Street to School - Mainstreaming Street Children

Aasraa’s Mobile Learning Center at ISBT has been a tremendous success. On most days, we have more than 100 children flocking to the bus, excited to learn and play. So in order to effectively cater to the needs of all the children coming in, we decided to find a spacious location within the locality. Our new center is centrally located in Azad Colony and easily accessible from all the surrounding slum settlements.

Our new ISBT Center has 8 large rooms, which can easily accommodate more than 100 children and keep them safe from heat, rain and cold. So while the teachers have more space to teach the children, the e-learning continues on the Mobile Learning Center. Also, now our children have more space for playing games and for other activities.

We have also hired a dedicated teacher for the playgroup children. The center has a fully functional playgroup, complete with toys and learning aids. This is especially crucial for our work since the older children can now get their younger siblings to school instead of being stuck at home, minding them. Additionally, the tiny tots get early access to a much needed education.

Based on feedback received from the community, Aasraa has also started Vocational Training at the ISBT center. We have started with two trades for now; tailoring and computers. This program is targeted at the many young girls in the area who have passed the age for formal education. Apart from trade specific skills, we are also teaching them conversational English and soft skills with the aim of increasing their employability. We have hired specialized teachers to facilitate these trainings. The response received by the Vocational Training program has been overwhelming and 54 young girls from the Azad Colony area are already attending the trainings in different sessions. We are also encouraging them to start studying via the National Institute of Open Schooling.

This month, we are busy making sure all our children have warm clothes for the winter; buying sweaters, thermals and winter uniforms for them. 

We want to thank all our donors for their constant support and encouragment towards our children and projects.

Aasraa Trust would like to thank all the donors who make it possible for us to continue our work for the education and empowerment of slum and street children. Because of your constant support and encouragement, we are relentlessly working to mainstream children into regular schools.

This month, we would like to share with you "Rita's Story". Resident of Kanwali slum in Dehradun, Rita is one of the 327 children who have been mainstreamed through Aasraa's Street to School program. A student of standard 4th at Sri Guru Ram Rai Public School, Rita is an achiever;a dreamer. We at Aasraa are elated to help her chase her dreams.

Street to School - Rita's Story