An Inspiring Story of Our Student Pallavi Gunjal

Heartening news comes to us about the achievements of Pallavi Siddhappa Gunjal from Supervisor Rupali Behere from the Community Learning Center at Door Step School.

16-year-old Pallavi started coming to our DSS 2 years ago. She is from a Kannada-speaking family. Her mother is a homemaker and her father a casual labourer. Her parents recognise the importance of education. Her father studied till Class 8 but her mother was not able to continue her studies after Class 3. However, it is her mother who inspires her to achieve her goals. Pallavi’s voice grows soft when she says her mother shows such great joy and enthusiasm every time she achieves something that it spurs her on to do better. Her brother and sister were not very interested in their studies, she says, so she felt she should support her mother by studying and achieving something. Her older brother started working after dropping out of school in Class 9 and an older sister, now married, who didn’t want to study further beyond her first year of college.

“When she first came” says Supervisor Rupali, “she was so reserved, it was difficult to get a word out of her. But slowly, she warmed up to the group activities that were presented by our teachers and started taking part in all the activities. As she gained confidence from the guidance, encouragement and praise our teachers gave her, she came into her own and started showing many talents, and started taking part in activities and competitions in her school too.”

In December 2022, she stood first in the Pune Talent Search Exam 2022, conducted on the occasion of National Mathematics Day. This won her recognition, praise and prizes from her school, which further motivated her to work harder.

In 2023, she stood first in Class 10 in Hutatma Rajgurunagar School, with 63% marks. “I made lot of progress because of the DSS classes”, says Pallavi. “As I experienced success thanks to the guidance I received here, it is my responsibility to help others here in their studies as much as I can”.

Getting to this point has not been easy for Pallavi. She has her share of household chores like cleaning and cooking - sometimes before school, sometimes after. Collecting water for the household is usually her mother’s responsibility, but Pallavi helps whenever she can. It is a very time-consuming daily activity, as the supply at the common taps shared by everyone in the tenements is only between 3 and 6 pm. Everyone rushes to stand in line. Study time is late evening, then.

Now, as she waits to start her new academic year in Class 11, Pallavi comes in to help other DSS students in the 7th , 8th , 9th and 10th classes in Maths. She explains that this helps her keep in touch with her own studies too. Her supervisor mentions that Pallavi is good at time management; and that sounds like one of her secrets of success!

Asked about her future plans and other interests, she says she wants to do Chartered Accountancy and study even beyond that. She is also very interested in mehendi and hairstyling. Pallavi says confidently that instead of settling for just one career, she would be a chartered accountant as well as a beautician!

Contributed by: Rupali Behere, Coordinator, Community Learning Center Program

Translated by Ms Gita Nair, Volunteer, DSS

Appreciation from Zilla Parishad Zalanwadi School

 Jilha Parishad Zalnewadi School was awarded The Door Step School for its activity organized under the Grow With Books Program. DSS was felicitated with a trophy and appreciated for their work. The Sarpanch of Zalanwadi, members of the village, the chairman of the school management, and other members of the organization were present for the felicitation program. They highly appreciated the work and effort of DSS, especially for being active during the covid years, in improving the academic performance of students. DSS team was also felicitated by the village members for this.

Contribution of Alfa Laval Team towards Scholarship Classes

 Door Step School has organized scholarship classes for students from 5th and 8th grades, through its Community Learning Center. Alfa Laval has taken complete responsibility for teaching these classes. For this, their team prepared a schedule for 6 months. From October 2, 2021, the classes were taken on weekends, taken by team leader Dhananjay Tokekar. He kept everyone motivated, and in the absence of volunteers, he coordinated with seniors in his office and his friends and took their help to complete the classes. He ensured that the classes were conducted as per schedule. Till now, almost 60% of the scholarship syllabus has been completed. Volunteers teach the students using different methods. Volunteers share information about chapters covered, over their WhatsApp group. This helps the students revise what's previously learned. The attendance for these scholarship classes is perfect. Students attend all the classes sincerely. The total number of students is 66, where 30 are from grade 5 and 36 are from grade 8. We appreciate this effort by the Alfa Laval team in conducting scholarship classes for our students.

