Project Why 3.0 Preparing children for the future

by anouradha bakshi | Dec 22, 2025 | Anou's Blog

Project Why 2.0 was after the pandemic, when we had to reinvent ourselves, rebuild our donors network and adapt to a new normal.The year was 2021. We limped back to  some semblance of normalcy, with some changes but ready to continue our journey notwithstanding the short Covid hiatus.

Our mission was always to ensure our children get the best start in their lives after school. For a long time we believed that what was needed was a good school leaving result as it was essential to get admission in a good college. And we fell back into old patterns though I was not comfortable with this approach. But I had to set my qualms aside as there was larger elephant in the room that need to be addressed and that was: what will happen to Project Why after I leave this world. So before making any sea change in our programmes, we needed to secure our future. Time to. conjure another miracle.

The miracle happened in the form of a donor who promised long term support for one  centre and also promised to find out more donors like him. But there was a caveat: we had to accept to change ourselves to meet the demands and challenges of the 21st century. We accepted his advice and slowly transformed our functioning. Last year the elephant in the room was dealt and we could see Project Why living beyond me if we payed the game right.

After a much needed organisational change to make us more efficient of course but also to transform what has till date been an organic sometimes hap hazard structure to one that would gain the confidence of our potential donors. In spite of some hiccups, some resistance and some pain we were able to do so. Today we have a modernised and strong administration that will stand the test of time.

It was rime to address the other elephant in the room: how to prepare our children for the challenges of the 21st  century. It was a clear that a simple BA would not get anyone anywhere.

The main objective of Project Why 3.0 is to make our children ready for the rapidly changing employment scenario as just teaching the 3Rs is in no way sufficient.

To this end we began making some changes to our programmes. It was decided to put emphasis on English and computers. Today all children from class I to XII are learning English every day and have computer classes thrice a week. This has been very successful and appreciated both by parents and children. And of course speaking English and having a good grasp of computers are skills needed in the future.

While surfing the Internet to find out what are the skills needed for children today I came across an. interesting article of the World Economic Forum. It states the following Today’s job candidates must be able to collaborate, communicate and solve problems – skills developed mainly through social and emotional learning (SEL). Combined with traditional skills, this social and emotional proficiency will equip students to succeed in the evolving digital economy. Good leadership skills as well as curiosity are also important for students to learn for their future jobs.

The article has a graphic (shared above) that gives details the skills by dividing them into three categories: foundation literacies, competencies and character qualities. A quick perusal of the graphic shows us that what we are teaching children today can in no way prepare them for the future. We need to find a judicious system whereby we teach children the curriculum needed to complete school while integrating the skills they need to gain meaningful employment.

The present education system in India was designed by the British to make ‘babus’,people who would do what they are told and not think for themselves. What is needed in today’s day and age is the absolute contrary. According to the article to succeed today you need critical thinking, creativity communication, collaboration, curiosity, initiative, leadership and so on. Certainly not to do what one is told. What is needed is the ability to think out of the box. The million question dollar question is how?

The answer was provided in the article itself through another graphic,

This graphic outlines the approach that needs to be taken to introduce and perfect these skills within the existing structure. As we can see the idea is to create the right environment for children to grow and bloom.It is suggested to encourage play-based learning and break down learning into small pieces. The child should  be allowed time to focus in order to foster reflective reasoning. The child should be allowed to discover topics taking advantage of their own strengths and personalities in an enabling environment where the child is praised.

Specific examples are given for each skill. For eg to develop creativity the child should be given autonomy to make choices or to ameliorate communication one should create a language rich environment. To awaken curiosity encourage questions and to foster critical thinking it is necessary to give constructive feedback. The bottom line is simply that one has to flip the equation and make the child the centre of all activities. This is quite akin to the Socratic method  that  uses open-ended questions to spark curiosity, critical thinking, and deeper understanding, moving beyond simple answers to explore “why” and “how. Ask More, Tell Less: Instead of giving answers, ask questions that guide them to discover the answer themselves. This boosts critical thinking and problem-solving,
develops communication and listening skills, fosters a love for learning and intellectual curiosity, builds confidence in expressing ideas.

The task is daunting and will require teachers to get out of their comfort zone and change their approach to teaching. The curriculum remains the same, the way of teaching changes. It is a huge challenge but we have never shied away from any challenge and I have full faith that my team will rise to the occasion and do wonders.

Come to think of it, I have always felt uneasy with the way children are taught as . Way back in 2006 and even before I had given my views on education several times an always believed in Jacques Delors 4 pillars of education: Learning to learn, learning to be, learning to do and learning to live with others. Sadly one was not able to incorporate these in our way of teaching.

