Oxfam India helps Gudiya restart schooling

Oxfam India helps Gudiya restart schooling

Gudiya (centre) with two of her friends who also went to the centre run by Oxfam India.

Thirteen year old Gudiya* came to Delhi with her parents, who migrated from Assam five years ago in search of a better livelihood. But in the move Gudiya had to be pulled out of school.  But timely intervention by Oxfam India and its partner Empowerment for Rehabilitation Academic & Health (EFRAH) ensured that Gudiya continued her education. 

Gudiya’s parents work as rag pickers, and without a home or proper identification papers, life is tough for them. They have nine children; Gudiya is the fifth. Her older siblings are either married or working, so the responsibility of taking care of her younger siblings has fallen on her.  Given the situation, neither she nor her parents could think of sending her to school. 

But things changed when EFRAH, an NGO working in the JJ cluster where she lives, reached out to her and suggested to her the option of going to an Oxfam India-run programme that could help start the process of her going back to school. She was taught things students her age enrolled in schools would know while offering her the flexibility of coming for these classes at any time during the day.

Not only did Gudiya catch up with academics, she was also able to explore co-curricular interests like dance and music. Most importantly she is able to bring her siblings along to the centre; this ensures that they are taken care of and she doesn’t need to miss her classes. Lack of crèches and daycare facilities makes it difficult for young girls like Gudiya to leave siblings behind to attend school. 

Oxfam India supports EFRAH to provide non-formal education and bridge courses; provides intensive coaching to children who are forced to leave the formal education system.  The programme is designed to bring these children at par with children in the formal education system with the aim of enrolling them back into formal education. 

JHARKHAND'S GEETA GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

A high percentage of girl children in India are forced to drop out of school, stay back at home to carry out household chores and take care of younger siblings. Financial constraints, early marriage, social norms, and lack of community support create several problems in girl child education in India. Once out of school, girls especially, find it almost impossible to enrol back in school.

Oxfam India campaigns for the right to education of the most marginalised children, especially girls. Oxfam India in partnership with grass roots organisations monitors the proper implementation of the Right to Education Act (RTE), counsel parents and community on the importance of girl child education, and advocates for increased government spending on public education. It also works closely with School Management Committees (SMCs), teachers, and elected people’s representatives to monitor the delivery of education on the ground. 

In 2018, 7,048 boys and 6,003 girls from its focus areas received quality education. 136 schools and 117 Anagwadi centres were made functional. 440 School Management Committees (SMCs) were made functional in Primary and Upper Primary Schools.

After spending a year at the programme, Gudiya has now applied to a government school in New Delhi. She dreams of becoming a surgeon one day and help those in need.

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*Name changed to protect identity