Programme Design

Bala Janaagraha is a structured citizenship education and civic awareness programme offered to school children in Bangalore. A core team of responsible Janaagrahi’s design and coordinate a carefully and meticulously planned programme. This team is guided by the experience of the members of the advisory council.

Great care is taken in designing inspiring Bala Janaagraha course content. Every module is designed and reviewed keeping in mind the young participants. The book used by the children – “Me and My City” as a supplement to the classroom instruction, is designed as an activity-based book to make learning fun and interesting. The illustrations in the book are attractive and creatively depict the ideas to motivate the children to read the book.

The teachers and volunteers are provided teaching aids like concept charts and handbooks that has lesson plans and concept diagrams. These teaching aids help the teacher understand and deliver the concepts effectively in the classroom. The concept charts visually depict the ideas that are discussed in the classroom and they make both teaching and learning easier.

School Enrolment

Bala Janaagraha programme is offered to private schools, government schools, aided schools, NGO/Slum schools that are located in those Wards where there is active community participation in civic issues. The programme needs a total commitment from the school’s management to the idea of citizenship education not only through classroom instruction but through community action as well.

Orientation session (Volunteers and Teachers)

Orientation is crucial for delivering a successful programme. Bala Janaagraha orientation focuses on equipping the teachers and volunteers with the knowledge and understanding of the concepts and learner centric delivery methodologies that are used to conduct the programme. It is also intended to motivate and inspire the teachers and volunteers to involve themselves in shaping the citizens of tomorrow. Orientation is full day professional session conducted in the month of June during weekends.

Orientation session (Parents and Students)

The Orientation session is held in June or early July to inform the parents and children about the objectives of the programme.It also introduces them to the concept of active citizenship and encourages them to take responsibility and participate in the community development activities.

Class room sessions

Eight to eleven classroom sessions are conducted in each school by trained teachers who are assisted by community volunteers. These are interactive sessions which provide an opportunity for the children to participate through group discussion, case studies, interesting activities and interaction with the teacher and community members. The goals of the classroom sessions are:

• To demystify the functioning of the Urban Local Government and to make the children understand the roles and responsibilities of both the government and the citizen in a democracy, at the local level;
• To develop an interest in the local community activities through classroom discussions and their interaction with the community volunteers;
• To inculcate the values and skills in children to enable them to take on the responsibility of an active citizen;

Field Trips

Field trips to various civic facilities like the water treatment plants, traffic park, police control room, power substation, composting centre, storm water drains etc., reinforces the classroom learning and gives them an opportunity to interact with various civic agencies and understand how the civic services are provided.

Civic Project

Civic Project is a group activity that all children can actively participate in.Children carry out hands on community development projects, study/research civic issues that impact the community through survey’s and suggest possible solutions. They may also engage in awareness drives in their communities through ward walks, posters etc. The objective is to inculcate values of service, integrity and respect through practice; sensitize the children to important civic issues; create awareness and responsibility towards participating in the development of their community.

Civic Exhibition

Bala Janaagraha Annual Civic Festival is conducted at the ward level where children get an opportunity to come together, interact, discuss, debate and compete creatively with each other. These activities give them confidence, an opportunity to work in a team, develop communication skills and more importantly develop leadership skills. All schools in the ward participate in making creative presentations of their civic projects. They also participate in debates, quizzes, the young citizen’s vision programme, and group discussions on topics that are of concern or relevance to their communities.