City Plus published news of School-on-Wheels by Door Step School with support from Regional Electrification Corporation.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
New School-on-Wheels Bus under CSR Initiatives of RECL
Door Step School, which provides education to underprivileged children at various locations in Mumbai and Pune and runs the School on Wheels program for the children of migrant and unsettled parents, has inaugurated a New School – on - Wheels bus on 17th of May 2013. The bus has been donated to Door Step School by Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Delhi under its CSR initiatives. Shri P.J. Thakkar, Director (Technical), REC, flagged off the School on Wheels, today in Mumbai, in the presence of senior functionaries of REC, Society for Door Step School and The National CSR Hub.
“The School on Wheels is a bus that is re-modeled and equipped with all classroom supplies including a computer, TV, DD player and educational audio visual learning material to serve as mobile classroom. The bus reaches out to children of certain locations or construction sites where even a temporary classroom cannot be built and therefore children have absolutely no access to education. The School on Wheels offers space for 20-25 children.
In a day, the School On Wheels visits 2 or 3 locations and 2 hour sessions are held in each location. It also doubles up as school transport whenever required.
The School on Wheels is also used as a mobile reading room for children from the neighbouring communities where they have access to a variety of books available in the bus. The bus is taken to certain communities in the evening for this purpose and parked in one place for two hours offering these services. This is very beneficial to the children who are capable of reading, but do not have access to books beyond school books”
The new School on Wheels Bus will assist in providing literacy to educationally deprived children at temporary road side dwellings and construction sites at Door Step School locations in Maharashtra.
About Rural Electrification Corporation
Rural Electrification Corporation(REC), Ltd., a Navaratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power ,was incorporated on July 25 1969, under the Companies Act 1956. Headquartered at New Delhi, its main objective is to finance power sector projects in the fields of generation, transmission, distribution and renewable energy all over India.REC has allocated budget @ 1% of Profit after Tax of previous year for FY 2013-14 for CSR activities, and is committed to undertaking sustainable projects under CSR initiatives. Focus areas for REC’s CSR Activities include Skill Development leading to creation of employment, Education, Promotional of Non-Conventional Energy sources, Healthcare, including projects for the elderly and persons with disability, etc.and its CSR activities are spread acroos the country.
About Door Step School
The Door Step School was established in Mumbai, India in 1988 and later expanded to Pune in 1992. Door Step School provides education and support to the often-forgotten children of pavement dwellers, slum dwellers, construction site families and many other underprivileged families. Many of these children are not enrolled in school and have limited access to books and a place to study. Annually, the Door Step School serves more than 50,000 children with literacy programs at over 140 locations in Pune and Mumbai. Each year more than 1500 children who would have otherwise gone without a formal education are enrolled in municipal schools.
“The School on Wheels is a bus that is re-modeled and equipped with all classroom supplies including a computer, TV, DD player and educational audio visual learning material to serve as mobile classroom. The bus reaches out to children of certain locations or construction sites where even a temporary classroom cannot be built and therefore children have absolutely no access to education. The School on Wheels offers space for 20-25 children.
In a day, the School On Wheels visits 2 or 3 locations and 2 hour sessions are held in each location. It also doubles up as school transport whenever required.
The School on Wheels is also used as a mobile reading room for children from the neighbouring communities where they have access to a variety of books available in the bus. The bus is taken to certain communities in the evening for this purpose and parked in one place for two hours offering these services. This is very beneficial to the children who are capable of reading, but do not have access to books beyond school books”
The new School on Wheels Bus will assist in providing literacy to educationally deprived children at temporary road side dwellings and construction sites at Door Step School locations in Maharashtra.
About Rural Electrification Corporation
Rural Electrification Corporation(REC), Ltd., a Navaratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power ,was incorporated on July 25 1969, under the Companies Act 1956. Headquartered at New Delhi, its main objective is to finance power sector projects in the fields of generation, transmission, distribution and renewable energy all over India.REC has allocated budget @ 1% of Profit after Tax of previous year for FY 2013-14 for CSR activities, and is committed to undertaking sustainable projects under CSR initiatives. Focus areas for REC’s CSR Activities include Skill Development leading to creation of employment, Education, Promotional of Non-Conventional Energy sources, Healthcare, including projects for the elderly and persons with disability, etc.and its CSR activities are spread acroos the country.
About Door Step School
The Door Step School was established in Mumbai, India in 1988 and later expanded to Pune in 1992. Door Step School provides education and support to the often-forgotten children of pavement dwellers, slum dwellers, construction site families and many other underprivileged families. Many of these children are not enrolled in school and have limited access to books and a place to study. Annually, the Door Step School serves more than 50,000 children with literacy programs at over 140 locations in Pune and Mumbai. Each year more than 1500 children who would have otherwise gone without a formal education are enrolled in municipal schools.
