1. PROJECT: ‘EDUCATION FOREVER’
PLACE OF WORK: Kajheri, sector-52, Chandigarh.
TIME PERIOD OF WORKING: 15th
February till date.
ABOUT THE AREA:
Kajheri is a village cum slum area in sector 52, Chandigarh. The sector homes
numerous migrant workers from around the country. Majority of them being
from either Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. The men there have been working majorly as
daily wagers and the women as house maids. There is large scale poverty and
illiteracy and hence unawareness.
PURPOSE OF WORK:
The purpose of selecting the given area was to cover both a slum as well as a
village setting. Our basic purpose was to tackle the current need as well as the
problem faced by majority of the residents of the area. The need of the hour was
educating masses. Hence we focused on admitting children in schools.
METHOD OF WORK:
The first step we took was to finalize a team that would work regularly. After
finalizing the team our next step was regular interaction sessions with the people
of Kajheri, both from the village as well as the slum area. It was extremely
important to identify the major problems that the people of that area have been
facing. After rapport building and getting a deep knowledge about the situation of
the people there we finalized our field of work.
We as a team decided to work for improving the literacy rate of the area. From
the migrant worker’s families, there were many children who weren’t being sent
to schools. Educating a child could bring about a revolutionary effect in the family
as a whole. We aimed at admitting children into schools under the RTE (Right to

2. education) Act, 2005. The next step that followed was to identify the schools in
and around the area, as the parents had to admit their children within 1km of
their residences, as per the guidelines laid down by the Department Of Education
Chandigarh Administration. There were two schools that the children of the area
could be sent to, namely, Kajheri Government High School and Sector 52
Government High School. We then resorted to identifying the children who had
not been going to school. It was realized that it was majorly the slum area
population that had not admitted their children into schools. We then divided our
team into groups and started the process of identification of children and
convincing their parents to send them to school. After the identification of
hundreds of children who had been found roaming about in the streets aimlessly,
we had to figure out the problems we could have faced in the admission
procedure.
There were numerous problems that our team had to face, which was why we
could only admit 51 children into schools out of the total identified children.
Following were the major problems faced by the team during the entire process:
1. The population was illiterate and unaware about the provisions of the RTE.
They were hence afraid of spending money on the education of their
children.
2. Child labor was yet another issue being faced. The people there had
migrated to Chandigarh basically to earn money. Hence they were not only
working themselves but also had appointed their children into petty jobs.
The boys were generally working at Dhabbas or at motor repair shops. And
the girls were working as house maids. It was hence nearly impossible to
convince the parents of these children to send their wards to schools and
let go the money they had been earning.
3. The migrated workers did not have their identity proofs. This was because
during the process of migration and shifting, they either lost their
documents or left them at their native place. Hence the procedure of
admission became tougher, without the availability of proofs.
4. Because the population was migratory, many of them went back to their
hometown during the harvest season and came back after 2-3months.

3. During this period their children’s names were cut off from the school
registers. Hence we had to be very careful and admit only those students
who would actually attend school regularly.
5. Problems were also faced while dealing with the authorities. The schools
authorities were highly ill mannered. They were completely disinterested in
listening to the grievances of the parents. They did not guide them. Direct
rejection of their children’s admission forms was their method of
functioning. It was nearly impossible to get through to the principles of the
schools as they were absent from their office most of the time.
6. False unethical methods were being practiced by the school teachers to
identify the age of the children. A number of children were being rejected
on the bases of these criteria’s.
7. Misbehavior persisted not only on the part of the school authorities but
also the other officials from the sampark centers, court etc.
8. As the parents were daily wagers, it was difficult for them to take a leave
for such a long period from their jobs and focus on their child’s admission.
The main problem realized was the unavailability of documents of identity
proof and birth certificates. After confirming from the school authorities we
took the responsibility of getting affidavits made for children whose
parents did not possess any proof for their birth. This followed an inquiry
about the required information from the court. It was definitely not
possible to take 50-60 parents to the court hence we had to devise an
alternate plan. We collected the required information from the identified
families, and submitted the same at the notary in sector 43, District Court.
The affidavits were hence made in a couple of days.
The next task at hand was to convince the parents of the children to
educate their wards. Therewere a number of parents who didn’t want their
wards to be admitted into schools. They thought of education as wastageof
time and energy. Sending a child to school when he/she could work and get

4. money to the family was a baseless thing to them. We had 11days to
convince the parents as well as compiling the required documents, for the
admission procedure had to start from the 1st
of April.
From the 1st
of April, our team was divided into two groups. One group
stayed at the school, and the other brought the identified children and the
parents to school. Most of them had to be compelled to come over to the
school. The admission procedures were hence started. It was realized that
there are many other documents necessary for the admission procedure to
complete. We had been misguided by the school authorities earlier in
regard to the affidavits. Many of the school authorities were not even
accepting the affidavits. The documents actually required for the admission
were as follows:
1. The identity proofs of both the parents (adhar cards or the voter’s card).
In case the child doesn’t have parents, then of the guardians respectively.
2. The residence proof of the parents (if the adhar card doesn’t have a local
address mentioned).
3. The date of birth proof of the child, which could be a DOB certificate, an
immunization card, an affidavit or maybe an undertaking from the parents
as to testify the child’s correct age.
Our next challenge was to arrange the respective documents. For the same
we had to rush to the nearest sampark centre in sector 43. It was in the
sampark that the parent’s/child’s adhar card or the child’s birth certificate
had to be made. Even if the parents did not possess any identity proof, they
could get their adhar cards made by getting in written from a class 1
government official, the proof of their existence as well as residence.
Hence the process of admitting 51 students into 2 respective schools was
completed by the 18th
of April, 2015. Out of the 72 identified children,
many of them were under 5years of age who were hence admitted into
anganvaries. Some of the students who were to give their 10th
/12th
board
exams were admitted into National institute of open schooling, sector 11,
Chandigarh. In future we would like to focus on educating many more
children and also keeping a follow up of the students we had sent to school
to keep in check their steady growth and development.

5. PROBLEMS FACED BY THE TEAM MEMBERS IN THE
PROJECT ‘EDUCATION FOREVER’
LACK OF AWARENESS/ILLITERACY AMONG THE FAMILY MEMBERS.
CHILD LABOUR.
MISBEHAVIOUR BY THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES.
UNAVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTS.
UNETICAL/FALSE METHODS USED BY THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES.
DISINTEREST AMONG THE PARENTS/CHILDREN.
EXCESSIVE REQUIREMENTSPUT FORWARD BY THE SCHOOL
AUTHORITIES FOR PROVIDING ADMISSION DESPITE THE RTE.
ABSENCE OF CHILDREN FROM THE SCHOOLS FOR MONTHS
TOGETHER AFTER BEING ADMITTED.

6. CONCLUSION:
It is extremely important to educate all children of our society. The children
of today are the backbone of our country’s tomorrow. Educating a child
could help in abstaining him/her from getting involved in criminal activities.
Educated children could not only build a better family for themselves, but
also help in building a better society. We might have taken a step towards
this goal, but just a step isn’t enough. A long journey still awaits us.
PEOPLE WORKING ON THE PROJECT:
Ms. Garima Chauhan (MSW 2nd
sem.)
Mr. Daljit Singh (MSW 2nd
sem.)
Ms. Kamalpreet Kaur (MSW 2nd
sem.)
Mr. Gagandeep Singh (MSW 2nd
sem.)
Mr. Shashi Kant Singh (MSW 4th
sem.)