To be able to get one’s ideas across is an inevitable step towards progress in any field. Herein comes the significance of English, a language understood by a wide range of people. It is a language that facilitates communication with people from all walks of life, thereby assisting in an eloquent exchange of ideas. Unfortunately, it is also one of the stepping stones towards acquiring a certain level of prestige in society, thanks to our colonial masters! However, in India, English education is not available to a large section of the population due to a lack of suitable teachers, facilities, and funds. The 11th ASER (Annual Status of Education) report says that nearly 50% of Grade V students can’t even read Grade II texts in English. This is alarming in the light of a recent Human Development survey that showed that on an individual level, recruiters and HR managers around the world report that job seekers with exceptional English earned 30-50% higher salaries compared to the average income of employees in their specific countries.
Arya Diwase, 23, an alumnus of New York University, wanted to bridge this lingusitic/knowledge gap within society through an initiative called Jazz Hands that works towards empowering underprivileged students by teaching them English and life skills using drama. Jazz Hands Foundation is a student-run non-profit in Pune that has grown to teach more than 2000 students over 5 years and has been supported by over 600 youth volunteers from the city. Their drama and grammar-based curriculum not only allows them to create a level playing field across student communities, it also facilitates interaction between students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Moreover, they are able to develop socio-emotional as well as life skills among their volunteers and students through their inter-disciplinary approach.
The Jazz Hands Programme is a model that is based on the motto - ‘students in the service of students.’ , where students from private schools are recruited as volunteers to facilitate teaching in the surrounding government schools. Currently, they have two programmes - the Grammar Programme and the Drama programme. Their volunteers are trained to teach Grammar using their unique drama-based curriculum. It helps the students learn the grammatical basics of the language in a fun and interactive way. Their second programme in the year is the Drama programme, within which they help students understand the script of a play, learn dialogues, teach them the art of performing in front of an audience and put on a showcase in front of a vast audience. Through their drama programme, they hope to equip the students with life skills such as confidence, pronunciation, problem solving, voice modulation, and expression.
They have also observed that drama that drama offers community-building opportunities in a classroom where there are students of varying levels of language proficiency. It also helps sensitise these children to other people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour because drama requires that they put themselves in somebody else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective ie. it develops empathy. It also serves as a much-needed physical release for students who face multiple hardships at home.
Overall, this initiative facilitates interaction between different sections of society to promote sharing knowledge in an environment which is conducive to growth and development.
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