Empowered parents take a step forward as we say Goodbye …

Saying goodbyes is never easy but if we are prepared for it things become just a bit easy. The PPCE program in Hinjewadi will complete three years in April and it will be time for DSS to exit the field after the school exams are over. For the last three years DSS has been like a guardian to them; giving the school going children and parents support whenever required. To help the parents and children deal with the upcoming break, they are being well prepared through various activities. 

Parents were first told that by April they will have to take full responsibility for their children’s education as the PPCE team will not be visiting them. They were naturally upset but understood that there are others like them who need our help and guidance. After Diwali vacation, in October, DSS had reduced the number of visits asking parents to visit the schools and build a rapport with the school teachers.

As a part of the exit strategy DSS had organized a get-together of parents and children of Hinjewadi area in Man village. 105 children and 57 parents attended the meeting. Mr. Sachin, our field associate, who is a dedicated and tireless worker helped organize it very well. He is very popular with the parents as he helps the children with all their problems. The parents are very attached to him and they had tears in their eyes as they thanked him for his support.   

We also invited the school staff and other influential village members (Sarpanch, ZP members, volunteers etc) who have actively supported us. We once again told the parents about the importance of education and the Right to Education Act that will help their children to continue with their education, no matter where they go in the future.

One of the school teachers addressed the crowd and told them how lucky they were that DSS had come to help them with their children’s education.  Even the school was doing better as they had more students on their roll thanks to Mr. Sachin who encouraged children to get enrolled in the school. Not only that, he also ensured that all the children attended school regularly.  

Everyone enjoyed the games organized for that day and participated with a lot of enthusiasm. It was also an emotional time for both the parents and the DSS team as they said goodbye. They requested us for someone who will support them and is available to them as and when required. 

We wish the parents and their children the best and leave with a strong hope to see the children having a better tomorrow with today’s education.

Parents getting felicitated 

Volunteers addressing children

Balak Palak Sabha (Children & Parents Get-together)

Parents of school going children are important stake holders in their children’s education. To a large extent it is they who decide about their children’s education and so it is extremely important to make them aware of their roles and responsibilities in their children’s progress.

Our teams of field workers regularly organize ‘balak-palak’ or ‘child-parent’ get-togethers where a number of issues are discussed in an informal way – sometimes in a playful way-to empower the parents and their children. We reached 140+ parents through 5 such events in and around the city.

Everybody likes to be appreciated and parents and children are no exceptions! Children’s achievements are announced at these meetings and the parents proudly clap for their wards. They are also encouraged to talk to their children every day about what happened in school. And even if they cannot read or write, they must insist on their child reading aloud from the school book every day. Many important issues are conveyed in a story telling session which the parents and children not only enjoy but also remember. Many volunteers participate in these sessions.

These meetings help and encourage parents to:

• Increase their awareness about right to Education
• Understand the importance of education
•  Actively participate in child’s education
•  Understand the importance of regular attendance
•  Get accustomed to attending meetings regarding progress in school
•  Take responsibility of their children’s admission process
•   Learn formalities to be followed when transferred
•   Ensure the child is enrolled in a school no matter where they go
•   Exchange information about school events
•   Discuss any problems regarding school
•   Realize the importance of hygiene and clean environment
•  Think about the future possibilities (such as various skill enhancing courses etc after Std VIII/Std. X / Std. XII) 

Snapshots from some get-togethers

Citizens' Campaign for Out-of-School Children - Lokmat Newspaper

(Click on image to read.)

Connecting Schools and Parents through Meetings

Involving parents in their child's education is a challenging task. The Every Child Counts (ECC) team organizes frequent meetings and programmes for parents, at communities and in schools. The objective is creating awareness among parents about education, explaining school admission process to them, and answering their queries and doubts about children and schools.

Initially, ECC team conducted these meetings only on community level. However, with increasing participation and support from school authorities, these meetings are now being conducted inside the schools. This helps parents in knowing the school environment where their children will be going every day and it also helps them interact with teachers directly.

In the Haveli Block of Pune District, ECC team is conducting meetings for parents at Zilla Parishad schools. The Block Education Officer Ms. Jyoti Parihar Madam is personally attending these meetings to interact with parents. She is trying to understand their challenges, whether they are getting proper support from school or not, and also if there are any other requirements. Recently these meetings were conducted at Bakori ZP school and Kesnand ZP School. The meeting at Kesnand school was also attended by Hon. Sarpanch of the village and members of school management committee.

This serves as a platform for the parents to express their experiences and challenges. After talking with the teachers and authorities like BEO, they seem to start feeling positive about school and the entire system. While sharing improvements observed in their children, they felt very excited. Some of them also felt guilty that they are not able to think for their children beyond basic needs due to their struggle for survival. They got very emotional while talking about their children and the help offered by ECC team and school teachers. This has also helped in sensitizing the school teachers about ground level situation and practical challenges before the parents.

The government officer and school teachers appreciated ECC team for their persistent efforts and systematic work. The parents are also thankful to the team for helping their children learn. This kind of experience is a moral booster for the entire team.

Few more meetings will be arranged in this month, to ensure positive turnout from parents and schools in the next academic year.