ICICI Volunteer Activity

Apart from our efforts towards educating children and raising awareness about the importance of education, we also take efforts towards educating our team about other important aspects of living such as health, mental well-being, and finance among others. The ICICI Volunteer activity was an initiative towards raising awareness among our staff members about banking and financial management. This activity was conducted with the School on Wheels staff from October to January, in four sessions with the participation of 120 staff members. The session was taken in two parts; PMC and PCMC and a total of four sessions were conducted. A session was taken by Mr. Manik in an easy-to-understand language in which he explained how one should start saving from his/her salary and how recurring is a good way of saving. He also explained how to open a bank account and gave information about the various departments in a bank. He further explained terms such as cheque book, passbook, ATM and the meaning of credit and debit. This information was very useful for our teachers and the session also helped them understand various financial schemes in the bank. Schemes like Janadhan and Sukanya were explained during the session, which proved to be very helpful for our staff. 4-5 of our team members have opted for the Sukanya scheme. We are grateful to the ICICI Volunteers team for educating our staff members about banking and finances.

"१० दिवस विना दप्तरी शाळा" एक प्रयोग

आपण बऱ्याच वेळा आपल्या अवतीभोवती बोलताना ऐकतो " मला माझ्या आयुष्यात पुढील शिक्षणासाठी मार्गर्दर्शन करण्यासाठी कोणीच नव्हते!", "मला कोणी हे आधी सांगितलंच नाही की पुढे काय करायचं, सांगितलं असत तर आज मी यशस्वी झालो असतो!" असं बरच काही बोलले जात आणि हे खर पण असत. कारण आता पर्यंत त्यांना कोणी सांगितलेले पण नसते आणि शाळेत पण फार कमी सांगितलेल असते. आणि काही वेळा करिअर च्या टप्प्यावर असताना आपल्याला बऱ्याच गोष्टी माहित नसतात. पुढे काय शिकावं? कोणती फिल्ड निवडावी? ती फिल्ड निवडल्यावर काय करायचं? असं बरच काही माहिती नसते. त्यातही काही पालक शिक्षित असले तर आपल्या मुलांना मार्गदर्शन करतात आणि ज्यांचे पालक शिक्षित नाही ते असच मग मिळेल ते शिकतात नाही तर आहेच आपलं वेठ बिगारी काम. असो.... आपल्या देशात दर वर्षी किंवा काही ठराविक कालावधी नंतर वेगवेगळ्या सामाजिक प्रश्नावर उपाय म्हणून वेगवेगळे उपक्रम, नवनवीन योजना राबविल्या जातात. त्यात आरोग्य, विमा, बांधकाम , तसेच शैक्षणिक क्षेत्र असतात. अश्याच योजना पैकी "NEP २०२०" अशी योजना २०२० साली अंमलात आला. या योजने अंतर्गत ६ वी ते ८ वी इयत्तेत शिकणाऱ्या विद्यार्थ्यांना "व्यावसायिक शिक्षण" याची ओळख करून द्यावी अशी ही योजना आहे. मागच्या दोन ते तीन महिन्यापासून डोअर स्टेप स्कूल या स्वयंसेवी संस्थेतील “सुपंथ” या प्रकल्पा अंतर्गत NEP २०२० ही योजना “१० दिवस विना दप्तरी शाळा ( १० days Bag less) असा छोटा प्रयोग घेण्यात आला. या प्रयोगाचे उद्दिष्ट्ये असे आहे की, इयत्ता सहावी ते आठवी पर्यंतच्या विद्यार्थ्यांना वेगवेगळ्या व्यवसायाबद्दल मार्गदर्शन मिळावे, त्याचे महत्त्व त्यांना कळावे, तसेच त्यातून त्यांना पुढे करिअर निवडण्यासाठी त्याची मदत व्हावी. आपल्याकडे असे खूप योजना आखल्या तर जातात, पण त्यावर काम मात्र फारच कमी प्रमाणत होताना दिसून येत. किंवा खूपच कमी कालावधीसाठी त्या काही ठराविक ठिकाणीच राबविल्या जातात. NEP २०२० या योजनेची दखल घेत डोअर स्टेप स्कूल संस्थेने "सुपंथ " या प्रकल्पा अंतर्गत एक छोटा प्रयॊग पुणे महानगर पालिकेतील बावधन व कोथरूड विभागातील चार शाळेत राबवायला सुरुवात केली. या प्रयोगाला १० “दिवस विना दप्तरी शाळा”( १० days Bag less) असे नाव देण्यात आले. हा प्रयोग इयत्ता सहावी ते आठवी च्या विद्यार्थ्यासोबत घेण्यात आला. हा प्रयोग शाळेत घेताना सर्व नियम व अटींचे पालन करूनच घेण्यात आला. हा उपक्रम घेण्याआधी सुपंथ टीम मधील व्यक्तींनी व्यवस्थीत अभ्यास करून, नियोजन बद्ध पद्धतीने राबविला होता. या निययोजनात कोणती शाळा, कधी पासून हा प्रयोग राबवायचा, किती तास तो घेतला पाहिजे, कोण कोणते विषय विद्यार्थ्यांना सांगता येतील, अतिथी व्याखाने कशी असली पाहिजे, कोणत्या क्षेत्रातील व्यक्तींना मार्गदर्शनासाठी बोलवायचे