Send a Child in India to School for a Year

For the first time in three years, Githmal did not go to Gujurat to work in the cotton fields. His eldest brother, who usually tends the fields at home, has gone in his place. In Gujurat he made 100 rupees a month, 20 of which were deducted for meals and accommodation. In the end, he received closer to 80 rupees a month. At 13 years old, Githmal has only attended one month of school several years ago. His inability to read, write or count proved especially challenging during his work in Gujurat where he was not quite sure if he was receiving fair wages for the work he was doing and could not fully advocate for himself.

When he was still an infant, his father developed a mental illness and was unable to work or care for the family. Githmal and his elder brother were then looked upon to financially support their mother and two younger sisters. Over the past year and a half, however, Githmal’s sisters, who are now older, have begun helping their mother at home, tending to the livestock (2 oxen and 5 goats) and fields. One of his younger sisters, Lanka, is also attending camp with him. Lanka also attended a Shiksha Kendra/NFE last year.

Both his mother and brother urged him to attend camp this year after a Seva Mandir Zone coordinator visited their village to inform the community about the upcoming camp. Before coming to camp he considered enrolling in a local Non-Formal School like his sister. Yet when he went, he was discouraged by how young the children were and felt that he was too old to join the class. When he saw the bus loading up to take children from his village to the residential camp at Kaya this month he saw that there were older children and thus felt at ease about attending.

Githmal likes his teachers, the camp and the atmosphere at the residential learning camp. He is enjoying both Hindi and Math subjects. He does not want to return to work in the cotton fields and is hoping to enroll in an NFE and tend to the field at home. He would like to continue his studies even after marriage and would like to marry an educated girl. Yet he is not sure whether that will ever happen. When asked about what he would like to become, Githmal responds with a stark wariness beyond his years “I don’t want to dream big. I will take things as they come.”

Inspirational stories, like Githmal’s, are not in short supply at Seva Mandir. Each day teachers and other stakeholders of the education provided at Shiksha Kendras/NFEs see the benefits of Seva Mandir’s work in the eyes and heart of the children.

Thanks once again!

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We would like to thank you for your support during the Photo Contest 2012. Our photo came 3^rd out of 69 entries and we are truly grateful for all your help. Below this letter, we have attached the annual report for our project so that you are able to see how exactly your donations are creating real change.

This year…

• 11 new Rural Schools (Shiksha Kendras) opened across Rajasthan. Our total schools now stands at 178, reaching 5,861 children, 43% of which are girls, in the five rural blocks in which Seva Mandir works.
• 20% of students scored level 3 in their end of year exams, compared to the 10% that achieved this in 2010.
• 24 newly employed teachers attended 6-day initial training sessions, and 84 existing teachers participated in advanced training.
• 36 teacher meetings were attended where instructors are able to discuss and find solutions to classroom difficulties.
• Parent teacher meetings are encouraging local attitudes to turn towards and accept the importance of education for rural children.
• English Language Teaching is to be brought in all the five blocks. Local teachers have decided that this will strengthen both child and teacher capacity.
• First Aid Kits have been brought to Shiksha Kendras in one of the blocks.
• Bal Melas children’s fairs have been reaching hundreds of children across Girwa Block.

Across rural Rajasthan, children attending Shiksha Kendras are achieving higher learning outcomes than those in regular government funded schools. However, their future existence is currently under threat, due to the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE) 2009.

The RTE Act prescribes a set of criteria for all educational institutions in India, aimed to promote qualified teachers and decent learning facilities for children. However, their measures are strictly related to human and physical infrastructure instead of learning outcomes. For example, a school under the RTE Act must have rooms of a specific size, running water, toilets and teachers with certain qualifications and salaries.

Although the act aims to inspire rights, in the context of rural Udaipur, there is an enormous shortage of qualified teachers. Teacher absenteeism is also high in most government schools, but these ground issues are not being tackled by the government. Instead, the act simply outlaws informal education centres such as Rural Schools, essentially limiting and removing people’s choices and ability to advocate their children’s education.

In response to this, Seva Mandir is undergoing great efforts to prove to the government that there is an urgent need for non-formal education, at least until official institutions are capable of delivering quality teaching. The following annual report displays the progress we’ve made this year and hence, the reasons why you should continue to support us in facing this challenge.

We hope you enjoyed reading this feedback. Please do share your thoughts on it.

With warm regards,

Deepti

• Annual Report, 2012 (DOCX)