The campaign, Every Child
Counts (ECC) under Door Step School, Pune works towards enrolment of out of
school children from migrant labour camps. ECC staff works closely with the
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)
and Zilla Parishad (ZP) Schools for these children’s admission. These children
get their admission under Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009. This allows them
to seek admission throughout the academic year without having to waste their
year as they migrate with their parents from place to place. All of this is
possible as the schools extend their support when approached. Sometimes it does
bring them discomfort as the process needs to be followed in the middle of the
academic session, sometimes several times in a year.
On Teacher’s Day every year from the inception of the
practice, ECC team organises a small celebration in schools covering PMC, PCMC,
Haveli and Mulshi Talukas. The selection of these schools is mostly done on the
basis of fulfilling the need to develop rapport between the ECC staff and the
school staff. There were about 15 such schools selected this year in PMC, PCMC,
Mulshi and Haveli Talukas. Celebrations included participatory games such as
musical chair, balloon games, hula-hoop games, etc in-order to get them to have
fun and spend recreational time with their colleagues, something they often don’t
get to do. Initially, it was observed that the teachers hesitated to play. Later,
students encouraged their respective class teachers and cheered them. Teachers
then were given a pen and a greeting card as token of appreciation for the many
ways in which they support the ECC Campaign.
In closing, ECC team expressed the need to keep the
communication going in terms of providing them monthly progress reports of the children
enrolled in the school. And offered help if there is anything that the team
must know to further improve the operations.
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| Hula Hoop |
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| Hula Hoop |
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| Musical Chair |