असे उत्तम नियोजन केले होते. या प्रयोगातून मुलांना व्यवसाय शिक्षण म्हणजे काय? त्याचे महत्व, आणि स्वतःच्या आयुष्यात पुढे जाण्यासाठी याचा उपयोग कसा करू शकतात इत्यादी गोष्टी प्रामुख्याने सांगण्यात आल्या. या प्रयोगाचे शाळेत झालेल्या काही तासाचे वर्णन आहे. आज पर्यंत विद्यार्थ्यांनी व्यवसाय किंवा करिअर म्हणजे डॉक्टर, शिक्षक, गणवेशी सेवा( जिल्हाधिकारी) इत्यादींचा माहिती होत. पहिल्या दिवशी विदयार्थी खूपच शांत होती. त्यांना व्यवसाय शिक्षण असं काही तरी आहे हे माहीतच नव्हतं. आणि व्यवसाय शिक्षण म्हणजे काय? हे तर दूर राहील. त्यांना एखादा प्रश्न विचारला कि सर्व वर्ग एकदम शांत. ते कोणीही बोलायला तयारच नव्हते. मग सुपंथ टीम मधील आशुतोष सरांनी मुलांना बोलकं करण्यासाठी विद्यार्थ्यांच्या खूपच जवळच्या आणि आजूबाजूच्या विषयावर प्रश्न विचारायला सुरुवात केली. तुम्ही भाजी कोठून आणता? आजारी पडलात तर कुठे जाता? किराणा माल कुठून घेऊन येता? केस कुठे कापता इत्यादी त्या मुळे विद्यार्थी बोलायला लागली आणि त्यांना समजायला लागल अरे! हे तर आपल्या आजूबाजूचे व्यवसाय आहेत आणि आपण याचा कधी विचारच केला नाही. त्यांना व्यवसाय म्हणजे काय हे समजत होत आणि मग या साठी काही शिक्षण घ्यावे लागते का? याच उत्तरही ते स्वतः सांगत होती. पुढच्या तासाला त्यांना काही व्यावसायिक विषय देऊन त्यांना तो सर्व विद्यार्थ्यानं समोर मांडायला सांगण्यात आले आणि तो त्यांनी खूप आत्मविश्वासने खूपच सुंदर असं प्रदर्शित देखील केलं. यात विशेष म्हणजे विद्यानिकेतन शाळा नं ८ या शाळेतील विद्यार्थ्यांनी 'वाहन चालक' या विषयावर खूपच सुंदर भूमिका सादर केली असं वाटत होत आपण प्रत्यक्षात त्या बस मध्ये बसलोय आणि आजूबाजूला ते सर्व काही घडतंय. विद्यार्थ्यांना व्यवसाय जवळून अनुभवायला यावे म्हणून बाहेरील भेटी देखील झाल्या त्यातलीच एक भेट म्हणजे सोमेश्वरवाडी येथील 'ग्राम संस्कृती उद्यान'. या उद्यानात विद्यार्थ्यांना ग्रामीण जीवन, तेथील पारंपरिक व्यवसाय, गावातील शाळा, ग्रामीण भागातील रोजगार संधी, इत्यादी गोष्टी खूप जवळून बघता आल्या. या वरच आधारित आधुनिक काळात ग्रामीण व्यवसायचे आधुनिक रूपांतर याची थोडक्यात ओळख घडताना दिसली. उदाहरणार्थ "वाणी" - दुकानदार त्याचे आजचे झालेले सुपरमार्केट रूपांतर, शिंपी - आजचाटेलर आणि फॅशन इंडस्ट्री. या प्रयोगाचा अजून एक विशेष भाग म्हणजे अतिथी व्याख्याने यात वेगवेळ्या क्षेत्रातील काम करणाऱ्या व्यक्तींना बोलवण्यात आले. यात बागकाम, नर्स, संरक्षण दल, हॉटेल मॅनेजमेंट, कापड उद्योग, लॅब टेक्निशियनइत्यादी होते. व्यवसाय करणारी लोक जेंव्हा त्यांचा अनुभव सांगतात आणि त्याला अनुसरून विद्यार्थ्यांकडून जेंव्हा भरभरून प्रश्न येतात तेंव्हा खूप सुंदर असं वातावरण किंवा समज विद्यार्थ्यात दिसून येते. असे वेगवेळग्या व्यावसायिक क्षेत्रातील व्याख्यानामुळे विद्यार्थ्यांना हे व्यवसाय समजायला खूप मदत झाली. मुख्य म्हणजे त्यांना हे समजले कि कोणताही व्यवसाय छोटा नसतो. जर मेहनत घेतली तर ते त्याचे नाव परदेशा पर्यंत पोहचू शकतात. तेच काम खूप मोठ्या प्रमाणात करू शकतात. उदाहरणार्थ अनुजीत सर च्या तासाने मुलांना शिंपी हा व्यवसाय आज किती मोठ कापड उद्योग बनू शकते आणि तीच इंडस्ट्री फॅशन इंडस्ट्री म्हणून ओळखली जाते हे विद्यार्थ्यांना समजावून सांगितले. एकंदरीत डोअर स्टेप स्कूल संस्था “सुपंथ” या प्रकल्पा अंतर्गत खूपच सुंदर असा प्रयोग शाळेत चालविला आहे. या प्रयोगात पहिला दिवस आणि शेवटचा दिवस यात खूप मोठा बदलही दिसून आले तो म्हणजे जे विद्यार्थी पहिल्या तासाला लपून लपून बसत होते आता तेच विद्यार्थी सर पुढचा तास कधी असं विचारत होते आणि ते विचारताना त्यांच्या चेहऱ्यावरचा तो आनंद आणि आत्मविश्वास खूप काही सांगत होता. आणि हे सगळं पाहून सुपंथ टीम ला सुद्धा एक वेगळाच उत्साह देत असे आणि समाधानही,आणि या पुढे मुलांना अजून काय काय देऊ शकतो याचा विचारही. अशा प्रकारे हा १० दिवस विना दप्तरी शाळा हा प्रयोग उत्तम रित्या पार पडला. या प्रयोगाच्या शेवटच्या दिवशी अतिथी म्हणून पुणे महानगर पालिकेचे शिक्षण विभागाचे अधिकारी देखील उपस्थित होते. यात प्रकल्प अधिकारी आवारे मॅडम, पर्यवेक्षिका खाडे मॅडम, शाळेतील मुख्याध्यापिका, आणि डोअर स्टेप स्कूल संस्थेच्या संस्थापिका रजनीताई परांजपे या देखील उपस्थित होत्या. या सर्व व्यक्तींनी या प्रयोगाचे भरभरून कौतुक सुद्धा केले. या सर्वांच्या शुभेच्यांने या कार्यक्रमाची सांगता झाली. आणि पुढे हि हे काम असेच अनेक शाळेत राबविले जावेत यासाठी देखील शुभेच्या देखील दिले गेले. विजयालक्ष्मी पोकलवार

