Teaching With Purpose: Volunteers Transform Rural Learning

For over a decade, eVidyaloka’s digital classrooms have been transforming access to quality education for students in rural India. With the support of passionate volunteer teachers who consistently go the extra mile to bring lessons to life, these virtual sessions prove that with technology, distance is not a barrier. Focusing on both what and how it’s taught, volunteer teachers ensure that every student grasps concepts deeply, making innovative learning a reality in some of India’s most remote corners.

Prasad Reddi, a volunteer teacher at a school in Andhra Pradesh, teaches Grade 6 Mathematics. As soon as he started teaching, he realised that many students perceived maths as a difficult subject. “I believe removing fear is the first lesson, and nurturing confidence is the next,” he shares.

To change this mindset, Prasad focuses on making math engaging and understandable. “My aim has always been to make learning simple, visual, and relatable. My engineering background helps me transform concepts like geometry and angles into stories drawn from everyday experiences that children understand, making abstract ideas more meaningful.”

At a school in Madhya Pradesh, volunteer teacher Veni Arora is helping Grade 7 students discover the power of language through her English classes. Aware that students feel most comfortable expressing themselves in their regional language, she encourages them to first write freely in Hindi and then translate their thoughts into English. She notes, “By removing the initial language barrier, students develop confidence in expressing themselves while nurturing a genuine interest in writing. They're not paralysed by grammar rules or vocabulary gaps; they're free to think, create, and then learn through the process of translation.”

Veni’s approach is to teach grammar to the students through their own work. She explains, “I ask students to identify and classify nouns directly from their paragraphs. Suddenly, grammar isn't something distant and arbitrary; it's a tool they're already using to express their ideas. This discovery-based approach helps them see language as something they can shape and control.”

She has found 15-minute video stories make excellent writing prompts. These bite-sized narratives capture the students’ imagination while providing a shared reference point for creative exploration. Her classroom comes alive with discussion, interpretation, and the eager scratch of pencils as students rush to put their ideas on paper.