Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 Door Step School Annual Report ===================================== Door Step School-Mumbai Jagannath Shankarsheth Municipal School Bldg., 2nd floor, Room No 54/55, Nana Chowk , Grant Road, Mumbai -400 007 Phone:022 -23826343 Fax :23859203 E mail : [email protected] Door Step School-Pune 110, Parimal Anand Park, Aundh, Pune 411 007 Phone: 9520- 25898762/25432165 E mail : [email protected] do visit us on www.doorstepschool.org www.doorstepschool.org - 1 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 Foreword Often in our line of work successes are fewer than the frustrations we face. And then comes the strength to go on. This year it came from a rather unconventional young crusader- 9 year old Hiresh Limaya Valmiki. When Hiresh was not in class, which was for the better part of the day, his untiring teacher knew where to find him. He would be scavenging around the community garbage heap. The metal and plastic scrap he gathered fetched him about Rs. 50 every day. He saw no reason to give up such a good source of income just to learn a few letters. His teacher’s perseverance though paid off when many months later as his interest grew, he not only became a regular in class but brought with him 8 more fellow scavengers. This year he successfully appeared for the Std II exam. It is these stories that make the work we engage in matter. Statistics and numbers are meaningful but do little to convey the impact on lives. Rajani Paranjpe & Bina Lashkari President Director www.doorstepschool.org - 2 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 Smt. Rajani Paranjpe receiving the award on the 26th of January 2008 Every year, Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha honors a woman social worker for her dedicated social work in social field or in educational field. This is done by awarding her a the “Baya Karve Puraskar”. This ‘Puraskar’ is being awarded since 1996-97. We are happy to share with you that this year the Baya Karve Puraskar has been awarded to Mrs. Rajani Paranjpe, one of our founder member and current President, for her work in the educational field. Mrs. Paranjpe is an inspiration to the entire Door Step School family www.doorstepschool.org - 3 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 INDEX Content Page No. 5-34 MUMBAI PROJECT DOOR STEP SCHOOL 5 Mission, Vision, Goal, Core Values INTRODUCTION 6 COMMUNITY BASED INTERVENTION 6-22 Balwadi (Preprimary ) 7 Non Formal Education Classes 10 Study Classes 13 Community Learning Centre 16 Computer Centre 18 Bal Samuha 19 Bus Service 21 ENROLMENT IN MUNICIPAL SCHOOLS 23 SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP PROJECT 24 TRAINING 27 PROGRAMME AT COMMUNITY AND ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL 31 FUTURE PLAN 34 PUNE PROJECT 37-67 INTRODUCTION 37 JOURNEY TO EXPANSION 37 DIRECT EDUCATION 41-50 Balwadi (Preprimary ) 42 Study Classes 42 Non Formal Education Classes 45 SUPPORTIVE ACTIVITIES 51 PROJECT GROW WITH BOOKS 53 (Reading Classes and related activities) OTHER ACTIVITIES 61 TRAINING CENTER ‘PARIVARTAN’ 64 PUBLICATIONS 65 ROLE OF VOLUNTEERS 65 FUTURE PLANS 66 APPENDIX 1: LIST OF PUBLICATION 67 EXECUTIVE BODY MEMEBRS 68 ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY 68 THANKS TO • Our Major Project Partners 69 • Our Other Supporters And Well Wishers 70 • Visitors 71 • Volunteers • 71 BALANCESHEET 72-75 www.doorstepschool.org - 4 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 DOOR STEP SCHOOL – MUMBAI ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008 Mission All children deserve an education. An alarming number of India’s urban poor still remain without an opportunity to receive formal education. Our mission at Door Step School is to bridge this divide, using innovative programmes that will bring education to these children and help them make the transition to literacy and a brighter future. Vision To be an instrumental force that brings development to children Goal Primary education for all children up to 14 years of age Core Values • Respect for the community and children • Focus on development • Maintain high Quality standards • Participation of all stakeholders in the development process • Empathy towards those less privileged • Integrity and Openness in all activities undertaken Removed photograph www.doorstepschool.org - 5 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 INTRODUCTION At Door Step School, the year 2007-08, we moved into our second year of Organisational Development. In 2006-07, the efforts had begun in partnership with Avalon Consulting and with Dasra. This year, we devoted even more