At this education centre, kids from slums excel in English, Maths

At this education centre, kids from slums excel in English, Maths

Tarannum Manjul

Posted online: Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2313 hrs IST

Lucknow, March 27
As the state government plans to teach English in its primary schools fro July, children from some 40-odd slums in Lucknow will be ready to fight it out with their private school counterparts.

In fact, some may even get the better of them, as despite not being enrolled in regular schools, these children - all between 6 to 13 years in age -- are able to recite poems, recall, identify and write alphabets and also frame small sentences and words.

Take 11-year-old Ruksaar of Chaandan Gaon slum near Picnic Spot road. She can recite the entire English alphabet series effortlessly.

Daughter of a vegetable vendor, Ruksaar has never been to school and was enrolled in this centre last August. And come July, she aims to go to a "proper school" for formal education.

Ruksaar is just one of the 3,035 underprivileged children in Lucknow, who are learning English, Hindi, Mathematics and personal hygiene and cleanliness for the past 9 months. They are a part of a slum education programme, run by the NGO Participatory Action for Community Empowerment (PACE) since October 2006.

Titled "Sunehara Kal", the project is supported by ITC and is one of the biggest corporate social responsibility initiatives of the company in Uttar Pradesh.

Said Thompson of PACE: "These children belong to a population which is not stable and hence are often deprived of basic rights like education. Through this programme, we teach them the basics of English, Hindi and Maths. The best of the lot are sent to the regular primary schools for formal education."

Last year, at the end of the first schedule in July 2007, PACE managed to send 334 children of an 1,800-strong group to formal schools. And the organisation has been following up on them to ensure that they continue school.

Incidentally, while surveys by the state government reveal that children of government primary schools are unable to do proper calculations till Class V and are not fluent in English, these slum children have shown that they can excel in both.

"Some children are enrolled in private schools since the government primary schools are far from their homes and hence they have to match the level of other regular students. In such cases, ITC supports these children by giving them books, uniform and other material," said Thompson.

The PACE is now trying to converge with the state government departments to get scholarships for these children.

"There are many state scholarships for children. We are trying to see that some of these children, who are mainly from the SC or minority communities, get that to continue with their education," Thompson added.

	Print Story
At this education centre, kids from slums excel in English, Maths Tarannum Manjul Posted online: Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2313 hrs IST Lucknow, March 27 As the state government plans to teach English in its primary schools fro July, children from some 40-odd slums in Lucknow will be ready to fight it out with their private school counterparts. In fact, some may even get the better of them, as despite not being enrolled in regular schools, these children - all between 6 to 13 years in age -- are able to recite poems, recall, identify and write alphabets and also frame small sentences and words. Take 11-year-old Ruksaar of Chaandan Gaon slum near Picnic Spot road. She can recite the entire English alphabet series effortlessly. Daughter of a vegetable vendor, Ruksaar has never been to school and was enrolled in this centre last August. And come July, she aims to go to a "proper school" for formal education. Ruksaar is just one of the 3,035 underprivileged children in Lucknow, who are learning English, Hindi, Mathematics and personal hygiene and cleanliness for the past 9 months. They are a part of a slum education programme, run by the NGO Participatory Action for Community Empowerment (PACE) since October 2006. Titled "Sunehara Kal", the project is supported by ITC and is one of the biggest corporate social responsibility initiatives of the company in Uttar Pradesh. Said Thompson of PACE: "These children belong to a population which is not stable and hence are often deprived of basic rights like education. Through this programme, we teach them the basics of English, Hindi and Maths. The best of the lot are sent to the regular primary schools for formal education." Last year, at the end of the first schedule in July 2007, PACE managed to send 334 children of an 1,800-strong group to formal schools. And the organisation has been following up on them to ensure that they continue school. Incidentally, while surveys by the state government reveal that children of government primary schools are unable to do proper calculations till Class V and are not fluent in English, these slum children have shown that they can excel in both. "Some children are enrolled in private schools since the government primary schools are far from their homes and hence they have to match the level of other regular students. In such cases, ITC supports these children by giving them books, uniform and other material," said Thompson. The PACE is now trying to converge with the state government departments to get scholarships for these children. "There are many state scholarships for children. We are trying to see that some of these children, who are mainly from the SC or minority communities, get that to continue with their education," Thompson added.