MALENADU EDUCATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY (MEARDS)

About us

Malenadu Education and Rural Development Society (MEARDS) is a registered, not-for-profit organization, working in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka for the past twelve years. The vision of the trust is to facilitate learning in children and help them to realize their potential.

MEARDS was founded in 1998 with the help of rural young friends, who had received education in mother tongue in government schools. Despite the language and rural limitations, our experience speaks that sincere efforts would lead one to any heights.

It is our aim to impart education to rural children in the serene rural ambience. Provision of entrepreneurial, vocational, child-centred education is our object. Education should be interesting, meaningful and should also be near to real life.

Our Vision
Well developed rural region with all the basic necessities like clean environment, remunerative employment opportunities, quality educational facilities, etc..

Our Mission
• Unraveling the full potential of the children by providing quality education in child-centered ambience.
• Creation of rural-environment friendly employment opportunities to stop migration to urban centers.
• Transfer of technology to the rural areas.
• Capacity building of the rural poor by forming SHGs and providing trainings.
• Introduction of scientific and innovative teaching techniques by providing proper training to teachers.
• Creation of environmental awareness to preserve and protect the bio-diversity of the Western Ghats.

Our goal is to support the rural community with quality education and rural small farmers and landless labourers with new suitable technologies as well as products and proper training to enable them to get increased returns by remunerative vocations or increased yields from the existing lands by introduction of high-yielding pest/disease resistant seeds/saplings and post-harvest processing activities.

Activities:
• MEARDS has established Chandana School at Narebail (a small village about 7 K.M.s from Sirsi town) and Chandana Crèche at KHB Centre Sirsi.
• Chandana is a unique rural, innovative, activity based, child-centred, play-home model school from early childhood to matriculation. It has an interactive science centre as well as a library.
• Audio-visual teaching aids are incorporated in the classrooms to facilitate better comprehension of subjects by the children.
• A Computer Centre, spacious playground, parabola open-air theatre and well ventilated homely classrooms are designed and developed to unravel the skills in children.
• Teaching of primary education in mother tongue is one of the thrust aspects of the school.
• Providing opportunities for all-round development nourishes the body, mind and soul.
• Economic limitation should not be a hurdle to any child for getting proper education.
Ekalavya: This was started with the financial help of Kasturi Trust, Bangalore, to provide necessary English Conversation and Computer Operation skills to poor unemployed graduates and undergraduates at affordable cost
Rural Library: These are rural information centers at Golikoppa and Narebail villages to cultivate reading habit among rural people
Other Collaborations: Collaborated with Akshara Foundation to implement their Remedial Programme for Slow Learners by providing volunteers to government schools. Working with Infosys Foundation, Bangalore, to distribute Library Books and Computers to the government schools. Partnering with Centre for Rural Studies (Manipal Academy) to assess annually the quality of education in 30 revenue villages in the district under ASER..

L. M. Hegde is the Founder & CEO of Malenadu Education and Rural Development Society (MEARDS).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.