Get 10 000 children out of labour and into school

Jyoti Aher is a teacher at a preschool in Karule, a small village near Sangamner. When Jyoti joined, the school was struggling with difficult learning conditions, run out of a small room in a rented house that had many structural problems. Children were not coming to school regularly and some suffered from malnourishment.

With help from the project, Jyoti set out to turn the school around. The project has provided Jyoti with extensive training in childcare, education, nutrition and health sanitation, including malnourishment prevention training. The project also provided Jyoti with guidance about how to raise funds within the community to aid the preschools development.    

Jyoti raised enough money from the community to buy educational materials for the children, a cooker, and to nicely decorate the centre. She also contributed her own money to the centre, buying a small T.V and a chair.

Due to Jyoti’s efforts, one villager donated land so that a new, more suitable centre could be built. In this centre, Jyoti has created a good learning environment. Now the children have sufficient space to learn and play.

Her playschool educates 31 boys and 35 girls aged 0-6. Due to her work there are no malnourished children in the area.

Because of the project, Jyoti has become well trained in her work. She also takes responsibility for organising training for members of her local women’s self-help group.

Jyoti is thankful to the project and its supporters for supporting the transformation of her preschool and for positively shaping her future as a teacher. 

Chetan, 10 years old, is from Jakhuri village. He lives in a hut with his father, mother, sister and brother. His family belong to a marginalised nomadic community and are very poor. His father works doing physical labour, and his mother works as a day labourer when work is available. They earn very little, around £40 a month.

Chetan is a student at the local village school. However, his family could not afford to buy him the educational materials he needed for his studies. This made him feel inferior to the other children and due to his lack of confidence, Chatan stopped attending school regularly and began to fall behind in his studies.

With the help of his school teacher and the local women’s self-help group, the project was made aware of Chetan’s situation and was able to provide him with the educational materials he needed for school. The project’s staff also supported Chetan emotionally, giving him the confidence to continue with his studies. He understands that through studying well he could change his life.

With the project’s help, Chetan goes to school every day and works hard for his studies. Because he now has the same educational materials as the other children, he no longer feels the inferiority that was previously holding him back. He actively participates in the classroom, and is treated with importance and respect by his fellow classmates. He receives support from his teacher for his studies and his confidence continues to grow.

Chetan is now a good, hard-working student who is popular among his school friends.