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ANOU’S BLOG
I rest my case #GivingTuesday#India
When Sumitra Devi retired after a lifetime of sweeping the streets, three distinguished guests came to honour her. One was a District Collector, another an engineer, and the third a doctor. They were her sons. Education had transformed not only their lives but the future of an entire family.
If education could transform the life of one street sweeper’s family so completely, why are thousands of children in India’s capital still being denied even the most basic conditions in which to learn?In Delhi, nearly 2,700 children attend a government school with only two dilapidated toilets, no drinking water, broken windows and a playground filled with garbage. Of the 91 teachers sanctioned, only a fraction are in place. The remaining teachers struggle heroically to keep the school running, sometimes even paying for light bulbs from their own pocket.
The Right to Education promised every child free and equitable education. For the 2,700 children in this school, that promise remains unfulfilled. A right is meaningful only when it is honoured in practice. For far too many children across India, it exists only on paper.
Their school has only two dilapidated toilets, no windows. a playground filled with water and garbage. The school runs on Government funding but in spite of that the conditions are pathetic. No money to change bulbs, no drinking water. Of the 91 teachers sanctioned, 72 have not been appointed. A bare 20 odd teachers keep the show on the road. Hats off to them. When a bulb needs changing they dip into their meagre pockets and do the needful.
The Right to Education promised every child free and equitable education. For the 2,700 children in this school, that promise remains unfulfilled. A right is meaningful only when it is honoured in practice. For far too many children across India, it exists only on paper.
Over the years, governments have launched a number of initiatives to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds continue their education. Some have made a real difference. Yet I have also watched far too many children fall through the cracks—not because they lacked ability or determination, but because their families did not know about a scheme, could not produce the required documents, or simply found the system too complicated to navigate. For children already living on the margins, opportunity often depends less on potential than on whether someone is there to help them find their way.
The Right to Education Act was meant to be a great leveller, ensuring that every child had access to quality education. I have always believed that education should bring children together rather than divide them. This is why I have supported the idea of a common school system, where children from different backgrounds study side by side and learn from each other. If our government schools could be transformed to the standard of institutions like the Central schools, it would change the lives and aspirations of millions of children. But for that to happen, mindsets must change. Are we ready for that?
Underprivileged children have once again been let down. They remain voiceless, needing those of us who have seen their struggles to speak on their behalf.
In the case of the school mentioned above, activists took up the matter and the High Court asked for a report. But this is not an isolated example. Far too many schools continue to function in unacceptable conditions. Even one such school is one too many.
Education alone can change lives and transform India.
I would like to end this post on a positive note by returning to the story of Sumitra Devi, a woman who spent her entire life sweeping the streets we walk on. At her retirement celebration, three special guests stood beside her: a District Collector, an engineer and a doctor.
They were her sons.
Her story is a reminder of what education can do. It does not merely provide a livelihood; it opens doors, changes destinies and gives children the chance to rise beyond the circumstances into which they were born.
I rest my case.
ANOU’SBLOG
Numbers Game #GivingTuesday#India
A recent article on the quality of persons correcting CBSE class XII papers sent my blood running cold. One must remember that marks are of the essence and that careers depend on the marks you get. A high score guarantees you a place in Delhi University a place affordable to project why parents but it is quasi impossible for our kids to get the coveted 95+%! Not being able to afford private universities they are relegated to evening colleges, correspondence courses and open universities.
One would have hoped that the marks given are honest and deserved but a sentence in the aforesaid article is enough to make one shudder: Examiners are picked by the CBSE, from schools, but many, especially those who teach in government schools, seem to be unequipped to grade. Some students don’t end up getting the marks they deserve, while the rote learners do well. This explains how a humanities student can get a perfect store in subjects like english or psychology. Just learn the book by heart and voilà you top the batch.
My hear goes out to the child who spends time understanding the subject and writing the answer in her own words. She does not stand a chance and yet she is the one who deserves a place in the hallowed portals of a good affordable university.
The article has other aberrations. It just makes me angry and sad at the same time.
Will things ever change?
ANOU’SBLOG
The tale of the little red bag #GivingTuesday#India
Utpal is back in school red bag in tow! The saga of the red bag began in July 2006 when he first set off to boarding school. He was 4.
Today he is a strapping handsome 16 year old who still carries a red bag to school!
This is not the one he carried way back in 2006 when he first joined boarding school at the tender age of 4. Yet somehow the red bag remained a constant in his life as it conceals within its hidden pockets the making of his yet undisclosed destiny.
The little red bag is also the story of Project Why. Every child that enters the portals of our Project carries his own little red bag and it is left to us to fill it to the brim with everything she or he might need to fulfil her or his dreams. We strive as best we can to give every child the learning and values that will enable her or him to break the cycle of poverty in which they were born and reach for the stars.
It has been a exhilarating journey that has seen many ups and some downs too. Every moment has been blessed and rewarding to each one of us. Watching children grow and bloom is worth every setback that we may have encountered.
Today we again stand at crossroads as one of our main funders will stop funding us come April 2019. I must confess that I had my moment of doubts at whether I will be able to find the fire to once again set out and look for the support we desperately need. Needless to say my doubts were short lived. Just seeing the little red bag once again was enough to set me on my way.
We still have many little red bags to fill
So help me God!
ANOU’S BLOG
Water Woes #GivingTuesday#India
Delhi is fighting a battle to save 16 000 trees from being felled to make a place for a housing cum shopping complex for bureaucrats.
Delhi is out on the streets to save these trees and has won round 1 as the High Court has put a stay on the felling for the moment.
But that is in no way the worst to come.
In two years from now Delhi may run out of ground water and face a day zero crisis.A Indian government think tank has warned that New Delhi is set to run out of groundwater within two years as climate change and dramatic population growth hit supplies quotes the Telegraph in a recent article entitled: New Delhi to run out of groundwater in two years as India faces ‘day zero’ crises . 600 million will be impacted by the worst water shortage ever. This is nothing short of frightening.
We have been experiencing water shortage in many of the centres we work in. In some slums the water tanker comes on alternate days and people fight to get a measly bucket of water that has to last them till the next tanker. Every home has a vast array of utensils to keep water for different chores. This has become a way of life. Fights do erupt at water points but they too have become part of the art of survival in India’s capital city.
At Project Why we have run several water saving campaigns and sensitise our children to the importance of saving water. From closing dripping taps to reusing grey water. children are taught to save water in anyway possible.
Clean water is a fundamental right, and yet million do not have access to it. The startling and terrifying poof is that 5000 children under the age of 5 die every day of water born diseases.
On the other side of spectrum, the privileged are using water as if it was a perennial commodity. Cars are being washed with water hoses, gardens watered with sprinklers and even swimming pools being made in new constructions. Rain Water harvesting is still in its infancy and the amount of rain water wasted is criminal.
It is time each one of us began saving water in any which was possible. It is also time for citizens to raise their voices and make people aware of what looms large: NO WATER!
We at Project Why will continue our efforts to raise awareness about the value of water.