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{{EngvarB|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox school
|name=Barefoot College|
|established = 1972|
founder = [[Bunker Roy]]|
type = [[Public school (government funded)|Public]]|
head_name=Headmaster |
head = |
city = [[Tilonia]]|
state = [[Rajasthan]]|
country = [[India]]|
campus = [[Tilonia]]|
enrollment = |
faculty = |
colors = |
mascot =
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.barefootcollegetilonia.org/}}
}}

The '''Social Work and Research Centre''' ("SWRC"), widely known as the '''Barefoot College'''<ref>The Barefoot College in Tilonia, 1997, Author: Sanjit (Bunker) Roy, Publisher:Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi</ref> is a voluntary organisation in India working in the fields of education, skill development, health, drinking water, women empowerment and electrification through solar power for the upliftment of rural people,<ref name="hindu15yrears">{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/lead-kindly-light/article4044171.ece|title=Lead kindly light|last=Sarita Brara|date=30 October 2012|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=23 November 2012}}</ref> which was founded by [[Bunker Roy]] in 1972.

The "Villagers' Barefoot College" in the village of [[Tilonia]] gives lessons in reading, writing and accounting to adults and children especially the "drop-outs, cop-outs and wash-outs." Girls heavily outnumber boys in the night schools.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/south_asia_villagers0_barefoot_college/html/9.stm|title=In pictures: Villagers' Barefoot College|last=Sanjay Suri|work=[[BBC Online]]|accessdate=18 November 2012}}</ref> In 2008 there were approximately 3,000 children attending 150 night schools.<ref name="ElkingtonHartigan2008">{{cite book|last1=Elkington|first1=John |last2=Hartigan|first2=Pamela|title=The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World|url=https://archive.org/details/powerofunreasona0000elki|url-access=registration|accessdate=23 November 2012|date=1 February 2008|publisher=Harvard Business Press|isbn=9781422104064|pages=[https://archive.org/details/powerofunreasona0000elki/page/52 52]–}}</ref><ref name="PBS">{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/july-dec08/indiaschool_10-06.html|title=School in India Teaches Women to Improve Lives, Towns | date= 6 October 2008 |last=Fred de Sam Lazaro|work=[[PBS]]|accessdate=18 November 2012}}</ref>

In the profile acknowledging Roy as one of Time 100 most influential people for his work with the Barefoot College, [[Greg Mortenson]] wrote that the grass-roots social entrepreneurship has trained more than 3 million people for jobs in the modern world in simple, sustainable settings that accommodate the students' needs.<ref name=TIME>Mortenson, Greg. (29 April 2010) [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984745_1985478,00.html Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy The 2010 TIME 100]. TIME. Retrieved on 2 June 2012.</ref>

==History==
Bunker Roy is the founder of what is now called Barefoot College.<ref name="John2003">{{cite book|last=John|first=Mary|title=Children's Rights and Power: Charging Up for a New Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95aHsTYl-0sC&pg=PA232|accessdate=23 November 2012|year=2003|publisher=Jessica Kingsley Publishers|isbn=9781853026584|page=232}}</ref> After conducting a survey of water supplies in 100 drought prone areas, Roy established the Social Work and Research Centre in 1972.<ref name="John2003"/> Its mission soon changed from a focus on water and irrigation to empowerment and sustainability.<ref name="John2003"/> The programs focused on siting water pumps near villages and training the local population to maintain them without dependence on outside mechanics, providing training as paramedics for local medical treatment, and on solar power to decrease dependence and time spent on kerosene lighting.<ref name="John2003"/> Roy has been named one of the 50 environmentalists who could save the planet by the Guardian and one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.<ref name="Press Trust of India">{{cite web|title=India's Bunker Roy and Pakistan's Malala Yousufzai to receive top US award|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indias-bunker-roy-and-pakistans-malala-yousufzai-to-receive-top-us-award/1173464/|publisher=Press Trust of India|accessdate=12 March 2013}}</ref>

