Reinventing schools to reinvent India
| Meeting Date | 24 Feb 2024 |
| Meeting Time | 18:30:00 |
| Location | Poona Club |
| Meeting Type | Regular |
| Meeting Topic | Reinventing schools to reinvent India |
| Meeting Agenda | |
| Chief Guest | Mr. Sandeep Rai |
| Club Members Present | 42 |
| Minutes of Meeting | Teaching for India Last week’s guest speaker, Mr. Sandeep Rai, personified Rotary’s 2023–24 theme of creating hope in the world. Brought up in the United States, with a Master’s Degree in International Affairs and Economic Policy from New York’s Columbia University, and a Master’s in Secondary Teaching and Education from American University, Sandeep could have had a high-flying career in any number of fields, but chose to follow his passion — believing in the transformational power of education for children from underserved backgrounds. After teaching secondary science in Washington DC as a member of the Teach for America corps, for the past 12 years Sandeep has been closely involved with Teach for India, which he helped to launch in 2008. “Nothing prepares you for India,” Sandeep admits, where the challenges are colossal, with nearly 97 percent of children from low economic backgrounds never making it to college. The education system has failed to give these children the opportunity to study and better themselves. “It was a problem worth fighting for,” Sandeep said, and he has been championing educational rights for these children by “reinventing and redesigning schools to be vehicles of economic mobility”. Along with Sandeep, two young colleagues — Sayed Mohammed Shoeb and Vaishnavi Nudurumati —have also taken on the challenge of working with children from underprivileged backgrounds. Sayed works with several municipal corporation schools in and around Pune, and Vaishnavi is on a mission to “make India an Olympic sports superpower”. It was heartening to see their commitment, dedication and devotion to providing the grounding for a better future for underprivileged children, one small step at a time, firm in their belief that an investment in education pays the best interest. President’s Announcements • A generous donation of Rs. 10,00,000 from Rtn. Baakir Baker for the Eye Care Mega Project. • A menstrual hygiene awareness program was conducted at Dasave Public School in Lavasa by Rtn. PP Dr. Aruna Umranikar and Rtn. Dr. Saroj Bande. Sanitary napkins manufactured by Rtn. PP Madhu Rathi’s company were distributed to 59 girls.. • The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to late Rtn. PP Dr. Polly Umranikar at the 37th Annual Conference at the Association of Maharashtra Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies. The award was received by Rtn. PP Dr. Aruna Umranikar. • Nominations from the fields of Health, Environment, Education, Livelihood, Empowerment and Advocacy were invited for this year’s Vocational Awards. Celebrations We offered birthday greetings to Rtn. Dr. Kamalkishore Malpani. Members celebrating their wedding anniversaries included Rtn. Dr. Kamalkishore and R’Ann Deena Malpani, Rtn. Sunil and R’Ann Anagha Shah, Rtn. Sagar and R’Ann Shilpa Khandelwal, and Rtn. PP Rakesh and R’Ann Suchi Bhargava |