| Community Participation and Development |
Bharti Foundation’s Community Initiatives
Community involvement is an integral component of the Satya Bharti School Program. Since its inception, the community has supported and contributed towards the functioning of the schools. Of this, one of the major contributions has been the donation of land for the school-buildings. Apart from this, community-members also help in building boundary walls, pathways of the school and make monetary and tangible contributions for school-based activities and events.
Contact points like Parent-Teacher Meetings, home-visits, community-events are also conducted at regular intervals to increase parent and community engagement with the program and help them understand the way children are taught at our schools.
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| | Community Partnerships | The Program invites active community involvement  | Participation in school activities and events | | Donation of materials, both material and tangible to the schools | | Helping preserve linkages with local culture, arts and craft | | Feedback on schools and activities |
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| | Community Volunteering |
Community volunteering initiated in 2009-10, is a key feature of the Satya Bharti School Program and is built into the school calendar. Community members interact with students for a fortnight each year. They acquaint the children in local vocations and crafts. This helps build a sense of belonging and ownership with the school.
The Community Volunteering Week 2011 held in all schools by approximately 1300 community volunteers in the months of June and July this year for five days, was an enriching experience. More than 31,000 students were introduced to new crafts and skills like making wooden toy carts and waste-cloth carry bags, they learnt about mechanics, post-office transactions and the like.
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| | Community Development Campaign |
The students of the Satya Bharti School Program are being developed to be agents of change within their community. Select campaigns are planned and conducted through the year to increase community awareness on issues having social implications. By participating in these campaigns children understand their responsibility in addressing social evils in their own village. Involving community members in their campaigns, the initiative helps convey important social messages to the community and also facilitates personality development of students. The most significant achievement of such campaigns has been the prevention of 16 child marriages in Rajasthan. The three campaigns conducted in the 2010 - 2011 Academic Session include a Girl Child Campaign, Environment Protection Campaign and a Community Development Campaign.
Such student driven campaigns are represented by the Satya Bharti Schools at various national level school contests and are highly lauded and rewarded. In 2011, approximately 170 Satya Bharti Schools registered their community campaigns in the Design for Change School Contest. Of these, 12 Satya Bharti School entries were declared winners - three schools among ‘Top 20’, two schools in ‘Special Jury Mention’ category and seven schools declared winners in ‘Top 66’ category. Eight Satya Bharti Upper Primary Schools in Neemrana (Rajasthan) took part in the DLF Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards 2010. Three of the Satya Bharti School students were among the top 20 finalists and six students were chosen among the 40 Runners Up at the contest. Kiran Bai, a finalist was awarded a Special Recognition Award for her campaign against child marriage in her village.
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| | Community Empowerment |
The Satya Bharti Schools, directly and indirectly, contribute to the economic empowerment of the villages in which they are set up. A significant portion of the operational expenses of the schools are channelized directly into the village through various employment and income generation opportunities. More than 1200 teachers of the Satya Bharti schools are local qualified youth. The mid-day meal vendors are members of the community, usually mothers of students attending the Satya Bharti Schools. The schools, through their regular operations, contribute to the revenue of local transportation vendors, tent houses for school events, vegetable vendors, grocers, stationers etc.
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