Give a smile to 3000 slumchildren to attend school

Rupa, pictured here, is a sixteen-year-old girl who has benefitted from the activities offered by the project. In the picture she holds a certificate of participation in a science exhibition. Her family includes herself, her parents, and her younger brother and sister. Her father is a daily labourer and her mother works as a domestic help. Due to lack of opportunities after Cyclone Phailin in 2013, they had to relocate to the city in search of a livelihood. Rupa was forced to discontinue her education to take care of her younger siblings who are in the 4^th and 6^th standards respectively and support her mother in household chores.

The project team met Shikha, Rupa’s younger sister when conducting a survey in her community, later Shikha was supported through remedial education support, and she also passed out with good grades. After being part of the centre for nearly two years, Shikha requested for some support for her sister Rupa, who was studying in Standard 8 when they left the village. However, Rupa was reluctant to return to school to study with children who are much younger than her. Rupa was offered help to re-join school, however upon voicing her hesitation, she was instead offered to attend the remedial classes first, which she accepted.

After few months, Rupa had increased interested and requested for support for her enrollment in Class 9. The Project team visited the High School near her slum, as suggested by the Principal, the team members together with Rupa approached Board of Secondary Education directly. After continuous persuasion her admission procedures were completed. She completed her Class 9th successfully and is now preparing for her board exams for March 2017.

“I learnt a lot from other girls who are studying with me, I dress up neatly and I tend my hair properly too. In the past I was not very tidy about it” Rupa explains. “Staying back at my house, I could have never been able to interact so well, or know of few things like computers. I have a feeling that I can do something and after completing my 10^th exam, I can enrol myself in learning skills and will earn on my own to support my parents.” She then poses for a picture.

Ruchika Social Service Organisation has been supporting 979 of these children studying in Class 6, Class 7 and Class 8 through 40 remedial centres. The organisation ensures 100% enrolment of children in school.  The children who have difficulty in coping in schools are identified and provided remedial education support through improving their competencies and peer support. This year, all the children performed very well in the annual exams.

Making the kind of commitment it takes to ensure 95% retention of children in school and supporting them in improving their academic proficiency is only possible if support from special individuals and foundations are received, however, in the last quarter the project had not received any resources. These funds are used for paying costs for teaching materials, teacher’s salary and setting up libraries. We request our previous donors to support the project generously and assist us in reaching out to more children like Rupa living in the slums of Bhubaneswar.

In response to the growing rate of drop outs from the formal school system Ruchika started Remedial Education program in 2009. Presently it reaches out to 3500 children with 105 primary and 67 elementary remedial education centers spread across 105 slums of Bhubaneswar. Paul Hamlyn Foundation supports the organization to operate in 10 slums with 10 Primary Remedial and 10 Elementary Remedial Centers.

Remedial Education

Remedial education is designed to bring students who are lagging behind up to the level of achievement realized by their peers.  There are a number of reasons why a student might need remedial education which are given as follows.

1. Some students attend schools of poor quality, and don't receive adequate grounding in Math, English and other core subjects to prepare them for higher classes or for life.
2. Some students may have transferred in and out of schools or missed school a lot, creating gaps in their education which contribute to lack of knowledge in core subjects.
3. Students may also have learning disorders and other issues which have impaired their ability to learn.

Hence remedial education is imparted to the needy students keeping in view of their deficiency in the core subjects. Individual attention is paid to the students to identify the deficiency and plans are made to empower the child to acquire necessary knowledge in that subject.

Enrolment

During this period attempts were made to enroll the students in government schools and at the remedial education centers. The list of Remedial centers and enrolment of students in the centre by the end of March 2016 is 444.

a)    Activities with the Community

• 10 Basti Education Committees have been working effectively. The members of this committees monitor the work of remedial centres running in their respective slums.
• 60 Monthly meetings of BECs have been conducted religiously and resolutions are made unanimously.
• 31 community meetings have been organized.
• In each ‘community meeting’ the communities have been sensitized on RTE and Child Protection Policy. They are also being convinced to visit the govt. schools and Ruchika Remedial Centres regularly to monitor the progress of the children.
• The activities of community are being followed up by the Cluster educators regarding the above issues.
• 8  Mahila Sikhshya Mandal and 1  Yuba Mandals has been constituted.   The members were sensitized and are made aware of physical education, mental education, sanitation, Child protection policy and above all about RTE act

Activities with the Children

• Very low percentage of students have been dropped out during the academic year 2015-16. A survey will be conducted in July 2016 to know about the detailed progress of the children.
•  The Remedial teachers are provided with training on the new methodologies, strategies of education, multi-grade teaching skills, remedial coaching skills, record maintenance and child psychology. 
• Children are regularly counseled to attend the government schools. The teachers take initiative to visit the home of the child if any child is absent from the school. It is noticed that the children’s attendance has been increased remarkably.
• Evaluation and Assessment – Competency based tests have been completed. About 80 % children have completed all the competencies as planned. Grey Mater Indiahas conducted the End line assessment during March 2016. Results are awaited. 
• Five Balaka Mandal and Five Balika Mandal has been formed. President and Secretary were selected. The members of these Mandals were made aware of RTE, Child Protection Policy (CPP). They also realized on these issues and promised to take necessary steps by convince their parents to demand quality education in schools as well as sensitize  the govt. schools teachers on the issue. 

