Life is not easy for development (Name changed) a class 2 student of Zilla Parishad School in Aregaon village, Maharashtra. Her father, a farm labourer, earns an average of Rs 150 a day, a small amount of which is spent on household maintenance, grocery needs, rations and medical expenses. Educational expenses are not factored into the list.
Needless to say, at the end of the month, there is hardly any money left for the ‘savings jar’.
The heavy financial burden often forced Vikas to drop out of school. Because, despite free admission in public schools in India, there are no books, stationery and school bags. When the family was going through a financial crisis, these expenses would add to their misery.
The easiest option was to drop out of school. The development story is no exception. This is the reality of thousands of children in remote Indian villages whose parents work as farmers and labourers, earning enough to live hand to hand.
“Note that ‘Rs 150 per day’ is also a promised amount for as long as the contract continues, which is usually six months. As there is no rain during the rest of the year, these farm workers have no work,’ said Amol Sainwar, founder and president of Shivprabha Charitable Trust. Uttam India.
The condition of marginalized farmers is also pathetic. Says Sainwar, “A farmer with three acres of land earns Rs 1,20,000 a year. But the profit is zero.” These financial problems snowball into problems that affect every member of the family, leading to a decline in living standards.
However, since 2007, Sainwar and his team have been working with disadvantaged communities in 9 states and 43 districts of India to bring about equality in education, championing change in areas not limited to healthcare, electrification, rural development and entrepreneurship. programs.
The vision is to bring like-minded people together so that real change can be achieved.
And now you can be a part of this revolution.
Education in rural India – a distant dream
Anyone who asks Vikas about his day will be told a story about how he loves going to school.
As he packs notebooks and art supplies into his new school bag, he has a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Vikas and his school kit are now inseparable.
Shivprabha is spearheading this novel idea to encourage children to continue their education. “Imagine if a family earns Rs 150 a day,” urges Sainwar. “Notebooks, basic stationery, slates and slate bags cost an average of Rs 500. How will the family pay for this expense for the child? In the case of families with multiple children, this is a difficult feat. ”
In 2014, he concluded that providing free admission and mid-day meals was one of many solutions to attract children to school. They should also be supported with the materials they need to continue their education. Thus, the idea of the school kit was born.
Recalling its beginnings, Sainwar traces his footsteps to an article he read in 2014 about a Class 10 student who committed suicide. “The article states that the child’s father will not be able to afford a bus pass to allow him to travel from the village. Taluka. This forced the child to take drastic measures. ” This highlighted the hardships faced by the children of daily wage laborers and Sainwar and his team decided to research the issue.
“We understand how these laborers and farmers earn so little that they cannot afford even a small notebook or a pen for their children. When we consider these small expenses, in their eyes they are big,” he added.
But the problem had a big impact on the child, they found. “When a child goes to school without a notebook or a pen, the teacher scolds them. This affects the child’s morale and eventually the child stops going to school.”
Finding these gaps in the system gave Sainwar and his team a sense of agency to solve problems and fill in the gaps. Parasharam Narwade, one of the trustees of Shivprabha, also the principal of a beneficiary school, was instrumental in guiding the team with the essentials that should be included in the school kit, says Sainwar.
According to him, each kit contains a school bag, notebook, drawing book, wax crayons, slate, pencil box and stationery pouch. Children in classes 5 to 7 are also provided with geometry boxes, while children in classes 8 to 10 are provided with graph books in addition to the above.
Provision is also made for some children attending English-medium schools, where students are asked to wear shoes and socks.
Narwade is the picture of excitement as he talks about how these kits have changed the lives of children. “It is surprising to see them carrying school bags as opposed to plastic bags. All these children we help come from working families. Their parents are struggling to survive. We not only support them with these kits, but also provide scholarships to deserving students so that they can continue their education and help their families with money.”
Take for example the story of Shivam Vitthal Jevalevad. The Class 2 student of Zilla Parishad School in Yavatmal, Maharashtra was earlier living with his parents. They are part of a tribal community in a remote village of Panganga Sanctuary. Vitthal saw the hardships of life at an early age as he watched his parents harvest sugarcane in the fields, often witnessing losses due to bad crops.
Although Vitthal’s parents sent him to live with his uncle in Yavatmal, Vitthal often dropped out of school because he lacked motivation and supplies. Narwade adds, “Shivaprabha provided Vitthal with all the material he needed and now he has excelled in his studies.”
Like Shivam, more than 9 thousand children have been affected by these school kits. And with your help, the numbers can continue to grow. The kits will be distributed to 20 Zilla Parishad schools in Aregaon, Yeranda, Dhampeth, Ganapur, Kopara and other villages in Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra.
Inspired by experience
Sainwar is proud to be at the helm of the change brought about by Shivprabha. Sainwar, who entered the world of work at a young age after losing his father recently at the age of eight, says he learned to push boundaries early in life.
“When I was young I sold newspapers and when I grew up I started giving tuitions and started working in a tire repair company. The money I earned helped me to continue my studies till class 12th. But then I blocked the way.”
The exorbitant fees for professional courses forced Sanwar to reconsider his options. The few thousands he had managed to save over the years were no match for the engineering fees. But help comes to those who persist, he shares. His professors stepped in and funded his engineering course, where Sainwar excelled and topped his batch in the final year.
After that, he started preparing fervently for the GATE exam (entrance test for postgraduate program in engineering). Remembering the struggles he witnessed in his academic journey, Sainwar decided to donate the books he bought to the college library after completing his exams.
“I asked them to give books to students who want to take the GATE exam but don’t have money to buy books. A student can return the books when finished and it can help another student.”
Extending this cycle of goodness, Sainwar says, “I wanted to help people in education because the society also supported me in the same way.” With this belief, in 2007, Sainwar along with his friends started an organization called HOPE (Help Our People for Education) to help anyone who wants to study but whose financial situation does not allow it.
In 2012, the organization diversified into numerous activities and started working in many areas of rural development. In 2014, Shivaprabha Charitable Trust was started. It tells the story of Sainwar’s journey to create a place where ideas turn into reality to improve the lives of people in rural India.
Change doesn’t have to be a personal journey. You too can be a part of it by contributing and giving your child both hope and supplies for school.
Edited by Padmashri Pandey