Current Status

Vidyalaya is at the Centre of the programmes and activities carried out by Digantar since 1978. At present, two Digantar Vidyalayas provide education to children, one, situated at Kho Nagorian, which is equivalent to primary school(i.e., standards 1 to 5), and other is situated at Bhawgargh Bandhya villages, which is equivalent to standards 1 to 10.Digantar schools are ungraded and the standards here are mentioned to indicate the rough learning levels of children studying in these schools. The schools are officially recognized by the Education Department of Rajasthan. In the current academic year 2023-24, there are 238 children enrolled in both the schools of Digantar, with over 50 percent of them being girls.

Digantar Vidyalaya is a secular space. There is no prayer in the morning assembly. From Monday-Friday, all groups (School don’t have classes, instead have learning groups) have their own assembly as per the schedule prepared by the children and the teachers. The assembly consists of songs, poems, playing games, performing plays, discussions on various topics, etc. On Saturdays, all the children come together for a Collective School Assembly. The activities for the assembly are carried out as per the schedule prepared by children and teachers.

Digantar believes every child has her own pace of learning. This means, all the 30 children in a group are likely to be at different levels. To prepare for the implementation of such pedagogy, the teacher prepares a plan for each and every child every day.

There is no cleaning staff in the school. The coordinators, teachers, and children all do the cleaning of the entire school, including common space, classrooms, and washrooms by themselves; every working day from 9.00-9:15 am. This small collective effort breaks a lot of stereotypes associated with gender roles, caste hierarchy, and the stigma attached to manual labour in general and to certain jobs in particular.

The school provides lots of opportunities for extra-curricular and skill development activities such as Carpentry & Handicrafts, Computer Education, Bal Panchayat, and Organic Club and farming. There are no pass-fail kinds of tests and examinations. Digantar believes in a continuous and comprehensive evaluation as part of its pedagogy. To know the child and his/her growth a rigorous record of every child’s progress in learning is kept on a weekly basis. The Vidyalaya also maintains a good relationship with the community. All teachers meet parents of children in their learning groups at least once a month.