|
Project Name
Visit by: Vallabh/Mahesh
Date: April
2002 | | |
April 2002 We (Mahesh and Vallabh)
visited the "Paryavaran Ashram" run by CERT at Pura Mukand
village. The school had closed for the day, some children were
playing and we talked with them. After that we also talked
with one of the teachers. From these discussions we
ascertained the following- The school has been running
for the past 7-8 years in the land owned by CERT. A total of
120 children are enrolled, about 65-70 children attend
regularly. The children pay a fee of Rs 10/month. The teachers
are paid 600-700/month. Sri V.K Rai, secretary, gets a
fellowship from CRY. The organization owns about 1 acre of
land on which nursery work used to be done and this has been
discontinued for the present. The classes are run in broken
down rooms with the help of monetary contributions made by the
local community. Classes 1-5 are conducted in accordance with
the state board curriculum. The school operates everyday for 6
hours. There are government schools in the region but the
quality of education provided by them is abysmal. The
villagers mainly belong to the Musahar, Harijan, Yadav
communities. Others castes also live in these villages.
Children of all castes attend this school. Talking with the
children revealed that their learning level is at par with the
class they are in, which indicates that the efforts of the
organization are bearing fruit. The community helps with the
repair of the classrooms etc. Of the four teachers (translator
note- I can not read the names of the teachers written in
the site visit report), Shri Amarnath also looks after
the accounts. CERT is planning to work with disabled
children but has not started any work in this direction. With
the help of CRY, CERT is also working on the issue of child
labour in the Bhadohi area. From these discussions we
concluded that the organization is really making an effort in
the area of education. If the nursery work (growing herbs
etc.) is properly directed it is possible for the organization
to become self sustained. The organization should be supported
for 1 year after which an evaluation should be done before
thinking about extending support.
Vallabh/Mahesh
|
| | |