Outputs and Outcomes

Outputs

1. 444 children enrolled into the remedial centres. All of them are studying in the government schools.
2. All 20 remedial teachers and other staff as proposed are in place. The project runs smoothly. 
3. Most of students have completed all competencies in Math & English.
4. 10  Basti Education Committees have been constituted and monthly meetings are conducted regularly.
5. All the records of the project are in place.
6. End line assessment has been conducted in the month of March-2016.
7. Teaching learning materials have been supplied to the Remedial centers as per need.

Outcome

1. The academic proficiency of the targeted slum children have noticeable changed.
2. Dropout rate in the school has been checked almost completely.
3. Children are attending the school happily because all their home task are done in the remedial  centres  and all their learning problems are solved.
4. A  positive  environment  has been created in the slum to send the children to school & demanded quality education in govt. schools.
5. Govt. school teachers are accepting our teachers and appreciating the friendship  joyful teaching methodology .

In a country where about 50% of children in the age group of 6-14 do not attend school and where half the girls fail to enroll, and those who do are likely to drop out by the age of 12, education is seen as an important tool towards the realization of rights of all children.

There are 81.5 1akh out of school children in the country, according to figures reported by the Minister for Human Resources Development on 24 August 2011. While there are no reliable estimates for each category of excluded children, experience of educators, activists and governments highlights that the numbers could run into several hundred millions. But the large categories of excluded children included in this note face several common barriers in most parts of the country, such as child workers, street children or disabled children

About 10,000 children in Bhubaneswar alone, remain out of school in a country where elementary education is a constitutionally guaranteed right.” We believe that street children matter, and that every child has the right to fulfill their potential.

Ruchika’s Street to School programmes around the world recognize that every child living or working on the street has a right to fulfill their potential. The initiative was started in 1985 when the India’s first platform school was started in Bhubaneswar by Mrs. Inderjit Khurana. The credo was “if the child cannot come to the school then the school must go to the child”. In the campaign thousands of children were motivated and put into the school.

Even in late the campaign was recognized by the Government of Odisha. The government has made it a government campaign and have started sending the street children into the school as per RTE. Following actions have been initiated by the government with our guidance.

1. A rescue team has been constituted with the representatives of the NGOs / Childline, Police, Education Deptt, Labour Deptt., DCPU etc.
2. The rescue team have been provided with special trainings on rescue operation and protocols to be followed during rescue operations.
3. Two Sikshya Raths were moved for a week in the city creating awareness on child rights and punishment for employing the children.
4. Childline logo has been displayed in the education website and other places in the city for the public . Now two toll free numbers (Childline 1098 and Student Helpline - 18003456722) have been displayed everywhere. Any child if found on the street / working in any shop, the people can access the help of these two numbers to help in rescue the child.
5. Government has set up five special hostels for the street children which are well equipped to accommodate 250 children including 50 girls.
6. Counselor, care takers and other staff members have been employed in these special hostels.
7. Food, cloth, recreation and other arrangements have been arranged in all these hostels for the children.
8. 150 children so far have been rescued who are residing in these hostels and going to school.

This program has been replicated by other states of India who have started this kind of initiatives in their states.

By the government estimate, out of 200 million children in the age group of 6 to 14 in India, around 59 million do not attend school. Of the rest, who are currently in school, four out of every 10 children beginning to attend school will drop out before completing their primary school education. In addition, various studies of children's learning achievement indicates that the situation is actually grim. Recent community based surveys done in 28 cities and eight rural districts in the country find that not more than 30 per cent of school children in the age group 6 to 14, in an educationally advanced state like Maharashtra, can read simple text fluently or do basic arithmetic sums.

Ruchika, supported by PHF, MSDF & TMF works for creating an enabling environment in the slum communities and in schools to fire up the light of education in each child. Towards this end, training teachers in sound and creative pedagogy, providing appropriate teaching aids, improving infrastructure facilities, starting libraries, community mobilization, forming and educationg peoples groups to demand quality education, sensitizing the education service providers as well as literacy promotion are our priority.

We cannot ignore the limitations imposed by the realities of our systems nor do we aim to. Instead of creating parallel structures, Ruchika supplements and works in synergy with existing Government and other initiatives in providing education to all. Remedial Education is imparted to those who lag behind and to low achievers to enable him/her to join in the achievers club.

Ruchika Social Service Organisation has been running varieties of education programs for street and slum children for last 30 years and has adopted a holistic approach in imparting education. Presently it runs 95 Primary and 60 Elementary Remedial Education Centres in the slums of Bhubaneswar and gradually phasing out from the slums.

