Preventing school dropout of 300 children in India

Sahaara believes that every person has a dream and our work centres around ensuring that marginalized persons are able to articulate and work towards achieving their dream. Children in observation homes are one of the most marginalized populations in Mumbai.

The children who live in these Homes come from different states of India and are educated in a Marathi medium school run by the Home. The language difference makes it difficult for them to learn. Remedial education helps in coaching the children in the Marathi language as well as their school subjects thereby helping them understand what they are learning and maintaining their interest to continue education once discharged from the Home.

Sahaara staff procures addresses of discharged children from the home authorities. The social workers then traverse through labyrinthine gullies of Mumbai slums searching for the children’s residences. Through such home visits, networking with local schools, facilitating assistance in books and materials, the child is facilitated entry into formal education paving the way to a bright future.

During the period Oct to Dec 2018, 107 children were provided with remedial education in Chembur Children’s Home, Bal Kalyan Nagari and David Sassoon Industrial School.

We also helped the Child Welfare Committee trace the addresses of 118 lost children and helped in reuniting 158 children to their families.

Deepak's Story Of Triumph!

Deepak (name changed) always walked into class with a blank expression on his face. He seldom laughed. When the others took part in games and activities, he would stand away, confused. While others would make an effort to learn, Deepak would remain unresponsive. He would not write as he could not even hold a pen. He could not remember the names of common everyday objects, nor could he read a single letter in Marathi. He would hardly communicate and had no friends.

No one knew who his parents were. He went missing at a very young age and was found by the police and placed in an Observation Home. He joined CCH in 2015 when he was around 7 years old and was given a nickname which meant “Little”. Since his parents were not known, his surname was put on record as “Not Known or N.K.”. He ended up being called “Little N.K” by his peers.

For two years he came to class and there was no progress. The Project staff and the Home authorities were very concerned about him. At meetings with the Home authorities, his name was brought up as a child who needed help and hope for the future.

Since there were many children like Deepak who were seemingly incapable of studying, a Special Help class with an Individualized Remedial Program was started with the support of the Home authorities. These children are given personal attention and are taught through art and craft as well as play.  His teacher decided to call him by a different name, one more meaningful one than “Little N.K.”

For a few months, there still seemed to be no change in Deepak, then came an amazing breakthrough. It seemed as if something had unlocked the door to Deepak’s mind. He began to read letters in Marathi. He started responding to the games and activities. He started saying the names of objects around him and communicating with the teachers. The change was noticed by School Teachers, Home Authorities as well as all the Project staff. Most of all, it was great to see him smile and respond to others.

Today, Deepak is on the road to learning, no doubt he has a lot to catch up, but the important thing is he no longer thinks of himself as a hopeless child. He can now look forward to the future and begin to understand that there is lots of hope in store for him to make himself a better future.

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• Progress Report (PDF)