ECC Admission Update (18-Jun-13)

ECC Volunteer Archana Vyavaharkar reported from Kondhwa, Pune:

I visited the Sidharthnagar school this afternoon. Manjiritai, Reshma and Sunita (ECC field-staff) were there to oversee the admissions. I spoke to them and the school principal Mrs. Bhalerao about the transport. The school wants us to take full responsibility. The person bringing the children last session was not doing a proper job. Some children had complained that he did not come to their sites etc. Also he did not come on time to pick up the children from school.

One person who runs a couple of vehicles for schools contacted us. I've given his card to Manjiritai. He seems to be ok and eager to work for us. We will also have to employ a lady to accompany the children. There is a lady who lives near the school whom Manjiritai has met and who is willing to work as an escort.

I've also requested the principal to give us a copy of the letter she will send for the transport funds. It is still Rs.300/- per child. We can use that to push the concerned people for payment. Also we have told the transporter that he will be paid only when the school receives the money. He has agreed today....but what happens if he changes his mind?

The school got its official number today and the principal even praised Door Step School .....staff as well as children....and it's good to see the rapport between the facilitators and the school staff. They have brand new benches and charts and the school looks really good. Even the toilet is clean and has an approach from within the school compound!

Hope the transport works out for the children here.

- Archana Vyavaharkar (ECC Volunteer)

ECC Admission Update (17-Jun-13)

- 63 children, most of them in the 6-7 years age group, were enrolled in Pokale Vidyalay, Dhayari. Despite some resistance from couple of site supervisors, ECC field-staff completed the admission process as planned. Children have been admitted to both (morning and afternoon) shifts. Although school was insisting on sending the children separately, it was made clear that we can send them only in one shift due to limited transport arrangements. ECC has arranged transport for these children for next 15 days; however, more funds are required for continuing transport facility further. ECC Volunteer Prasad Baliga has been actively working with parents to convince them to send their children to school...

- PMC School in Bavdhan runs in two (morning and afternoon) shifts. Since arranging transport for children in two shifts was not possible, it was decided to enrol all children in Zilla Parishad school in Bavdhan. As the ZP school timing is 10am to 5pm, ECC approached a private school (Vidya Valley) in this area for transport support. Vidya Valley has agreed to provide their school bus for children living on construction sites in Bavdhan area. The transport provider will be taken for site visits once admissions are completed in this school. Private schools with transport facility in other areas of the city can support in similar manner...

- 4 children enrolled in Dhanori PMC School. 4 children enrolled in Lohegaon PMC School. Process is slow and somewhat hampered by Rains and parents not being available. Parents have requested for Sunday or early morning admissions (school is from 12:00 noon only). Support is expected from school authorities and PMC School Board (Shikshan Mandal).

A Promising Start to Enrollment!

The ECC Campaign took off on a promising note this year. 24 Children from 6 Construction sites in Shivajinagar were Enrolled in PMC School No.66 at University Circle on Saturday, 15th of June, by Cognizant-Outreach Volunteer Group. One child was enrolled by parent at PMC School No.47B behind College of Agri Banking. This is a good beginning!

The sites had been surveyed by Volunteers from "Cognizant-Outreach" in May, and over the last couple of weeks, parents, site supervisors, and school authorities were contacted for discussions and planning the Admissions.

Though it was a very rainy day, many volunteers joined the effort, some of them even ferried children and parents to the school in their own vehicles. It is indeed heartening to see such enthusiasm and dedication from each and every person who were part of the event Thank you all for the great work!

School authorities were very co-operative and had remained in school beyond the official working hours to complete the process.

Parents are concerned about the next step... how to ensure that children can reach the schools daily! We have to work closely with the school and parents over next couple of weeks to support them in making arrangements for transport.

The work has just begun... 45 more schools and 1300 more children to reach...!

Need for Daily School Transport Facility

Need For Funding Daily School Transport For Migrant Children In The City Of Pune - Year 2013-14

Migrant children are among the most educationally marginalized in India.

UNICEF Report on Internal Migration and the RTE dated 03-Dec-2012 estimates that there are Approximately 15 Million (1.5 Cr) migrant children in India.

Through the “Every Child Counts- Citizens’ campaign”, it was established that 4500 construction plans for large sites are sanctioned each year by the City Engineer’s office, Pune. Studies carried out estimate that there are migrant families and their children at around 2000 sites. Results of survey done in 2012 show that there are around 4-6 children of school enrolment age (6-7 yrs old) on an average per site .i.e. at least 12000 children across Pune. If we add the number of children of this age group living in other urban migrant communities such as roadside dwellings, unauthorized slums, this number would reach around 15,000.

While working with children from migrant communities and slums in the city, it was observed that daily school transport is a major factor affecting attendance of children and eventually leading to drop-out.

