Since the last 6/7 years, when I started as a CRY volunteer to anchoring Mumbaiites for Child Rights (M4CR) and finally deciding to go ahead and starting my NGO Citizens Association for Child Rights(CACR), there has not been a single day probably, when I have not spent a few hours thinking, discussing, meeting people from different walks of life and trying to sensitise them on issues related to condition of our municipal schools in Mumbai, meeting or talking to the hierarchy of the BMC Education Department, etc.
Even a holiday with my family did not allow my mind to rest, since on my way from Bagdogra to Gangtok, i was discussing with my taxi driver about the accessibility of government schools to the local children, and whether there were sufficient schools as mandated under the RTE Act, etc.
Surprisingly the taxi driver took a great deal of interest in trying to understand some of the important clauses of the RTE Act....and shared with me some very useful information like the Government Schools are managed by the State Education Department in Sikkim and not the local corporation and I was amazed.
It was a lesson for me that we should never underestimate the knowledge and understanding of people who might not be educated or qualified enough by way of degrees, etc.which they probably could not pursue due to various circumstances beyond their control...
Even when I was moving around various sightseeing places in Gangtok including a visit to the very beautiful destination of Nathula Pass, at a height of almost 14,000 feet, snow clad mountains and the proud fluttering of our Indian flag, very close to the Chinese border, there was this restless feeling and I had to request my family members to allow me the time and space to visit the State Education Department of Sikkim.
I just walked into the Office of the State Education Department and surprisingly was very well received and welcomed by the Director and Deputy Director of Primary Education as well as the Director of Secondary Education.
They were very co-operative and we had very good discussions and sharing of information on the functioning of the primary and secondary schools, managed by the Government of Sikkim, with close to 1,20,000 children enrolled in almost 350 schools.
We could discuss various important clauses of the RTE and its implementation, the mid day meal programme which is working very well and children getting good variety of meals every day including eggs occasionally.
Highlight of our discussions was the fact that they were extremely keen to know more about the IIT Computer Literacy Programme initiated by our NGO in BMC schools and she was more than happy to connect with the IIT Resource Team from Mumbai to take things forward.
I felt extremely happy with their response, since if the programme is implemented well in Government Schools in Sikkim, it will probably benefit almost 80,000 children enrolled in these schools...
This strengthens my belief that NGOs working within the framework and supplementing the efforts of authorities will make a much larger and sustainable impact.
After a very nice meeting with the authorities, I also had an opportunity to visit a Boarding School for orphan children, managed by a NGO Human Development Foundation of Sikkim, and once again it was a pleasure to interact with the Trustees of the NGO, who are doing a FANTASTIC Job in managing the school following CBSE curriculum with support from donors.
There are almost 400 children from all over the State of Sikkim, enrolled in this school.
While leaving I assured the trustees that we will try to help them by sending them information on the Computer Literacy as well as the Spoken English Programme soon and the smile on their faces expressing their gratitude was the best thing that I will always remember.
These few hours spent well definitely made my holidays much more pleasurable giving me a very good feeling for the rest of my trip back home.
Nitin_CACR
Even a holiday with my family did not allow my mind to rest, since on my way from Bagdogra to Gangtok, i was discussing with my taxi driver about the accessibility of government schools to the local children, and whether there were sufficient schools as mandated under the RTE Act, etc.
Surprisingly the taxi driver took a great deal of interest in trying to understand some of the important clauses of the RTE Act....and shared with me some very useful information like the Government Schools are managed by the State Education Department in Sikkim and not the local corporation and I was amazed.It was a lesson for me that we should never underestimate the knowledge and understanding of people who might not be educated or qualified enough by way of degrees, etc.which they probably could not pursue due to various circumstances beyond their control...
Even when I was moving around various sightseeing places in Gangtok including a visit to the very beautiful destination of Nathula Pass, at a height of almost 14,000 feet, snow clad mountains and the proud fluttering of our Indian flag, very close to the Chinese border, there was this restless feeling and I had to request my family members to allow me the time and space to visit the State Education Department of Sikkim.
I just walked into the Office of the State Education Department and surprisingly was very well received and welcomed by the Director and Deputy Director of Primary Education as well as the Director of Secondary Education.
They were very co-operative and we had very good discussions and sharing of information on the functioning of the primary and secondary schools, managed by the Government of Sikkim, with close to 1,20,000 children enrolled in almost 350 schools.
We could discuss various important clauses of the RTE and its implementation, the mid day meal programme which is working very well and children getting good variety of meals every day including eggs occasionally.
Highlight of our discussions was the fact that they were extremely keen to know more about the IIT Computer Literacy Programme initiated by our NGO in BMC schools and she was more than happy to connect with the IIT Resource Team from Mumbai to take things forward.
I felt extremely happy with their response, since if the programme is implemented well in Government Schools in Sikkim, it will probably benefit almost 80,000 children enrolled in these schools...
This strengthens my belief that NGOs working within the framework and supplementing the efforts of authorities will make a much larger and sustainable impact.
After a very nice meeting with the authorities, I also had an opportunity to visit a Boarding School for orphan children, managed by a NGO Human Development Foundation of Sikkim, and once again it was a pleasure to interact with the Trustees of the NGO, who are doing a FANTASTIC Job in managing the school following CBSE curriculum with support from donors.
There are almost 400 children from all over the State of Sikkim, enrolled in this school.
While leaving I assured the trustees that we will try to help them by sending them information on the Computer Literacy as well as the Spoken English Programme soon and the smile on their faces expressing their gratitude was the best thing that I will always remember.
These few hours spent well definitely made my holidays much more pleasurable giving me a very good feeling for the rest of my trip back home.
Nitin_CACR
