ITEC stands for Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation, programme by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
ITEC Training Program of the Barefoot College:
Area/Name of Course offered under ITEC:
Training Illiterate/Semi-Literate Rural Women on
Solar Electrification and Rainwater Harvesting
1) Pictures of the Institute showing Campus and Facilities:
2) Snapshot of the Institute History, including Vision Statement:
Vision: To forge a first-of-its-kind, women-centred, global network dedicated to sustainable development and improving the quality of life in every community where poverty exists. Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC) widely known as The Barefoot College is a community based grassroots organisation founded in 1972 by Bunker Roy aiming at making rural communities sustainable and self-sufficient. Barefoot College believes that placing rural poor at the heart of the development process is the most reliable and effective way to pass on the indigenous knowledge and practical skills that all rural poor communities already possess, and which are so often undervalued and under-utilized. Barefoot College works in diverse sectors such as Water, Health, Solar, Livelihoods, Education and Advocacy and has been committed to empowering women especially who are illiterate or semi-illiterate (non formally educated) to become change agents, entrepreneurs, educators, environmental stewards through a focus on mastery of technology for the past 50 years. Barefoot has also sought to enable marginalised rural communities to participate in planning, executing, and evaluating developmental projects through which they can lift themselves out of poverty with dignity and self-respect. Barefoot College is an exceptional example of a decentralised management philosophy and capacity building from within; to deliver what has become a global brand and known widely around the world, as the Barefoot Approach to community development.
3) Testimonials with Pictures/Names of ITEC Trainees:
“When I was 15, I stopped school to work in a shop as a cashier for my family. I was living far away from home, in a zinc house, in a shantytown. After India, I will come back to my village, supply solar power, and built my own house with solar power.” Phillemine Kuhanga, Namibia
“After two years of school, I had to go to the fields, to help my family. Today, I can earn and send all my four children to school. I’m really proud!”
Etonam Adzawla Kosiwa, Togo
“This training is going to improve my village and teach my sisters to also become Solar Mamas.”
Marina Kra Affoua, Ivory Coast
4) Data points pertaining to Institution’s engagement with ITEC:
First ITEC course started in (Year) – 2008
No of ITEC courses done till date – 24
Countries: 94
Villages: 410
Women trained: 885
No. of Houses solar electrified: 40,000
Saving of Kerosene/Month= 200,000 Litres
5) Strength of Barefoot College’s Capacity Building Courses:
Of all the training institutes approved under ITEC by the Ministry of External Affairs the Barefoot College is the only civil society organisation based in a rural area identifying only illiterate rural women from south of the Equator to be trained as solar engineers. That is why we believe the Barefoot College should be chosen. What regular universities and colleges are achieving in 3 to 5 years the Barefoot College is accomplishing in 6 months. The emphasis is more on practice than theory. This is capacity building with a fundamental difference. Without the written word and only using sight and sound the women-most of them grandmothers- become competent and confident solar engineers. It is a highly sought after course. No certificates are given. The women coming from remote rural areas don’t need them or want them. Because of the opportunities given by ITEC the Barefoot Model has become a global brand.
Head of the Institute
Bunker Roy
Founder Director
Email: bunker.roy1@gmail.com
Mobile: 9680890200
24 hours Emergency/After Office/Holiday Contact Nos of ITEC Course Coordinator
Laxman Singh
Mobile 9414253025
Email: barefootcollege@gmail.com
Website: www.barefootcollegetilonia.org
PM Speech: 52ND African Development Bank Group Annual Summit
Speech delivered by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, at the Official Opening Ceremony of the African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings in Ahmedabad, India, May 23, 2017
ITEC
India is proud of its educational and technical ties with Africa. Thirteen current or former Presidents, Prime Ministers and Vice Presidents in Africa have attended educational or training institutions in India. Six current or former chiefs of armed forces in Africa trained in India’s military institutions. Two current Ministers of the Interior have attended Indian institutions. Under the popular India Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme, more than thirty three thousand scholarships have been offered to officials from African countries since 2007.
One of our best partnerships in the area of skills is the training of “solar mamas”. Every year eighty African women are trained in India to work on solar panels and circuits. After their training they go back and literally electrify their communities. Each woman is responsible for electrifying 50 houses in her community on return. A necessary condition for the women to be selected is that they be illiterate or semi-literate. They also learn several other skills, like basket making, bee keeping, and kitchen gardening during their stay.