Ek din ayega "Every child will report to school ,not to work"

Dilemma of TMC School no-71

2010-10-16T16:30:00.004+05:30

We all have heard and seen about numerous news on tussles between political parties in India and how Aam junta is dragged into it and suffer due to this.

But, you perhaps feel too baffled to react when you seechildren below 14 years of age and primary teacher suffer due to clash in egos of two political parties in Thane.

The picture attached in this blog tells all about it.

The current TMC school no - 71 in Kalva, runs into a building which few people amazes how survived the last rainy season. Children sit on the floor without mats. About the sanitation and hygiene of this building, sorry, I looked into my dictionary for the word but couldn't find one to describe the pity.

Irony is strikingly shown in the picture where a new building with board 'TMC school no-71' is shown. This building is ready since June 2010 but of course the political party leading the TMC was different than current ruling party.

How can previous political party let the current political party take the credit for the TMC school building?

As a result of this, children,parents and teachers are allowed to look at this building only from outside and hope that one day they will be allowed to enter and children will be able study under the roof of this new building.

Meeting with Headmistress - TMC school No -71, Kalwa

2010-10-12T10:45:00.002+05:30

Col Venkat and Chandra Ramamurthy went to visit the school headmaster of School no 71 in the hope of assistance of a school teacher for the enrolment drive at Shantinagar. The school ahs a new building constructed in the adjacent plot that remains locked.

On inquiry one of the teachers Ms Mohad shared that the headmistress- Panshe madam will be in school from 11- 5.30. Col Venkat and Chandra shared the purpose of the visit- to which Ms Mohad told us that the school was short staffed and even the headmistress would recommend requesting the Anand Nagar School for teachers.

Ms. Mohad also shared that the new building was inaugurated on 3rd July but was yet to be occupied by the students. She suggested that meeting Mr. Suresh Gada, who is the chairman of the education department, would be more useful than the EO who works under him. She also provided numbers of teachers at Anand nagar and at Pandurang School Kalwa (which is an aided school) who would be useful in helping with the enrollment drive. The condition of the classroom in the school was one without electricity (there were no lights or fans that were working, children were seated on the cold floor without any mat, let alone school furniture and the rains in the morning were not severe enough to reveal leaks in the asbestos roofing.

Col Venkat and Chandra visited another school in the same compound which was TMC school number 115. The in charge Ms Meera Godke shared that the same compound housed Marathi, Hindi and Urdu mediums. She said that they were n=more than willing to send teachers to the community provided it was given to them in written form. When shared that the EO had verbally assured us that the headmasters would provide teachers for the enrollment drive, she reiterated that they would need a written directive fro the EO.

The next step discussed by Col. Venkat and Chandra, was to request Mr. Ravindra to follow up with the EO about teachers for the enrollment drive and as a back up-the teachers who had assisted the volunteers in Gandhi nagar can be requested to help.

Shantinagar Visit on 26th Sep'10

2010-09-27T13:10:00.002+05:30

Dear all,
I hope everyone is doing fine !!!
As a part of our Enrollment drive at Shantinagar, yesterday me,Krishna and few new volunteers visited to the area and interacted with childrens and families. Since its been long, it was necessary to interact with them as to proceed with the enrollment drive at Shantinagar.

During interaction, i found some observations so i am sharing that with all of you.
Few Observations :
1. Yasmin, Javed & Junaid's mother is very much interested to send her children to school.But somehow i felt that her husband isnt much interested to send their children to school. When i asked him, he told me that he is equally interested to send them to school but his body language and behaviour wasnt showing that. When i was interacting to the mother, before reacting to me she was doing eye contact to her husband. I might be wrong but i felt like she was hesitating to answer me in front of her husband. Another thing, last time we conducted FD session with all the ladies in this area, these children's mother told us that her husband is not willing to send their children to school and she told us that she feels very helpless since her husband isnt supporting her in their children's education. Inspite of all these facts, all 3 childrens are very bright and willing to go to school especially Yasmin.

2. Sonu and Guru's mother is very much interested to send her children to school as soon as possible. The only thing she concerned about is that she wants her children to go in proper school so that they will be able to read, write and speak. She had some bad experience with some other school (according to me it was Aanganwadi) where teachers never teach children how to read, write and speak any letters or numbers. She gave us surity that if her childrens will be enrolled in proper school, she will make sure that both Sonu and Guru will attend the school regularly.
She herself has done her education till 10th standard so she is aware of importance of education.

3. Ashok Dave's middle child Mamta is 6 years old and never attended any school yet. She is suffering from some stomach pain from long time and she havent got any proper treatment yet. Her mother is no more so watver diet doctor has mentioned for her, she is not be able to follow that properly. Her father works outside whole day so her elder sister Roshni (8 years) takes care of her siblings for whole day. Mr. Ashok wants both Mamta and Roshni to go to school but at the same time he wanted to get her disease cure as soon as possible. Need to get proper medication urgently for this girl if we can in any possible way.

There is one person from this same locality name Madhav Manmothe. He was always very helpful for us while interacting with the families. He knows the locality well and really concerns about the children and their education. He even told us that whenever we will visit Shantinagar next time, we should inform him earlier so that he will be able to be there to help us. His desire and dedication to help us is unexpressable.

Inspiring thing was we visited Shantinagar after long time but still families and children there to whom we interacted earlier knows us very well with our names. It was quite touching. And they are very hopeful about us that we will be able to enrolled these children into the school.

This doubles our reponsibility and we need to keep track with the families and childrens on regular intervals.

Please share your views and comments !!!

Enrollment Drive …way ahead!

2010-09-11T20:05:00.002+05:30

Gandhi Nagar:

We perhaps understated the influence of chain reaction.

I dropped in to Nandini’s abode today and inquired with her mother about her studies.

Her mother couldn’t tell me much about her studies but she pointed out that she is regular to school. Nandini brought her notebook and showed me her English and Marathi exercises.

The one last thing which struck me the most was, when while leaving she pointed out that Kiran is no more coming to school. She tried convincing her but all in vane.

It was not an insignificant effort, it shows that how a chain reaction works. Of course it’s difficult without support of encouraging parents. After all Kiran is not as lucky as Nandini.

This also reminded me of our visit to Gandhi Nagar community with TMC-Hindi medium teacher Mr R.S. Yadav. When He was trying to convince and convey Kiran’s parents the importance of education, at that time Kajal’s mother (Kajal is a 12 year old bright girl from Hiranadani workers community) also joined Mr Yadav and gave the examples of her daughters who are regular to schools and getting better in education every year.

Perhaps examples like these can be of immense help in our upcoming campaigns.

Dharamveer Nagar:

In our last visit at Dharmveer Nagar migrant labour community with TMC-Marathi medium teacher Mrs Ahire, we listed 8 children for enrollment. One of them came to school same day with me to get her self enrolled. She entered in a school first time in her life to study.

I called up Mrs Ahire to inquire about these children and came to know that the whole migrant basti at Dharmveer Nagar has been wiped out. She pointed that only the girl came till the day before her hut was demolished by TMC.

Not even a single child from that community is coming to school any more.

Shanti Nagar(Kalwa):

On Friday 10^th Sep 2010, we visited Thane College and interacted management students there. We appealed them to join our volunteer group and contribute in our enrollment work at Shanti Nagar community. This was a very cognizant bunch. We hope that we they join us soon in our enrollment work at Shanti Nagar.

***

Nandani goes to school now…

2010-08-19T10:21:00.001+05:30

She is 12 years old. She goes to school now. And she has been present every single day since her
enrollment in primary school at Gandhi Nagar.

To many, the above lines might appear as SIMPLE PRESENT. But for us, these lines seems as FUTURE PERFECT.

The other day when We met primary school teacher Mr R.S.Yadav, he emphasized that the girl is bright.He not only gave her few note books but also asked one student to give her old school uniform to Nandani.

‘Old dress’… does it triggers a wave of pity in you? Please don’t be… Gov only waves off tuition fee and provide free books and mid day meals to children in Gov aided schools.

Kiran was also admitted to same primary school that day. Durga, her 10 year old neighbour
accompanied her to school as Kiran’s father was not ready to come with us, posing a dilemma that WHO WILL TAKE CARE OF OTHER 3 GIRLS at home?

The other day when we visited to school, teacher mentioned that Kiran was regular for only 2 days. We knew that perhaps Kiran has become the solution of her fathers dilemma.

There were 8 more who were enrolled in the TMC school. And in the words of a opportunist
writer, “every such enrollment is worth a story”.

But for us it’s a enrollment which perhaps will change the future of not only these children but also uncountable Aam Admi around them.

And amusing fact is, it costs nothing but just a walk. Of course you need to come out, hold their hands, walk that path with them and take them to school first time. Most of these children make their own way after that.

So lets hold as many hands as possible and walk that path which has potential of leading these children towards a bright future.

Private Schools shut door on Underpriviledged children

2010-06-16T12:57:00.004+05:30

In a country where positive changes happen far and between decades of oppression, the fate of RTE act is no surprise.
In the backdrop of dissapproval of "rich parents" in letting their kids rub shoulders with the underpriviledged class in their own classrooms, private schools have refused to take in these poor kids in their schools in this session.
The excuse - "Our admission process is over".

My view -

Private schools in mumbai thrive on the bulging (read overflowing) purses of the upper-class and the rising middle-class of our society. Hefty donations sometimes even drown the hopes of sufficiently able parents of sending their kids to these "Education sharks".
In midst of all melee arrives the RTE act with a halo of righteousness. "Let there be light", it said. "Let every kid get education that he righfully deserves".
But did it actually say it or were my ears ringing?
I guess the latter is truer than the word itself. Neither Goverment officials (eg, TMC) not the common man has any clue of when will the magic wand of RTE spark the light via its implementation.

For centuries our land has been plagued with the divide over caste and class, creed and color. Basic amenities like water, food and shelter have been tossed aside to be marked and divided as per people's station in society. Schools and Gurukuls being the tool of acquiring the worldly knowledge, remained a priviledge of kings and landlords. Thus, education remained a pet of those with heavy purses.

We welcomed the new millenium with its Y2Ks and higher sensex and dowjones, but quality education in India was and still remains leashed by the rich.
One can argue that there are municipal schools for these poor children but that is not what I am talking about here.
For me, education, if there is a burning desire to get one, does not even wait for a classroom but I am contesting the attitude of these manicured classes of society.
What can be reasons behind private schools not taking in these children in? Let us see -
1. Late intimation to schools about RTE act - A blatant lie! They were duly informed a month prior to the start of their admission process
2. Donation loss - True. Government will bear the cost for these poor children. That will not include the donations.
3. Parents may have trouble accepting the fact that their kids have to share their school space with these poor children - True and Monstrous!!!
4. Government lacklustre attitude towards implementation of RTE - True and disappointing.