National Science Day at School on Wheels, Theur

 While many think that children have to be instructed about every little thing, some of our students proved this wrong. With just a little impetus from our team, these young minds worked wonders and celebrated Science Day in their own creative way. See how! In the class of School on Wheels at Theur, the students had been informed about National Science Day. Using household things, the students came up with science projects and conducted experiments. This was really commendable given that the children worked on their own, using their imagination power and scientific knowledge.  This is a good example of how kids learn from their surroundings. They can see the science in daily little things and apply a scientific approach to them. We are really proud of these students.

Our Visit to Anuraj Site: An Initiative to Inculcate the Habit of Reading in Children

Today, me and Mr. Phadke had been to Anuraj Sugar Factory site, to distribute books to children, wherein parents were going to buy books based on their children's reading ability.

When the children would move to a new place, they would have these books and some children could also be given books of a level higher than their reading ability. Parents were informed about this. Teachers on the ZP School Pimplachi wadi were also informed about this. These teachers had got children of grades 3 and 4 to the factory site. These children had also got their parents along.

At first when the children were given books to handle, they got engrossed in reading. In that time, we showed the books to teachers. Many of them selected DSS books, and said that they liked the Jodakshar book in particular.

Thus our book giving program got a good7 response from parents, children and teachers. Before concluding, children explained what they read from the books given to them.

Teachers, children and parents together have bought Door Step School Publication's books worth Rs.2146. Teachers liked the books and said that if these books are brought for the Center teachers' meeting, all teachers will purchase the books.

At this program, we also told the factory workers' children about the importance of education. They realized that they have indeed benefitted from the study classes being conducted for them for the past three months.

This activity was a fulfilling experience for everyone and we are happy that we are seeing some success in our goal to inculcate the habit of reading in our students.