2002

Enrolling children in school at the ‘right age ‘ by identifying ‘ out of school ‘ children in the age group of 6 to 14 year, adopting a holistic approach to retain their interest in school , and providing a ' second chance' to the drop-out youth.

We are trying to minimize school drop-out among the underprivileged children by adopting a holistic approach. During a recent micro-level study conducted by IDEA in four urban slums in Pune with a child population of 658 ( 6 to 14 years) identified 71 out of school children. Though some of these children are enrolled in school, they rarely go to school. This is because the education system is unable to retain their interest in school. These children are potential drop-out. Similarly , there are many drop-out children who are in their adolescent stage and without the capacity to get a skilled job . Our interventions are now focused on these two target groups.

Early stages of education need to be interesting to retain the interest of newly enrolled children from poor families, especially when the child is a ‘ first generation ‘ learner and there is less ‘stimulation’ from their illiterate parents for their all round development and education. Similarly inculcating a regular study habit right from the beginning is also important. A clear understanding of basic concepts will lay a strong foundation .If we address all these, along with educational support to the poor and needy, it is less likely that these children become a drop-out.

Along with enrolling children in school at the ‘right age ‘ by identifying ‘ out of school ‘ children in the age group of 6 to 14 year, we adopt a holistic approach to retain their interest in school , so that they do not drop-out of school.
Some of our activities are :-
1. A project to improve the quality of education in corporation schools. Under this project we have education through CDs ( Science & English for students of class 5, 6 & 7) ,remedial classes , training programmes for teachers , counseling services for children & parents , strengthening of parent teacher meetings and extracurricular activities for children . The idea is to create an interesting atmosphere for the underprivileged in school so as to retain their interest in schooling.
2. Identifying ‘out of school’ children and enrolling them in school. These newly enrolled children attend our study – cum –activity centres in slums. Children are taught through songs , educational games and through various educational related activities in these study centres.
3. Sponsorship programme for the needy & deserving children .
4. A facility for imparting vocational training to the drop-out youth, to give them a ' second chance'.

Society

Yes

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