All of the above reasons can be helped. But the one that affects me the most is the parents' attitude. Though it is just a hearsay, but I am sure there is truth in it. My confidence comes from the knowldege of our country's past that reeks of castism and the dvide over land and wealth.
It is fool hardy to believe that the attitude of these people can be changed overnight (read decade)!
But we must start, and soon enough.

- Sharmishtha

RTE – through the lenses of Aam Amdmi

2010-06-16T12:03:00.004+05:30

We all heard our Prime Minister announcing ‘Right to free and compulsory education act’ and making it operational from 1^st April 2010. To many, this moment was more precious and historic than the moment of ‘Tryst with Destiny’. It was historic day because first time in the history of independent India, union government has laid down such a power full act to ensure the right education for those 17 million children who are out of school.

A cynic would say, so what’s so new in this act. There were many such acts made in yesteryears as well, but look here we are, still struggling and making acts.

But the groups and the individuals who have been working and waiting this Act have a different view. They see how vital this act is for the future of our nation.

Any investment in the human energy goes long way. There are nations who believed that if they put their money in infrastructure, making sky touching buildings in sea, expanding roads and making web of metros, they will be building the future of their nation. They realized very soon that how wrong they were. The skyscrapers and glittering cities can not broaden the horizon of human being until we invest in the people themselves.

On the other hand, a nation which is still developing from last two decades but paid little more attention to the education system and human energy amid its corrupted and irregular system, survived the great depression-2. We have lot to learn from these recent year experiences.

The wise people of this world say that the Lewis turning point of such a nation will be longer than the one, which builds roads and buildings like assembly line. But this doesn’t ignore the importance of building infrastructure at all, may be the priority, yes.

There are challenges and there are drawbacks but as they say law is also like a human, growing and evolving. The important point is viewing and pointing out these loopholes to the NAC and get these amended as smoothly as possible.

Now a day once someone starts talking about this act, there will be numerous others who will start pointing out and complaining the corruption and irregularities. But they completely miss the point that if there is a draw backs why not to use a right platform to pass this to authorities than beating the drums in close circle.

A lot has been written in the print and electronic media about Teacher – student ratio, lack of trained teachers, proper utilization of teachers, building school infrastructure. But the vital point is, this should not be like just another act, there are expectations of the people and parents (especially underprivileged class) from this and government should put more emphasis on this. And the first step could be a smooth co-ordination between state and Central government on the implementation of this act.

The monetary fact, showing that the central government is spending just .76% of GDP on the education is, acerbic. However, at the same time we all know that efficient and honest use of even this share of GDP is a challenge at a time when the rations of Mid Day meal is making its way to teachers and officers home.

...

Those faces...

2010-06-14T19:51:00.006+05:30

My sole reason to sit among these children is to learn what goes on in their mind. What causes them to grow up so fast and look at this world through those oceanic abyss eyes?

Last Saturday on Anti Child Labour day, I was once again among them. Almost all those faces were new for me, but within 2 hours they become so close that I can close my eyes and those stark faces will be right in front my eyes.

I first looked towards him when whole bunch of children started shouting his name. They all wanted him to come in front and dance. They all, except him, claimed that he was a very good dancer. I asked him to come up front and perform with other children, but he politely pulled himself back, whispering that he is not a good dancer.

The other face sat right beside me. When the group decided that we will start the event with introduction by all the kids one by one. All of them came in front one after another and told us their name. We shouted their name, when they were returning to their places. We saw a sense of belonging floating on their faces.

During this whole time, he was pulling my hand and trying to pull my attention. His face was full of heat rash pimples. He didn’t want to wait for his chance and wanted to stand and shout his name.

The girl right beside me on the other side was one of the liveliest faces I have seen. I was not bewildered when she came in front after Introduction and sang 3 nursery rhymes one after other. I also observed that far from one end of the field, her mother calling her to fetch water bucket.

A day with them, singing, drawing and building a ‘Shiksha ki train’, was indeed a very different and inspirational for all of them.

At the end of these activities, while we were distributing the drawing among the kids, He came towards me. I didn’t pay attention to him until he pulled my hand. He was the 8 year kid with heat rashs on his face. I bowed down to listen to him as there were kids shouting and still enjoying ‘Shiksha ki train’ all around us. It was difficult to hear his whisper, one I understood him clearly he was asking “when you will come for taking me to school.” I was wrong, it was not a whisper it was thundering and determined voice.

After wrapping up the activities, when we all were coming out through the narrow lanes of this community, many of these children accompanied us till the end of the community. He came running parallel to me and said, “You know, I will dance when you come here next time. I am good dancer” He shook hand with me and taught me a brand new way to shake hand.

At the end I came back with lots of those faces in front my eyes and ample unanswered question.

Be nice to the kids!!!

2010-06-14T18:07:00.003+05:30

The other day, i was in the local train First class compartment. It was approx 10:30 in the morning.

At Kalwa station, a couple of kids, dressed in rags and covered in dust (most probably from the slums in Kalwa), got into the compartment. A lady in the compartment suddenly got up and starting using abusive words and very rudely asked the kids to get off at the next station!!!

I am sure that if these kids were in school uniforms or even in good clothes and well dressed, the lady would not have used rough words and actions with them. I am not advocating that children should be allowed in the first class compartments - people have their own prejudices about that and i feel it is okay as well.

My only point is that these kids do not behave properly with us because we people do not treat them right.

Why can't we be nice and gentle to these kids? Why can't we treat them like they deserve to be treated as children?

It is only when we change our attitude towards them that they shall change their attitude towards us and the others they talk to!!!

I just request the lady (and many others like her) to please tell these children nicely and softly that they should get down at the next station and get into the next compartment.

Well that is not very difficult, is it???

Enrollment and Retention year long campaign kick off June 12, 2010

2010-06-14T09:32:00.000+05:30

CRY Campaign Kick Off 2010

Meeting with TMC Block Officers, Thane

2010-06-09T17:11:00.000+05:30

Date: June 7, 2010

Time: 2:00 PM to 4:15 PM

Volunteers: Krishna, Ravindra, Sharmishtha, Havovi and Ashutosh

TMC Representatives: All Block Officers under TMC Education Department (Primary)

Agenda: Knowledge and ideas exchange, Understanding the schemes and policies related to enrollment, retention.

We shared the kind of work we do, our beliefs and motives and our vision. We shared observations and shortfalls we encountered during our community visits.

The topics discussed were:

Enrollment process
Documents needed for enrollment
Migrant labors
Enrollment drive
Our participation in enrollment
Schemes under which special allowances are given to minorities and girl children
Mid-Day meal schemes
School drop outs
Government’s efforts for retention
Bridge schools or programs for the school dropouts
Teachers’ role in enrollment and retention
Parents Teachers meetings
Our participation in retention

1. Enrollment Drive and Process:
TMC will start the enrollment drive from 14^th June. The drive will last till first week of July. But any child can be enrolled any time in the educational year. Teachers, Block Officers and staff members go into the settlements encouraging parents and children to get enrolled. They conduct detailed surveys in every area, to understand who all the children eligible for enrollment. Using information obtained from past surveys, they also seek for children who would have recently became eligible. Once the child is enrolled, they provide the textbooks & notebooks, uniforms, shoes etc.

2. Documents needed for enrollment:
As per the rule, some proof of age is required to be enrolled in the school. When asked about the cases where Birth Certificate or any other age proof is not available, the response was, “we still enroll them first, and later we provide the information about obtaining the necessary documents to the parents and also help them with the same”

3. Our Participation in Enrollment:
This is a major achievement and responsibility for us. TMC has noted in their circular to all the TMC schools that, “Any child brought/referenced by CRY volunteers has to be enrolled in the school without any hassles/troubles.”
They have also granted us the permission to accompany any Block Officer and/or teachers/staff for enrollment during the drive with the prior communication.

4. Migrant Labor’s kids:
TMC understands that these kids are one of the major percentage in overall school dropouts due to their livelihood. In the cases of these kinds of children, any TMC school should allow the child to get enrolled even though the child may not complete the course. Volunteers were requested to counsel the parents to at least take a Leaving Certificate while leaving the city, so that whatever education they have completed will not be in vain.

5. Schemes:
There are plenty of schemes under which minority students are entitled to avail the daily allowance of Rs. 2/- for every attended school day. There are also some scholarships for students who have regular attendance. A boy child is eligible to receive Rs. 1500/- and Rs. 1000/- for a girl per annum. There are few other schemes for backward classes and financially deprived families. The detailed information about these schemes will be requested to the TMC by us.

6. Bridge school Programs:
Children who are out of the school for any reason, can be enrolled in the Bridge School Program (earlier this was named as Mahatma Fule Education Scheme). Under this scheme, students will be taught 4 educational years in 2 calendar years. This is an effort to empower and enable them to comply with other kids in mainstream.

7. Teachers’ role:
Teachers and other staff play a very vital role in enrollment and retention. They do regular follow-ups with the communities to ensure the children and parents are aware about the importance of the education.

8. Our participation in retention:
TMC will invite and involve us for all the efforts and programs run for enrollment as well as retention. This will include the enrollment drives, public awareness campaigns etc.

Another big leap for the group:

We will be invited for a meeting where TMC is planning to publish the implementation of Right to Education Act to public. High ranked officials like Mayor, Dy. Mayor, Education Officer, All Corporators, Public Relations officers etc. will be invited for this meeting. We may get a chance to represent our stand and our work. The meeting will be held on 16^th June 2010. We will get the official invitation very soon.

A quick review of the Right to Education Bill

2010-06-09T11:54:00.001+05:30

Do read this to get an encapsulated idea of some things we should be aware of wrt the Right to Education Bill

SSA-TMC response on enrollment Drive

2010-06-09T11:50:00.002+05:30

IKEA and UNICEF initiative for Child Rights

2010-05-26T11:45:00.004+05:30

Visit: IKEA and UNICEF initiative for Child Rights

No mid-day meal for 12 cr kids from July

2010-05-25T11:19:00.002+05:30

Fight Over Payment Leaves States Short Of Grains

Akshaya Mukul | TNN

New Delhi: Come July and 12 crore children benefiting from the mid-day meal scheme may go without food as states have nearly run out of foodgrain and fresh supply is caught up in wrangling over the mode of payment.
Normally,foodgrain for every quarter is lifted a month in advance.But with June approaching and the department of food and public distribution and HRD ministry still to resolve their differences on the mode of payment,the most successful flagship programme is facing a severe crisis as there is no hope that rice and wheat will be lifted for the next quarter.
States like Jharkhand,Punjab,Rajasthan,Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh and others have pressed the panic button and written to the HRD ministry.On May 18,secretary school education wrote to her counterpart in the department of food and public distribution expressing concern that allocation for the second quarter was not being released by FCI possibly due to non-resolution of the pre/post-payment issue.Timely availability of fooodgrain is key to successful implementation of MDM, she wrote.MDM,endorsed by economists like Amartya Sen,has not only led to massive improvement in school enrolment but has also provided much-needed nutritional support to millions of children.Adoption of MDM first started in 1925 by Madras Municipal Corporation in the mid-1980 s by states like Tamil Nadu ensured that the state did better in education.
Meanwhile,the two departments are busy arguing with even ministers Sharad Pawar and Kapil Sibal writing to each other but with no result.The department of food and public distribution has made it clear that FCI will not allow lifting of grain till HRD ministry agrees to make advance payment.
On its part,HRD ministry said payment was decentralised at the district level so that there was no delay,a constant complaint by FCI.