(Reported by Dattatray Vetal and team, Door Step School, Pune)

The Picture Is Changing…

In the year 2009-10, Government of India declared free and compulsory elementary education for all children between 6 and 14 years of age, through the Right To Education (RTE) Act. Door Step School (DSS) was already working for education of children in and around Pune city, who were left out of formal schooling system due to various reasons. An opportunity was identified through the RTE Act, to help many out-of-school children in getting enrolled in formal schools. The Every Child Counts (ECC) campaign was thus launched in Pune in year 2011. Surveys were conducted of temporary slums, construction sites, brick kilns, and other such communities where out-of-school children could be found. These children were taken to nearby government schools by creating awareness among their parents. The ECC team also followed up to ensure that these children are attending schools regularly.

Recently, a get-together was organized by Door Step School, for children and parents from migrant communities in Vishrantwadi and Dhanori areas within Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits. These children were enrolled in government schools between 2013 and 2015, and they have continued their education through last three years. The team identified 28 such children in this area and approached their parents for the get-together. A total of 18 children and 8 parents attended the programme on Sunday, 5th of March 2017 at Ayyappa Garden, Dhanori. The idea was to appreciate and encourage these children and parents for continuing education despite all odds.

The children spoke about their experience of starting to attend a formal school. Many of them were first generation learners, with no background of education at home. Almost all of them mentioned that they were first afraid of entering a school and did not even know the local language, Marathi, at that time. They were also worried about how other students and teachers would treat them. The new surroundings were daunting and fear of rejection was very real.

One of the children, Renuka, was enrolled in 3rd standard according to her age that time. Initially, she was not at all interested in school as she could not understand anything taught there. However, the teachers helped her overcome the initial hurdles and she has now reached 7th standard. Her parents had to migrate frequently due to nature of their work. But very soon they realized that this is causing disturbance in Renuka’s education. Hence, they took a room in this area on rent so that the family could stay at one place through all these years. Renuka is now very much interested in attending the school and studying various subjects. She wants to become a teacher when she grows up. When asked the reason, she replied that she wants to educate other girls like her and help them become independent!

Gangaram Rathod was also enrolled in 3rd standard in a nearby government school. His parents had migrated from Bihar to Pune in year 2013 in search of employment. Since the family was struggling for survival, education of the child could not be a priority. Even when the ECC team approached these parents for Gangaram’s school admission, they said that we are here only for a short while and will move back to our native place soon. They also kept saying that Marathi is not our language, we will send our children to a school in our village when we move back. The team persistently followed up with the parents and enrolled Gangaram in 3rd standard according to his age that time. The family still lives in Pune and Gangaram is now in 7th standard. This year, we arranged a bicycle for him for commuting to school everyday on his own. His parents are now keen to continue his education. Their job demands them to migrate frequently, but they are now looking for a hostel for Gangaram so that his education is continued. Gangaram aspires to pursue higher education in computer engineering.

There are many other children like Renuka and Gangaram, who needed the initial support to start their education. Now they are fond of school, have learnt and mastered the local language, and have also made local friends. The parents took some time in believing what ECC team was telling them. But eventually they were convinced that only education can bring positive change in their children’s lives. The parents were happy and proud of their children dreaming big and progressing in that direction. They do not want their children to struggle in the same way they have done throughout their life. The parents realize that dreams of their children are too big, but they at least expect them to be skilled workers and get assured jobs instead of being mere labourers on daily wages. The children and parents both are now ready to face any challenges coming in the way.

There were few fun games for the parents at the event. Children were happy to cheer up for their parents, and the parents played and won and fought like children. The get-together also included a storytelling session by Mr. Ajay Dasgupta of The Kahani Project. He gave the children few insights on what they can do today instead of waiting to grow up for doing something. Children and their parents equally enjoyed the story told by Ajay, which taught children how to face and conquer fear. Ajay advised the children to convert their biggest fear into their best friend, so that they can achieve anything in life.

The children continuing their education throughout these years were felicitated along with their parents. The ECC team believes that this kind of interaction helps strengthen the trust and build up the confidence, bringing positive change in parents’ approach towards children’s education.

A similar get-together was organized for another group of children enrolled from Bhosari, Dighi, and Moshi areas in Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) limits. This programme was held on 26th of March 2017 at Bhosari Garden on Pune-Nashik Highway. Around 70 parents and 107 children from 15 locations participated in this event. The parents are daily wage labourers, mostly coming from other states. After persistent efforts by the ECC-PCMC team, the parents have realized importance of education in their children’s lives. In spite of uncertain nature of work, they are now staying at one location since last couple of years, so that their children can continue attending the school they were enrolled into. Even children from highly migrant communities in Phuge Vasti and other areas are now seen regularly going to schools.

Volunteers from Wipro and few other individuals helped the ECC team in organizing games for children and parents at this get-together.

We hope to see many more children get into mainstream of formal education and continue attending schools by overcoming the challenges thrown at them by life. Door Step School is all geared up to help them progress towards achieving their dreams.

(Events organized and reported by: Ravindra Thakare, Gauri Katkar, Sadashiv Satpute, Manjiri Diwe, Sanika Patwardhan, Ankita Yadav, Door Step School, Pune team.)

