Intervention in Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, Butterflies under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Samagrah Siksha Abhiyan, Government of Uttarakhand, is supporting out of school children to prepare themselves and join formal schools.
Using multipurpose mobile schools with teaching learning material and educators, the programme reaches out to out of school children in urban areas of Dehradun, Haridwar and Uddham Singh Nagar to bring them in the education net by providing quality education till the last mile.
Children of migrant families, children dropped out of schools or never enrolled are provided learning support for a year at Non Residential Special Training Centres (NRSTCs) in these districts and mainstreamed in formal schools at age appropriate levels.
The programme contributes significantly to ensure the objectives of the Right to Education in the state of Uttarakhand.
Along with academic teaching learning, children also learn life skills though Bal Sabhas, health sessions and creative activities such as arts and crafts, poetry writing, daily newspaper reading. The mobile schools are well equipped with a laptop, library and play material for children.
Parents meetings are organised regularly in order to share the progress of children and also inform them about different schemes and programmes for children and families.
Dimensions
Education
Our endeavour is to provide quality education even if it has to be on the street. So, we follow the formal/ national syllabus but an informal and interesting methodology. We are also accredited to the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with several NGOs registered with us as part of NIOS. Life skills education is a vital part of the education programme. Sports and cultural activities are also used as a tool to educate the children.
Engaging Children in Programmes
Those children who live and work on the street and fend for themselves and support their families become the prime focus of Butterflies programmes and the challenge of the educators is to engage the children in the programme activities. The major task is to ensure that the children become part of the education programme and also participate in activities viz. Child Health & Sports Cooperative, Children’s Development Khazana, Children’s Media {comprising radio, video, newspaper and theatre}, sports and cultural events.
Engaging with Community & Others
It becomes very important for the educators to establish a good relation with employers, parents of children (if applicable), market association people, religious leaders, security guards, municipal authorities, hospitals and the police. The main purpose is to create a protective environment for the children and then to garner support so that the children are able to participate in the activities.