- Sharmishtha

Dharamveer Nagar – The Neglected Region.

2010-05-20T13:36:00.002+05:30

We visited Dharamveer Nagar as part of our survey of Gandhinagar area. Most of the residents of the area have migrated from Nanded and are staying at Dharamveer Nagar for about 6 years now. The huts are made of plastic and cloth scraps and supported by wooden sticks. The state of the area is pathetic. There is no electricity or proper water supply. Most of the residents are employed at the construction sites and are daily wage earners. As the migrants are illegally residing in the area, the municipality comes once in every three months or so and evacuates them but as people have no other place to go, they settle down there again.

At the first glance of community, one can come to know that the problems hovering are many and all interlinked. According to me , Dharamveer is the most distressed region of Gandhinagar area. There is active child labour, child marriage and cases of early pregnancies. Girls as young as 13 or 14 are married and at 18 are bearing babies.

Dharamveer Nagar is the only region ( noted among Gandhi Nagar area) where parents are sceptical about sending their children to school. There are cases where kids are attending school but majority of children have not even seen one. We interacted with a lady and she had a firm conviction about schooling being useless and not having any add on benefit on the child’s future. She would prefer, her daughter sitting at home learning household chores or working somewhere earning some extra cash rather than attending classes. Unstable life and mobile homes were also part of reasons given by parents for not sending children to school. But I find those reasons invalid because many migrants have been staying in the region for now 6 years or so. And if they move also, they won’t go that far. Maybe it is out of lack of will, they are not sending kids to school.

The girls of the region are the most affected identity. They take care of the household, work at construction sites and then are married off at young age .

Sangeeta, 11 year old, cooks, cleans, looks after her sister’s kids and also works on construction sites. When we asked her if she would like to attend school, reply came “Ask my mother, she decides everything.” And when we asked her mother she said “ Ab to yeh badi hogai hai, school jake kya karegi!”

Problems faced by the region are very complex and have to be handled in a different manner .

In such unbearable beaten down conditions, children bore a ray of hope in their eyes because of some people visiting them and giving them a possibility of attending school and returning their childhood back. Let’s not let them down. This might be out of our sphere of action but we can give it a try. We should make this neglected area visible to the authorities and urge them to take some actions.

Focused Group Discussion at Gandhinagar, May 19, 2010

2010-05-20T10:12:00.000+05:30

Focused Group Discussion

Area: Gandhi Nagar, Near Hiranandani Meadows, Thane (W)

Date & Time: May 19, 2010 - 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Volunteers: Krishna, Sharmishtha, Ekta, Ratna, Divya, Santaji, Ashutosh

Facilitator: Santaji

Observer: Krishna, Ratna

Recorder: Ashutosh

Volunteers gathered all the kids in and around the mentioned area.

Kajal, a very bright young girl, studying in 3^rd standard at Vasant Vihar Marathi School, was not able to accompany all the children initially because she was cooking rice, daal and sabji at home. After cooking, she gathered 5-6 kids residing nearby and came along with them to the FGD venue.
Lack of hygiene was observed.

Activities prior to FGD

Initially, kids were asked to sing, after many efforts to make them open up, a girl started murmuring some song, but others were mum.
Santaji then started a very simple but beautiful song with children with actions.
Once volunteers started singing along, all children followed the song.
Now some children started opening up, and sung a song.

Recordings during FGD

All the volunteers introduced themselves to the kids.
Kids were asked to repeat the names of the volunteers.
Introduction of all the children present was conducted.
Other kids were asked to repeat the name of each of the individual to get them know each other.
Details of the name of the children will be shared in separate document.
After the introduction, volunteers distributed the paintings sheets to the children. Crayon chalks were shared with all the kids.
Paintings were in form of kites and balloons. Kids were asked to fill the colors in.
During the activity, one girl named Piyasa, started staring at the volunteers (especially Ekta, as she asked her to paint). It was a complete cold look, no feelings or emotions were visible on the face. Sharmishtha eased her by speaking in Bengali, her mother tongue. After sometime Piyasa was kind of comfortable with repeated conversions in her native language.
Kids started getting involved in the painting. By looking at the children’s activity, other dwellers gathered around.
Another very young boy (must be around 2 years old). Ratna asked him to paint. With the help of his mother, he started scribbling on the paper with chalks.
Some of the other kids were very neat and tidy in painting. Some couldn’t manage to be.
Nandini and Monika were very good at painting.
After finishing the painting, kids were asked to write their names on the paper-sheet.
There were some children who never attended the school, couldn’t write their name.
When some volunteers were clicking photographs, kids were really amazed with camera.
Volunteers helped the kids, who were not able to write, showed them how to write. They were asked to write their names by looking at the name written by volunteers.
Satish, a young boy, was very shy and reluctant to write it even after Ratna’s efforts.
Around 12 children were going to school out of 26.
Nandini who is really interested in studying, couldn’t go to school as she had no birth certificate.
Kids were asked what do they want to be in future, the common replies were doctor, teacher. One girl said she would like to be in Police.
Teachers beat students if they commit some mistake. But hardly anybody was out of school due to this reason.
Nandini, who is interested in studying, helps her parents to run Vada-Paav dukaan. Does the household work along with her 3 siblings. Her parents are also ready to send her to school.
Monika, another girl, who studied up to 3^rd standard at her native, refused to join the school here. She insisted that she will go to school at her native only – due to language barrier.
Nothing except books and notebooks, is given to the students going to nearby Municipal schools.
A girl, who is studying in 2^nd standard, said, when asked about reasons for absenteeism, if mother is not feeling well, she has to stay back at home to cook and other household work and to take care of her siblings.
When asked about teacher’s involvement in communities, children said, teachers never come to their settlements.
When asked about parents’ meeting teacher, they meet rarely.
After the discussion, kids performed dance on some songs.
At the end, some candies were distributed to all the children.

Observations:

Kids were asking us, when are visiting them again.
Parents are also building some hopes and expectations from the volunteers.
Not sure about the kids, but we can be once again very clear about our purpose and goal with the elders.
Enrollment drive can be successful here, but very few eligible children were out of school. Few are really young. Will have to enroll them in Anganwaadi.
Nandini, Kajal, Monika, Salim are some of the bright kids.
Kajal has a natural leadership qualities.

My eye-view on our recent activities - 17th May 2010

2010-05-18T01:24:00.003+05:30

The scorching sun o’er my head,
Is taunting me to step up and view -
This town of little brown squirrels;
Where sun is shade, but smiles aren’t few.

I can thickly say that I have been associated with the cause of sending all children of India to school for over a year now. So, what has been my learning so far?

• Underprivileged society of India finds it hard to send their children to school for myriad of reasons such as poverty, lack of awareness, unavailability of schools, disbelief on the dictums of our education system etc
• Children sometimes do not want to go to school; parents are unable to pick the rod (remember spare the rod and spoil the child, I am not endorsing it here either!!)
• There is a lack of, what experts call – Joyful learning in schools. Thus, a part of the blame must be shared by the lackluster education system, including teachers’ sloppy teaching methodologies
• Disagreeable future prospects of these half-heartedly taught and improperly examined nevertheless degree-holding bourgeois.

The above-mentioned for me is not learning, but findings. When it comes to learning, I would rather say that I learnt to be humane. I learnt to step into a world different than mine and befriend people. I learnt to constructively disagree with people and in turn gather their perspective. I learnt to lead and unabashedly, be led. In nutshell, I learnt to grow as a person.

A lot of this learning came to me during the last couple of weeks. I have been meeting the communities of immigrant workers working at construction sites across Thane for my Photography project with Click Rights group at CRY. At the photography workshop they rightly taught me that it is not the camera but me who clicks a photograph, so I must first bring in the human touch by connecting with my subjects and then my pictures shall speak for themselves. It took me sometime but eventually I came around the idea of talking to my subjects before pulling out my camera. To whet your inquisitive appetite, the pictures came out decent!

Last week I accompanied Ratna, Ekta and Krishna to the same communities for a detailed survey of the reasons why the children of these immigrants stayed out of school. What I have wanted to do for quite some time which I must do it now – is to scream from top of the roof tops – parents want to send their children to school!!
Suma Ganguly, a Bengali Brahmin from as far as Kolkata is staying in Gandhinagar, tin shed – it cannot be called a hutment for crying out loud – with her husband and 2 young girls while the eldest is studying at a school in Kolkata. Similar is the story of most of these families who hail from rural West Bengal. These families have no clue about “Child Rights” or for that matter “Human Rights”, like most Indian brethrens, they have learnt to “survive”. We all do, I guess. But God forbid if I ever have to struggle with getting drinking water, proper food or security, I would be bitter and angry.

That is where my learning started…

These people are happy as little brown squirrels. They live in a world swarmed by mosquitoes and insects, no electricity nor proper water but boy! They remember how to smile. I will share with you my first feeling when I went amidst these people – an uncanny guilt. Guilt of being what I am – an upper middle class, convent educated, well-fed woman talking about celestial things like good education and bright future. I hesitated in entering too much into their lives out of the lame fear of exploring what I might not be able to handle. But impressions change, people evolve. So, did I.

After meeting some 10 odd families in 2 days I realized that these people are neither bitter nor hopeful. They are struggling. They have similar aspirations as ours, just in smaller sizes but their meager means pull them back repeatedly. The Focused Group Discussion that we had with these families did not look like a research methodology from a social science text book, but an inter-family discussion in a neighborhood. How did these people manage to be so warm? I kept wondering throughout the discussion and even post that.

I have deduced one fact – It is not just the system’s undervalued functioning that keeps them from achieving, neither is it solely the lack of mullah. It is the matter of free will. Having said that I would also like to reinforce that I do not mean to undermine the effects of an ill-functioning system nor do I mean to dishonor the value of money in our society, but I want to send a word of immense appreciation to people like Mr. Patel, a migrant carpenter, who despite all odds is getting his three daughters taught in a local school for unlike his future, theirs, he says, need to be brightened up. Applause!

While I am contemplating over the seriousness of what lies beneath the poverty-laden lives of Mr. Patel and others, I often get distracted by the loud giggles of their children. How innocent is childhood.