Get-together of Children in PCMC area

The 'Every Child Counts' (ECC) team is working in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC) cities since year 2011, for survey and enrollment of out-of-school children. We are in touch with children enrolled from Bhosari, Dighi, and Moshi areas between year 2013 and 2015 by ECC PCMC team. A get-together has been organized for these children still continuing their education, and their parents. They will share their experiences and challenges faced by them.​

​​Date:  Sunday, 26th of March 2017

​​Time: 9:30am to 1:00pm

Venue: Bhosari Sahal Kendra, Behind Ankush Landge Sabhagruh, Bhosari, Pune - 18

​Contact Person​s:

Sadashiv: 9921970796 / 8856830884

Manjiri tai: 8600217598 / 7248915899

Do join us in felicitating and encouraging them.

Get-together of ECC Children and Parents

This Sunday, 5th of March 2017,

join us at Dhanori, Pune for

‘Every Child Counts’ Get-together of Children and Parents. 

(The children were enrolled in schools between 2013-2015 and are still continuing their education.)

When: 5th of March 2017, from 10am to 12noon 

Where: Ayyappa Garden, Maharana Pratap Chowk, Bhairav Nagar, Dhanori, Pune 

Contact: Gauritai 9156184776; Ravindra: 9561699464 / 8483815139

Please join us in appreciating and encouraging the children and their parents!

- Door Step School, Pune

Fun Fair for Children and Parents

Children from migrant families are often seen left out of schools, mainly due to their frequently changing living conditions. We, at Door Step School, try to identify practical difficulties of this section in the society. Different solutions are offered to handle community-specific challenges. It takes considerable time to gain trust of the parents. But once it is achieved, the results are very satisfactory and motivating.

One of our projects focuses on parents' participation in their child's education. We have been working in Baner-Balewadi area with certain groups of migrant families. After repeated visits to their houses and rigorous follow-up meetings, we could convince and help most of the parents in sending their children to schools. But the job is not over just with school admissions. A bigger challenge is to retain the children in schools despite language differences, daily commuting issues, mixed responses from the schools, and such other barriers. We are happy with the results so far in case of these families from Baner-Balewadi area. We decided to arrange a gathering for these people as a follow-up meet on larger scale.

A fun-fair was thus organized on 15th of January 2017, at an open ground in Baner. A small stage was set up for children to dance and play. Door Step School team presented street play on importance of education. Basic sanitation points were discussed with parents and children under WASH activity. All the attendees enjoyed fun activities as well as special snacks items arranged at the fair.

Our team was very well supported by enthusiastic group of volunteers from Wipro, Hinjawadi. They helped us in conducting various activities for parents and children. Local Municipal Corporator Mr. Baburao Chandere and social worker Mr. Lahu Balwadkar helped us in arranging the venue. They visited the fun fair for inauguration.

Around 80 parents and 180 children attended the fun fair. These parents have come to Pune in search of employment, from remote villages in Maharashtra as well as other states like Bihar, Karnataka, and Chhattisgarh. They live around Baner, Balewadi, Pimple Nilakh areas and work on construction sites or other such places on daily wages. The team has been working with them since almost an year now. Most of the children have been enrolled in nearby government schools and all efforts are being taken to retain them there until the families migrate to another location within or outside the city.

(Reported by Harish Phadke, Door Step School)

Connecting the dots...

Over the years, we have come across many self-motivated individuals and groups that are contributing to the cause of education for underprivileged children in the society. Some of them are helping the children learn through classes conducted at community level, some are creating awareness among the parents about importance of education, while some are actually taking the children to nearby formal schools and trying to retain them there. Although all of them are determined and motivated, it is a fact that they are facing many challenges due to limited physical and knowledge resources.

Door Step School is trying to connect the dots by offering knowledge support to such volunteers and groups. As an organization with 25 years of presence in the field of education, Door Step School can provide training and monitoring support, guidance in preparing and using innovative teaching tools, insights on community-level issues, and methods of pulling in other resources.

If you are part of (or know about) any such volunteer groups working (or willing to work) for education of underprivileged children in their area, do connect with us. We would be happy to help for optimum utilization of volunteering resources towards the larger objective of ‘Education for All’…

Write to eccex@doorstepschool.org or call 986-000-8070 for more details.

An Inspiring Story from Hyderabad

Bhanu Chander works as a STEM trainer for a Robotics company in Hyderabad. He and few of his friends wanted to help children in nearby slums get education. They visited the slums and interacted with parents and kids to understand reasons for children not attending schools. Apart from financial constraints, it was also observed that many parents did not know about local schools and their admission procedures. The volunteers approached a residential school and helped five children get admission. However, the children did not continue due to various reasons, fear and insecurity of the parents being major reasons. Accepting the failure of their first attempt, the volunteers then tried to get these children enrolled in nearby government schools. Most of the children belong to labourer families who have migrated from other states and cities to Hyderabad. Obviously, the children do not understand the local language - Telugu. The government school teachers informed volunteers that the children need to know at least basics of the Telugu language, if they want to attend the school.

Stuck in this situation, Bhanu started looking for help and came across Door Step School's programmes for migrant workers' children. In the month of October 2016, Bhanu wrote to us about his experience and plans about the children. His friends had already decided to start teaching the children on weekends, but they were clueless about how and where to start. During next one month, we had numerous interactions through e-mail, phone calls, and WhatsApp. We discussed various options like involving a local NGO from Hyderabad, conducting the study class in nearby school, building rapport with the parents, etc.