time to thinking and rethinking our targets and the resources we would need to achieve them. It has been a great learning exercise, bringing even more of a professional touch to our work. It was the first time that we looked at planned growth and all that would go into achieving it, which would involve a good deal of recruiting. We hope to begin implementation of this in 2009, once we have most of the resources in place. While we struggled with what will be, our team in the field worked hard to ensure that all projects were on track. Some developments like the MCGM’s Slum Rehabilitation drive affected the targets we had set for this year, but we look on that as a change for the better for the families that benefited. Position of Door Step School Community Based Classes In Mumbai & Pune 2007-08 In Mumbai * In Pune No. of No. of Type of Class units Boys Girls Total units Boys Girls Total BALWADI 37 588 666 1254 47 832 872 1704 N F E 36 343 532 875 64 754 924 1678 STUDY CLASS 49 634 504 1138 37 360 338 698 Total :7347 112 1565 1702 3267 148 1946 2134 4080 NB: Approximately another 22,000 children are covered through direct intervention in corporation schools in both cities. Removed Photograph www.doorstepschool.org - 6 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 BALWADI Distribution of Children Attending Door Step School Balwadi Ward Balwadi Units Boys Girls Total A Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar 4 57 59 116 (Punarvasit) Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar (Main) 2 43 35 78 Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar – Ext 2 36 37 73 Colaba Municipal School 3 52 53 105 Ganesh Murti Nagar 2 36 28 64 Garib Janata Nagar 1 5 23 28 Mahatma Phule Nagar-Nariman 1 10 14 24 Point Shivshakti Nagar 1 23 20 43 B Masjid Bunder- B Ward 3 38 48 86 School On Wheels –II Wadi Bunder 1 17 15 32 E Boat Hard Street 1 19 20 39 Darga Galli 1 16 15 31 Hariyana Gate 1 14 14 28 Hey Bunder 1 15 14 29 Kawla Bunder 1 23 22 45 Kolsa Bunder 1 9 9 18 Lakadi Bunder 1 17 13 30 MOD 1 20 17 37 New Tank Bunder 4 69 91 160 Pardhiwada 1 15 32 47 Powder Bunder 1 11 19 30 Reti Bunder 1 17 22 39 School On Wheels -II Reay Road 2 26 46 72 Grand Total 37 588 666 1254 Door Step School’s efforts to identify and enroll preschoolers in the balwadi programmes continued this year. The basic objective remained that of preparing the children using a variety of language and math readiness activities. Efforts at creating a conducive learning environment and an inducement to continue towards formal schooling were also sustained. In an effort of provide an age appropriate intervention the children whose ages were recorded as 4years or more were placed in the Sr. Group and the younger ones in the Jr. group. However, when it was time to enroll them in school in June, many were refused admission on the grounds that they were too young. Discussions with our team revealed that the age given by the parents at the time of registration was not accurate. To prevent this situation from recurring we are trying to identify a simple way of determining if a child has completed 4 years of age. www.doorstepschool.org - 7 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 Ward wise Distribution of Children in Balwadis (2007-08) Jr. Sr. Grand No. of Ward Total Units 3-4 yrs. Over 4 yrs. M F Total M F Total A 16 157 154 311 105 115 220 531 B 4 34 29 63 21 34 55 118 E 17 163 188 351 108 146 254 605 Total 37 354 371 725 234 295 529 1254 58% 42% Total of 41 balwadis had been planned for the year, of which 3 in Ward A and 1 in Ward B could not be started. At the end of year, 317 children from the Sr. Group and 96 children from the Jr. group have been enrolled in formal school. Given that 127 out of the 317 in the Sr. group have discontinued during the year, the predominant reason being moving out of the community, expected 80% of this group have been enrolled in school. Forty eight percent of the children will continue with the balwadi in the coming year. The attendance of students in the balwadi is most regular, when compared to other Door Step School’s community based programmes Attendance of students in Balwadi Attd 0-20% 8% Attd 21-49% 23% Attd 50-100% 69% www.doorstepschool.org - 8 - Door Step School Mumbai & Pune Project Annual Report 2007-2008 Activities that were introduced last year for the Jr. and Sr. groups were continued and some new ones were introduced. Some of the new techniques / activities are: • Pairing of words to recall new words better. • Wearing “ghungroos” on their ankles was a great way to get a feel of rhythm and music through the melodious sound the children could create with the bells.