In this government-run school, students chill

Around 1,500 students in a government-run school in north-east area of the city sit on bare ground, instead of benches of classrooms.
Sugandha Pathak, New Delhi, December 28, DHNS:

Open Education

Sarvodaya Kanya Vidayalaya located in New Seemapuri have two school shifts, morning and afternoon. While the morning classes (7am -12.30 pm) cater to girl students, the afternoon shift (1pm-6 pm) is attended by boys. “On some winter days, the fog is so thick that we can't see what the teacher is writing on the blackboard. Sitting on the freezing cold ground makes us sick. We are too scared to complain to the teacher. When the weather becomes unbearable, we are asked to sit inside till the sun comes out. During winters specially, teachers don't teach, they like to sit in the sun. Then there is this constant disturbance due to noise coming from classrooms,” said Mariyam, a standard 7 student of the school.

For the last three to four years, students say, the school has made it mandatory for students from standard 6th to 8th on the ground in the open.

According to NGO, Pardarshita, which is working towards creating awareness about Right To Information (RTI) Act and Right to Education (RTE) Act, the school which has 3,100 students (in the two shifts) have only 28 classes to accommodate them.

“Over 1,000 students in the morning shift and over 1,200 in the afternoon classes sit in the open. Last year, we sent a written complaint to Delhi Commission for Protection Of Child Rights (DCPCR) regarding the poor infrastructure in the school last year, and written complaints from parents and students were sent to DCPCR on July 17, 2010. We also sent a complaint letter to Directorate of Education (DoE), but the situation remains the same. We have requested for tents or sheds to be put up, if not pucca class rooms, but are yet to any response,” said Rajeev Kumar.

Though the city's winters are difficult, the summer season is even worse, with temperature rising to 40-44 degrees Celsius.

“One summer day, my daughter Sabreen came back from school and started vomiting after which she fell unconscious. Later, she told us that she and many students sit in the open and that there were quite a few cases of children fainting and falling terribly sick,” said Mohammad Naim, a labourer. His two daughters, Sabreen and Aasmeen study in the school. Sabreen is now in Class 7. She has attended classes in the open since Class 6.

The students also said that there are few classes that are locked as they serve as store rooms for the school.

“These locked rooms have lots of garbage, broken desks etc. We have asked teachers to open these rooms. We even volunteered to clean the rooms. But the teachers refuse to listen. In summers, we try to sit under the shade of trees on the ground, but it gets difficult during rain. The students are allowed to take shelter inside the class rooms for some time. With such to and fro, when do we study?” asks Sajid, who attends the afternoon shift. He is now in Class 10 and has spent considerable amount of time sitting in the open.

A few students tried to talk to the principal, but he had no answers. “The principal said I know you people sit out in the open, but nothing can be done right now about it,” said Kajal, a Class 11 student.

Delhi schools default on providing information on poor quota

ABHIMANYU SINGH  NEW DELHI | 18th Dec 2011

number of Delhi-based government-aided private schools, including Sanskriti, Delhi Police Public School and Jindal International School, have not provided any information to the Delhi government about the number of children they have admitted under the Economically Weaker Sections quota in the current year. Or they have provided the information considerably late. Delhi government's Department of Education is mandated to maintain a list of all government aided private schools, along with data on the fulfilment of the EWS quota, on its website, as per a notification issued by the Delhi government. The Right to Education Act stipulates that all government aided private schools should admit 25% children under the EWS quota every year at the entry level. In the case of Sanskriti, which is run by the wives of Central civil servants, the DoE released the list of children admitted under the EWS quota after a gap of almost six months. The last date for schools to provide the information was 30 July. This development comes after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the Central Information Commission intervened in the matter. Following a complaint by a city-based RTE activist, Ritu Mehra, the Central Information Commission took note that the schools had not provided the information despite the Delhi government directive ordering the Directorate of Education to collect and publish the data. The schools contested the CIC's order in the Delhi High Court. The court upheld the CIC's order. In spite of this, Sanskriti did not provide the required information. So the NCPCR had to intervene and ask the school to comply with the order. A source in the principal's office at Sanskriti said, "We had sent the information to the Directorate of Education. However, complete information could not be sent because of a technical error on our side about which we were not aware. After we got the Commission's letter, we sent the full information again." The authorities of the Delhi Police Public School and Jindal International School could not be contacted despite several attempts. RTE activist Ritu Mehra said that she was surprised that many of the children admitted in Sanskriti under the EWS quota came from far-off places. The school is situated in Chankyapuri. "Under the EWS quota it has admitted students who live in Gurgaon, Patel Nagar, IP Extension, Janakpuri and Palam Vihar. It will cost these students at least Rs 1,500 a month on conveyance. I wonder how they can come under the EWS quota," said Mehra. Some schools contested that they could not fulfil the quota for the current year because of lack of students. Raj Kamal, the head of administration at Green Valley International School, said that they were not approached by anyone seeking admission under the quota: "We are ready to give admission under the EWS quota. But we received no applications in this regard. How can we admit children in such a circumstance?" Some other schools claimed that they had sent the data to the Department of Education, but the latter failed to upload the same on its website. Parvati Ramachandran, the head of administration at Florence Public School, said, "We have fulfilled our quota and sent the list to DoE." Mehra said that the schools employ delaying tactics in order to hide the fact that they have not fulfilled the quota. "It is easy to say that they have fulfilled the quota when they might not have done so. They also wilfully delay sending the information so that it is not uploaded on time," said Mehra.

