Hameed Manjreshwar is an Asha fellow and works with VALORED in Dakshin Kannada. VALORED is working in Udipi and Dakshin Kannada districts for the last 9 years and are currently working with 100 government primary schools. Though Dakshin Kannada is known for high literacy levels and good infrastructure, the education system does not address the needs, hopes, and goals of the children and people in this area. The schools lack in quality education, teaching abilities and language education.

Instead of starting a parallel system of education and resources, Valored believes in working with the government schools and resources in the districts and directly with the communities. The organization provides a forum where people come and discuss about the changes they can make within the policy level framework. VALORED introduced resource centers at the Taluk level which function as a forum of teachers and parents. The issues of community participation in various aspects of education like deciding textbooks, knowing about child psychology are all discussed in the resource center. Democracy and transparency are two key features Valored concentrates on in the school management system.

Valored conducts training programs for teachers and community. They have encouraged teachers to demand trainings and facilities from the government or DIET. With an intention to help the teacher initiate activities inside the classroom, Valored conducts material production workshops with demonstrations that inspire the teacher to make educational materials for use in the classroom. In their community outreach efforts, they have started creative activities to bring out talents in the people, children and community without competition but with fun, creativity and experiential learning.

Valored also documents and publicizes their work and distributes it to the schools they work with. At present they are working on SDMC resource manual and a framework for 1st to 5th standards at the state level. Valored is also working to prepare supplementary material for schools in the local languages.

Contact Information :
Hameed Manjreshwar,
VALORED,
St.Joseph Highlands, Lower Berdoor,
Mangalore 575 002,

Phone : 0 824-439895