Slum Education
Education plays a vital role in economic growth of any economy. With increasing urbanization,urban migration has led to a serious problem of increase in urban slums. These urban poor usually consist of semi-skilled or unskilled labor. The poor condition of these urban poor in slumareas is mainly due to their inability to compete with skilled labor class and afford a decent standard of living.
The JAX Foundation has a socio-cultural group called ‘Kalpana’ which works towards making this society a brighter and happier place to live in. They arrange monthly medical camps, old clothes donation drives, movie screenings, stage street plays and hold discussions on various diverse topics in slum areas. Just one trip to the slums with them and you’ll never be the same.
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It’s so strange that a place just a few kilometres from our University seems like a completely different world. There is this strange line that divides US and THEM.
The fact that a metro line could even take me to such a place, showing me what disparity actually is and how lucky I am, was astonishing.
A handful of students from DU went down to some slums in Lalbagh and helped in setting up a medical camp there. First step into those slums and it was like entering another portal. Sights such as dirty stagnant water, clogged drains, narrow lanes, cramped houses and heaps of garbage welcomed us. Seeing us (maybe we seemed as strange to them as they seemed to us), the residents gathered all around us telling us about their grievances. We tried telling them that we are just a bunch of students who can only try making their voices be heard by the right people.
Slums: residence of urban poor
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For billions of people, the urban experience is one of poverty and exclusion. Often, studies overlook those residents of a city whose homes and work are unofficial or unregistered - precisely those most likely to be poor or suffer discrimination i.e. the slums. Difficult urban living conditions reflect and are exacerbated by factors such as illegality, limited voice indecision-making and lack of secure tenure, assets and legal protection. Exclusion is often reinforced by discrimination on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, race or disability. In addition,cities often expand beyond the capacity of the authorities to provide the infrastructure and
services needed to ensure people’s health and well-being.
Challenge
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Slums across the capital of India are hubs of poverty & deprivation. People residing in slums suffer from lack of basic amenities & extreme poverty & hunger. They engage their children in labour & other menial jobs like rag picking & waste picking and do not value education. Children often drop out of school before they reach elementary level. The future of children is bleak as they grow up to be ignorant and uneducated and are never able to break to break the cycle of poverty.
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Solution
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The project will open a cluster of 10 Remedial Teaching Centres in slums to impart grade specific education to 500 children, 50 children in each centre. A community teacher would be engaged to conduct the classes. Proven approach of multiple level reinforcement through project based learning methodology. Curricula and teaching learning modules are already available with the Foundation. In one year, these 500 children will have improved learning outcomes and would attend school regularly.
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Long-Term Impact
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The project will help 500 children remain in school and complete their cycle of primary education. The project would generate the interest of parents and children in getting educated and understanding value of education. A resource pool will be created in the community through capacity building and training of teachers for long term sustainability. The project would also help in reducing child labour and restoring their Right to Education, thereby giving them a brighter future.
Conclusion
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Children from poor urban neighborhoods are among the least likely to attend school. A survey in Delhi, India, found a primary school attendance rate of 54.5 per cent among children living in slums in 2004 to 2005, compared with 90 per cent for the city as a whole.The quality of available schooling options in poor urban areas is another issue to consider.
While data tend to focus on access, enrollment and retention, these are linked to the perceived quality and benefits of available education. Overcrowding and a lack of appropriate facilities such as toilets are among the factors that undermine the quality of education.
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Access to education for poor and marginalized children, including the provision of quality schooling in informal settlements, is of paramount importance. Other forms of training, such as vocational courses, can be particularly useful for adolescents seeking to secure future livelihood sin the urban context.
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Whether through classroom or on-the-job training, apprenticeships or skill-specific courses such as language or computer training, vocational initiatives should aim to increase young people’s employability.