“Education for all” is something the Chandigarh Administration firmly believes in. Hundreds of children living in Colony Number 5, however, are no longer going to school, because the Government Primary School (GPS) in the area is already filled to capacity and cannot accommodate more children.

Two months ago, all these children went to government schools near the slum in Sector 38, where they lived earlier. Then these slumdwellers were moved to Colony Number 5. Now, the children, aged five to 14, have all dropped out. Residents of about 800 new slums in the extension of Colony Number 5 don’t have the means to pay for rickshaws or autos to take the children to their earlier school. As a result, these children end up whiling away their time at home.

Kalpana, a seven-year-old girl wearing torn jeans, has a shine in her eyes; she’s assumed you are in Colony Number 5 to ensure that she goes to school.

“Madamji hamara naam bhi likh lo, hum bhi school jayenge (Please write my name too, I want to go to school as well),” she says, grinning happily, her front two teeth missing.

Roshan, Farha, Rakesh, Chandariya, Aajib, Ajay and their friends jump up to catch your attention too — they all want to go to school.

The memories of happy times at school might still be fresh in the minds of the children; their parents, on the other hand, wring their hands in helplessness.

“I have four children and the auto driver demands Rs 300 to take each of them to school. My husband is a daily wager and we live from hand to mouth. How can I send them to the school they went to earlier?” Tarawati, who is among the slumdwellers moved from Sector-38, says.

... contd.