Night Schools were begun that allowed students who worked to support their families during the day to still receive training. The organisation has utilised a system of training the trainers to bring skills training to villages.<ref name="Osler2000">{{cite book|last=Osler|first=Audrey|title=Citizenship and Democracy in Schools: Diversity, Identity, Equality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6mbW3wDwREC&pg=PA170|year=2000|publisher=Trentham Books|isbn=9781858562223|page=170}}</ref>

In 1997, Kamala Devi became first female solar engineer trained by the college's programs. She continued to work with the college. In 2012, she became the head of the solar unit at Kadampura.<ref name="hindu15yrears"/>

==Methodology==
[[File:Bunker Roy, Founder of the Barefoot College Tilonia, Rajasthan (IN).jpg|alt=|thumb|Barefoot College founder Bunker Roy speaking about the programs in January 2019]]
The programs are influenced by the Gandhian philosophy of each village being self-reliant.<ref name="ElkingtonHartigan2008"/> The policy of the Barefoot College is to take students, primarily women from the poorest of villages and teach them skills such as installing, building and repairing solar lamps and waterpumps without requiring them to read or write. In extreme cases, there are students without verbal fluency in the languages of their teachers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barefootcollege.org/|title=Barefoot College|accessdate=29 March 2017}}</ref>

The participating villages create a Village Energy and Environment Committee which determines the rates the villagers will pay for the solar panels and identifies which of the poorest residents of the town will go to the college for training.<ref name="ElkingtonHartigan2008"/> The students receive 6-month training program learning about solar panels and storage batteries before returning home where they maintain and repair the systems.<ref name="ElkingtonHartigan2008"/>

The college does not give out any degrees or certificates.<ref name="Rothstein2010">{{cite book|last=Rothstein|first=Mitchell Grant|title=Self-management and Leadership Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSXWqlCfJKsC&pg=PA499|year=2010|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=9781848443235|page=499}}</ref> V. Krishna has described the approach as "de-mystifying high technology" to rural villages to show that with the right training, "the uneducated and semi-literate can operate and manage" items like solar panels and water pumps.<ref name="Singh2005">{{cite book|last=Krishna|first=V|editor=Singh, M.|title=Meeting Basic Learning Needs in the Informal Sector: Integrating Education and Training for Decent Work, Empowerment and Citizenship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zapeS2j-SFMC&pg=PA200|accessdate=23 November 2012|date=14 September 2005|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781402034268|page=200}}</ref>

Rajasthan's traditional art of puppetry has been utilised by the college to "spread information on health, education and human rights".<ref name="lonely2008">{{cite book|title=Lonely Planet Rajasthan, Delhi & Agra 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zz0_zXPb68kC&pg=PA206|year=2008|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=9781741046908|page=207}}</ref>

==Campus==
The buildings used for the school have dirt floors and no chairs so that "poor students feel comfortable".<ref name="TIME"/>

The campus sits on 8 acres, has [[rainwater harvesting]] design and was built by the students.<ref name="indianexpress"/>

==Cross-cultural collaboration==
In 2012, the Barefoot College became the first NGO partner with [[UNESCO]]'s Global Partnership for Girls' and Women's Education.<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/indias_barefoot_college_and_unesco_join_forces_for_girls_and_womens_empowerment/|title=India's Barefoot College and UNESCO join forces for Girls' and Women's Empowerment|publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|accessdate=23 November 2012}}</ref> A UNDP funded program of [[India's Ministry of External Affairs]] brings women from villages in rural Africa (which do not have electricity) to the school for training, after which they return with new skills to install solar electricity in their villages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imow.org/|title=Mujer Sana Hoy – Health and Wellbeing tips for all Women|accessdate=29 March 2017}}</ref> The college entered into an agreement in 2012 to expand the programs for students from [[Fiji]].<ref name="DAWN">{{cite news|url=http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=217943|title=Women get $550,000 |first=Dawn|last=Gibson|date=22 November 2012|work=[[Fiji Times]]|accessdate=23 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502185324/http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=217943|archive-date=2 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The documentary film ''[[Rafea: Solar Mama|Solar Mamas]]'', funded by the [[Skoll Foundation]] and the [[Sundance Institute]], follows a Jordanian woman as she joins with other women from around the world to participate in the solar engineering training at Barefoot College.<ref name="solarmama">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/nov/18/why-poverty-world-documentary-directors-interview|title=Documentary-makers join forces to expose the evil of global poverty|first=Killian |last=Fox|date=17 November 2012|work=Guardian|accessdate=23 November 2012}}</ref>

