Awakened Citizen Program
The Awakened Citizen Program (ACP) is a middle school intervention with the objective of creating ‘Awakened Citizens’ out of school-going children when they grow up.. Awakened Citizen Program or ACP is our flagship program and is meant for the students of Classes 7-9.
Purpose
The objective of ACP is to enable students to discover their infinite potential through the conscious adoption of values. The need for ACP comes from the vision of having a nation filled with ‘Awakened Citizens’ who are awake to their infinite potential and their expanded role in the world around them. The program has been designed to help students – To recognize their infinite human possibilities, so that they develop their universal and unique possibilities – To awaken them to the roles, responsibilities, contributions, and engagements with self, family, friends and society as awakened citizens.
Approach
It is a three-year graded approach and the expected outcome is students’ awareness of themselves as being full of infinite potential, the rise of the “I Can” attitude, increased confidence and faith in their own thinking abilities; which in turn makes them responsible choice-makers empowered to take conscious decisions which are beneficial for themselves and society. This is the foundation for developing as an awakened citizen.
Training workshop
Middle School teachers are trained over a two-day interactive workshop in offline/online mode by Master Facilitators from Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi to develop their skills as facilitators for conducting ACP in their schools. They are given practical experience in conducting the modules during the workshop. Two sets of kits (in Hindi/ English, depending on need) are provided free of cost to enrolled schools. Facilitators are also given access to the content in Hindi and English on a digital platform.
The story so far
ACP is a robustly designed program developed by Illumine Knowledge Resources . The delivery partners, Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi/Gurgaon have taken the program across the length and breadth of the country, developed a group of master trainers who serve as training resources for more than 6000 schools who have joined the program. Training is provided to the teachers so that they are able to deliver it to the students, the primary beneficiaries of ACP. Over the past few years, Ramakrishna Mission, Delhi/Gurgaon with a large & committed group of master trainers has in-turn inspired 6300+ schools to join the ACP movement; trained more than 36000 teachers and is impacting more than a million children annually at its present levels of scale. Prestigious Government-aided school networks like Kendriya Vidyalaya & Navodaya Vidyalaya are running the program, indicating the universal recognition and acceptance for the program content, format & delivery approaches. ACP has been running in schools since 2014.. The program is currently being implemented in four types of schools: Government or Government aided schools, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, and some private schools. The program has grown from a mere 300 schools in 2014 to over 6000 schools at present. An invitation by the NCF committee for consultation on formulating the curriculum for Value Education is an important development.. We have been documenting experiential narratives from a range of stakeholders of our programs. There is a wealth of documentation (audio, video and text) capturing the impact on principals, teachers, parents and above all children from all over the country right from the inception stage of the program.
Testimonials
"Children know the possibilities and reflect it in their character. The program is based on real-life situations, seeking inspiration from real people. It has impacted children to develop their possibilities and see that they grow those." - Moumita Chatterjee, Jain Bharati
“I could transform my mindset from fixed mindset to growth mindset.”
- Jyoti Batra, N.K. Bagrodia Public School, Rohini
"The teacher is more of a facilitator where he/she talks less and derives responses from the children by asking the right questions. It was an interactive program and as a teacher we were able to learn the art of questioning for teaching."
- Ankita Sinha, Amity International School, Vasundhara
"The approach will be more child-centred rather than teacher-centred. Giving students an opportunity to connect with real-life examples. The program was very enriching and informative. Gives hands-on experience."
- Abha Jhuman, Apeejay School, Pitampura
"It has helped me to see different ways to think."
- Heena Yadav, Army Public School, Shankar Vihar
"ACP sessions were highly informative. The program encouraged me to focus on value education.. A facilitator is like a gardener who provides the right environment for the students to flourish."
- Anumol Joseph, JNV Nabarangpur, Odisha
"Through ACP I got new ideas regarding introducing topics in a different way. High standard of content and ideas which will have a great impact if it is effectively implemented."
- Elizabeth Francis, JNV Chandimal Bhadrak Odisha
"I have overcome my fear , I am not judgemental anymore and don't hesitate to take initiative .We can deepen the discussions of modules by responding more time in these sessions and we can arrange sessions for parents in schools ."
- G. Bijji Mole, KV- Vikaspuri- Shift1, New Delhi.
"It helps me to understand myself and students. Students are able to perform better and become all-rounder. It helps in the positive development of students . We can involve the parents in the orientation program for parents."
- Durgesh Rani, KV- Cantonment - 1,
New Delhi.
"This program is beneficial for students to awaken their skill of learning."
- Sunita Kumari, Kasturba Gandhi Girls' School (Govt.), Rajasthan.
" ACP is remarkable and practical."
- Pradeep Kumar Niyogi, Govt. High School, Kurukshetra, Haryana
