NGOs of Mumbai into Education Sector

04/09/2023

EDUCATION

Introduction

•We are the youngest country of the world.•We have largest no. of children. •More than 40% of our population constitutes of children.BUT…….• WHAT IS CONDITION OF OUR CHILDREN..•WHAT IS EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF OUR CHILDREN

LET’S SEE……

Where is the problem?

Quantitative Problems: Not all the children get access to

schools Many socio-economic factors like

class, caste, gender become hindrances

The rural-urban divide clubbed with class inequality affects the access to education

Qualitative Problems: The quality of education in our schools is

very poor. It discourages individual creative

freedom It manufactures products instead of

creating sensitive, smart and independent individuals garnering love and peace.

It alienates the child from her/his environment

Organizations

David Sassoon

Industrial School,

Matunga

Prerana, Bandra

Asha Kiran English Medium

School and Social Work

CenterDoor Step

School, Mumbai central

CORO for literacy

Organizations

Avehi

Montfort empowerme

nt Park, Gorai

Sadhana School

Akshara Pratham

To provide students, teachers and staff with trained psychological and psychiatric support and training tailored to their needs.

• The residential school run by the Children’s Aid Society, aided by the state govt.

• Provides services for the protection, care, treatment and rehabilitation of destitute, delinquent, victimized and mentally deficient children.

David Sassoon Industrial school

Significant Aspects:

• They provide Residential Care with medical and paramedical services ,formal Education, vocational Training such as Tailoring and carpentry.

• The founders of Prerana observed that there were a lot of children who were out of school and vulnerable to many kinds of exploitation and thus it was established for providing a conducive environment for the children in the red light area and to prevent 2nd generation trafficking.

Prerana

Significant aspects:• All the stakeholders are consulted before any decision is made; be

it the child or the mother. • One of the most significant aspects of Prerana is their strong and

efficient child tracking system. When a woman goes back to her native along with her child for a few months, Prerana makes sure that the BMC school does not cancel the child’s admission due to absence.

• Providing legal aid and assistance. • Providing vocational training to the adolescent girls according to

their interest. • Day Care for the children whose mothers are away, i.e. are either

hospitalized or arrested by the police or were under treatment for HIV/AIDS. Prerana also runs a Night Care Centre.

Asha Kiran English Medium School and Social Work Center

Imparting education in the most inaccessible regions.

Social, economic and educational enhancement of the Katkari tribes.

To bridge the gap between the people and the government services through a social work centre which is involved in the empowerment of women through the formation of SHGs.

Significant aspects

• Door step supplementary education to the dropouts. Boarding facilities for the girls of Katkari tribe. Establishment of 38 SHGs in the region.

Door Step School, Mumbai central

• Doorstep school established in the year 1988 in Mumbai , Maharashtra. The organization's main objective is to reach out to the children of the marginalized section of the society with the aim of addressing literacy amongst them and deals with issues of wastage, non-enrolment and stagnation.

Significant Aspects:

Some significant initiatives by the organization are :• School on wheels• School partnership project • Balwadi• Non formal education • Study classes• Community based libraries and library on wheels

CORO for literacy

> Committee of Resource Organization works for community based literacy issues.

> To promote primary adult education and train women and youth groups at a grass root level.

> Access to basic amenities, sexual and reproductive health, legal aid and counseling, credit and thrift are some of the main working areas of CORO. CORO doesn’t stick to only one focus area. The important decisions , planning and implementation is done by the community people. CORO works rigorously in the field of education and women related issues as well.

Significant aspects

• CORO has done effective work in the field of education. The model for the urban literacy campaign aims to educate the urban poor population, especially the urban youth and girls. It also imparts knowledge to women regarding sexual and reproductive health.

Akshara

• Akshara Centre started in 1995 with a small library of 530 books focusing on creating awareness about a gender-just and violence free society. It now has the facilities of a mobile library and e-library.

