Quality Education For Slum Children

Education being one of the most important tools in the modern world has been provided a lot of importance. Numerous schools, colleges and universities have been opened for all those children who can actually afford it, but what about the children in the slum areas. Children from deprived families and slum areas cannot even think of affording the overpriced courses that are offered by these top-class universities, but education is equally important for every child that forms the future of India. So, to overcome this complexity for the slum children, government has made several efforts with which every child would be able to learn, gain knowledge and grow well.

Education System for Slum Children

There are several children who face challenges regarding their primary education and for them reaching 100% literacy count is a difficult task. This is the reason that government schools have been opened in all the villages within every state and children are encouraged to attend the school. Various advertisements and encouragement programs are run on television and radios so that people become familiar about the fundamental rights provided by the government. As per Right of Education Act, every child between the age of six to fourteen has the fundamental right to education, which is now made compulsory by the government.

These days, there are several NGOs’ and other organizations that are supporting the education of slum children. Various campuses have also come together to contribute towards providing quality education for slum children. Every bit of contribution can help to enrich the experience of the slum children regarding learning and gaining knowledge. Many underprivileged families do not recognize the importance of education and so they keep their children away from schools. In order to encourage all such people, free education and mid day meals are being provided at government schools which not only facilitate children, but also help them in making a bright future.

Quality Education for Slum Children

For providing quality education for slum children, various influential steps have been put forward by the government of India. Various research studies are being done so as to get a clear idea about the ratio of how many children attend the school regularly and how many teachers are more focused towards providing education to the slum children. To provide quality education for slum children, these days every child is looked after properly so that he can become more competent. Previously, most of the subjects were taught in the regional languages, but now English is also made compulsory within the course.

Quality education for slum children is actually providing an opportunity to all those who are below literacy rate so that they can come up and get a breakthrough. Various government websites have been uploaded on the web which provide complete acquaintance about providing quality education for slum children, thereby making the process easier. So, feel free to surf such websites and start contributing for quality education for slum children so as to add something towards a better India.

Street Children in Chennai City

Condition of street children

The most vulnerable are the runaway boys and girls who live on the railway station, bus station, market place, pavements, streets and do odd jobs like rag picking cup collecting, coolie, begging, cleaning the rail boogies, small hotels etc. These children live on pavements and street with sky as their shelter and no one to care for with love and affection.

The condition of street children is a sad reality that this section of the population are neglected, delinquent and are uncared for. They are a new and rapidly increasing group of vulnerable, deprived and exploited children in our cities.

Chennai NGO forum for street and working children conducted a survey on street children in 1996 with the support of UNICEF. This survey was conducted with the following objective:

To enumerate the number of children of children who were on the street in the city of chennai.
To find out the conditions of the street children in the city of Chennai

On the basis of the survey, it was estimated that the number of street children in the city of chennai would be around 75, 000. If one were to include the children bellow 6 years and the teenagers on the street, the population would be as high as 1.5 lakhs. They were covered under survey only 6 to 18 years children.

Most of them earn their livelihood doing odd jobs like picking rags, or recycling garbage, shining shoes, washing cars and the like. Their employers often exploit them sexually. In addition, most economic activities of the street children are controlled by territories, each of which is guarded fiercely by its members, who react violent if threatened . In this struggle for survival the competition is ruthless and only the fittest survive. To survive, They work for three hours a day on an average, either in the morning or in the evening, and with their earning they meet their daily expense. Whenever they need advance money for their expenses, they get from the waste paper shop owners for which they would sell their collection of waste only to that particular shop.
The waste paper shop is also their place of stay after their work. During their Leisure hours, they go for movies, regularly take drug, pills and injection and at night have sex with local CSWs at a cheaper rate. This involves the risk of acquiring AIDS and spreading it. They have homosexual habit also. The drugs they use includes brown sugar.

Family background

Most of the street children are living on the streets away from their family due to some of the following reasons, Abuse, violence, poverty, broken family, Peer group pressure, attractions on city life, dislike towards studies, frustration, orphan and others.
These street children have no one to care for them except their peer with whom they live on the streets. As they are away from home and school environment , the informal social control could only play a major role in their life in shaping the character and behaviour of these children.
The above stated variations have been affecting street children’s Self- esteem very deeply. Self esteem refers to the extent to which they expect to be accepted and valued by the adults and peers who are important to them. Even though self- esteem has been studied for more than 100 years, specialists and educators continue to debate its precise nature and development. But they generally agree that parents and other adults who are important to children play a major role in laying a solid foundation for a child’s development.

How to Help the Slumdog Street Children of India

If you have seen the film Slum Dog Millionaire, you will be aware of the terrible poverty on the streets of Mumbai. Read on to discover the work that a UK charity is doing to help street children in India.

India is the seventh largest and second most populated country in the world with an estimated 1.1 billion people. According to the 2001 census, 78 million people are homeless in India and the country has the largest number of street children in the world.

UNICEF's estimate of 11 million street children in India is considered to be a conservative figure. The Indian Embassy has estimated that there are 314,700 street children in metros such as Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Kanpur, Bangalore and Hyderabad and around 100,000 in Delhi alone.

India has the second largest rail network in the world. Children who run away from their homes both willingly and unwillingly use the railways to travel to other destinations. The train therefore becomes the primary mode of transportation and the railway junctions become home.

Street children move between cities in trains frequently landing at major junctions. Their high mobility makes it essential to work with a multitude of voluntary organisations across states in order to have continued contact with the children and provide support.

It is for these very reasons that Railway Children set up its first project in India in 1996. Railway Children in India addresses the complexity of these problems by primarily collaborating with local voluntary organisations.

MOHANS STORY

15 year old Mohan, was spotted at the Mumbai Central Terminus by an outreach worker. He was sitting alone and looked extremely tired. When the worker initiated a conversation with him, he realized that he could not speak or hear. Through sign language, he made it clear that he was hungry and wanted sleep. The worker immediately gave him food and asked him whether he wanted to go home. Mohan agreed and started walking with him. The worker decided to take him directly to the shelter where he was fed and slept throughout the next day.

The following day, when the counselor started to talk to him through sign language, Mohan showed a place called Nadiad on the map of India. He showed through actions that his father had beaten him, however, he wanted to go back to his family. He wrote his parents name on a sheet of paper but the police and the Gujarat Childline were unable to trace his family.

Every time Mohan expressed his desperation go home, his eyes welled up with tears. A decision was taken to escort him to Nadiad city in an attempt to find his family. They went to the nearby local train station where Mohan exchanged glances with a hawker. Sachin spotted this and approached the hawker. He mentioned that he had seen him in his village and was able to give directions. The moment they started heading towards that village, Mohan looked relaxed and began to smile. At the village, he guided Sachin to his house.

His parents were overwhelmed with joy to see Mohan. Sachin assisted his parents to admit Mohan to a special school.

Sachin was tired; however, when he saw the expression of Mohan's parents seeing their son after a long time, his tiredness disappeared.

To find out more about the railway children charity visit their website. http://www.railwaychildren.org.uk