Educational Enhancement is a mentorship and training programme at Shakti Shalini wherein individuals from diverse backgrounds, with diverse skills, strengths, and curiosities can connect with Shakti Shalini to serve the mission of gender equality.
Educational Enhancement provides mentorship and training through the following six approaches:
- University Mandated Internships: Wherein undergraduate and postgraduate students from disciplines such as Social Work, Gender Studies, Public Health, etc., work with Shakti Shalini as a part of their course field work. The structure mandated by the university/ college is implemented by Shakti Shalini within this form of internship.
- Independent internships: Wherein individuals apply through their independent preference and interest to intern with Shakti Shalini. The structure of the internship is determined mutually between the mentee and Shakti Shalini.
- Volunteerships: Wherein individuals engage as volunteers with Shakti Shalini. Volunteerships allow for more flexibility and elasticity than internships.
- Research projects: Wherein individual researches engage with Shakti Shalini to avail support for their research for dissertations, M.Phil. / Ph.D. Thesis, independent research engagements.
- Creative projects: Wherein individuals engage with Shakti Shalini to avail support for or collaboratively work on creative and/ or artistic projects.
- Youth collaborations: Wherein university/ college groups and societies, youth organisations, and independent youth initiatives collaborate and work with Shakti Shalini.
The central objective of Educational Enhancement:
The central objective of Educational Enhancement is to nurture, hone, and equip gender equality champions and changemakers who challenge social norms and promote equality in all the spaces and relationships they inhabit. Educational Enhancement has a three-fold focus on the skills of its mentees/ participants: theoretical, practical, psycho-emotional. Theoretically, Educational Enhancement attempts to equip its mentees with a basic understanding of gender, violence, health, and rights. Practically, it attempts to provide basic tools and skills to respond to violence, preempt and prevent violence, support somebody experiencing violence, and say no to violence. Psycho-emotionally, it attempts to provide mentees psycho-emotional skills to be able to work in zones of violence effectively, strategically, and sustainably without burnout, desensitization, and extreme stress response.
What makes Educational Enhancement unique?
– It is a much personalised programme wherein the work plan is made collaboratively between the mentor and the mentee by matching the interests, strengths, and curiosities of the mentee with the needs of and opportunities available at the organisation.
– Through its six approaches, it has made it possible for individuals to connect with the organisation and with the mission of gender equality through a variety of ways. This ensures flexibility and creates room for a large number of people to connect across location, skills, educational backgrounds, time constraints, etc.
– It is youth dominated but not exclusively for youth. While the Educational Enhancement program experiences a large youth participation cutting across high school students to young workers, it also boasts of middle-aged and senior mentees and participants. Thus, it upholds the principles that it is possible to engage with the cause of gender equality at any stage in a lifetime.
Partnerships
At present, Educational Enhancement partners with the following institutions, organizations, and initiatives:
- Social Work Department, Jamia Milia Islamia University
- Social Work Department, Delhi University
- Gender Studies Department, Ambedkar University
- Social Work Department, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati
- Public Health Department, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati
- Social Work Department, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality, Ashoka University
- Social Work Department, Assam Royal Global University
- University of Petroleum and Engineering Studies
- Lawrence University
- Athena Education
- Enactus
- Girl Up
- AISEC
- Punya