Footpath Pathshala: Informal mobile school
Srotoshwini Trust first started with the concept of an informal mobile school called Pathshala on May 9, 2013 at Swati Sports Complex construction site in Sama, Vadodara. The main idea behind Pathshala was to act as a bridge between the street and formal school. Children who had no means of going to formal school were counseled and taught based on their ability and not age. These schools operated in locations like footpaths, construction sites and slums, making them most accessible to the children we were trying to reach. This structure of education continued from 2013 to 2019. In 2019, we made a full time transition to a hostel facility for 100 children.
Pathshala Hostel was started on June 5, 2014. The reason it was started was, the labourers had to move to their next destination once their contract construction job was completed. The children refused to move away from us and their education. They made ardent requests to help them find a place to stay. We received two flats as donation and started the hostel with 8 kids and grew to 17 in 2019. Each of the kids underwent a remarkable transformation both academically and in overall personality development during this time. As a result, a decision was made to acquire land and build a hostel for 100 children so that we can make the maximum impact to their lives. Our hostel for 100+ children have been operational since September 29, 2019.
Pathshala Informal School
During the pandemic the academic classes for our children had to be moved to the hostel campus and local teachers from Lasundra started teaching them. Over the 3 years that schools remained closed, our education system shifted to a more hands on approach to learning called Project Based Learning. There were many benefits witnessed and a decision was made to construct classrooms on campus. Starting June 2022, all our children are attending classes on campus.
Learn more about our Project Based Learning approach in the Academics section