PBL is SoM's favorite method of teaching children. It brings handson learning to children while circumventing rote learning. Children need to thinking critically, deeply, and put their brains to work to solve difficult problems. They will use Google Search, Youtube, and ChatGPT like tools in almost every class activity. It is different from a typical class model where teacher teaches and 20, 30, or 40 children are made to listen to her as the God of knowledge. In PBL, teacher is more like a "guide" or "helper" who facilitates learning. He is not a know it all! He helps students to find solutions on their own from the best information sources available on the internet from best of universities, governments, documentaries or media channels on the internet, and then with that information to solve problems with their own critical and critical thinking.

To understand how PBL works is important. It is not how Project work happens typically in India schools, or the way it happened when I was in school. Projects were more like craft projects in which the student had to make something impressive on the chart and then present it. More than ones own problems solving ability, parents and shopkeepers help was duly required. But, the PBL approach that we talk about is completely different.

In PBL, a student or a group of students is given a problem statement as if he is a little experimentalist who has all the information sources (books, internet access, and teacher's help) and has to thinking critically to find a solution. In the process of constructing a solution, he may have experiment with chemicals, understand Newtons law, talk to the people related to the problem (ex: traffic police), write a letter to the Superintendent of Police, do a survey of the nearby shopkeepers, make a small web survey, build a small app, and so on. Every project is different and requires different skills which children gain while working on the project.  They learn every topic through well designed projects.

It is critical to understand how project based learning works. These videos are a good start. Also, study how Mirambika handles Project Based Learning. You can read NCERT's book on Mirambika. 

An organization named Buck Institute of Education (BIE) has been doing excellent work in project-based Learning. It teaches schools and teachers how to implement Project Based Learning with their students. It is now renamed to PBL Works.

This book by Buck Institute of Education, called "PBL Starter Kit", is an excellent book to understand how Projects should be designed to make them work inside the classroom.  

In the AI era, such strategies of teaching are likely to become more popular.  

This book may also be useful. In general, Edutopia has many videos and articles on PBL. They are generally quite good. 

I recommend giving the most importance to the PBL Starter Kit book mentioned above. That is more complete and is not a difficult read.

Activity based learning and project based learning have great advantages which can not be denied. I think CBSE schools tend to make children dull and make them passive learners. Project based learning feels more like real learning.

[more will be added]

The challenges faced by rural schools is way different that the ones faced by children in urban areas. The exact situation is likely to depend on the region and financial situation of the people sending their kids to the school, but in general we can say that their challenges in education are about getting basic literacy skills, staying motivated to study and clearing the board exams. I see english speaking also as a very important thing. All this is what I understand so far.

For these reasons I often think that complete reliance on project based learning may not be best for rural schools. Rural schools should be based on CBSE. Also, CBSE schools have a much higher chance of getting government funding. Lastly, CBSE schools are also easier to manage because it is easier to get teachers in nearby areas. 

There are many NGOs in India which focus on educating rural children, but most of them take donations and give regular education to children. But there are a few NGOs which are applying their minds and efforts on improving the education. They have devised new ways to improve education in rural India. One such NGO is Pratham Foundation. It is my favorite NGO working in this area. They have many programs to help in education of poor children. It is among the top NGOs in India working in the field of child education. I highly recommend studying the work it is doing. For me, the most important take aways come from their work on improving literacy skills in children. Their ASER survey all over India. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is the most important survey in India to access the situation of education of children all over India. It is a famous and reliable survey. Even Indian government relies on it to understand the education situation and often refers to it in writings. They have found that a good majority of 5th class students in India can not read Class 2 text. This is called achievement gap and is well explained in this video. They have devised a great way to teach basic literacy skills to students of primary classes. They call it "Teaching at the Right Level". You can watch it here.

Another non-profit that works in this area is Teach for India.

[more will be added]