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Last edited: 8 September 2020
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Barefoot College was founded by Bunker Roy and helps the poorest of the poor far beyond Rajastan and India by teaching simple ecological technologies - among others: the appliance of solar energy and the use of rain water; facilitation of minimal education of children at over 250 night schools.
The college believes, and has demonstrated, that educational qualifications are not needed by people with rural or poor backgrounds to acquire skills that can be of service to their community. In fact, the existence of theoretical paper-based qualifications have been usually found to be a deterrent to development as those that have them tend to come for work or training with mental blocks and superficial expertise.
Women students welding new Scheffler reflectors.
Primarily, students are trained in the fabrication and repair of solar electric equipment intended for use in rural areas. They also learn basic welding skills in their training, and students also have been fabricating Scheffler style reflectors to create large solar kitchens. They have also provided training for the construction of other parabolic solar cookers.
News[]
Recent Barefoot College graduates - Photo credit: Barefoot College
- September 2010: Meet These 'Solar Mamas' of Rajasthan - The community-based Barefoot College, located in Tilonia, encourages a hands-on-training process of gaining practical knowledge. Since 2004, Barefoot college has been teaching solar engineering skills to illiterate older women from rural communities. Women are indeed agents of change, which is why they are being trained to use solar cookers, desalination plants, and water heaters. They then return to their villages to establish projects and train others. Read more...
Audio and video[]
- October 2011:
Bunker Roy Learning from a barefoot movement
In Rajasthan, India, an extraordinary school teaches rural women and men -- many of them illiterate -- to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors in their own villages. It's called the Barefoot College, and its founder, Bunker Roy, explains how it works.
External links[]
Contact[]
The Director
The Barefoot College
Village Tilonia, via Madanganj
District Ajmer - 305816
Rajasthan
India
Tel: +91 (0)1463- 288204
Fax: +91 (0)1463-288206
Email: barefootcollege@gmail.com