They open classroom doors for slum kids

NEW DELHI: Forced to work as child labourers to supplement their family income, over 600 children from nine slums in Jehangirpuri can now dream big in life. They have been admitted to schools run by the Delhi government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as part of a pilot programme run by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for abolition of child labour.
A seven-member Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan team from Bihar is working in the area with over 40 young volunteers under the banner of Bal Adhikar Suraksha Samiti to enroll as many students as possible.
The campaign has brought about a much-needed change in 12-year-old Deepak Singh's life. Now a student of class 8 in a government school, he earlier used to sell tea at dhabas. His father is a rickshaw-puller and mother a housewife. For 11-year-old Manisha too, life has changed. "I used to help my mother sell paranthas. But after I attended a camp, I developed interest in studies. I am now a student of class 1,'' she said proudly.
NCPCR chairperson Shanta Sinha said: "This pilot project, planned after a order of the Delhi high court, aims to abolish child labour. It is to ensure that every child goes to school through a community initiative. This will be carried out in other parts of the city as well. It's to build trust between community and schools.''
Around 1200 more children will be admitted in schools, under this project. Said Ishwar Rathod, one of the senior volunteers from Bihar: "We started a survey in February and identified 2929 out-of-school children in the area. We then started a programme of community mobilisation in the area. And because didn't charge any fee, people in the community were very enthusiastic to pitch in.''
Many school dropouts like Sumit were helped with re-admissions. He dropped out of school in class VI because of bad company and rowdy behaviour. But he's back in class VIII in a government school.
The local youth did face some problems in convincing parents of the dropouts. "It was difficult for us to ask the parents to withdraw their kids from work and then put them in school. This meant dwindling incomes for them. Then school authorities denied admission for the want birth certificates and ration cards,'' said a volunteer.
Said 19-year-old Ruby, a first-year BA student of Delhi University: "It's not that parents don't want to send their children to school. But schools deny admission as children in many cases are over-age. It was easier to get admission for children in the age group of 5-9 years but schools raised objections in admitting kids in the age group of 9 to 14. The authorities asked for birth certificates and ration cards. Unfortunately migrants from UP and Bihar don;t carry all the documents. So, we had to get affidavits made.''