The volunteers have now started their weekend classes in the slum. They are introducing Telugu, English, and basics of Mathematics to the children between 5 and 14 years age group. Around 20-25 children attend these classes conducted by volunteers on Sarurdays and Sundays. They keep a track of what is being taught in each session, so that they can plan further sessions with same or different volunteers as per their availability. Door Step School has a reading skill development kit already prepared and being used for Marathi language. We are trying to replicate a similar teaching module for Telugu. We are also working out how English and numeracy skills can be taught to these children with help of simple teaching tools and workbooks.

The volunteers recently celebrated Children's Day in the slum. Parents have started responding positively and are happy to see their children learning something new every week. The volunteers are very much determined to bring these children into mainstream of education by start of next academic year. The Every Child Counts campaign was launched by Door Step School in 2011, with a vision of involving concerned citizens in education of out-of-school children, making it an organic and sustainable model of community development. Bhanu and his friends from Hyderabad are setting a wonderful example of how citizens can contribute towards the larger goal of 'Education For All'.

Every Child Counts – Bengaluru Pilot

Every Child Counts – Bengaluru Pilot

Bengaluru continues to see significant construction activity. A vast majority of these construction workers are migrant labourers.  Education of their children poses a challenge. Only a small percentage of the children of migrant labourers attend school, the rest remains out of school because of various reasons, they need to stay at home to take care of the younger siblings, or schools are inaccessible or simply they can’t cope up with schools having stayed out of school for prolonged time.

Though various NGO’s and government have been working to address this problem, it is a work in progress, any help is usually welcome.
 It is with that premise, this initiative originated, asking the question:

“How can an ordinary citizen in Bengaluru contribute to the cause of the education of the migrant labourer?”

 That question brought together a team of a set of likeminded people, with a desire to contribute something to cause of the education of the children of migrant labourers. The first lead to finding the answer was the “Every Child Counts Citizen Campaign” or ECC.  Inspired by the successful journey of ECC Pune, which has been working for the last five years with a similar objective, the team aligned to the goals and methodology set down by that campaign.

The goals and the plan to achieve the goals began to take shape. The short term goal was to pilot an ECC Clone in one location of Bengaluru. Haralur road, which borders the HSR layout, Hosur Road and Sarjapur Road, which has been witnessing a boom in construction activities was selected as the pilot location. Enrolling the out of school around two government schools of Haralur road thus became the primary objective of the campaign.
The campaign adopted the same structure ECC Pune had laid out.

• Citizen would survey the locality, identify out of school children between the age of 6 and 10, and collect the details.
• Citizen would engage an NGO and with their help, use the data collected to chalk out a practical plan to enrol the children identified to the government schools. The best case would be NGO selected would have funding to set up bridge schools in that locality.
• NGO with the citizen execute that plan – enrol children directly to schools, set up bridging facility for the ones who cannot be enrolled.

As the citizen volunteers were not part of any NGO, the team choose to stick to the name of original – Every Child Counts – Bengaluru Pilot.

Given that the citizen volunteers had minimal experience in such surveys, the team approached for help, ECC Pune, Azim Premji Foundation and Gubbachi, all experts in this area.

Experts from ECC Pune were more than willing to share not just their experience, but also the toolkit required for the campaign. Gubbachi assured that if in case it emerged that there is a significant number of out of school children in Haralur road, they could potentially be the partnering NGO in the campaign.

Thus after an orientation session held attended by 11 citizen volunteers, the campaign kick started.  The citizen volunteers surveyed the Haralur area for 4 consecutive Sundays. Open source Android apps for surveying were also made available. The volunteers met with parents or relatives of children of the labourers.

The volunteers were received mostly warmly by the people. Their apprehensions would often ease out after a few minutes of conversation. Knowledge of local language became crucial to the success as majority of the people surveyed were from North Karnataka. Knowledge of Hindi, Telegu became useful too. The clusters surveyed ranged from decently organised labour camps by the big builders, to unhygienic chaotic shanties. Sunday 12.00 became the standard time for surveying the locations, as the team found the parents of the children being available on site for conversation.

Most of the parents were willing to send their children to school, provided some of the concerns were met. This included -

• a safe transport to the school,
• a day care for their younger sibling,
• mitigating unsafe conditions in the schools.

The initial survey was led by volunteers with prior experience.  The apprehension that whether novice citizen volunteers would scale to their level dissolved in the second week, where the first timers did a wonderful job of initiating and carrying on conversations with the labourers.  Though the number of volunteers dropped, the volunteers from the same locality continued the survey till it covered the target area.

With 52 children identified in approximately 1 square kilometre, the first phase of the campaign achieved what it set out to achieve, a handful of volunteers completing the survey of the locality, identifying children in the age group of 6-10. The labourers found were mostly from north Karnataka, and the rest from West Bengal.

The campaign has now moved on to the next phase, evolve a plan of action along with Gubbachi.  The data thus collected have been handed over to NGO Gubbachi.  Therefore the campaign stands at a crucial phase, where without any funding, it has to solve problems such as setting up a bridge school, arrange for transportation, etc. The positive response from Gubbachi has kept the hopes of the team high so far. The team hopes that in the coming weeks, it will be able to address most of these challenges.

- Reported by Ranjit A Pillai, ECC - Bengaluru

Even they want to go to school...

Let us help every child get education.

Call 986-000-8070 to report

out-of-school children in your area.

'Every Child Counts'

A citizens' campaign
to ensure every child gets its right of
free and compulsory education.

