Throughout their 18-month fellowship, they receive training in teaching and life skills. The fellows - who were initially agricultural labourers - have no prior teaching experience. “In some areas, people are still not used to the idea that women can be fellows and changemakers.” Jain believes that every woman must know the tangible and intangible systems and structures in the village to better contextual learning. Another crucial factor for selection is the fellow’s relationship with her village and its people. Each fellow goes through multiple rounds of interviews, and is selected based on their work ethic. With that in mind, the brothers launched the NGO with a signature, paid fellowship that trains women of oppressed castes across villages to teach the children in their area. This got him wondering what kind of education system can be created with the involvement of local residents and through harnessing their strengths. “We are producing a generation that is clueless even after spending 12-15 years in the education system,” Jain said. The idea for the organization stemmed from his experience as Jain pondered over the employability of students who finish college. Having grown up in the same region, Jain moved away for college. To remedy this inadequacy in the Indian education system, Jain and his brother Sanket started Insight Walk in 2017 on the outskirts of Kolhapur, a city in Maharashtra. “Education is not just about what you learn in school or college, it is about how you live your life,” he said. Having previously worked with school children from underserved communities, according to him, education must be firmly rooted in a child’s immediate environment. “What children are learning in cities is exactly what kids in some of the remotest communities are learning,” Jain told Re:Set. When Subodh Jain was traveling through rural Maharashtra four years ago, he noticed a glaring problem in India’s education system - a lack of contextual learning.

Farm Boys by Will Fellows