Through the years, ILP has established mutually beneficial & highly successful relationships with over 25 NGO’s from 10 different states. Some of these partners are supported by ILP in their grass-roots intervention programs, whereas others are thought-leaders in several key areas that align with ILP’s philosophy and strategy.
The Annual Partners’ meet is ILP’s way of creating an opportunity for its volunteers, partners and associated NGOs to interact, learn with and from each other, analyze success stories, and incorporate new and creative techniques of eliminating illiteracy in India.
This year’s Partners’ meet was held at Indian Social Institute,Bangalore, India from August 2, 2007 to August 4, 2007. Experts from various departments in the government, accomplished organizations, and institutions participated in the meet sharing their experiences with ILP and its partners
Every Partners’ meet is centered around a distinct theme - this year’s theme was "Improved school environment for Improved Learning". The goal was to enable partners to initiate action for improved learning environment at the village level through Village Education Committees.
The meet began with session on Community Participation conducted by Dr.Niranjanaradhya, Senior Research officer, NLSIU, Bangalore. The afternoon sessions on 'Better school environment for improved learning' featured Ms.Indira, NIAS, Bangalore.
Sessions on the second day featured 'JJ Act - A review for NGO's' by Vasudeva Sharma, Director , Child Rights Trust. The afternoon session featured Ms.Anita describing their efforts on life skills training for the youth in bangalore. There were also sessions where partners described their activities on the ground, their challenges and their successes.
Many ILP Bangalore chapter volunteers attended the summit and interacted with the partners. Sudhira, an ILP volunteer who coordinates the Puraskara program, presented an overview of the program, what has been achieved and the plans for the future. There were lively discussions on the model and workings of the Puraskara, scholarship program.
The last day of the meet featured sessions conducted by Sri Pawan Kumar Gupta , of SIDH an NGO supported by ILP. He presented his views on the need for all of us to 'Re-look into Indian Education' as part of all our interventions and bring about fundamental changes in our education system that would make it relevant to the lives of the future generations.
At the end of three days, ILP and its partners walked away with renewed vigor and focus on the cause, armed with knowledge and learnings from each other - together on the march towards a 100% literate India.