Let's Help Out-of-school Children Get Into Schools

Door Step School runs Every Child Counts campaign to ensure every child gets its Right to Education. We need volunteers across Pune city, for helping out-of-school children reach schools. Volunteers can participate in parents' awareness sessions, survey and admission process, arranging transport to and from schools, and follow-up with schools for regular attendance of enrolled children.

Areas that need immediate volunteer support are -

• Hadapsar
• Kondhawa
• Katraj
• Undri
• Pisoli
• Kharadi
• Chakan
• Khed Shivapur
• Pimple Saudagar, etc.

Call 986-000-8070 or write to volunteer@doorstepschool.org to join this campaign.

You can also attend the open meeting on every Saturday at 3:00 PM. Purpose of this meeting is to provide an open platform for the volunteers already working with Every Child Counts campaign, to share their experiences and ideas. Also, an orientation for new volunteers interested to join this campaign is conducted with help of ECC core team or other experienced volunteers. Status of survey, admission, and follow-up activities are reviewed and further plan of action is decided.

Meeting Location:
Door Step School,
3rd Floor, Dattakrupa Building,
Opposite Karishma Society,
Off Karve Road, Kothrud, Pune.

Please confirm your attendance on 986-000-8070.

Surveys, Parent Meetings, and School Enrollments

For several years, Door Step School has been working for education of children from migrant and marginalised communities in Pune. As a part of these efforts, the Every Child Counts (ECC) campaign was launched to ensure every child between the age of 6 and 14 years gets its right to free elementary education under Right to Education Act, 2009. While conducting the ECC campaign activities like survey and admissions, the role of parents in their children’s education was observed to be minimal. Hence another project called Parents' Participation in Child’s Education (PPCE) was started to increase awareness among parents. Through this project, we work with parents for a longer duration, educating and empowering them about various aspects of Right to Education Act and schooling of their children.

The month of May saw the surveys starting in full swing, to identify out-of-school children across the city. In the month of June, these surveys were followed by meetings with parents and enrollment of children in nearby PMC/PCMC/ZP schools.

By the month of June 2016, our Every Child Counts field team surveyed more than 1,000 locations (construction sites, brick kilns, temporary slums, etc.) across Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, and other fast-developing outer areas. Around 1,100 children were found in the survey, out of which 600 have now been enrolled in nearby government schools. About 50 volunteers from various corporates and institutes in Pune contributed close to 200 man-hours in the campaign activities. Similarly, 200 parents were interviewed under Parents' Participation project, with help of 20 volunteers.

The survey, parent meetings, and school admissions will continue in coming months and more volunteers are required for reaching out to more out-of-school children living in the city. Please share these updates with your contacts and help us get more volunteers for ECC and PPCE activities. Thanks!

गेल्या अनेक वर्षांपासून, पुण्यातील स्थलांतरित व वंचित कुटुंबांमधील मुलांच्या शिक्षणासाठी 'डोअर स्टेप स्कूल' काम करीत आहे. या प्रयत्नांचाच एक भाग म्हणून, शिक्षण हक्क कायदा २००९ (आर.टी.ई.) अंतर्गत ६ ते १४ वयोगटातील प्रत्येक मुला-मुलीस त्यांचा मोफत प्राथमिक शिक्षणाचा हक्क मिळवून देण्यासाठी 'एक एक मूल मोलाचे' (एव्हरी चाइल्ड काउंट्स - इसीसी) हे अभियान सुरु करण्यात आले. या अभियानांतर्गत शहरातील व शहराबाहेरील वस्त्यांचे सर्वेक्षण व त्यातून मिळणा-या शालाबाह्य मुलांचे शाळाप्रवेश करीत असताना, आपल्या मुलांच्या शिक्षणामधे या पालकांचा सहभाग अतिशय कमी असल्याचे दिसून आले. अशा पालकांचे शिक्षणाच्या महत्त्वाबद्दल प्रबोधन करण्याच्या उद्देशाने 'मुलांच्या शिक्षणात पालकांचा सहभाग' (पेरेंट्स पार्टिसिपेशन इन चाइल्ड्स एज्युकेशन - पीपीसीई) हा वेगळा प्रकल्प सुरु करण्यात आला. या प्रकल्पांतर्गत आम्ही पालकांसोबत दीर्घकाळ काम करुन त्यांना शिक्षणहक्क कायदा व आपल्या मुलांचे शालेय शिक्षण याबाबत सजग व सक्षम बनविण्याचा प्रयत्न करतो.

यंदाच्या मे महिन्यामधे शहरात व शहराभोवती नव्याने विकसित होणा-या सर्व भागांमधे मोठ्या प्रमाणावर शालाबाह्य मुलांच्या सर्वेक्षणाचे काम सुरु झाले. त्यापाठोपाठ जून महिन्यामधे, सर्वेक्षण केलेल्या ठिकाणी पालक सभा आयोजित करण्यात आल्या, तसेच मुलांना जवळच्या पुणे अथवा पिंपरी-चिंचवड महानगरपालिकेच्या किंवा जिल्हा परिषदेच्या शाळांमधे प्रवेश मिळवून देण्याचे काम करण्यात आले.