Monday, May 20, 2013
ECC Planning for June 2013
'Every Child Counts' Citizens' Campaign was launched in October 2011, to ensure Right To Education implementation in Pune city. The campaign was designed to involve citizens of Pune in taking every child to school. With help of individual and groups of volunteers in Pune, ECC could reach out to more than 2,500 out-of-school children during academic year 2012-13, out of which 1,300+ children were enrolled in nearby PMC schools. Efforts were taken to ensure regular attendance of these children in schools. Two major challenges were faced during this - one, lack of daily transport facility, and two, non-participation of parents in their child's education. With help of local NGO's, partner organisations, and private funding, ECC could arrange daily transport for few of these children. However, this was not possible in all cases, hence ECC team has been trying to convince PMC Education Board to make budgetary provision for school transport at all their schools. Since there is no confirmed action planned by them till now, ECC team and volunteers/partners are planning to arrange local transport from the day of admissions. To handle the issue of parents' non-participation in child's education, Door Step School and Every Child Countrs Campaign have launched a project to work directly with parents in Kondhwa area of Pune.
A meeting of ECC volunteers was held on Saturday, 18th of May 2013, to plan survey and admission activities for June 2013. Volunteers from various companies, institutes, organisations, and individuals attended the meeting and expressed their interest in volunteering for ECC campaign. After discussing current status and further plan of survey, volunteers chose areas according to their availability during next couple of months. Corporates like Fiserv, Cognizant, and Symphony offered to conduct survey and admissions in areas like Kharadi, Hadapsar, Baner, Deccan, Pashan, etc. The volunteers will carry out survey in two phases - one, to locate construction sites with labour camps, and two, to collect detail information of children to be enrolled. Volunteers will also visit local PMC schools and set up a dialogue with the school staff, to smoothen admission process.
From last year's experience, ECC campaign team expects more support from volunteers and corporates in arranging school transport from first day onwards. Although there are no solutions offered by PMC Education Board yet, and not enough funding provision available with campaign team, contributions from willing partners is highly anticipated. Let us hope for more support this year!
A meeting of ECC volunteers was held on Saturday, 18th of May 2013, to plan survey and admission activities for June 2013. Volunteers from various companies, institutes, organisations, and individuals attended the meeting and expressed their interest in volunteering for ECC campaign. After discussing current status and further plan of survey, volunteers chose areas according to their availability during next couple of months. Corporates like Fiserv, Cognizant, and Symphony offered to conduct survey and admissions in areas like Kharadi, Hadapsar, Baner, Deccan, Pashan, etc. The volunteers will carry out survey in two phases - one, to locate construction sites with labour camps, and two, to collect detail information of children to be enrolled. Volunteers will also visit local PMC schools and set up a dialogue with the school staff, to smoothen admission process.
From last year's experience, ECC campaign team expects more support from volunteers and corporates in arranging school transport from first day onwards. Although there are no solutions offered by PMC Education Board yet, and not enough funding provision available with campaign team, contributions from willing partners is highly anticipated. Let us hope for more support this year!
20th Anniversary of Door Step School (NGO)
Door Step School, the NGO working for education of underprivileged children in Pune, held their 20th anniversary function on 11th of May. Door Step School (DSS) teachers, staff members, volunteers, funders, and well-wishers attended the event in large numbers. Describing the journey of DSS over last 20 years, Founder-President Rajani Paranjpe said, “Education is the only solution to all problems like inequality, unemployment, poverty, and child labour etc. Hence, we started Door Step School 25 years ago in Mumbai and 20 years ago in Pune. Knowing that there is no alternate to elementary education in today’s times, DSS took up the challenge of taking underprivileged children to basic literacy level. Considering the migration issues of migrant workers’ children, DSS has been successfully taking the school itself, along with teachers and learning material, to their own doorsteps. DSS has been effectively reaching out to children through various projects like Reading Classes in Pune and PCMC schools, School-on-Wheels bus for street children, Study Centers for slum-dwelling children, School Transport for children living on construction sites, and Citizens’ Campaign to enroll out-of-school children in schools under Right To Education Act.” Mrs. Paranjpe also said that DSS got the strength of taking up all these challenges only through thousands of willing hands joining the literacy movement. However, mentioning that the goal is not yet achieved, she appealed that more organizations and individuals should join hands in taking benefits of education to every child in Pune. DSS teachers and coordinators presented annual reports of their projects in a different way. An exhibition of teaching aids prepared by DSS teachers was organized for the attendees of anniversary event.
