Faizabad Initiative for Intensive Education
Quality education is one of the fundamental rights, however it is not accessible to all. Multiple factors contribute to this including socio-economic background, urban rural divide, gender, access to resources etc. According to the National Statistical Office Survey literacy rate in UP is 73% which is less than the national average. As per Department of Social Justice and Empowerment 32.8% of the total population in UP is below the poverty line. To cater the educational needs and to provide quality and accessible education in Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh, Eklavya Foundation in partnership with Krishna Kumar Charitable Foundation (KKCF) started a project named Faizabad Initiative for Intensive Education in January 2021.
About the project
In order to provide quality education from the foundation level to intermediate level the project adopted a Hub and Spoke model. In this model there are 6-8 preschools (Spokes) established in a radius of 5-6 kilometers of a senior school (Hub). Project aims to “provide joyful learning to develop creative, innovative, responsible, positive and sensitive leaders for a better world”. To achieve this aim continued access to quality education is necessary. Hence, after completing two years of foundational education in preschools (Spokes) children move to K-12 school (Hub). At present we have successfully established the first Hub and Spoke model with 6 preschools in nearby villages of our Hub (senior school) Yash Vidya Mandir. To ensure quality education in this project Eklavya provides academic support by organising teacher capacity building workshops, onsite support, lesson planning, academic planning, contextualization of curriculum and assessment.
Apart from this 4 other schools are running for children from marginalized communities and children of migrant workers. Among which 2 are located within Faizabad city. These two schools serve children from the ragpicker community and beggars community. The other two schools are situated at two different brick kilns. These two schools serve children of migrant workers working in the respective brick kiln. The children coming to these schools have a diverse age group therefore there are no grades. The major emphasis in these schools is given on foundational literacy and numeracy. The migrant workers come from different states mainly Assam and Bihar. Their stay at the site of their work is for 7-8 months, the curriculum is formed keeping the context and interval of time in consideration.
Work with children from Migrant Communities
Khushi-Khushi is a pre-primary centre for children of brick kiln workers, which is a migrant population. It is reported that most of the families employed here come from Bihar and Jharkhand and work as migratory labour for about 7-8 months of the year. Even in these 7-8 months, they sometimes move from one site to another. And next year, they are usually brought to some other brick kiln site. Hence, the children coming to the Khushi Khushi centre are there for a maximum period of eight months (and sometimes even less than that) and then they go back to their native villages. Next year their parents visit another factory or a brick-kiln site with their children, causing a disruption to their lives and the educational flow of their children.
Eklavya is working with the children of the migrant population and exploring a new model whereby a traveling teacher lives and teaches children of one brick kiln site and moves with the set of families as they move – either to other factory site, or later to their native village. This is a new exploration for Eklavya too, focusing on education of children of migrant population. A footloose teacher, who is sensitive to socio-economic issues faced by these most under-served populations and can endure the stress of living in difficult situations and yet attempt to bring education and positive energy in the lives of these children