Some students of UoH are taking the responsibility of providing basic education to the children of migrant workers on the University campus
Taking teaching to new heights, the venture ‘Each one Teach one’ by UoH students successfully completes a semester. Each one Teach one is an initiative to provide free education to the children of migrant construction workers living inside the university campus. The programme formally started on 25th January with an interactive session involving student volunteers, parents and children.
“The idea was to urge individuals, institutions and, communities across boundaries to share the responsibility of education. Education can be a liberating force for their future. We named it Each one Teach one for highlighting the participatory role of education.” Says Nidheesh Kumar, a MA Communication student, who initiated this programme.
50 University students participated in this venture at different stages. Telugu, Hindi, English and Mathematics are taught to children as per the time table. Currently ten active members are part of the programme with 16 children attending the classes. So far 30 children have been benefited from this initiative at different stages.
Books, bags, footwear and apparels have been distributed to the children from the money collected from well-wishers of the program. This fund is also used for serving milk and snacks to the children every day at the end of the class.
To add more creative elements to the curriculum, art and dance workshops have been conducted with the help of students from Theatre Department. Game sessions are also part of this teaching programme with every Sunday reserved for gaming activities of various types. To familiarise children with the nature and surroundings, they are often taken to important landmarks in the campus including Peacock Lake and Flat rocks. On the day of Bhasha Divas on 22nd February, children performed a group song in front of campus community at DST auditorium.
Each one Teach one programme crossed an important mile stone on March 18, when 50 classes were successfully completed. The day was celebrated with medal distribution and photo session involving university faculties, students, parents and children.
“I am happy to see my son studying. He come home and share what he was taught that day. A, B, C, D, A Aa E Ee… It will help him if he can read and write.” Says Poornima, mother of Praveen who is attending the Each one Teach one classes. Praveen’s family hails from Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh.
Program coordinators often interact with the parents to make them aware of the importance of education. Counseling sessions for parents are also conducted to make sure that these children would be getting continuous school education once they go back to their native places or to a new work place.
This is the second successful child education venture by students in the University. The ‘Project Akshara’ supported by the School of Economics, with the objective to support government schools and encourage the government education system has been making remarkable impact in Govt. schools in Gopanpally village near the University campus.
By Priyanka Manikandan, MA-Communication