‘डोअर स्टेप स्कूल’चा २०वा वर्धापनदिन
पुण्यातील वंचित मुलांच्या शिक्षणासाठी काम करणार्या ‘डोअर स्टेप स्कूल’ या सेवाभावी संस्थेचा २०वा वर्धापनदिन सोहळा ११ मे रोजी पार पडला. ‘निवारा’ वृद्धाश्रमाच्या सभागृहात आयोजित करण्यात आलेल्या कार्यक्रमास संस्थेच्या शिक्षिका, स्वयंसेवक, तसेच देणगीदार, व हितचिंतकांनी मोठ्या संख्येने हजेरी लावली. ‘डोअर स्टेप स्कूल’च्या पुण्यातील २० वर्षांच्या वाटचालीबद्दल बोलताना संस्थापिका रजनी परांजपे म्हणाल्या, “समाजातील असमानता, बेरोजगारी, गरीबी, अशा अनेक समस्यांवर शिक्षण हा एकमेव उपाय असल्याचे दिसून आल्याने २५ वर्षांपूर्वी मुंबईत व २० वर्षांपूर्वी पुण्यात ‘डोअर स्टेप स्कूल’चे काम सुरू केले. भविष्यातील कोणत्याही क्षेत्रासाठी मुलभूत शिक्षणाला पर्याय नसल्याने, वंचित गटातील मुलांना किमान साक्षरतेपर्यंत पोचविण्याचे उद्दिष्ट संस्थेने ठरविले. विस्थापित मजूरांच्या मुलांची स्थलांतराची समस्या लक्षात घेऊन, शिक्षक व शिक्षणसामग्रीसहित शाळाच त्यांच्या दारी नेण्याचा प्रयोग संस्थेने यशस्विरीत्या केला आहे. पुणे व पिंपरी-चिंचवड मनपाच्या शाळांमधून ‘वाचन वर्ग’, रस्त्यांवरील मुलांसाठी ‘फिरती शाळा’, वस्त्यांमधील मुलांसाठी ‘अभ्यासिका’, बांधकाम साईटवर राहणार्या मुलांसाठी शालेय वाहतुकीची सोय, तसेच शिक्षणहक्क कायद्यांतर्गत शालाबाह्य मुलांना शिक्षणाच्या मुख्य प्रवाहात आणण्यासाठी नागरिक अभियान, अशा विविध उपक्रमांद्वारे ‘डोअर स्टेप स्कूल’ शिक्षणप्रसाराचे कार्य करीत आहे.” संस्थेच्या २० वर्षांच्या वाटचालीत हजारो हातांची साथ लाभल्याने काम करण्याचे बळ मिळत गेले, पण अजूनही संस्थेने हाती घेतलेले काम पूर्ण झाले असे वाटत नाही; उलट, पुण्यातील सर्व मुलांना शिक्षणाचा लाभ मिळवून देण्यासाठी आणखी संस्था व व्यक्तिंनी पुढे यावे व हा जगन्नाथाचा रथ ओढण्यास मदत करावी, असे आवाहनही सौ. परांजपे यांनी केले. संस्थेच्या विविध उपक्रमांच्या गतवर्षातील कामांचा आढावा यावेळी घेण्यात आला. या उपक्रमांमध्ये काम करणार्या शिक्षिकांनी अनोख्या पद्धतीने वार्षिक अहवालाचे सादरीकरण केले. संस्थेच्या शिक्षिकांनी तयार केलेल्या शैक्षणिक साहित्याचे प्रदर्शन यावेळी लावण्यात आले होते.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Door Step School’s Parent’s Participation in Children’s Education team (PPCE) works with PMC schools to reach parents
Active involvement of parents in
Children’s education implies
- School drop-out rate resulting from long absenteeism is near zero
- Children do not remain out-of-school or are never enrolled due to parents attitude being casual or disinterested towards education
The parents of children who were
Irregular/ Consistently Absent from schools were identified as the first target
group for the Project.
In February, PPCE team worked
with 15 PMC schools (in the areas of Kondhwa and Mohammedwadi) and identified
the list of children enrolled during the academic year 2013-13 in Class I and
II and their attendance status (Regular/Irregular/Consistently Absent). The
team then tracked the children, identified reasons for their absence, worked
out solutions and persuaded their parents to send the children back to school. Overall 7% of the absentees (or 1% of
enrolled students) came back to school.
The team’s experiences in working
out solutions, persuading the parents of absentees and sending the children
back to school will be shared in the next couple of blogs.
 |
| Involved Parents |
Friday, May 10, 2013
ECC Volunteer Meet for 2013-14 Planning
Thank you for being associated with 'Every Child Counts' campaign. With your support and contribution, we could enroll more than 1,300 children in PMC schools last year. The schools will reopen for next academic year by 17th of June 2013. The work for finding out 6-year-old children has already started in some parts of the city. However, local participation of more citizen volunteers is highly needed to cover entire Pune city. To plan the survey and admission activities for next two months, we invite all existing and willing volunteers for a planning meet on next Saturday.
Date: 18th of May 2013
Time: 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Venue: DSS Training Center, Annabhau Sathe Vidyalay, Kumthekar Road, Near Shagun Chowk, Off Laxmi Road, Pune.
Find it on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/IdKS8
In this meeting, current status of the campaign will be shared with all volunteers, and further plan of action will be decided based on individual or group availability in various parts of Pune city. Please come prepared with your suggestions and preferences during next two months.
Let's get together once again to march towards our goal of total school enrollment in Pune!
Date: 18th of May 2013
Time: 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Venue: DSS Training Center, Annabhau Sathe Vidyalay, Kumthekar Road, Near Shagun Chowk, Off Laxmi Road, Pune.
Find it on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/IdKS8
In this meeting, current status of the campaign will be shared with all volunteers, and further plan of action will be decided based on individual or group availability in various parts of Pune city. Please come prepared with your suggestions and preferences during next two months.
Let's get together once again to march towards our goal of total school enrollment in Pune!
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