EACH ONE TEACH ONE programme initiated by the UoH students enters fourth semester
The informal education programme ‘Each One Teach’ One initiated by the students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) is nearing two years of its completion. Started in January 2015 for the non-school going children of migrant construction workers in the University campus, the programme attempts to impart primary education to the children, so as to cover any lapses in their schooling due to continuous migration. For the last two semesters, the team has also been working in Lingampally slum area, where there are nearly fifteen families living adjacent to the railway station.
“The main aim of the programme is to raise awareness in both the parents as well as the children about the developmental capacity of education”, says Shahna Poothaniyil, an IMSc Political Science student, who is an active volunteer. And it has worked- while earlier parents used to scold their children for sitting in classes instead of going to work, now the situation is in reverse, she adds.
Tata Sivaiah, another teaching volunteer, stresses on the need to emotionally connect to both the children and the parents. Hailing from a disadvantageous social situation himself, he often talks to the parents and children of how education changed his life.
Team Members with Mamata (fourth from left) and her father, at MV Foundation residential school, Chandrayangutta
The participation of students from different academic disciplines has contributed towards the overall development of the programme. Each student is allocated the task that he or she is adept at, in order to ensure maximum efficiency in carrying out the task. At present, the team consists of nearly 40 student volunteers, from different departments across the University. The team’s programmes have also developed- apart from providing basic education to children, volunteers have been working at improving the health and sanitary conditions of the families in Lingampally. Distribution of solar lamps to all the households, health awareness camps, planting mosquito repellents, distribution of clothes and several such activities have taken place in the Lingampally site. In the previous semester, the team had enrolled two children from here into NGO-run residential schools.
The team and children visiting Nehru Zoological Park as a part of its study tour in March, 2016
The initiative carries most of its activities with the generous financial support that it receives from the faculty and students of the University. The team makes use of its funds mainly for procuring books, bags and stationary for the children. Occasionally, the team also provides for the after-class snacks, or any necessary medicine that the children may require. The team organizes activities like study tours, magazine release, and convocation ceremony, as a part of its endeavour to encourage a pro-school attitude in the children.