Activities with the Community

• Basti Education Committees have been working effectively. They monitor the work of remedial centres running in their respective slums. Some of the BEC members are also the member of School Management Committee .They demand quality education and safety of the children in the school
• Monthly meetings of BECs are conducted and resolutions are made unanimously. They help in repairing and electrifying of the centres. They monitor the govt. school as well as remedial centres with the help of RSSO remedial teachers
• The members of basti education committee has been trained and oriented on the provision of RTE
• RTE has been sensitized in all targeted 95 slums and 50 of them has been sensitized with full force.
• Our supervisory staff has sensitized in the communities by sticking different stickers on the walls / doors of the slum houses and banners also have been displayed in the visibility area in the slums. The communities and BEC members helped our staff a lot.

Activities with Children

• With intensive work of the teachers and cluster educators 98 % children are retained in the government schools, more percentages of which are girls.
• Remedial coaching has been conducted with full force. The teachers are provided with training on the new methodologies, strategies of education, multi-grade teaching skills, remedial coaching skills, record maintenance and adolescence psychology.
• Children are regularly attending the government schools. The teachers are visiting the home of the child to know if any child is not going to school. It has been noticed that the children's attendance has increased due to regular visits of teachers.
• Re-integration of drop out children into the school has been conducted.
• Evaluation and Assessment - 4 nos of competency test have been conducted during this period. About 80 % children have completed these competencies as planned.

Activities with Schools

The teachers maintain good rapport with the govt. school teachers. Whenever they are allowed, they demonstrate in the school with innovative methods. The school teachers are helped to conduct co-curricular activities. The test results of the students are shared with the government school teachers.

School Management Committees have been constituted in all the nearby schools. Our teachers and supervisory staff are meeting the members of SMCs and educating them about the RTE, explaining them various provisions laid down in the RTE and how these provisions can be realized for the children.

Outputs

1. 2305 primary children and 979 elementary students are studying in the remedial centers. All of them are studying in the government schools.
2. All remedial teachers and other staff as proposed are in place. The project runs smoothly.
3. 80% students have been completed 4 competencies in Math and English.
4. An art competition and Fancy dress competition on Madhu Babu was held at Ekamra Hat Bhubaneswar, In which most of slum children had participated and got prizes.
5. Basti Education Committees have been constituted at all targeted slums and monthly meetings are conducted regularly.
6. The communities and parents of 10 slums where there were parents have been concerned about their children’s education ,they have become self sustained, providing private coaching and supplying extra study materials.

   7. All the records of the project are in place.

   8.      Teaching learning materials including first aid kit have been supplied to the centers as per need.    

Outcome

1. The academic proficiency of the targeted slum children have increased to a greater extent. Following is the academic record as assessed by third party.
2. Dropout rate in the school has been checked almost completed
3. 98 % Children are attending the school happily because all their home tasks are done in the remedial centres and all their learning problems are solved.
4. The slum communities and BEC members are motivating the parents to send their children to school regularly.
5. Our staff are visiting the Govt. School frequently.
6. A positive environment has been created in the slum to send all the children to school.
7. Govt. school teachers are gradually accepting our teachers and appreciating the methodology that Ruchika adopts to teach the children.

Thanks:

We sincerely express our heartfelt gratitude to our supporters for their magnanimous gesture towards the children living in oppressed and deprived of their minimum basic right to go to school.

Sulata  a girl of age 10, loves to sing song and learning has been out of school due to her socio economic ground. The parents of Sulata are daily workers and travel to the Bhubaneswar, Capital of Odisha in search of work. Like the numerous migrant they got a shed in a slum viz. Maa Patadevi Basti. Their poor economic condition and illiteracy dive them not to send Sulata to the school and engage her in house hold work and take care of her Youngers. Her parents think the cost of education is more and in absence of them during daily labour work , she  has to fulfill the responsibility of her young brother and sister.

During frequent visit and survey by the organization peers in the slum area, one of our Cluster Educator found this case. The first time counseling to the parents and child – Sulata for send her to the school gone in vanish. On next visit by the Head Educator with the Cluster Educator of Education programme brings a success, the child Sulata agreed to go to school but her parents not agreed. After continuous counseling to parents of Sulata and explaining about the Right To Education Act, benefits of girls education and all type of support by the organization to make the education free of cost with remedial education they agreed.

The child Sulata has been admitted to the nearby Government formal school in Class IV and requested to the school teachers for keep a close eye to the child for hurdle less, pleasant education. She is also provided free remedial education/ support classes after the schooling hours by the Ruchika Remedial Education Program. The regular follow up by the Cluster Educator result in continuous schooling of Sulata. In the words of Sulata - “I am reading in Chakeishiani Upper Primary school. My school is big and beautiful, where I learn & play  independently with my friends so I am proud of it. I never stop my study”

Like Sulata, every year the organization mainstreamed thousands of out of school marginalized children and fulfill the aim of Right To Education for every child in the age 6-14 years. The sponsors and supporters are request to spend their valuable sources to support more to such causes.

Links:

• Ruchika Blog Post