Little do they understand why we are visiting them, but to them the term ‘visit’ is important. Someone is ‘visiting’ them and they are happy about it. I like to be with them more than being with adults. They don‘t judge me, they don’t make me accountable for anything – they are just happy that I am visiting them.

Mother of all facts – these children love going to school. Like most of the kids, for some it is a daily war against bullies or homework, but it is part of their lives. They love to play in their school uniforms until they are beyond repair via any Rin or Surf challenge! just like I did as a kid. They share the stories of their friends and foes with fervent voices. So, what is that I am there to fix or advocate for?

Among these happily giggling faces are a few smiling but evidently uncomfortable kids. They listen to these stories but cannot become a part of them. They help the other kids soil their uniforms because they don’t have any of their own. Some might say that they are too young to feel jealousy or its consequential sadness; I say it’s not true. These children out of school are sad and jealous, they want to be a part of this entire fun of learning and books, uniforms and time tables, home-works and teachers, it is their RIGHT!

After visiting three communities and attending a Focused Group Discussion, I have had a sort of reinforcement of thought while on a mile long ride on the learning bus.

I congratulate all those who became part of these surveys not because we became minions of some earth shattering change in the field of child rights, but because we learnt how does the life at the other side of the fence look and feel like.
Let us all treat this as good first step, for all I know – ‘there are miles to go before I sleep’…

Survey Experiences in the Gandhinagar area

2010-05-17T19:38:00.004+05:30

Last week was a week of mixed feelings – on one hand it was really painful to hear about the hardships people go through (and feel how lucky you are…) and on the other hand it was that good feeling of having an opportunity to help these people in a small way!!!

We started the survey in the Gandhinagar area on Monday, 10^th May 2010. The first day we just roamed around the entire area to find out about the schools and aaganwadis close to the settlements. From Tuesday onwards, we started meeting with the people in the community. It was really good to see that the people welcomed us. Especially when they came to know that we were working for the education of their children, they were very warm and opened up to us.

Whatever their financial status, these are people who want to give their children a good education and ready to take efforts for it. The only thing they lack is awareness about the schools and the Government schemes. The fact that about 6-8 people turned up for the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) after a day of hard work, shows that these people have the commitment and the will to educate their children.

It was also disappointing, in some cases, that the parents made the children stay at home to take care of their younger siblings. Also, some parents showed a lot of hesitancy in putting their children in school since they did not have a permanent residence. The worst part was they did not even want to try. Also, the fact that most of the Municipal schools were Marathi medium schools was a deterring factor for the parents to send their children to school. Many parents, being illiterate themselves, were unable to monitor the progress of their wards and take steps for them to perform better. Even though this number was very few, it was discouraging to see their children being affected by all this.

On the brighter side, it was really touching to see that the faces of the parents lighting up when we mentioned that we could try to get their wards into school. Almost all of the children were overjoyed at the thought of going to school and learning. And the kids were very bright and could go a long way if properly guided.

Interacting with the children was the best part of the survey. Their inquisitive eyes, their shy but welcoming smiles and their frankness speak a lot about their innocence and it was really a wonderful experience talking to them. In spite of the conditions they live in, these children seemed happy and contended with life. When we asked them what they wanted to learn, they answered that they wanted simple things like pens, notebooks, uniforms and shoes (a 5 year old kid said he wanted a jeans pant!!!) These kids also expected desires to be doctors, teachers, pilots and one of them was very sure of becoming a bus conductor as well!!!

It feels nice to know that we are able to touch these people in our small and simple ways but we must surely work hard to at least enable these children to take their first steps towards achieving their dreams and aspirations…..

Survey Report - Gandhi Nagar

2010-05-17T12:40:00.006+05:30

As the voices of those men and women started rising and they started sharing their pleasant and not so pleasant experiences, we realized that perhaps this was the moment which our volunteer group aspired for.

This was not just a simple discussion or thought-sharing session neither was it so simple an event, but it took almost 3 years and countless hours of efforts by volunteers to reach at this level of comfort with community and to have the communities develop a faith in us.

After last month’s community scan, Ratna and Ekta started the survey work in Gandhi Nagar area since last Monday. They interacted, discussed and acquainted themselves with more than 20 families at the Gemini and Iris construction sites of Hiranandani and MMRDA projects. The statistics of spending almost 20 minutes with each family might not signify much but the personal connection which Ratna and Ekta developed with children and women in these communities certainly makes a statement.

How often have we experienced an underprivileged child practicing English alphabet whole day just because someone (read Ekta) asked her to practice. So what if she doesn’t have formal access to school. The motivation by Ekta meant so much to the kid that she showed her practiced alphabets to Ekta as soon as she visited her Jhopadi next evening.

It was evident that Ratna’s addressing the ladies of community as ‘Didi’ was not just a formal word but a deeper respect towards them. They didn’t hesitate to pour their life before her and shared every bit of their personal hardships of life with her. For a moment it seemed to me that Ratna knew the mother and father of Shahrukh and Muskan (5 year old kid from Iris site) from many years. They wanted to provide formal education to their children but they didn’t know how. We seemed to them like a hope that can make their dreams true.

Vinay was not just moved but also felt, what an expectation or faith is, when father (Patel) of those 3 girls started crying while explaining his hardships of life and struggle to get his girls admitted in municipality school. His bargaining and pleading to Shiksha mafias that he can’t afford Rs 3000 donation for admission filled us with rage at the inefficiency of our system and empathy towards the hardship of this father.

to be continued...

Some Interesting observations from the scans.

2010-05-13T13:29:00.003+05:30

Sugandhi Devi’s Family (Mother)
The peculiarity of this case is that the mother and father are willing to send their daughter to the school but the child is least interested in attending .She had attended an Anganvadi in the native, but she just used to go there to get the food and then run away .It is interesting to know that she does not help her mom in household and is not an income contributor by any sense, she just roams around and passes her time by playing with other kids.

This is a case where parents will exists but the child is not attracted to the idea of education.
Let’s brainstorm, what should be our approach to enrol such kids?

Sumi Ghosh’s Family (Mother)

Hailing from Kolkata, they want their kids to go to some English medium school; they quite understand the importance of quality education. So they tried their best to find some English medium Gov school but after an unsuccessful search, admitted their kids in to a private one.
But problem is , school charges random fees every month and then also detained the kids in their respective first and second grade. They do not get any scholar ships or any other kind of support from the school. For now, their education is going quite good but with these negative scenarios and unstable income; this family is not sure about how long they would be able to facilitate the same.
Again a case where zeal is in but means are missing; kids and their parents are very enthusiastic about their education and bright future but no idea what is going to happen next.
Let’s brainstorm how the Gov. schools can be matched to the attraction of the English medium private schools. ?

Durga Aike (Daughter)
Latest, we got an amendment as per RTE that no kid is supposed to be detained up to class eight and I can observe how it effects by discussing Durga’s example. Durga is a shy girl studying in a TMC school. She recently gave her annual exams of fifth grade and has been detained by the teacher. While talking with her I realized that she is quite ashamed of her performance and on the verge of leaving the school. Yesterday when we were interacting with this family, one of the neighbour also join the discussion commending the exam performance of the kids. At that time, a clear sign of frustration was visible on the face of her parents .They were like what is the profit of educating them for this shame. ?

I do not think that only kids are to be blamed here. How much we interacted , we found them quite smart and thoughtful. We really need a way to understand the root causes of underperformance, it can be because of the poor standards of the teacher too. But one thing is definite that kids should not be detained at this level, this leads to the dropouts.

Please suggest what you guys think on the same. ?

TMC SSA Report Page 1

2010-05-09T13:16:00.000+05:30

State admits it cannot eradicate Child Labour

2010-05-05T11:49:00.002+05:30

Maharashtra State Government is withdrawing its committment to eradicate Child Labour...the attached article is a sorry statement in a line of excuses made over the past 62 years in the process of guaranteeing Child Rights.

Of course one understands that there are several root causes to be addressed - but if the state does not take a strong stand against this practise and simultaneously work on addressing the causes, then we can be sure that Child Labour will always be a practise in India. It is imperative that through our campaign we continue to mobilise a public voice to ensure that Children go to School, not Work

Kalwa – E (Shanti Nagar) revisit

2010-05-03T09:33:00.010+05:30

After reading Ratna’s observation and scan details about Shanti Nagar area, we planned for another round of scan of this locality on 2nd May.

Volunteers: Preeti, Souvik, Krishna

Observation:
• People in this community are immigrants from different part of India.
• More than 5000 families reside in this jhuggi community. Almost all Jhuggi in this community is made of steel sheets. After talking to one dweller we came to know that a 2 room jhuggi is sold to them in 70 K through a local leader/broker. Government removes these jhuggis time to time but they mushroom again in no time.
• This community might look like a jungle of huts from outside but once you step inside, you will find kirana shops, public places (we saw people gambling there) and even Video Game parlor (Rs 1 per game) inside the basti.
• We interacted with a child who was taking care of a Kirana shop and asked about her studies and school around the community. As mentioned by Ratna in previous blog, there’s a municipality school till 7th standard on other side of the community. Post 7th standard children go to municipality and private school in Kalwa- W.
• We observed many children of age group 6-14 years, picking garbage and there no sign of parental care around them.
• There were no industry around this community where child labour is used but after interacting with children we were sure that most of them have never even seen the door of a school.
• Looking at the hygiene in this community, it was evident that the chances of epidemic in this locality are very high once the monsoon arrives.

Steps further:
• Before we go ahead and talk about Primary education of these children, we need to look upon many other important factors like health and sanitation of this community.

Scan - Kalwa East - May 1st 2010

2010-05-02T00:08:00.000+05:30

Area 1: Settlements parallel to the railway tracks on the East.

Area 2: Shanti Nagar (It is a 3-5 mins walk from Kalwa station).

Time: 13:15 to 14:30 hrs

Volunteers: Prajakta, Ratna, Alok and Yash.

Observations:

Points common to Area 1 and Area 2: There was a major water problem in these areas. We came to know that the water had not come for 2 days. There was a public toilet in the area – separate for men and women. The people from Area 2 used a public toilet which was close to the station. Shiv Sena was the ruling party and Mr. Mahesh Salvi was the elected leader. There were no municipal hospitals in the area. The closest hospital was Shivaji Hospital (Private hospital in Kalwa West).

There are a number of schools in the area:

Kalwa Hindi Vidya Mandir
Panduranga Private School
Municipal School – Kalwa Market, West
1 Private School in Anand Nagar

In Area 1, a girl called Kajal (studying in the 5^th std) in Kalwa Hindi Vidya Mandir said that the school provided food (khichdi, Halwa etc), notebooks, textbooks but did not provide uniforms.

Most of the children in Area 1 went to school. Some even went to schools in Thane.

