Educating 400 Children in 8 Slums in Delhi/Gurgaon

Friday July 7^thwould remain as a memorable day for all the children and parents of the Nalapar and Israel Camp slums of Rangpuri Pahari in New Delhi. The school came to their slums for the first time and there was excitement everywhere.

Speaking about her motivation for starting the school at the Education on Wheels (EOW) project of Sukarya, Shumon says, “Both my parents are laborers. I have lived here my entire childhood. Being a girl, it was presumed that I would cook and clean, and eventually when the time would come, get married. I wanted to go to school and study. But there was no school in the slum, so instead of going to school I started going to the near by temple to beg. The first day, I made 20 rupees. I felt so rich! But then, there were also times when those that gave me money would do dirty things to me, things I didn’t like, but things I couldn’t explain as a child either. So I decided to stop going to beg and go to school that came to my slum, instead. I am not alone. What I went through still happens with a lot of children here. But those were things of the past.”

Thanks to the overwhelming support from donors through GlobalGiving Foundation, the new phase of “Education on wheels” was inaugurated at Rangpuri Pahari Delhi on 7th July 2017 in the presence of children and parents from both the project locations (Nalapar and Israel Camp). The Pradhan of Nalapar along with the children of EOW from Gurgaon were also present for the inauguration ceremony. The children of EOW classes were invited to do the ribbon cutting. These girls were super excited to inaugurate their very own new bus, the new mobile school. They were all excited to start their new life for a better tomorrow.

On behalf of Sukarya and Sukarya USA, we would like to make an appeal to all individuals and corporations to make a monthly contribution to the Education on Wheels project through GlobalGiving at https://goto.gg/25747. Your contribution will make a huge difference to expand our reach to other slums and sustain the current  programs for the next three years.

Links:

• Homepage of Sukarya
• facebook page of Sukarya
• twitter handle of Sukarya

Nikita hails from Madhya Pradesh and currently lives in Saraswati Kunj slum with her parents and two siblings. Her father works as a domestic help. In a family of 5, she has undertaken the responsibility of alleviating herself and her family from the pains of poverty and shouldered the responsibility of educating herself and her older brother, a drop-out from school. She fathoms the importance of education in today’s world and sees it as a bridge between her current state and future dreams. She aspires to be a singer someday and wants to complete her formal education before that.

Behavioural change: 

Nikita’s behaviour has never been a concern. As a disciplined and well-mannered child, she has only improved day in and day out after joining Sukarya. Well-spoken with her peers and elders, Nikita believes in treating everyone with utmost respect. This stems from her learning at home and at Sukarya.

Hygiene Status:

Living in a slum, the issue of hygiene is often neglected.But today, after having understood the ill-effects of not maintaining appropriate personal hygiene, Nikita maintains her personal hygiene at its best and  is always smartly dressed. 

Project Summary:

Slums don't have schools. So, Education on wheels [EOW] is a unique program where the school comes home. EOW is a well equipped bus with computers, TV and other essential education related materials. This unique and innovative model in education introduced in order to reach out the children living in vulnerable conditions with no access of education and learning environment. The project is innovative in its approach by providing multi grade teaching, in which children of different age groups and level of learning are taught together by experienced teachers who use special methods and techniques to make learning enjoyable.

Objectives:

• To reach out marginalized working children (6-18 years)
• Educating the street and working children to help them become knowledgeable and useful citizen.
• Enabling the non-school going children to acquire certain minimum levels of knowledgeable and skills
• Mainstream successful children in formal schools through open basic examination

Expected outcome:

• 120 Slum children would acquire basic level education through NFE and Remedial classes.
• These Children will appear in government’s OBE [Open Basic Examination] and receive certificates on their successful completion.
• After the OBE certification, the students can be mainstreamed into government/public school system.

Current EOW Project Location Coverage: 

2 slum locations - Saraswatikunj and Neemthala, phase-5 of district Gurgaon.

Class operating days: 

5 days in a week /20 days in a month.

Class/ Batches:

 1. NFE [Non-formal education] for those who never went to school

 2. Remedial education for school drop outs.

The well equipped EOW bus moves to 2 project area locations in a day. The bus moves as per the prescribed schedule and roster. The Project team comprises [2 teachers, 1 project coordinator and 1 bus driver and 1 attendant]. The classes are conducted inside and outside the bus. There are 2 locations and 2 batches of students per location. Each batch consists of 30 students and that's how 120 children are educated everyday.

Major Accomplishments this quarter:

Thanks to our generous donors through GlobalGiving, enougfh funds were raised to buy the first bus which is in the process of being converted into classroom. We are just $28K away from the second bus.  With the help of GlobalGiving funds, the EOW Program is going to be extended to another 240 kids living in 6 slums very soon.

• During this quarter, 20 students were registered for OBE examination and 17 Children have successfully appeared in the examination conducted by Government accredited agency. Result is awaited.
• 11 students mainstreamed into formal public and government schools after certification -- 9 children got admitted into Manas Primary School, 1 in to Primary School in Kanhai Village and 1 in to Amity international School in Gurgaon.

Best Practices:

Every quarter new strategies and plans are adopted for effective functioning of the project. These strategies when succeed becomes the best practices of the project. Some of the best practices of the quarter are:

• Regular follow ups has shown a drastic increase in new enrollments of children.
• Parents have been advised to give prior notification before taking their child to village.
• Among 20 enrolled children in OBE, 17 appeared in the exam, except 3 who had gone to their villages.
• Regular monitoring of health and hygiene has shown great impact on children and their families.
• The rotating methodologies of the class helps to retain the interest of children in studying.

Testimonials:

“I want to study and become an army officer so I can serve the nation and want my mother to rest and be with me. I feel sad when I see her working at other houses”
 - Dinesh, 8 years old student of NFE class

 “I want to study for my younger sister, so we can live a better life. My mother also wanted us to be in school but now she is no more there. I will fulfill her dream”
- Rupa, a student of remedial class.

Links:

• website of Sukarya
• facebook page of Sukarya