MCD schools flout RTE norms

Some classrooms have more than 100 children, only one teacher

Jasleen Kaur | New Delhi | December 21 2011

 

The schools of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) are not adhering to the norms of the Right to Education Act (RTE) Act. Information gathered through RTI queries reveals that many of these schools do not meet the prescribed pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) norms mandated by the law and there is more than one class being conducted from the same room.

In MCD School New Seema Puri 1, four sections of class nursery with more than 130 children sit in the same room, room number six, with just two teachers. And the other two sections of the same class with total 70 children sit in class room number five with just one teacher. Not just there are more children in a single classroom but there are also fewer teachers. As the RTE Act says that in a primary school, for 200 children there should be at least five teachers.

Similarly, in MCD School New Seema Puri 2,120 children of two sections of class two sit in the same room with a single teacher. And two sections of class four with total 120 children sit in the same room with just one teacher. This problem is common in most of the MCD schools in the district.

Rajiv Kumar from Pardarshita, which filed the RTI, says that MCD has claimed that it has maintained the PTR in its schools. “We filed the RTI for 25 MCD schools but we got information for 20. The data is surprising. We can just imagine how so many children must be studying in a single classroom with just one teacher,” he adds.

In some other schools, where children of one section sit in one room, the average strength is more than what is prescribed in the law. The average strength in five sections of class five of MCD School Nand Nagri 0-1 is 46, whereas in Nandnagri 0-2, the average strength in class five is 54 and in class three it is 63.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, which was implemented in 2010, stipulates a variety of norms that all schools must adhere to. One of the most important aspects is the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR). The law prescribes a PTR of 30 or less for schools with less than 200 enrolled students and 40 for schools with greater enrollment.

Recruitment

Pardarshita has been working with poor and marginalized people in Delhi since 2005, and reaching out to thousands of people. We are working with women, children and urban poor to collectively address poverty, quality education and injustice.

Pardarshita is looking for motivated and enthusiastic people to join our fundraising team as Fundraisers in Delhi and surrounding areas.

As a fundraiser, you will be connecting and enthusing larger masses for partnering our projects through child sponsorship. We are looking for fearless and optimistic communicators who work well in team.  

Key Responsibilities-:

• To communicate effectively and involve large masses in the activities of the organisation 
• To participate in all the sponsor campaigns, fundraising, public engagement and other Pardarshita activities
• To identify potential locations for organising fundraising campaigns
• To generate funds through face-to-face fundraising techniques 
• To achieve agreed targets for sponsor/donor acquisition
• To ensure confidentiality of information pertaining to Pardarshita

Desired Profile

• Should be a Graduate in any stream. Preferably with understanding and experience of individual / direct fund raising/ marketing through direct dialogue.
• Should have willingness to travel extensively across the given locations
• Should have a strong interest and commitment to work on the issues of the poor and Should share Pardarshita’s values
• Should be fluent in English and any local language
• Should have the ability to execute duties with an inspired and motivated attitude

Salary and Benefits:

• The incumbent will be on Pardarshita's pay-roll.
• Salary: Rs. 12,000 per month. Besides, staff will be covered under medical insurance, personal accident insurance and PF.
• Field allowance of Rs 100 per day.
• Encouraging work culture and prospects of good career growth within Pardarshita

If you are interested in this position, please forward your updated CV to pardarshita.recruitment@yahoo.com. If short-listed, we will contact you.