhan Kumar holds a PhD in Education from the University of Delhi and has over 16 years of experience in education and child development. He has worked with leading national and international organizations, including UNICEF, NCERT, IGNOU, and the University of Delhi. His expertise spans curriculum design, textbook development, teacher-training, educational content creation, translation, and documentation. Alongside academic work, he is a regular contributor to Hindi children’s literature in well-known magazines. He currently serves as Head of Early Childhood and Elementary Education for American India Foundation projects at TLF, where he leads initiatives to strengthen foundational learning for children.
