On a mission

Updated on: Sunday, September 12, 2010

On National Literacy Day, a group of CRY volunteers in Kolkata have an interesting story to share. Appalled by the shocking findings in schools of a village called Mirpur in Midnapore district, a group of students of IIT Kharagpur, who are volunteers of CRY – Child Rights and You, were determined to make these schools work. The schools had no drinking water or sanitation facilities and no midday meals; classrooms had no boards or lights and fans.

The group identified one government primary school to start with, called Adivasi Primary School, whose condition seemed to be the worst of all. They started by interacting with the principal of the school who showed keenness in improving the condition of the school. The CRY volunteers, with the help of the school principal, wrote an application to the BDO (Block Development Officer) to ask for the activation of the midday meal scheme in the school. The team also prompted the Principal to get the hand pump repaired so as to provide clean drinking water to the students in the school, appoint more teachers, reinstall the broken bulbs and fans and improve the condition of the blackboards.

Repeated visits and persistent monitoring by this zealous group of CRY volunteers finally yielded results.

“The principal of the Adivasi Primary School got a sanction for the midday meal to start in this school. He also got the hand pump repaired and appointed two new teachers who are to join soon,” says 21-year-old Saptak Mohanto, under whose leadership this group of CRY volunteers in the IIT-Kharagpur campus.wrote this success story.

Motivated by their success, the volunteers are now trying to improve the infrastructure of the classrooms by building pressure on the school authorities to install and repair the bulbs, fans and blackboards. They are also planning to monitor the other schools in the area and improve their condition.

“CRY’s work shows that poor quality of government schools is the number one reason why children drop out of schools. It is obvious that quality of education in government schools is a daily concern of children. The RTE needs to address these issues and gaps,” asserts Diya Deb, Manager, Voluntary Action Wing, CRY.

On a mission

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