जून महिन्यापर्यंत आमच्या 'एव्हरी चाइल्ड काउंट्स' अभियानातील कार्यकर्त्यांनी पुणे, पिंपरी-चिंचवड, तसेच सभोवतालच्या भागातील (बांधकाम साईट, वीटभट्ट्या, तात्पुरत्या वस्त्या, अशा) सुमारे १,००० हून अधिक ठिकाणांचे सर्वेक्षण केले. या सर्वेक्षणात जवळपास १,१०० मुलांची माहिती गोळा करण्यात आली व आतापर्यंत त्यापैकी ६०० मुलांना जवळच्या सरकारी शाळांमधे प्रवेशही मिळवून देण्यात आला. पुण्यातील विविध कॉर्पोरेट कंपन्या व संस्थांमधील सुमारे ५० व्हॉलंटीयरनी इसीसीच्या निरनिराळ्या कामांमधे जवळपास २०० एकत्रित तासांएवढे योगदान दिले. त्याचप्रमाणे, पालक सहभाग प्रकल्पांतर्गत आणखी २० व्हॉलंटीयरच्या मदतीने २०० पालकांशी प्रत्यक्ष चर्चा करण्यात आली.

शालाबाह्य मुलांचे सर्वेक्षण, पालकांसोबत भेटी, आणि शाळाप्रवेशाची प्रक्रिया यापुढेही चालूच राहील. आपल्या आजूबाजूला राहणा-या आणखी शालाबाह्य मुलांपर्यंत पोहोचण्यासाठी अजून ब-याच व्हॉलंटीयरच्या सहभागाची आवश्यकता आहे. कृपया ही माहिती आपल्या संपर्कातील व्यक्तींना पाठविल्यास, इसीसी व पीपीसीई या प्रकल्पांसाठी व्हॉलंटीयर मिळविण्यात आम्हाला मदत होईल. धन्यवाद!

Positive Steps Towards Education...

Through Every Child Counts (ECC) campaign, we are trying to raise awareness about importance of education among parents belonging to migrant and marginalised communities in Pune. We are also helping their children get enrolled in nearby Government schools under provisions of Right To Education Act 2009. The ultimate objective of ECC campaign is to develop parents' interest and willingness in education of their children. During the process, we often have to convince parents as well as school teachers about enrolling the children, especially the migrant ones. But this year, we got a pleasant surprise to find school authorities actually participating in the admissions.

Last month, the ECC field team identified a temporary slum in Hinjawadi Phase-II area. Around 10 children of school-going age were found in survey, whose details were conveyed to the nearby Zilla Parishad school in Maan village, around 3 km away. The field team was preparing to take the children and their parents to this school for admissions, but the school Principal Gaikwad Sir himself offered to visit the slum and meet concerned parents. Gaikwad Sir accompanied ECC field team and spoke with the parents, boosting their confidence about schooling and education of their children.

All the children from this location have been enrolled to Gaikwad Sir's ZP school in Maan. The distance of 3 km was the next challenge because transport cost per child was estimated to be Rs.600/- per child per month, thanks to scarcity of transport vehicles on the route from this slum to ZP school. But the parents are now so motivated that they have offered to contribute as much as 50% of the transport cost which comes to around Rs.300/- per month.

This location in Hinjawadi Phase-II has given us an example of dual conversion - on parents' front as well as school front. We are happy to find this positive shift and hope to see more such conversions across the city in near future!

'एव्हरी चाइल्ड काउंट्स' (इसीसी) अभियानामधे आम्ही पुण्यातील स्थलांतरित कुटुंबांना भेटून त्यांच्या मुलांच्या शिक्षणाबद्दल जागृती करण्यासाठी प्रयत्नशील असतो. अशा कुटुंबांमधील मुलांना शिक्षणहक्क कायदा (आरटीई) नुसार जवळच्या सरकारी शाळेत प्रवेश मिळवून देण्यासाठी आम्ही मदत करतो. आपल्या मुलांच्या शिक्षणाबद्दल या पालकांच्या मनामधे आस्था व इच्छा निर्माण करणे, हे इसीसी अभियानाचे अंतिम उद्दीष्ट म्हणता येईल. त्यादृष्टीने पालकांचे प्रबोधन तर आम्ही करतोच, पण त्याचबरोबर ब-याचदा आम्हाला सरकारी शाळांच्या मुख्याध्यापक व शिक्षकांनाही या मुलांनी शाळेत येणे किती महत्त्वाचे आहे हे पटवून द्यावे लागते. विशेषतः स्थलांतरित कुटुंबांमधून आलेली मुले शाळेत शिकणा-या इतर मुलांप्रमाणे नियमित वर्षभर येतीलच याची खात्री नसल्याने त्यांना प्रवेश देण्यास शाळा फारशा उत्सुक नसतात, असा आमचा अनुभव आहे. पण यावर्षी एका शाळेच्या मुख्याध्यापकांनी स्थलांतरित मुलांच्या प्रवेशासाठी स्वतःच प्रयत्न केले, त्याचा उल्लेख इथे केलाच पाहिजे.