However, the situation in Area 2 was depressing. The area houses a population of 5000 people (Yash, please confirm this). Hygiene is a major issue since this area is very unclean and the Nala is full of moss and garbage.

Many of the children (in fact most of the children) did not go to school. They were not engaged in any income generating work. However, we saw children carrying water, some children stayed at home to take care of the house while the parents went to work etc.

We were told that the men and women in the area were involved in Mistry work, selling of utensils (in exchange for clothes), had monkeys and used them for begging for money, swept roads, gutters etc. The financial status of these people was very low. Also, interactions with people showed that there was little knowledge of schools in the area, of government schemes etc.

We spoke to Mr. Sanjay Ramrao Salunkhe who worked as a construction labourer. He has 3 children- 2 sons (11 and 5 years old) and 1 daughter (7 years old). The eldest son does not go to school because he did not have a birth certificate because he was born at their residence in their native place in Nashik. The other 2 children went to Marathi Municipal School in Shiv Shakti Nagar (this school is till the 8^th standard). He said that he would make his eldest son do farming in their fields in Nashik once he grows up.

We spoke to a girl called Amida Sayyed. She was about 13 years old. She had studied till her 3^rd standard after which she had to leave school to stay at home and take care of the house and her little sister – Sayira (11 years old). Sayira also studied till the 1^st standard after which she refused to go school. They do not have a father and their mother earns a living by selling Mehendi in the local trains. Sayira sometimes accompanies her mother.

We happened to meet a kid called Krishna – 11 years old. He has never been in school. His mother stays in their native place and he stays here with his dad. He said that his parents have never taken the initiative to send him to school.

There was a child (name unknown) who left school because his teacher hit him hard (this was in the Municipal School in Anand Nagar).

A lady called Laxmi told us that a few days back, some 5 men and 1-2 women had come from Mulund. They came and requested these people to send their children to school and that they would take care of them. Laxmi has visited this school in Mulund (she could neither recollect the name of the school nor recollect the location in Mulund). She said that the school was really good.

There were comments from people stating that the Anand Nagar school was not good enough.

Personal Comments:

This is an area where there is scope for a lot of improvement. An enrolment drive is absolutely essential for an area like this.
The Parents are not even aware of the basic facilities that a Municipal school provides. The importance and inclination towards education is also very weak or almost absent.
The point about girl children staying at home to take care of the house or to take care of a younger sibling again stands out.

Scan - Thane Kopri Area (East) - May 1st 2010

2010-05-02T00:07:00.001+05:30

Area: Thane Kopri area. The settlements are on the roads which go parallel to the railway station.

Time: 11:00 to 12:30 hrs

Volunteers: Prajakta, Ratna, Alok and Yash.

Observations:

We went to 2 settlements in the Kopri area. There are 2 aaganwaadis and 4 schools in the area. One of the schools was very close to the settlement. There is a municipal hospital and a number of private clinics in the nearby areas. The area has a public toilet – separate for men and women. Shiv Sena is the ruling party and Mr. Pandurang Patil is the elected leader.

In the first settlement that we went to, all children we met were going to school. There were children in the age group of 1-6 years who were going to the aaganwaadi as well.

When we went a little ahead (off the main road), we met a number of children who had finished their 7^th standard (in the municipal school) and then had quit school.

We met Anil, 17 years old, who had finished his 7^th. We asked him why he quit. He said that one of his teachers (a Mr. Pawar who teaches in the Municipal School) used to catch hold of his hair and beat him. That caused him to leave school. He now has his own shop (sells falooda and pani puris in some area in Thane) and makes around 3000-3500 Rs/Month. He became an escort for us and took us to children who had quit school.

Mayur was a guy who had given his 10^th this year. He failed and when we asked him whether he was going to re-appear, he said that he was not sure.

Aayub had quit school after 7^th. He is only 15-16 years old and still drives a rickshaw at night. He showed no intention of joining school again. And he says that even though he doesn’t have a license…. ‘ Raat ko koi nahi pakadta!!!’

We also met a 14 year old girl named Lata. She also studied till 7^th standard. But now she does house work. When we asked her parents about her further education, they said that they were getting her married in 2 months. They said that education was not so important for a girl and were not interested in her further education.

Apart from the above disappointments, there were also a number of children who were going to school and were in 8^th, 9^th and further standards. It was good to see positive inclination towards education in some of these children.

Personal Comments:

One of the main reasons, I feel for these children leaving their education after 7^th is the required change in schools from 7^th to 8^th. This causes a hiatus in their education. I most certainly feel that if schools were till 10^th, many of these (if not all) would surely complete their education at least till the 10^th.
It is also disappointing to see that even in this day and age; education is not felt to be important for girls. This mindset needs to change.
It is also disappointing that many of these children (more than 13-14 years of age) do not have a dream or aim about what they want to do or be in life. This may be because of lack of motivation or lack of exposure.

Gandhi Nagar (construction sites) - Follow up

2010-04-26T20:25:00.005+05:30

I started the scan today from where We had left it on Friday-23rd April.

Aim:

a) To find out the Anganwadi & Balwadi near these construction sites.

b) To check the feasibility of enrollment for the children of the migrant construction workers.

Findings:

a) Anganwadi is available in Gandhi Nagar, withing 500 meters from these construction sites. This Anganwadi is being run in Gandhi Nagar - Shiv Sena sahkha. After discussing with families and people around the Anganwadi, I found out that there's no schedule and timing of this Anganwadi.

b) Availability of Primary School: A municipality primary school is present in both Marathi & Hindi medium (till 7th standard) within less than 1 Km of distance.

I interacted with Principal of the school and mentioned about the children at the construction sites and feasibility of their enrollment in new coming session from June. Her response was affirmative. She added that the only document needed for the enrollment is Birth Certificate.

I tried finding out condition of different initiatives like MidDay meal, free books presently running in schools. The Midday meal for all the municipality schools is cooked at Vartak Nagar municipality school premises and delivered to all schools.

Next Step:

a) To check availability of Birth Certificate of children.

b) Plan a enrollment drive in June for these Children.

Area Scan – Gandhi Nagar (construction sites)

2010-04-25T19:23:00.005+05:30

Location	3 communities in Gandhi Nagar (Near Hiranandani Meadows and MMRDA construction sites)
Dwellers	Migrants construction site workers from Aasam, Bihar, UP, Maharashtra other parts of India
Volunteers	Divya, Sharmistha and Krishna
Approximate population of the locality:	20 – 30 families
Date:	4/21/2010
Time:	11:30 AM to 17:30 AM
Approximate area of the locality:	3 communities with less than 100 square meter area
Approximate population of the locality:	20-30 families each community
Ruling entity:	TMC
Concerned Government Official:	Not known
Source of water	Common tap
Time of water supply:	Not know
Frequency of water supply:	Not know
Anganwadi:	Not accessible
Balwadi:	Not accessible
Health Care Center:	No
Private Clinic	No
Public Toilets:	No
NO. for Ladies:	0
NO. for Gents:	0
Industries:	NA
Employment Options:	Daily wage construction workers
Child Labour:	Yes (At few construction sites (MMRDA site) Child labor was involved ), however developers such as Hiranandani follow No Child Labour policy at their construction site
NO. of Child Labours:	5-10
Type of work children seen doing:	We observed few children picking something from drainage and locality garbage bin. We asked them to take us to their families.
Possible reasons for school dropouts:	For most of these children at construction site access to school is not available. However few of the families are sending their children to near by private school. As per their parents these school (Deepa public school – 9892816220 & MG public school) are charging on an average 150-200 per month per student.
Problems observed:	Access to Anganwadi and Balwadi Illiterate and hesitant parents Building developer not paying any attention towards workers children Access to municipality schools Hygiene- drainage system was bad in these localities, children were seen playing in and near dry sewage.
Known schemes/policies of government related to the issues observed:	Nil
Level of the awareness in the community about various government initiatives:	Nil
Comments:	· It seems building developers thinks that their responsibility ends just by giving employment to these migrants workers or putting a sign at site that ‘Child labour prohibited’. The access to health care and schools for the children of construction workers should also be part of their responsibility. · In the families where both man and woman works, the eldest child is the care taker of the younger children. No matter whether the eldest child is 4 year old or 14 year old. · 90% of these workers wants to provide education to their children but don’t know how.

आख़िर कब तक...

2010-04-22T20:56:00.003+05:30

रचयिता -- दिव्या

धूल में सनी किस्मत, इंट और कंक्रीट से लदे हम,

क्यूँ कुचल रही उमीदें, क्यूँ तोड़ रहे हौसले दम,

कब तक करना होगा उमीदो पर जीवन निर्वाह,

दर्द से भरी राते, करवाटोसे निकलती पल-पल आह,

भूखे बच्चों का दर्द देखना हो रहा असहनीय,

मंहगाई स्तिथि बनाती जा रही दयनीय,

पढ़ना तो दूर , दो वक़्त का खाना नही होता नसीब,

उधारी के बोझ तले दब्ता जा रहा ग़रीब,

साँसें चीख-चीख कर दे रही दुहाई,

बंद करो ये अत्याचार, कम करो मंहगाई,

क्यूँ नही सोचते हमारे विवस हालात को,

क्यूँ नही देखते भूख मे लिपटी हुई हर रात को,

क्यूँ नहीं पिघलता तुम्हारा मन,

इंसानियत ने क्यूँ तोड़ दिया दम,

क्यूँ होता है सिर्फ़ ग़रीब ही लाचार,

क्यूँ पड़ती है उसपर ही मंहगाई की ये मार|

****

Google form created for Area Scan details

2010-04-20T14:41:00.001+05:30

Google Form is created for filling the information about the Area Scans.
The link is shared to the google group. If you have not received the mail, you can assume that you are still not on the google group. Please join the group ASAP. We will not be sharing the link anywhere else :-)

