As part of Sikshana, a trial has been run in Kanakapura school district where we've seen some very encouraging results. Please see the posts @
http://sikshana.blogspot.com/2010/03/lighting-for-night-studies.html or just http://Sikshana.blogspot.com
As we had anticipated, there has been a marked increase in results during the period of intervention. While it is too early to demarcate the impact of the individual programs (remedial + lighting for extended study hours), the social impact is indisputable.
This also goes to prove the point that an effective light extends the time available for a family to come together, spend time indoors during evenings & nights without need for a smokey, smelly and risky kerosene lamp.
It also seems to have an efficient ROI on the spend.
Cost of each lantern : Rs. 600 (Approx USD $ 13 at current conversion)
Expected /Average life of Battery : 2.5 years (I've used this as life of LED seems irrelevant as battery is the bigger 'replacement' cost over the life of the equipment.
Average charging time for a 2-3 hour usage in the night - 6 hours.
In effect, for less than Rs.2 / day over an year, every family can have almost full light coverage during the nights. I'm sure the social impact & dividends are going to be larger & better than what our trial has produced w.r.t 10th standard students.
Can we hope for green / micro-financing folks to take this up as a larger program ?
Imagine the opportunity to rewrite the words "burning midnight oil" !