• Empowering young women, influence youth as social change agents, it challenges patriarchy, it supports women’s movements to raise public consciousness on gender inequality.

Significant aspects

• Some of the key significant features are its Violence prevention Youth initiatives, Social movement-Awareness, LEHER campaign-violence against women, training Police personnel and BEST employees regarding handling of sexual harassment cases.

Avehi

• “AVEHI” means 'To Know' was launched in 1981 as audio-visual resource centre by Avehi Public charitable Education Trust which works to facilitate community access to relevant media resources

• AVEHI aims at enriching the Agencies like Govt. Organization, community based Organization, NGOs for effective communication and Target based approach keeping in mind the interest and inclination of the target population towards language, mode of communication through audio visual resources like charts, puppets, documentaries, videos, monographs etc.

Significant Aspects

• Effectiveness & wide acceptance of Traditional ways to Information dissemination.

• Use of traditional and readily available cheap media resources.

• AV aids as best way to deal with Sensitive issues like Sexuality, Child Abuse etc.

Montfort empowerment Park

• To provide shelter, protection and education to children in vulnerable situations and work for their moral, social, intellectual, physical development.

• To work for training of the youth, uplift villages through community activities, social reformation, capacity building, youth camps etc.

• Providing homes for children from poor backgrounds and to work towards protection of child rights.

Significant aspects

>During the vacations, these children are sent back to their homes so that they do not lose touch with the reality of their lives.

>They have currently started a Catering training centre for the youth at Gorai.

> They have visited and tried to network with Kotak Mahindra training centre and a few hotels like Taj, Oberoi have agreed to be a part of this initiative.

• Started in 1973 as an extension program of Sophia College it has grown up into full-fledged autonomous school which aims at empowering people with special needs.

• Non – residential therapeutic, educational and vocational institute for mentally challenged children with multiple disabilities.

• It aims to maximize their potential and to make them self – dependent and productive members of society.

Sadhana School

Significant aspects

• CURRICULUM DESIGN made specifically to suit the needs of children.

• METHOD OF TEACHING - organic methods are used to identify the ability of the student through experimental method.

• MODERN TECHNOLOGY and THERAPIES which are constantly updated.

• VOCATIONAL TRAINING (For job Placement)

• Pratham is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India started in 1994. The main focus area of this organization is primary education.

• They have four major programs named: Read India(covers learning and educational activities for kids), ASER( annual survey ), PCVC(Pratham council for vulnerable children),Training institute for volunteers to impart vocational education.

Pratham

Significant aspects:

• They have developed an approach known as CAMAL – Combined activities for maximized learning which ensures basic learning of alphabets and arithmetic for kids.

• ASER is the annual survey done by Pratham which measures enrollment and reading and arithmetic capabilities of children aged between 6 to 14 years.

• PCVC is a space where Pratham focuses on child laborers or working children. The aim of the program is that no child should enter the labor market.

• Most of the NGOs expressed concern over lack of adequate funds. Thus they lack accountability.

• Some of the organizations had the Charity or Welfare approach towards providing their services. They hold a patronizing attitude.

• None of the NGOs strongly believed in acting as pressure groups on the governments. It’s the state’s responsibility to ensure the right to development of every child. Most of them were apprehensive of coming out of their comfort zones except for a few.

LIMITATIONS/CRITIQUE

• Lack of a rights based approach in many NGOs.

• There’s a need for not only networking with other organizations but also the government and the communities.

ALTERNATIVES A school fully integrated with wider community’s struggle for survival and dignity.

Making education more accessible- so that it reaches everyone, transcending class, caste and religious binaries.

Activity based learning, integrated with life skills- not alienating the child from their their traditional knowledge base.

Learning from and through nature.

More inclusive- enabling for children with disabilities and special needs through a rights based approach.

We need to demystify contexts, beliefs and situations. We created

it and we have the ability to change it.

LEARNINGS

Thank You