In tandem with the mission endorsed by the worldwide youngsters’s welfare physique UNICEF that “if a toddler can’t go to highschool, the college ought to come to them”, the Patiala district administration has opened a singular “Bamboo Faculty”.
Seeing that youngsters of brick kiln staff had been unable to return to a daily faculty and had been having no entry to schooling, the “Bamboo Faculty” has been opened proper on the office of their mother and father — the brick-kiln.
Although this eco-friendly makeshift faculty, with its construction comprised of bamboo, is way from perfection, however the initiative has opened doorways for youngsters of brick kiln staff to not less than have primary primary-level schooling, as a substitute of remaining out of college. Neatly dressed of their uniforms with their books in a bag, these youngsters are actually coming to highschool each morning, whereas earlier they’d both work with their mother and father at a brick-kiln, or roam idle for the entire day. The mission has been conceptualised by former Patiala deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray, who has just lately been transferred to Bathinda, with an purpose to teach evry baby.
In Patiala, beneath this initiative, bamboo faculties have been established at two brick-kilns- Kheri Gaurian and Massingan, serving 156 college students. The Bamboo Faculty at Massingan brick-kiln has already commenced operations, benefiting youngsters residing there. Nevertheless, what nonetheless stays a serious problem is the posting of a daily instructor. The schooling division is at present sending a instructor on a weekly roster foundation at Massingan Bamboo Faculty from different faculties.
Naib Singh, a instructor deputed on the faculty, mentioned: “These youngsters had been within the behavior of working with their mother and father at a brick-kiln so the foremost problem was to make them attend faculty every day. Now not less than 40-45 youngsters come each day, wearing uniforms and their hair neatly combed. Earlier than formal schooling, we’re instructing them primary etiquettes and day-to-day expertise comparable to initiating a dialog and so forth. Since they by no means went to highschool, every little thing could be very new and thrilling for them. They’re choosing up.”
Parray mentioned Patiala, a district with 119 brick-kilns, is dwelling to quite a few migrant households from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar searching for seasonal work. These households face vital challenges, significantly in offering their youngsters with steady schooling. The youngsters of those migrant staff, typically residing in brick-kilns and segregated slum areas, encounter quite a few limitations to schooling, together with the absence of close by faculties, transportation difficulties, and minimal parental help.
“These youngsters’s each day lives are marked by instability and unsafe working situations, which impede their entry to formal schooling. Moreover, they steadily expertise a way of alienation within the faculty settings, which contributes to greater dropout charges as they wrestle to adapt to the surroundings. To deal with these points, it was determined to open Bamboo Colleges within the brick kiln premises, to assist youngsters’s clean transition into the formal faculty system and guarantee they don’t really feel alienated,” mentioned Parray.
Aside from being eco-friendly and sustainable, the bamboo faculties are additionally cost-effective, mentioned Parray. “There is no such thing as a extra transportation value concerned as they’re inside brick kiln premises,” he added.
As of now, these faculties are outfitted with primary facilities comparable to followers. blackboard, electrical energy, consuming water, colourful benches, flooring and fibre sheds. College students have been given uniforms, books and they’re additionally served mid-day meals.
Their mother and father have additionally been suggested that even when they migrate once more to their dwelling state, they need to proceed their baby’s schooling, mentioned a instructor related to the mission.
