Education Scholarships for Child Laborers in India

FINAL GLOBAL GIVING REPORT – BRICK KILNS KIDS (BKK)

APRIL 2015:

Impact of this program and contribution of Global Giving & GG donors -

Since 2009, Lotus Outreach has been supporting migrant child laborers out of work and into schools through scholarships that provide free transportation and a small stipend in the Indian districts of Mewat and Palwal. Through our initial work in education advocacy, we discovered that hundreds of out-of-state children of illiterate migrants were laboring in the region’s 32 brick kilns. In the area, children as young as five work in horrendous conditions as brick kiln labor and cannot attend school. In addition to being of the lowest socio-economic caste, they were excluded from local government incentives because of their migrant status. Our program has been serving these migrant families by offering their children access to free, secure and consistent transportation to and from school and also a small stipend that has at various times provided such things as school uniforms, shoes, school-books, school bags and pullovers against the bone chilling winters, to ensure their children can stay in school.

With a tremendous amount of support from GlobalGiving donors, we were able to bring 2077 children from 32 brick kilns enrolled in three schools during the five years till date. This program was not only about access to education, it was also a continuous dialogue with illiterate villagers encouraging them to see the importance of educating their children in their efforts to break the cycle of poverty. Our work has to some extent reduced demand for the BKKs bus service that has been decreasing by year from 715 in 2009 to less than 100 by the end of 2014. We also recognise the impact of the Indian national rural work guarantee scheme (NREGA) in reducing migration by providing a minimum level of work for daily wage labor in their home villages.  

We are delighted than instead of migrated with parents, children that would have earlier been working in kilns and are now staying back at home in native villages, continuing their education and helping their grandparents left behind by the family. These children, about 12 years of age and above are now motivated to continue their studies and complete school education which can make them eligible for some skill training and then get a good work. We hope that once out of work at an early age of six or seven, the children develop interest in education and then are able to complete school education as their parents are also supportive and not forcing them to work at early age. We found that migrant parents do not send their kids to schools from the place where as they are considered outsiders and movements of their girl child out of habitation is considered unsafe. 

Great finish to a wonderful program: 

We had 30 students from brick kilns during the academic year after the families came back in November and December 2014. Five of them have graduated from the Primary school of Bhanguri and one of them, Laxmi, will now join our Blossom Bus and continue her education in Aharwan High school. She is hopeful of completing High school and looking forward to a bright future. In her words:

“I was coming to the school for last five years traveling on buses provided by Lotus Outreach and was not much interested in education in the beginning as I thought school would be too tough. Gradually I started learning a lot because of love and affection of our teacher and started loving education and company of my beloved teacher and my friends in school. My Brother Sushil has also graduated and will also join upper primary school in the nearby village. I believe that I will not be working 14 hours a day on the brick kilns to earn my livelihood when I am grown up and married to an educated person. I have also realized that education is necessary for all. Thank You Lotus Outreach.”

And a final thanks to GlobalGiving and donors for making it possible for the Brick Kilns Kids program to assist 2077 children of the most vulnerable families to escape the cycle of poverty!!