गेल्या महिन्यात 'इसीसी'च्या कार्यकर्त्यांनी हिंजवडी फेज-टू भागात एक स्थलांतरितांची वस्ती शोधून काढली. शाळेत जाण्याच्या वयाची साधारण दहाएक मुले या वस्तीच्या सर्वेक्षणात आढळून आली. या मुलांची संपूर्ण माहिती मिळवून ती जवळच्या माण गावातील जिल्हा परिषद शाळेस कळविण्यात आली. 'इसीसी'च्या कार्यपद्धतीनुसार, शाळाप्रवेशासाठी संबंधित मुलांना व त्यांच्या पालकांना शाळेत घेऊन जाण्याची तयारी कार्यकर्त्यांनी सुरु केली. परंतु, आश्चर्य म्हणजे या शाळेचे मुख्याध्यापक श्री. गायकवाड सर यांनी स्वतःहून या वस्तीला भेट देण्याची इच्छा व्यक्त केली. गायकवाड सरांनी 'इसीसी'च्या कार्यकर्त्यांसोबत संबंधित ठिकाणी जाऊन स्थलांतरित पालकांची भेट घेतली, ज्यामुळे आपल्या मुलांच्या शिक्षणाबद्दल या पालकांचा विश्वास दुणावला.

या सर्व मुलांना गायकवाड सरांच्या माण येथील जिल्हा परिषद शाळेत दाखल करण्यात आले आहे. हिंजवडी फेज-टू हा भाग नव्याने विकसित होत असल्याने व बहुतांश भाग औद्योगिक असल्याने ही 'जवळची' शाळा सुमारे तीन किलोमीटर अंतरावर आहे. आता रोज तीन किलोमीटर मुलांना शाळेत घेऊन जाणे व परत आणणे, हे आमच्यासमोरील पुढील आव्हान होते. या वस्तीपासून माणपर्यंतच्या मार्गावर वाहतुकीची खास सोय नसल्याने, या मुलांसाठी स्वतंत्र सोय करण्याचा मासिक खर्च प्रत्येकी सुमारे रु.६००/- इतका आहे. पण आता या वस्तीतील पालकांना शिक्षणाचे महत्त्व पटले असून, आपल्या मुलांना शाळेत पाठविण्याची त्यांची खूपच इच्छा असल्याने, किमान ५०% म्हणजे मासिक रु.३००/- इतका वाहतूक खर्चातील वाटा उचलण्याची तयारी त्यांनी दाखविली आहे.

हिंजवडी फेज-टू मधील या वस्तीमधे आम्हाला दोन प्रकारचे परिवर्तन दिसून आले - पालकांच्या मनोवृत्तीत आणि शाळेच्या वर्तणुकीतही. हा सकारात्मक बदल आमच्यासाठी आनंददायी तर आहेच, पण आता शहराच्या इतर भागांमधेही लवकरच असे परिवर्तन दिसून येईल अशी आम्हाला आशा वाटू लागली आहे.

How Illiterate Parents Contribute in Children's Education...

Mukesh Nishad, son of Mantoora and Tejau Nishad, was born in Pune at Kailas, currently living in Mauli Garden, Dhanori. He is the youngest of four siblings. His parents are illiterate, but the father can sign and knows the numbers. The family has moved to Pune from Bimitrajila in Chhatisgarh and is living here since last 10 years. Their oldest daughter has never been to school, but younger daughter is living in native village with relatives and studying in 10th standard. Their older son has been dropped out from school after 7th standard.

With no motivation for education and no other child going to school in Pune, parents did not think by themselves about Mukesh’s education. Mukesh was 6 years old when Door Step School surveyed the labour camp on construction site under the Every Child Counts campaign. With help of DSS field staff, Mukesh’s parents enrolled him in school. Initially Mukesh did not speak Hindi or Marathi. He used to communicate in their native language with his family. After starting the school, he learned other language very fast. Now he answers in Hindi and Marathi fluently. He looks confident while talking in Marathi.

Parents are also involved in Mukesh’s education. They have been living in this particular area since last 5 years only because his school is very near from here and because they seriously want him to study. His mother told us that she wants him to complete his education and get a respectable job so that he would not have to do physical labour like his parents. She hopes that education will help him earn more and lead a better life. Mukesh’s father always attends the parents’ meetings at school. He also attended the cultural programme at school and liked it. The parents ensure that Mukesh studies well at home as well.

This family is a motivational example for other non-Marathi parents who are worried about the language barrier in their children’s education. Mukesh’s case proves how smart kids are at this age and how sooner they get adapted to the surroundings than the adults. Hence, difference in languages cannot be an excuse to keep children away from education.

Helpline to report out-of-school children started – Sakal Times

Helpline to report out-of-school children started
ST Correspondent | Sunday, 15 May 2016

Pune: Door Step School (DSS), a Non-Governmental Organisation, has started a campaign called Every Child Counts (ECC) to find out-of-school children. The ECC campaign has launched a helpline number, which will help them locate out-of-school children. Any concerned citizen can report out-of-school children found in his/her area on the helpline number 986-000-8070 .

DSS is creating awareness among parents and helping students get enrolled in nearby government (Corporation or Zilla Parishad) schools. This campaign was launched in November 2011, under which DSS has enrolled more than 8,000 students up till now from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Any citizen can participate in this campaign from their own area of residence or work, at their own convenient time. The helpline number is expected to help in finding out out-of-school children across the city, expediting their admission process.

[Source: http://www.sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=5515674776725003022&SectionId=5171561142064258099&SectionName=Pune&NewsTitle=Helpline%20to%20report%20out-of-school%20children%20started]

Lighting The Fire of Education...

