Jacob’s Well Education Program
Lives are Empowered by Education
- India has among the largest number of out-of-school children.*
- In Odisha (formerly Orissa) less than 20% of children go to school.
- Literacy in many villages is about 3%.
- There is a direct relationship between literacy and the quality of human life.*
Village Literacy
UNESCO defines literacy as the “…ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. 
Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.”
Being illiterate means you can’t understand government documents or medicine labels, and, lacking comprehension, you blindly follow what you’re told.
Being illiterate also means you are innumerate. Many can count to ten, but struggle to deal with middlemen buying crops or forest products. They have no understanding of the value of their products and are cheated and abused by unscrupulous traders.
Village schools only teach to 5th class, but most children don’t even make it that far. They drop out or are taken out by their parents by 3rd class – and they’re just the ones who get to go to school at all.
Most families in remote villages don’t have the money to buy the notebooks and pencils their children require for school.
A six year old can work minding goats and cows, or look after a younger sibling, enabling mum to work in the fields or forest.
Parents see no need for education when they’re struggling to find food for tomorrow.
Jacob’s Well is taking education into the remote villages where there is no education and no hope.
In some villages where there are no schools, we have engaged tutors to provide basic primary education to children and literacy and numeracy skills to adults. This extends to neighbouring villages.
Our tutors are trained by senior educators to teach according to the state curriculum and they attend monthly skills development seminars.
Rejoice Public School
Rejoice Public School provides life-changing education for children from rural villages in India.
Our motto, Soar high on wings like eagles, reflects the empowering environment and excellent quality of education every child receives at Rejoice.
Our school is registered with the state government from Kg to 10th Class as a Residential English Medium School.
Many children at Rejoice are winning prizes in district school competitions – children who would never have gone to school at all if they had not come to Rejoice.
Some of our first children have now completed degrees in Arts, Science and commerce and are pursuing Masters. Others have joined the workforce after years 12 and maintain a strong connection with us.
Our aim is, wherever possible, to provide scholarships for all these children to go on to college and university, or apprenticeships, so that they are equipped to break the poverty cycle and become leaders in their communities.
Rejoice Centre
Rejoice offers training in areas such as agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, poultry and fish farming, art, dance, music, pottery, tailoring and computing, as well as the general school curriculum.