But today the writing is on the wall and if we do not make the needed change our children will not be ready for tomorrow. So Project 3.0 is just that: changing our approach to education so that Project Why children can think out of the box and shine.

That is the difference we need to make today, so help me God

The why we cannot answer

by anouradha bakshi | Dec 19, 2025 | Anou's Blog

Over the last 25 years we have been able to answer all the why’s that came our way, even the most disturbing ones. But today we stand helpless as Delhi chokes on the most toxic air imaginable. Readings have gone beyond the fathomable, breaking the 500 mark and even going to 1000. Let me remind you, readings should be under 50!

This not the first time this has happened. Over the past two decades or so we have seen pollution rising to alarming numbers. Every year the ruling dispensation goes into crisis management and comes up with a series of measures some more ludicrous than the other with a new one added this year: banning tandoors! When the air quality improves they simply slink back into their comfort zone. They never seem to want to address  the situation in the long term,

Come October or November when the pollution strikes the ruling party decrees a  series of short time measures: sprinkling water on the roads, banning construction activities, banning cars from outside Delhi and of course closing schools! As always it is the children who get hit first., Online classes are not the solution. Those who come up with such ad hoc solutions do not realise the reality on the ground. Younger children cannot study online on their own and working mothers have to take leave to enable the children to do so. And if you do not have household help, what do you do with your child. But who cares.

Children from privileged homes have staff to take care of them and air purifiers in their rooms, but what about the underprivileged ones? If the school closes they roam about the streets breathing more toxic air. There could be a simpler solution: make it mandatory for schools to have air purifiers in the classroom. But who is listening? (I just heard that the State Education Minister has said in a Press Conference today that air purifiers will be installed in 10000 classrooms across Delhi. Let us see when it happens!)

Construction causes pollution they say! Look around you there is construction everywhere with old houses being knocked down and bigger ones coming up as rules are relaxed to please the construction lobbies. Who will the bell the cat? And what about the labour who loose their livelihood when ad hoc bans on construction are decreed.

It is also believed that cars cause pollution. The car lobby is powerful and with the advent of easy loans everyone is buying a car or a bike. Look around you there are no more cycles on the road. In richer homes they are several cars, one for each member of the family. I know of people who go the same wedding from the same house in several cars. And recently I learnt that some even have cars for their dogs.In Singapore buying a second car comes at a price with stringent rules and makes people think hard before they decide to purchase a second car as taxes and insurance are very high.

Car pooling is almost anathema to the privileged and taking public transport is unheard of! People who happily jump  into metros or buses while holidaying abroad would never do so when they are back home and  yet this is a solution to the pollution we are always complaining about. So to resolve pollution we need to change mindsets and that in my humble opinion is quasi impossible though it is time to give it some serious thought.

I was a tad amused when an eminent doctor stated that one should simply move out of Delhi! The rich may do so but what about he poor. I know many families have relocated because they can do so. People are rushing to hill stations which are getting overcrowded and not only that but the AQI of a place like Dehra Dun that was once unpolluted is now above 300!

Our city does not have a proper garbage disposal and recycling programme. In parts of Delhi mountains of smouldering  garbage release toxic fumes 24/7. I shudder to think about the state of the children’s tiny lungs in those areas. As citizens we are not even able to segregate garbage and dispose of it in a responsible manner.

Potholes abound and roads are cleaned with broom sticks with more dust rising in the air. What about mechanised cleaning of roads.That would be an option.

It was sad to see that though the Parliament spent over 10 hours discussing Vande Mataram, it could not find the time to discuss pollution as the opposition created a ruckus and Parliament was adjourned. Pollution was not important enough to be addressed by those we elect to represent us in Parliament.

Help me breathe say the children of Delhi but their plea goes unheard. What is even more disturbing is a senior politician saying that pollution does not result in lung disease and even death and if that was not enough another added that the WHO numbers do not apply to us. I guess for him we belong to another planet and have steel lungs. It is believed that breathing in Delhi today is like smoking a pack of cigarettes. Imagine what that does to the minuscule lungs of a new born.

Unless we all, government and citizens, are willing to address the elephant in the room and catch the bull by its horns nothing will change. We all will be breathing toxic air and complaining come winter 2026.

As I said in the beginning, we are faced with a why we are unable to answer. We are totally helpless and can just watch our children struggling to breathe as we cannot help them reclaim their right to breathe.