My School My Voice is a unique program conceptualized by BAF in collaboration with Govt. of UP in Lucknow in an attempt to create a social accountability system around schools. It creates a platform for key stakeholders namely the students, policy makers and government leadership through which students can voice their concerns and opinions without any fear or hesitation.
“My School My Voice‟ project envisages students as the key change makers in re-imagining the public education system that has been vying for urgent attention. It is designed to bring about an element of collaborative accountability by empowering students from government schools to:
• Identify their education related concerns
• Self-monitor and generate a quarterly ‘Mera School Report’
• Elect students as ‘Young School Leaders’ who will be imparted intensive training
• Co-ordinate with concerned government officials and policy-makers directly to improve the implementation effectiveness of key policies/programs in education system
Around 2000 young students from 15 government schools wrote letters to the Chief Minister regarding the functioning of their schools and their vision as a school leader.
The Chief Minister felicitated 50 Youth Leaders carefully selected from government schools and personally sent encouraging responses to their letters as cards that read ‘Yuvaon ko Yuva ki Kalam se’.
In his address, the honorable CM said:
We are extremely sensitive to the concerns of youth of UP and find it crucial to connect with them directly to address their needs the way they want it”. MSMV creates a link between the government, CM and students and aided in bridging information gaps regarding the status of education.
Malala Day, birthday of global education ambassador Malala Yousufzai, was celebrated on 12 July, 2016 at the CM residence to commemorate historical success of section 12.1.C of the RTE Act in Uttar Pradesh.
Understanding the need to train teachers, so that they can better manage a socially inclusive classroom, social inclusion workshops were conducted in 9 different districts of U.P. in collaboration with UNICEF and U.P. Govt.