Area Scan - Konkani Pada

2010-04-19T19:07:00.000+05:30

Location:	Konkani Pada, Near Tikujini Wadi, Ghodbandar Road, Thane
Dwellers:	Almost all of them are localites staying there for more than 25 years
Volunteers:	Ratna, Ashutosh
Date:	4/18/2010
Time:	10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Approximate area of the locality:	less than 1 KM
Approximate population of the locality:	2000
Ruling entity:	TMC
Concerned Government Official:	Mr. Phadtare - Corporator - Shiv Sena
Source of water	Common tap
Time of water supply:	10:30 AM - 12 Noon
Frequency of water supply:	3 times a day
Anganwadi:	Yes
Balwadi:	No
Health Care Center:	No
Private Clinic	Yes
Public Toilets:	No
NO. for Ladies:	0
NO. for Gents:	0
Industries:	Farming
Employment Options:	Labour, Painters, Drivers, Farmers,
Child Labour:	Yes
NO. of Child Labours:	10 to 15
Type of work children seen doing:	Mostly girls go out for domestic Labour - household work
Possible reasons for school dropouts:	School is upto 7th std early marriages irregularity in water supply - girls/boys have to walk down the hill for more than 3-4 KM to get water girls are required to stay home for household work and for taking care of younger siblings
Problems observed:	The biggest problem here is, this falls under Forest area. Forest department wants the dwellers to move out. People are fighting against this under the leadership of local politicians. Other problems were early marriage, emergency medical care, transport etc
Known schemes/policies of government related to the issues observed:	Mid-Day meal, SSA, NREGA, The scheme under which every girl student is entitled to get 1 Rs for every attended day
Level of the awareness in the community about various government initiatives:	People were aware about Mid-Day meal and SSA. But not about NREGA and the scheme under which every girl student is entitled to get 1 Rs for every attended day.
Comments:	The municipal school is only upto 7th Std with single teacher for one standard who teaches all the subjects. School has 2 computers for 7th Std students. Teachers come all the way from Kopari - Thane (East). The principal - Dattatray Vithoba Mhatre stays at Airoli. There were cases where children were sent to the private Convent school from families financially sound. But in the contrary, some children need to work as a domestic labour outside the settlement who cannot attend school at all - though these cases were less in number (around 10-15). The good thing observed is since the school is in the settlement itself - families are not reluctent to send thier children to school. But the school is up to 7th std, so after completing the education there, they need to go till Majiwada Circle, which is almost 5-6 KM far, at another municipal school. Since the settlement is on the hill and away from the main road, public transport is hardly available. TMT buses frequency is very less. There are 2-3 bore-wells in the settlement but as that has hard-water, its not drinkable. So if municipal water is not sufficient-people have to go down the hill to fetch the water. No government/private clinic is available, people have to rush to the Majiwada Circle for any asssistance. A person who sees them in emergency and treats them with tablets/injections but doesnot hold any formal degree of medicine.

मिटा दॅ इस अंधेरे को...

2010-04-18T13:21:00.005+05:30

रचयिता - दिव्या

ये बंजर ज़मीन, ये खाली बर्तन,

सुखी आँखें और आधे ढके तन,

मंहगाई की ये भारी मार,

भूखे सोने को हम है लाचार,

यहाँ सुबह होती है रोज़ रोज़,

फिर निकल पड़े करने खाने की खोज,

कभी नींबू मिर्ची, कभी फूल,कभी बेची कितबे स्कूल के पास,

देखा सबको पढ़ते हुए, जागी मन मे एक आस,

क्यूँ है ये लाचारी, क्यूँ हैं हम बेबस,

हालत क्यू नही सुधरते क्यूँ चलता
नहीं बस,

तकलीफ़ों के समंदर मे डूबते हुए हम,

बढ़ती मुश्किलें ना हो रही कम,

जाने कब वो दिन आएगा,जब होगी हमारे घर भी रोशनी,

हम भी खाएँगे पेट भर खाना,

हमारे घर भी बन सकेगी चाशनी,

लोग कहते हैं एक दिन ऐसा आएगा,

कभी सोचा है इसे कौन लाएगा?

उठना होगा हमें हाथों मे ले के हाथ,

चलना होगा कदमो को मिलकर एक साथ,

तोड़नी होगी बेड़ियाँ अपने पैरो से,

निकलकर देखना होगा हमें अपने घरों से,

पहुचाना होगा हर बच्चे को अब स्कूल,

बना सकेंगे हम परिस्थितियों को तभी अनुकूल,

बन सकेगा तभी नया शिक्षित समाज,

बदल सकेगा हर लाचार अपना आज,

चलो चलें, मिटा दे इस अंधेरे को,

फ़ैलाएँ जागरूकता और शाक्षरता का ज्ञान|

***

Area scan.

2010-04-18T10:14:00.007+05:30

Friday 16th april 2010,
Area: Lokmanya tilak nagar, Indira nagar.
Time: 10:30 am.
we (Divya & Ratna) started our day from Thane station. we reached Indira nagar which i s very close to Waghle estate, for the area scan. As it was an area scan so the first thing i noticed was the shops on the sides of the road. I could see the people working there on carpenter shops. There were children too. Moving along the road side i saw a big garbage bin which was almost empty & all the garbage (kachra) lying outside. There were few children peeping inside the bin just to find out some toys. I took some pictures & didnot speak to the children regarding their task they were doing there. Our goal was to find out the primary schools nearby in the area so we started to ask people around. We came to know that there are 4 schools in the vicinity & one aganwadi as well.In the four schools three were private & one municipal school. We decided to visit the municipal school first.The municipal school itself had two segments, one English medium till 4th standard & other Marathi medium which has two sections primary section was till 7th standard & secondary section was 8th to 10th standard. we met a teacher named, Samiksha kadam. she was very eager to help us & she took out her attendence register & gave us some names of the students who are studying as well as working. We decided to visit the places of the students so the first name was Ganesh who stays in Rupa Devi Tekdi as Ratna has mentioned in her mail. When we visited the family of this boy they all were against the child labour. At same time Ratna was discussing with another boy standing outside, I started querrying about the family status of the Ganesh. What i came to know was he had four sisters & was the single brother. i was speaking to his eldest sister named Geeta. Geeta left her School after 6th due to some family problems & now she is getting married in the next month. Because she was the eldest child of the family she compromised with the situation & problem & stopped going to the school.But other four are going to the school so she was satisfied with her sacrifise .When i told her that there is no age bar & she can continue her education now as well, her mother stopped me & said "Ab Kya Karegi Padkar ab to Shadi ho he rahi hai". I asked about her age so her mother repled "shadi ki umar ho gaye hai" then i asked what exactly the age is? She suddenly said 18 years. I had no words to speak as they were already aware of the ages of marriage of a girl. My next question was on their marriage. Her would-be husband was present there so i spoke to him as well & asked about their family planning as well but he said," abhi malum nahi, dekhenge!". i told him dont only see, plan first ,otherwise you will also give some child labours to the country. Geeta on the other hand was quite firm and interrupted in between and said, "jo mere sath hua mai apne bachhe ke sath nahi hone dungi".
After all the conversation, i made with this family, i moved towards Ratna & she told me about Anil as she has mentioned in her mail. Anil left his education because of the death of his mother. He wants to continue his studies but he had no knowledge how to start the further education?
We tried to find out the other locations as well but because of the sunny hot day we couldnot move further, 7 finally we decided to move.
There were two things which came in my mind was both of them the girl & the boy wanted to study but Geeta was forced towards marriage & Anil who was eager to go to the school for the completion of his 10th & 12th, had no idea where to go & how to get admission in the school.
Pictures i'll display very soon.

Life at the other side of the track (Community Visit - Kanjurmarg-E)

2010-04-09T16:39:00.015+05:30

Right after visiting that Basti, I decided to pen down this blog as those faces were still very vivid in front of my eyes.

Divya visited the private Primary school near her society early in the morning and interacted with the headmaster sir. She has been discussing and following up with the headmaster sir from last month about the quality of education, absenteeism and other problems. Most of the students in this school belonged to the near by jhuggi basti.

While discussing with Headmaster sir she came to know about few bright students from the slums who have stopped coming to school due to unknown reasons. Teacher mentioned that perhaps it was the tuition fee which was taking its toll on the families of these children.

She took down the details of these students and planned to reach and interact with the families of these students the same day.

Locality: Trolley Line, Rhuvira nagar, Guru Dutt chall

Volunteers: Divya, Krishna

Dwellers: immigrants from all parts of India

Child Labourers: none that we saw

Primary Schools availability: there are three primary schools near this locality.

a) Nav Jivan Private school: This is nearest private school (till 10^th standard) from the basti. Most of the children from the basti go to this school. However, by first glance the condition of this school did not look very good.

b) Municipality school – till 3^rd standard (140 students)

c) Municipality school – Till 7^th standard (strength not know)

Primary Issue: Following are the issues which came to our knowledge/ observed during the interaction with the children and families.

a) Unaffordable tuition fee (the nearest private school is charging Rs 1200/year tuition- in two installments)

b) Lack of motivation and guidance for these students by teachers as well as parents

c) Uneducated and indifferent parents

d) No Follow up by schools in case of absenteeism by students

Severity of the issue: After interacting with teachers, children and families we observed that there were few very bright children who were irregular to school merely due to lack of motivation and financial problem of the family.

We met with a girl name Shupriya Ashok who according to their teacher, is good in studies but she has been very irregular to school. While interacting with this child and her mother we realized it was both the indifferent parent and lack of motivation of child which were the reason behind the irregularity of this child.

Big Question:

a) Can municipality open or arrange a primary school till 10^th standard near this locality?

b) Can teacher be given training not only to teach but also to motivate the students?

c) How can these children be encouraged to study further once they complete their 10^th standard?

Other issues: Hygiene of the locality is the major concern. The milieu during the rainy season will be much dire.

(Further details in this blog will be added by Divya)

****

My First Field Work Experience.

2010-04-05T12:34:00.002+05:30

Hi all,
Life has given us a lot,we need to value and respect it.I think this is what i realized during my first field work session.
We,a small group of volunteers decided to perform a rough scan of the areas of Thane and Kalwa,specially the railway stations.Our basic motive was just to find out children who are involved in some or the other kind of labour and get some information about their background.We did come across such children and have captured footages of the conversations with them.I would like to share a few conversations over here.
The first child we came across was 15-16 year old Sultan.He came to Mumbai around 2 months back.His basic job is to carry luggage for people on the platforms,but what moved me the most was when i realized that he also carried injured victims to rail accidents and even dead bodies to the local hospitals for which he was paid Rs 220.We could not take his footage but one of the senior porters who hired him,shared his experience about him with us.
The second child we came across was 10 year old Asma.While just chatting with her,we came across some one like us,some one supporting the same cause.Here was a person who was some where in his early 60's,a professor by profession.He didnt reveal any more identification details about him.He visits Thane station every week on Sundays and tries teaching the children over there.One amongst these children is the second child we came across.Asma is a daughter to a single mother and has three other siblings.Asma,her mother and her siblings travel every week from Jalna to Thane just to get a few hours of education which professor uncle,(as i would like to address him) provides them every week. The thirst of education which the mother has towards her daughter actually amazed me.To travel all the way from Jalna to Mumbai,just for some hours of study is remarkable and hats off to professor uncle who provides such good help on an individual level.
I have definitely asked him to join our organisation so that we can help him in channelizing his efforts as these are the people, we as an organisation want.
There were a few more kids that we came across at Thane and Kalwa stations.We have their footages as well which we would like to show all of you in the next meeting.I think working from the grass root level is the need of the hour,this is just a small begginning and there lots more to do...:)

Thanks,
Alok

Community Visit (Kolshet- Thane Rural)

2010-04-04T12:27:00.016+05:30

(Photographs by Sharmishtha)

Locality Visited: Kolshet (Thane Rural)

Volunteers: Sharmishtha, Krishna

Dwellers: a) Jadi booti immigrants

b) Blacksmiths

c) Daily wage building and highway construction workers.