A sample of 600 children admitted from sites (where no NGO works) during June-July 2012 shows that -

1. a mere 15% of children are able to attend school without transport or escort;
2. 33% of children enrolled could not attend school due to lack of transport;
3. even at sites where Door Step School runs Educational Activity Centers, 70% children attending schools need transport support.

The Right to Education Act 2009 mentions provision of free transport or escort for children where schools are beyond a distance of 1.5 kms from residences. Efforts have been made over last few months to urge the Education Department in Pune to make provisions for School transport under the Right to Education Act 2009. However, these efforts have not resulted in any concrete actions from the Government. In fact, the School Board of Pune Municipal Corporation is now appealing to funding agencies for generation of funds for School transport.

Door Step School, through its various programs in Pune and PCMC areas, reaches approximately 10,000 children, 5000 of whom are enrolled in schools every year and require transport facilities.

School transport needs:

• Funding for auto-rickshaw or van payment on monthly basis;
• Local management to monitor safe and timely pick-up and drop; and
• Local escort with the vehicle, for very young children.

The estimated cost of school transport is:
    Rs.450/- per child per month
    Rs.4,500/- per child per year (considering 10 working months of schools)

Availability of School Transport has a major impact on enrolment and continuation of primary education and therefore requires major funding support from all possible sources.

ECC Planning for June 2013

'Every Child Counts' Citizens' Campaign was launched in October 2011, to ensure Right To Education implementation in Pune city. The campaign was designed to involve citizens of Pune in taking every child to school. With help of individual and groups of volunteers in Pune, ECC could reach out to more than 2,500 out-of-school children during academic year 2012-13, out of which 1,300+ children were enrolled in nearby PMC schools. Efforts were taken to ensure regular attendance of these children in schools. Two major challenges were faced during this - one, lack of daily transport facility, and two, non-participation of parents in their child's education. With help of local NGO's, partner organisations, and private funding, ECC could arrange daily transport for few of these children. However, this was not possible in all cases, hence ECC team has been trying to convince PMC Education Board to make budgetary provision for school transport at all their schools. Since there is no confirmed action planned by them till now, ECC team and volunteers/partners are planning to arrange local transport from the day of admissions. To handle the issue of parents' non-participation in child's education, Door Step School and Every Child Countrs Campaign have launched a project to work directly with parents in Kondhwa area of Pune.

A meeting of ECC volunteers was held on Saturday, 18th of May 2013, to plan survey and admission activities for June 2013. Volunteers from various companies, institutes, organisations, and individuals attended the meeting and expressed their interest in volunteering for ECC campaign. After discussing current status and further plan of survey, volunteers chose areas according to their availability during next couple of months. Corporates like Fiserv, Cognizant, and Symphony offered to conduct survey and admissions in areas like Kharadi, Hadapsar, Baner, Deccan, Pashan, etc. The volunteers will carry out survey in two phases - one, to locate construction sites with labour camps, and two, to collect detail information of children to be enrolled. Volunteers will also visit local PMC schools and set up a dialogue with the school staff, to smoothen admission process.

From last year's experience, ECC campaign team expects more support from volunteers and corporates in arranging school transport from first day onwards. Although there are no solutions offered by PMC Education Board yet, and not enough funding provision available with campaign team, contributions from willing partners is highly anticipated. Let us hope for more support this year!

ECC Volunteer Meet for 2013-14 Planning

Thank you for being associated with 'Every Child Counts' campaign. With your support and contribution, we could enroll more than 1,300 children in PMC schools last year. The schools will reopen for next academic year by 17th of June 2013. The work for finding out 6-year-old children has already started in some parts of the city. However, local participation of more citizen volunteers is highly needed to cover entire Pune city. To plan the survey and admission activities for next two months, we invite all existing and willing volunteers for a planning meet on next Saturday.

Date: 18th of May 2013
Time: 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Venue: DSS Training Center, Annabhau Sathe Vidyalay, Kumthekar Road, Near Shagun Chowk, Off Laxmi Road, Pune.
Find it on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/IdKS8

In this meeting, current status of the campaign will be shared with all volunteers, and further plan of action will be decided based on individual or group availability in various parts of Pune city. Please come prepared with your suggestions and preferences during next two months.

Let's get together once again to march towards our goal of total school enrollment in Pune!

DSS 20th Anniversary Programme

Door Step School, Pune invites all supporters, funders, associates, volunteers, and well-wishers

for the Annual Presentation and 20th Anniversary Celebration Programme.

Chief Guest: Shri. Shantilal Mutha
(Founder and National President of Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana)

Date: Saturday, 11th of May 2013
Time: 10am to 12pm
Venue: Nivara Hall, Near Patrakar Bhavan, Navi Peth, Pune-30

An exhibition related to all DSS projects will be open from 9:30am onwards.

Please confirm your presence to pune@doorstepschool.org