Gangaram lives at the construction site of Sai Vatika in Dhanori. He is in the 6th standard.  His family migrated from Andhra Pradesh to Pune in 2012 and was enrolled in a school with the help of Door Step School. His parents work at the construction site from 9am till 6pm and earn Rs.500 a day. Gangaram’s father says that they enrolled him in a school as he would have no work to do at the construction site. His mother also explains that they had earlier enrolled him in a school at their village where he was learning Telugu. His father hopes that Gangaram will make use of his education and do something for the family. Before going to school he was like a typhoon, jokes his father, but now he studies and is occupied. His school timing is from 7am till 12pm. He loves going to school and never misses it. He even spoke a bit about his family in English. His parents attend the parent teacher meetings to discuss about their son's progress. His family has decided to work nearby only so that he can attend school regularly. Unfortunately, Gangaram’s sisters have not been enrolled in school, but they ensure that Gangaram studies at home. He wants to become an engineer when he grows up.

The Every Child Counts programme started by Door Step School has encouraged many more children like these to start studying and has brought a significant change in their lives. It is inspiring to listen to their innocent and ambitious plans and know that the future of this country rests on these spirited minds. After all, it is rightly said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

गंगाराम धानोरीतल्या साई वाटिका कन्स्ट्रक्शन साईटवर राहतो. सध्या तो सहावीत शिकतोय. २०१२ साली तो आपल्या आईवडिलांसोबत आंध्र प्रदेशातून पुण्यामधे आला आणि 'डोअर स्टेप स्कूल'च्या मदतीनं त्याला जवळच्या शाळेत प्रवेशही मिळाला. त्याचे आई आणि वडील दोघेही सकाळी ९ वाजल्यापासून संध्याकाळी ६ वाजेपर्यंत बांधकाम साईटवर मजुरी करतात. गंगारामचे वडील म्हणतात की, बांधकाम साईटवर काम करण्याइतका गंगाराम मोठा नव्हता, म्हणूनच त्याला शाळेत घातला. त्याची आई म्हणते की, गावाकडं असताना तो शाळेत जात होता आणि तिकडं तेलुगु शिकत होता. गंगारामला मिळणा-या शिक्षणाचा तो काहीतरी चांगला उपयोग करुन घेईल आणि आपल्या कुटुंबाला हातभार लावेल, अशी आशा त्याच्या वडिलांना वाटते. शाळेत घालण्यापूर्वी गंगाराम म्हणजे एक वादळ होतं, असं त्याचे वडील गमतीने म्हणतात, पण आता तो अभ्यासात गुंतलाय आणि शांत झालाय, असंही ते सांगतात. त्याची शाळा सकाळी ७ ते दुपारी १२ वाजेपर्यंत असते. त्याला शाळेत जाणं फार आवडतं आणि तो कधीही शाळा चुकवत नाही. गंगाराम आता स्वतःबद्दल आणि स्वतःच्या कुटुंबाबद्दल थोडं-थोडं इंग्रजीतूनही बोलू शकतो. आपल्या मुलाच्या प्रगतीबद्दल शिक्षकांशी चर्चा करण्यासाठी गंगारामचे पालक शाळेतल्या पॅरेन्ट-टीचर मीटिंगलाही नियमित जातात. वारंवार शाळा बदलाव्या लागून त्याच्या शिक्षणात खंड पडू नये म्हणून गंगारामच्या पालकांनी एकाच ठिकाणी राहून जवळपासच काम शोधायचं ठरवलं आहे. गंगारामच्या बहिणी अजून शाळेत जात नाहीत, पण गंगारामला घरीदेखील अभ्यास करता यावा यासाठी त्या शक्य ती मदत करतात. गंगारामला खूप-खूप शिकून मोठ्ठा इंजिनियर व्हायचंय.

'डोअर स्टेप स्कूल'चे 'एव्हरी चाइल्ड काउंट्स' अभियान गंगारामसारख्या अनेक मुलांना शालेय शिक्षणाच्या मुख्य प्रवाहात आणण्यासाठी प्रयत्न करते. या मुलांच्या निरागस महत्त्वाकांक्षा आणि फ्युचर प्लॅन्स ऐकणं फार मजेशीर तर असतंच, पण तीच पुढचं काम करण्याची प्रेरणा असते. म्हणतात ना, "शिक्षण म्हणजे एका बादलीतून दुस-या बादलीत पाणी ओतणं नाही, तर शिक्षण म्हणजे एका ज्योतीनं दुसरी ज्योत पेटवणं!"

Volunteers for Out-of-School Children Survey

Call for Volunteers to help in Survey of Out-of-School Children in Pune:

During the month of May, we will visit slums and temporary shelters in various areas across Pune city, to find out if there are any children between 6 and 14 years who need help in getting enrolled in nearby government schools.

Volunteers can help in collecting children's information, talking with the parents, explaining benefits under Right To Education Act, etc.

Date, time, and locations can be decided based on availability of volunteers.

Contact 986-000-8070 for details or confirmation.

शालाबाह्य मुलांसाठी हेल्पलाईन 986-000-8070

आता शालाबाह्य मुलांची माहिती कळवा 986-000-8070 या हेल्पलाईन नंबरवर.

तुमच्या मदतीने शालाबाह्य मुले शालेय शिक्षणाच्या मुख्य प्रवाहात येऊ शकतील.

चला, प्रत्येक मुलाला त्याचा शिक्षण घेण्याचा हक्क मिळवून देऊ!