Child Labourers: few, most of them involved in the helping their parents.

Primary School availability: can be categorized in two ways.

a) Children going to near by private school: These school does not charge tuition fee but they charge Rs 60 examination fee five time in a year(Total - Rs300).

i) Quality of education : Not known

ii) Hygiene : Not known

b)Children going to Primary schools: These are primary schools run by Thane municipality. Most of the students from this are go to this school.

i) Quality of education : Not known

ii) Hygiene: Not satisfactory (school dress wore by students were not in good shape.)

Primary Issues (education): The children of immigrant high way workers don’t have access to school. Most of these children are below 6 years of age who play at the road side while their parent works at the highway site. The children above 6 years of age help their parents in the construction work.

Severity of the issue: While interaction with immigrants’ highway construction families we came to know that these families stay at one site for maximum 10-15 days and then move on to next site. For instance: the workers in the photographs moved from Goregao (Mumbai) 3 days back to Thane- Ghodbander Road site.

They mentioned that they can’t leave their children at their native place as they are too small and most of the time there is no one back in the village to take care of them.

These children can’t be enrolled to any near by school (Municipality or other) as IT’S NOT POSSIBLE AT ALL. THERE IS NO SUCH PROVISION FOR CHILDREN FROM SUCH FAMILIES.

Big Question: following are the primarily questions rose from our scan and visit to Kolshet village.

a) Right now Infrastructure and highways projects are running across India and thousands of daily wage workers are employed there. Is future and education of children from these families not attention worthy?

b) Can Municipality make a special arrangement for children of road side construction site workers?

c) Can hygiene of the Primary schools in this area be improved?

Other issues: Non availability of ration card for the families residing their from last 10 years. Most of these families are from Jaddi Boot communities who are residing in that area from last 10-12 years and paying their electricity and other bills regularly.

***

RTE_IMPACT

2010-04-03T02:50:00.000+05:30

Muslim Marriage Age Issue: HC Issues Notice to Union Govt

2010-04-02T14:39:00.000+05:30

Mumbai | Mar 22, 2010

The Bombay High Court today issued a notice to the additional solicitor general -- who represents union government -- in a case where marriageable age of Muslim girl has become an issue.

Petitioner in this case has challenged the constitutional validity of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), saying it violates freedom of religion.

The division bench of Justices D B Bhosale and A R Joshi also directed that the girl, who is currently 15 years old, be produced in the court on March 29, so that the judges may interview her.

Zakia Begum, the girl's mother, moved the High Court in January after police took the girl into custody at the behest of child welfare committee.

Girl's uncle had informed CWC that she was going to be married off, in violation of PCMA. Police also filed a criminal case against her parents for violating the act.

The parents have sought the custody of their daughter -- who is currently in a shelter home and quashing of the criminal complaint.

Today, petitioner's lawyer Prakash Wagh told the court that the girl's parents are ready to give an undertaking not to marry her off till she turns 18. Similar undertaking has already been given to CWC, he said.

The judges said that before ordering her release from shelter home, they would like to talk to her.

The judges also restrained the girl's family members from meeting her till she is interviewed by them next Monday.

Judges said that they would like to deal with the larger issue involving conflict between Muslim personal law and PCMA. As per PCMA, a girl cannot get married before she is 18 years of age, but according to Shariat law, she can marry on reaching puberty.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board too has been impleaded by the petitioner. Appearing for the Board, senior counsel Yusuf Muchhala said that the court will have to see if the issue involves "core beliefs" of the religion.

Advocate Mihir Desai, representing two NGOs who have interevened in the case to oppose the petition, said, "It cannot be said that if I do not get married before 18, I am not a Muslim."

"Well, I did not get married before 18 myself," advocate Muchhala, himself a Muslim, remarked, drawing a laughter. He however said that he would have to study original Islamic scriptures to formulate his response to the petition, and that will take some time.

Source: http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?677493

© Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

RTE Act challenged in SC - v

2010-03-24T11:50:00.000+05:30

Pvt schools challenge RTE in Apex court
* Court tells HRD & law ministries to respond in 4 weeks

DNA Correspondent
Admitting a petition which challenged the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009, the apex court issued notices to the Union ministries of Human Resource Development and Law and Justice on Monday. The Act is due to be enforced in the entire country from April 1.
The SC has issued notices to HRD and Law ministries of the Union government and directed them to respond within four weeks.
The Society for Unaided Private Schools, Rajasthan, and All India Federation of Private Schools challenged the Act, which provides for free education to all children of age group 6-14 years. The groups' argue that the unaided schools should not be coerced to admit one-fourth of the total learners from weaker section and disadvantaged groups.

Counsel for the petitioners, advocate Shobha told DNA that Section 12 of the RTE Act provides for 25% reservation in private schools had been challenged along with 86th and 93rd amendments of the Indian Constitution relating to Articles 21A and 15 (5) in 2002 and 2005 respectively.
She said that petition has support of the decision passed by a seven-judge bench of the SC in PA Inamdar case of 2005, which established that right to choose a student would rest with the schools.
"Similarly, in TMA Pai case, the 11-judge bench of SC decided against any regulation of the government on private educational institutes in regard to choice of students," she said.

The petitions argued that providing education was the state's responsibility, which can not be shifted to the private sector. If the government was willing to provide education to all, they should make their own arrangement.
Also, Article 21A has been challenged as it provided for free and compulsory education for children of age 6-14 years, while the children below 6 years of age have been left unattended.

Prof Vinod Raina, an educationist associated with the draft of the RTE Act said that it was surprising to learn that the Act had been challenged. "As the Parliament has framed this Act, it should have an overriding effect on all previous judgments. With this petition many doubts will be cleared," she said.

-Eom

Source: http://news.indiainfo.com/article/100323132807_c-84-61223/974326.html

Private schools challenge Right To Education Act in SC

2010-03-24T11:44:00.003+05:30

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought the Centre's response on a petition challenging the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act as being "unconstitutional" and violating fundamental rights of unaided private educational institutions.

A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice Deepak Verma initially directed the petitioner Society for Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan to approach the High Court, but later issued notice to the HRD Ministry after senior counsel Harish Salve submitted the issue concerned the entire nation.

Under the Act free and compulsory education was made a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years and it mandated that even private educational institutions have to reserve 25 per cent of the seats for children from poor families.

The petition claimed that the impugned Act violated the rights of private educational institutions under Article 19(1)(g) which mandated maximum autonomy to private managements to run their institutions without governmental interference.

It recalled the 11-judge Constitution Bench ruling of the Supreme Court in the TMA Pai case wherein it was ruled that maximum autonomy should be provided to private educational institutions.

According to the petition Section 3 of the Act imposed an absolute mandate upon all schools including private unaided and minority institutions to admit without any choice each and every child whosoever comes to take admission in the said schools in the neighbourhood.

-PTI

Source: http://www.zeenews.com/news613378.html

CRY Volunteers Rally for Child Rights - Youtube

2010-03-19T19:21:00.001+05:30

CRY Volunteers Rally for Child Rights - Slideshow

2010-03-15T10:25:00.003+05:30

RIGHT TO EDUCATION - A CITIZEN’S EYE-VIEW

2010-03-03T17:15:00.007+05:30

Protests held, slogans shouted, marches walked, bill passed and a law made.
It seems like a problem has been solved.

Right to Education - The Parliament of India has recently passed an act through which education has become fundamental right of all children of age group 6-14 year.

I believe that the problem has not been solved, it has just been tackled. The problem of education should remain a problem for those who have walked the streets of India thronged by poor kids asking for alms, or railway stations where maimed kids wonder if they are humans or just an equivalent to the dirt onto which their innocence is being trampled upon by our ignorance.

I have always been torn between the meaning of literacy and education, and likewise their respective importance in our social set-up. I remember the shock I faced when I learnt that Kerala was termed as the state with 100% literacy in all text books across India, based merely on the fact that the natives could write their names. That is it! That is what the state is so proud of?

Why are we putting up with the pseudo-righteousness of our state hiding behind such paltry acts and bills in the corridors of parliament filled with the privileged breath? This is no rhetorical, but an actual question we must ask ourselves.

Right to Education for me means the power of being who I am. It is the gift of learning and sharing of knowledge given to me by my country which would lead me to my future because my future is but my country’s future.

I have often heard people question – ‘what will a mason’s son do with the knowledge of social science and history; he is after all to become a mason one day?’
Well, to that I say if that is how my grand parents had thought, my father would today be a daily wage worker instead of becoming the chairperson of a national bank. And I would have dutifully followed his footsteps to some construction site instead of writing this blog today!

It pities me to wonder how the la crème section of our society chooses to ignore what is not their personal problem. And I unashamedly choose to point a finger at myself too.
What if it were our pricey freedom of speech, or our right to expression that were to be impeached, instead of the right to education? Would we still remain calm? The journalists in us would take the responsibility of spreading the awareness through the fiery media; the strategists in us would find the legal way to break the chains of this impeachment, and so on. What can justify this upsurge? I hear you say, “How can I live without my right to speak what I wish; by impeaching it the state is taking away my very identity!”

That is where I am coming from! Right to education is no frill business. It is a roaring demand because every child born has the right to be educated, to be given a choice to identify his abilities and inabilities. Education is not merely the ability to scribble our name on a piece of paper; it is the power to acknowledge the essence of life around us. It is the strength the society must empower us with to give us the mighty tool of ‘choice’. Then if I may choose to be a daily wage laborer, so be it.

From where I stand, I can only see people with short-sight. I see them complaining and cribbing against the government but not knowing how to proceed. I want to suggest to all of them that do not try to stand already because you have chosen to be a cripple all your life. You have chosen to cripple your morality against the social atrocities inflicted upon the down-trodden by letting them be deprived of their rights.
I would suggest that let us all try and pull ourselves up with the crutches of advocacy.

Learn what is right. Support what is right. And when the time is ripe and you are strong enough – STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT!!

Right to education is every child’s birth right, the need to fight for it is a shame. But to stay unaffected is a moral crime.

Child Labour-A Documentary by Gelignites

2010-02-25T12:34:00.004+05:30

Not an accident, not a privilege But a RIGHT

2010-02-23T11:56:00.008+05:30

UNESCO mentions that Basic education should not be an accident of circumstance, nor as a privilege, but as a RIGHT.

The very sense of argument, “why Primary Education and safe childhood is vital for our country and society” is preposterous. It’s analogues to the argument that why a bird teaches its new born to fly or to sing or in more human relevance why a father/mother asks his toddler to hold their fingers in his first walk on his feet.

What will happen if both human as well as bird/animal don’t teach and assist their newborn? Will the society and acts around them remain same?

