The S.H.E. Philosophy of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya

EducationWorld August 2023 | Spotlight Feature

Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya (SKV) stands for Service, Heritage, and Enterprise. The school believes in empowering its students through diverse programmes and intitiatives that nurture their skills and encourage them to make a positive impact on society. Some of the notable initiatives of SKV are:

Sankalp: Menstrual Hygiene Awareness

Sankalp is a service project initiated in 2012. Under this project, students have set up a low-cost sanitary napkin manufacturing unit in the school. They make and distribute the pads to the underprivileged women in nearby villages. Apart from this, the sanitary pads have also been sent along with other relief material to regions where calamity strikes. In 2014 they made 2000 napkins for the flood-stricken women in Kashmir, and the victims of the Nepal earthquake. In 2018, when Kerala was struck by floods, the school set up workshifts to produce 6000 napkins in 48 hours which were distributed among the women impacted by the devastating natural calamity.

Dharohar: The Heritage Festival

As part of this initiative, SKV students work for the propagation and revival of Heritage arts. The preservation of Indian heritage through the “Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Dharohar Festival” is a testament to SKV’s vision to pass on the legacy of Indian heritage and cultural to its students. This annual festival is themed every year on a different period of Indian history or the culture of an Indian state. Girls schools from all over India are invited to participate in this three-day fest; competitions based on visual arts, culinary arts, dance, nusic, built heritage etc. of the states / dynasties are organised. The winning school is awarded a prize of Rs. 1 lakh and a running trophy.

Sasha: The Humanoid Robot

Developed by SKV’s robotics department, Sasha the humanoid robot represents the school’s innovative and creative spirit and reflects students’ passion for AI.

Sanchay: Organic Farming

In 2018, the organic Kitchen Garden was started by the students of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya. From sowing to harvesting, the entire process is managed by the students. The vegetables are sold to the SKV staff and the school mess. This initiative has helped the students to learn how to cultivate crops, as well as marketing and account keeping. It has fostered among them the joy of entrepreneurship which is important for a successful future.

Sambhav

In 2019, a team of six students under the Quality Circle Forum of India, presented their project “Sambhav”, this project aimed to reduce single use plastic bags in the campus by replacing them with handmade paper bags

Sangyan: Transdisciplinary Learning

Sangyan promotes transdisciplinary learning and nurtures students’ intellectual curiosity, encouraging them to explore different disciplines.

Saksham: Citrus Peel Cleansers

Saksham is an enterprise project that produces natural cleansers using waste citrus peels and encourages students to think sustainably.

Sanchayan: Eco-Bricks Project

Sanchayan is an initiative by SKV students to create eco-bricks by recycling plastic waste, promoting sustainability and eco-friendliness.

Shubarambh: Converting organic waste into bio compost

SKV makes bio compost out of the forest waste like dried leaves, twigs and kitchen waste. The collected forest waste is shredded and washed in a slurry of cow dung and water and compost beds are made. These compost beds are covered with jute cloth and water is sprinkled on them every day to keep them moist. This accelerates the growth of worms and fungi which further helps in breaking down the material. Aerobic bacteria thus formed, completes the chemical process by converting the input into heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium. It is further converted into plant-nourishing nitrates. This bio compost is used in our organic farming.

Sanrakshan: Menstruation waste management

Sanitary waste disposal is a huge problem that need to be tackled with proper education, awareness and healthy and safe disposal habits without shyness or fear. Team Sanrakshan has come up with a safe and organic technique for sanitary pad disposal. The soiled sanitary daps are wrapped in newspapers and disposed off in a separate hygienic sanitary bin. The menstrual waste is then collected and buried in pits for permanent disposal. Once these pits are filled, trees are planted in that area.

Team Saksham, Sanchayan, Shubharambh & Sanrakshan presented their case study on the SDG’s (sustainable development goals) at the Quality Circle conclave, all the four teams received Par Excellence & Excellence award for their innovative ideas and are further invited to present their case studies at the international Convention to be held in November, 2023 in Beijing, China.

Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya was also honoured with the “Best service organisation award in the private sector” in 2022.

To learn more about the Sankalp initiative, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OMoVA3tUnQ.