An exhibition of photographs taken by the students of the Barefoot College was presented at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] in London.<ref name="BBC"/>

==Awards and achievements==
*In 1998, it was awarded the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar (Indira Gandhi Environment Award), by the [[Ministry of Environment and Forests]], [[Government of India]].<ref name="press">{{cite web |title=List of Awardees |url=http://envfor.nic.in/citizen/award/igpp.html#LIST |publisher=[[Ministry of Environment and Forests]] |access-date=8 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925202903/http://www.envfor.nic.in/citizen/award/igpp.html#LIST |archive-date=25 September 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*In 2003, the Barefoot College won an [[Ashden Award]] for its work bringing [[solar power]] to rural villages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thestandrewsprize.com/finalist/barefoot-engineers|date=24 November 2003|accessdate=29 March 2017}}</ref>
*In 2003, the Barefoot College won [[The St Andrews Prize for the Environment]] for training illiterate and semi-literate women to install and maintain solar power equipment in remote Himalayan villages, using so-called 'barefoot engineers'<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/barefootcollege|title=2003 Winner Barefoot Engineers|date=2003|accessdate=1 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927222539/http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/barefootcollege|archive-date=27 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*In 2013 it was declared that Bunker Roy would receive a '[https://web.archive.org/web/20130927121218/http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/ourmeetings/2013/clinton_global_citizen_awards.asp Clinton Global Citizen Award]', along with young activist Malala Yousufzai.<ref name="Press Trust of India"/>

===Returned award===
*The creators of the campus near [[Tilonia]] received the [[Aga Khan Award for Architecture]]. Originally the award was attributed to "an illiterate farmer", but later the award was corrected and redesignated to read "A young architect, Neehar Raina, prepared the architectural layout and an illiterate farmer from Tilonia, along with 12 other Barefoot Architects, constructed the buildings." when the presenters became aware of the involvement of professional architect Neehar Raina.<ref name="indianexpress">{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/storyOld.php?storyId=5264 |title=Tilonia's Barefoot campus, now the bare facts |last=Jain |first=Sonu |date=1 July 2002 |work=[[The Indian Express]] |accessdate=27 July 2010 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130126063714/http://www.indianexpress.com/storyOld.php?storyId=5264 |archivedate=26 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Because of the inclusion of Raina, Roy did not accept the award on behalf of the school and returned it.<ref name="awards-hindu2002">{{cite news|url=http://hindu.com/2002/09/22/stories/2002092202240700.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427233832/http://hindu.com/2002/09/22/stories/2002092202240700.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 April 2014|title=Swiss award for Bunker Roy|date=22 September 2002|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=23 November 2012}}</ref>

== Notable participants ==
* [[Nauroti Devi]], former [[Sarpanch]] of Harmada Gram Panchayat in [[Rajasthan]].

==See also==

*[[Paulo Freire]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101125122609/http://imow.org/economica/stories/viewStory?storyId=4525 The Barefoot Approach], essay from Sumithra Prasanna for the [[International Museum of Women]]
*[[SBI Youth for India]]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Universities and colleges in Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1972]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1972]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Ajmer district]]
[[Category:1972 establishments in Rajasthan]]

Barefoot College - Revision history

>GreenC bot at 19:43, 21 April 2021