We often talk about Social responsibilities (SR). But we forget that every social responsibility is nothing but collection of Individual responsibilities (IR). Why to talk about CSR, it’s more relevant to talk about ISR. After all it’s individual who has to come forward and form a society from his acts.

We as a group believe that one thing that has potential to change the future of an underprivileged child is right education. But in order to ensure proper education and childhood for these children, we need to deal with many other factors around it. This is where holistic rehabilitation plays a role. Until we ensure parallel resolution or relief for the problems of an underprivileged family and their livelihood, the talk of proper education for their children will not be pragmatic.

Does our system have plans for more practical approach for this holistic rehabilitation?

Answer is YES, indeed. Initiatives such as NREGA, ICT and many others if implemented properly have potential to achieve this.

Perhaps what we need is public awareness about these initiatives. Because the people who suffer are the one who are unaware of these plans. We need to come forward and reach this section of society and help them to get their RIGHT.

Together we can make this possible. So come, March and Unite with us to make a difference in the society and save the bright future of a child and thus our nation.

Rally on 12^th March 2010 – Thane.

For details and to Join – drop us a mail or visit - http://www.cry.org/lp/ACL/Current_Campaign.html

मेरी पहली कमाई

2010-02-14T02:02:00.000+05:30

पिछले कुछ दिनो से इस चल-चित्र की चर्चा थी , पूरा हो गया |

Change Is Must

2010-02-14T00:57:00.003+05:30

सोचो मत बदलना है, तो साथ खड़े हो !

Role of NGOs and Youth in Social Transformation

2010-01-26T15:36:00.002+05:30

@Ashu

1. Advocacy is equally important for the melioration of the society. I feel we have all the infrastructure in place which we call "Government". The only thing lacking here is the co-operation and the co-ordination between governing bodies and the common people.

2. If something is not working which is run by government, its our duty to make sure that it gets conveyed to the concerned authority & the necessary measures are taken upon it and not starting something which is parallel to the government's efforts.

3. Starting a parallel system, like running own private school, librarry, hostel or something will only give the chance to the government system to get more inefficient, careless and irresponsible since there is no one to asking their accountability.

4. If we continue this trend, giving the reasons like corruption or un-willingness in the government system, we may end up running another parallel government since there is no scope and hope in the current government system.

5. Also, by starting a parallel system, can anybody ensure that the problems in the government system won't arise into the new system?

6. Although parallel systems are working towards the nobel goal, the time, money and efforts spent for establishing the government system are going to be macerate.

7. Other issue with running a parallel system is, not everybody will like a particular way the new system should operate, so we may end up having N number of systems running parallel, just because the modus operandi is different from others.

8. Here the need of advocacy arises. In democracy, the Government is for people, of people and by the people. We always conentrate on first two, but we tend to ignore the third one conviniently-"by the people". It becomes our duty to ensure that the everything is in place and the system is running smoothly as expected.

9. Since this is an indirect action, its a very slow, gradual, tiresome but sustainable and permanent process.

@Ravindra Says

A] Influencing Government:
From advocacy actions policy makers (bureaucrats and politicians) get to know about various social problems and views of people on them. This can help in formulating suitable policies as well as correcting the existing ones as per the need.

B] Sensitizing People:
i) Advocacy actions are very effective in sensitizing people, making them aware and mobilize their opinions on various issues. In our country this is necessary since we have various problems spread over a wide area. With improved communications means a chain action is possible, enabling a wider spread.

ii) Raising awareness in people assumes importance in the present context due to introduction of RTI act. People empowered with information / knowledge are better equipped to question the authorities about implementation failures and effectively utilize this RTI tool. Improving implementation of various schemes is a major concern of today.

iii) Empowerment of people is further going to be enhanced due to forthcoming governance reforms under which information covering all non-strategic areas will be placed in the public domain and there will be public reporting of progress of major schemes.

C] Attracting Media Attention:
Media’s attention is drawn due to advocacy actions like campaigns, etc. They give publicity for such actions which in turn helps to mobilize public opinion as well as compels the authorities to take corrective steps.

[Additional Information:
Presently we are facing many social / civic problems mainly due to unsatisfactory working of various schemes. The challenge lies in proper implementation of the schemes and bringing efficiency in working, since now with economic downturn it is not expected to further increase the allocations substantially. Moreover in many cases even the allocated funds are not utilized. Inefficient way of working, inadequate coordination, corrupt practices, political influences and lack of accountability are the major factors responsible for various schemes not giving desired results.

However with increasing trend of people’s participation in management of various local bodies, there is a scope for improvement. People’s participation is one of the provisions of flagship programmes and many municipal corporations / local bodies are also encouraging it. Besides this recently after formation of UPA government, the President in her address stated that there will be restructuring of various government schemes along with governance reforms for effective delivery of services. Among other things the governance reforms will include bringing more transparency in government functioning, placing information covering all non-strategic areas in the public domain, periodic evaluation of schemes by independent regulators, public reporting of progress and empowering of NGOs. Maharashtra government has also issued orders to all municipal corporations to keep various information on the net so that it is accessible by people. These developments will further empower citizens with information. Already introduction of RTI act is helping to bring transparency in working and ensure accountability of persons.]

@Krishna Says

“When you are swimming upstream in a nation where the average conversation is ‘what’s wrong with the policies of government,’ and we are telling them what’s right with the policies already made by them.”

These lines doesn’t mean that we are promoting and advocating all plans by government but it indicates that we have faith in the system in india. After all our evolution as a nation has a little contribution by government and no one can negate this. Now what makes this contribution little is the implementation part or operations part of policies passed by our representatives.

We as a group see that solution of child labour and related problems lies in making sure the policies made by system works properly and if there’s something lacking in these policies then point it out (as we are doing with ‘Right to education Act’) to government.

We don’t undermine the essence of a group activity which works parallel with the government policies and action but we do feel that such a parallel system shifts the the focus and make us believe that system is place in not good. However, fact is problem like child labour and complete rehabilitation can’t be solved without help of government and policies initiated in the system.

Therefore, working with the system, pointing out their drawbacks, getting them amended and making people aware about these policies is our way of working.

The most vital part, we as a group emphasize is awareness drive about the different policies in junta because systems is after all by people (our elected representative) and for the people. And of course other machinery of our system like Mass media and campaigns are just the ways to achieve this.

As probably Vinay would put it in Hindi “Vyakti jaga to Rashtra jagega” and only by awakening the people we can remove a deeply rooted problem like child labour.

Meeting with ZP Chairman

2010-01-18T11:51:00.002+05:30

“When you are swimming upstream in a nation where the average conversation is ‘what’s wrong with the policies of government,’ and we are telling them what’s right with the policies already made by them.”

A meeting with a high profile government elected representative could not be better than this.

On Saturday 16^th Jan, we met Thane Zila Parishad chairman, Mr Kapil Patil, with an agenda to present him the details of awareness campaign which we carried out last year, and also brief him about the zeal and support which we received from people of Mumbai and Thane for Photo Signature and First Pay day phases of our campaign.

The meeting started with the screening of AV and short documentary which were prepared after completion of Photo signature and First Pay Day- interview phases of campaign. This was followed by a brief description and discussion on the aim of campaign and developments in the last one year under the campaign.

Mr Patil not only appreciated the work done under this campaign but also explained us numerous ZP level initiatives which were launched for child welfare. He accepted the fact that an awareness campaign like ours is vital in uprooting child labor and related issues. He also sought our suggestions for the new initiative which could be included in the under process ZP child welfare plans for current year.

Meeting concluded on a very supportive and positive note and with an assurance by Mr Patil that a meeting with all child-welfare and education department officers would be scheduled in coming days in order to help the campaign team to access and compile different initiatives taken by ZP and government.

We will be approaching ZP again in the last week of Jan to finalize the date of meeting.

Our voice reached the President‏

2010-01-13T19:09:00.000+05:30

INTRO : I am joining cry because......

2010-01-10T15:53:00.000+05:30

FIRST PAY DAY LAUNCHED

2010-01-10T15:42:00.000+05:30

Dear All,

We have been talking about our Documentory,We had been working on from last many days.

Now Its ready and Uplodaded on CRY Channel......

http://www.youtube.com/user/CRYIndia#p/a/u/0/NYzqllNLHKI

Please Share your Comments !

Do Send to others too :)......

Regards
-----------------------------
Vinay Kumar Gupta

Sabko Shiksha Samaan Shiksha Campaign

2009-12-03T12:57:00.000+05:30

Sixteen years after the idea was introduced for discussion, on August 26, 2009 the President gave his assent to the long-pending Right to Education Bill, which promises free and compulsory education for children between ages 6 and 14. The Act is fragmented into thirty seven sections which are categorized into seven chapters and one schedule. A major boost for the education sector came with this act. However, the Bill does not institutionalise early childhood education ( age group of 0 to 6 ) and higher secondary education ( age group of 15 to 18 ). Pre-school support is essential for children, and ignoring them less than six years of age could lead to the promotion of child labour and other forms of discrimination. Also, a child’s education is incomplete without a higher secondary education. How far is this justified or warranted? The world’s most developed economies, such as the US, the UK and France allocate 6-7 per cent of their national budgets on public education. India by contrast, allocates just 3 per cent for education.

Keeping this in mind, CRY came up with a campaign called the “ Sabko Shiksha Samaan Shiksha” campaign, that aims to highlight the gaps in the Education bill, seeking support from citizens in the form of a signature on a ‘Charter of demands’, to be sent to the Prime Minister and the President of India. The idea is to take forward the demand that the government ensures free, equal and quality education for every child in India.

As part of the campaign, on weekends, three buses along with the cry team and a group of volunteers, went around the city to different locations creating awareness about the campaign. The two activities involved during the yatra were charter signing and the other being a free art workshop for children. The enthusiasm every volunteer carried was phenomenal. As the bus reached a particular area, people gathered around to know what’s happening. The team got to work…. making people aware about the campaign …..gathering children on the bus for the workshops…. taking their handprints on a canvas board…. and getting signatures on the ‘Charter of Demands’. The CRY team came across different people with different views. A majority of the people thought that education was a fundamental right and they understood the need and importance of the charter, and so, they signed… and even got their friends and relatives to sign. There were some who signed out of frustration and anger towards the government, who according to them can never do something right. There were also people who did not sign because they didn’t want to listen to what the volunteers had to say (a pre-notion that a person with a sheet of paper taking signatures could only ask for money).

The CRY team covered various locations across the city, from slums to malls to colleges to parks and even the beach. There were children who wouldn’t get off the bus because they were having so much fun colouring and doing paperwork activity. Their small and colourful handprints looked beautiful on the canvas. From across the country thousands of signatures were collected and the number is still rising. Thus, things will not happen right overnight, but looking at the overall initiative one cannot but feel that there is hope for the children of this nation.