Rural School for Child Labourers (NANDANA)

Evolution

There is no substitute for a school. The purpose of making a child spend a substantial amount of time in a school is not just for academic accomplishments but to expose the child to the many wonderful aspects of life and introduce it to many activities or fields that can be pursued as they grow up, whether it be to make a living or as a passion.

On the look out for a stretch of land to establish and locate a charitable institution, the founders of Chetana zeroed in on a rural area where the primary activities for earning a livelihood were stone quarrying, sheep grazing and other kinds of manual labor. Most of the families had both the elders and children involved in work.

Most of the children never tasted the joy of schooling as the elders did not know what a school is or were compelled on account of their economic state to ignore the importance and benefit of sending their children to school.

Founders of chetana were running two schools successfully, with the conviction that, grooming a child into a good citizen is the best service they can do to humanity. This contributed to their belief that providing schooling facility to the children who are working as child laborers, would be the best service they can do to the community.

Thus the initial efforts at Chetana were channelled into developing a facility that provides schooling to child laborers. 4 years after acquiring the land, after pooling up the required resources, the school was started in a shed.

Changed Perception

On approaching parents asking them to send their children to the school located nearby, offering free education, our founders came to know of the painful truth that the child's earning is required to empower the family to feed them. In effect the child was working to earn bread and butter for itself.

Having understood that parents who do not have the means to feed the child would in no way be able to bear the costs involved in sending a child to school, it was decided, that, apart from providing free education, children attending the school, would also be provided with all the books, stationery, other learning material needed, clothing/uniform and mid day meal in the school by the school itself free of cost.

This was in the hope that no parent would mind his/her child getting educated and making good in life, after being made to realise the importance of schooling and their task of sending the child to school being made easy by relieving them of the burden of having to feed the child during the day, apart from relieving them from the burden of the costs of schooling.

Facility

The school was initially started in a shed and with consistent efforts over the years and the support of many we are able to build up a permanent structure for the school.

Activity

Children who spent their day in quarrying, grazing sheep and goats, did not readily come running to the school. A lot of effort had to be made to motivate them into joining the school. After a long period of struggle and efforts in motivating, encouraging them into joining school, it is now that we find no child without going to school.

Current Status
Particulars	Num
Children	600
Primary Teachers	10
Secondary Teachers	20
Non Teaching Staff	6
Kitchen Staff	10

Funds - Sources/Usage

We constantly strive to provide the children all that is needed to enable them to carry on schooling without any hindrance.

Costs/Expenses

Revenue
The revenue costs involved in running this entity include Daily - Mid day meal to all children and staff in the school, Monthly - salaries to teaching staff, support staff, supply of notebooks and stationery to children, electricity charges, building, garden and ground maintenance; Annual - uniform, text books, bags and shoes for children, furniture repair and maintenance.
Capital
Capital costs include expenditure incurred on class room construction, furniture, library, laboratory and computer room equipment.

Sources of Funds

Our source of funds for running this entity include contributions from the alumni of the two schools run by our parent organisation, the students and their parents studying at those schools, voluntary contributions made by individuals and organisations (one time as well as repetitive) and contributions made by the schools themselves.

It might not be out of place to mention that we do not receive any assistance from the government for the children mid day meal scheme or others. We try doing whatever we can with the resources we can pool up on our own.

You can Help

In our endeavour to accommodate most of the children who need support of the school and provide for all that is needed to enable them to continue schooling, we do juggle with expenses and make compromises. Though it is painful, we have to do it, so as to keep the cart rolling. Contributions for revenue expenses would relieve us from this struggle and enable us to work on bettering the school.

The following would be some kinds of contributions one may make.

â‚¨ 85000
$ 1200

Provides for a child's education expenses for the complete schooling period.

â‚¨ 15000
($ 260)

Provides education, clothing and mid-day meal to a child for a year.

â‚¨ 12000
($ 220)

Provides mid-day meal for 5 children for a year.

â‚¨ 9000
($ 160)

Provides the services of a secondary teacher for a month.

â‚¨ 7000
($ 125)

Provides the services of a primary teacher for a month.

Any
Amount

Provides for purchasing library books, laboratory and computer room equipment and constructing building and other amenities.

Any
Amount

Goes into the corpus fund deposited in banks, interest on which is only utilised (for the purpose specified, if the contributor so specifies)

Listen/Tell - We Will

You can also write to us asking us about anything you wish to know about this project, giving suggestions for improvising on our efforts, sending us a word of encouragement or just about anything you feel is relevant to chetana.