Dear Supporters, Well-wishers, Partners, and Friends of DSSF,
I am pleased to share with all of you this account of activities, observations, learnings, and facts from the year 2023-24. Our Annual Report is an opportunity to connect with you and keep the association alive and growing towards achieving our goal of universal education for every child. Your contribution in various forms has helped us keep our energy and motivation up throughout the year full of challenges and surprises.
During the last three decades of our presence in the city of Pune, we have continued our focus on developing foundational skills among children from the socio-economically disadvantaged communities, particularly families migrating from other districts and states to the city in search of better livelihood opportunities. What the parents, society, and the administration fail to acknowledge is the importance of foundational skills in the lives of all children, irrespective of their background. Without acquiring basic skills of communication and learning, along with proper nurturing and nutrition, it is difficult to survive, let alone succeed, in the dynamic socio-economic environment of today and tomorrow. The National Education Policy 2020 has dedicated an independent chapter on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) as an urgent and necessary prerequisite to learning and a National Mission has been launched by the Ministry of Education to implement the FLN programme across the country. The Policy has also acknowledged the lack of and need of access to Early Childhood Care and Education, along with importance of nutrition and health in learning of all children.
Banking on our experience of more than thirty years and taking into account the official focus on the foundational skills, we have enhanced our interventions at the community and school levels this year, by covering around 45,000 children at 135 community locations and 122 schools across the city of Pune. Since the last couple of years, we have expanded our scope to cover the adolescent and youth through vocational exposure and career guidance activities. We have continued working with the parents for a sustainable and consistent educational journey of their children. Starting this year, we have also integrated basic nutrition support at select locations in the city.
Our signature programme, School-on-Wheels, has reached a milestone this year, completing 25 years of taking education to the doorstep of the children in need. Despite the infrastructural and systemic inputs over the years as well as strong legislative provisions of free and compulsory education for all children, the concept of a temporary mobile school has not yet become redundant. During the reporting year, 9 School-on-Wheel buses could cover around 4,000 children across 41 locations in the city where even temporary classroom structure could not be raised or accessed. The programme will continue in the
coming years, with more innovative ways of utilizing the mobile infrastructure for the children and communities in need.
Apart from the trainings provided to all DSSF teachers and Book-Fairies at the start of and during their service period, the in-house training and networking team could also reach out to 16 NGO’s from 8 districts of the Maharashtra state, offering training, monitoring, and assessment support for their staff as well as teaching some of the children mobilized by them. I am happy to mention that we are taking these skills and methods to other states and languages with help of some funding and implementing partners in the coming years.
On behalf of the entire DSSF team, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters, well-wishers, partners, and volunteers, for believing in our vision and mission to educate every child. Thank you for making all this possible and let us continue working together in the coming years with a renewed rigour and passion.
With best wishes,
Prof. Rajani Paranjpe
Founder President
Door Step School Foundation
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