Street children see hope in Right To Education Act

They were poor. Some of them begged and picked rags on the streets of Bangalore, and some others worked as domestic helps. But their fate changed when the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Bangalore-based grass-root community development organisation, took notice of their plight and built a school and accommodation facilities for them.

However, not all street children are lucky enough to be rescued from the pavements, and many of them are forced to end their childhood without ever getting a chance to read and write.  But the Right to Education (RTE) Act can bring a sea change in the fortunes of these poor and needy children who cannot afford education.

This was the message that a group of six young representatives from the APSA Dream School started by the executive director of the organisation, P Lakshapathy, brought to light at a meet on the RTE Act in the city on Wednesday.

The children stressed that the  act should be implemented “so that no child remains out of school”.

Nagesh P, 10, who was once a rag picker, said, “It is high time that all children get the right to study. I hope the RTE Act will bring all the children who are on the streets and are eking out their livelihood as child labourers to schools. I also support the 25% reservation for underprivileged kids in all schools as mandated by the act.”

Echoing Nagesh, Sapurna Begum, another student of the school, said that the act would help poor children like her to get educated. “I was working as a domestic help and was lucky to be rescued. APSA rescued me and now I am learning to read and write like others of my age. If the act is implemented in earnest, all poor children will get a chance to go to school,” she said.

According to the RTE Act, all schools should provide admission to 25% children from the neighbourhood — a euphemism for kids from underprivileged sections of society.  The act came into force on April 1.

APSA started the school to provide formal education to underprivileged children. At present, about 240 children, mostly child labourers  and beggars, are getting formal education in the school.

The school also provides training in computers, electronics, screen printing and tailoring to children above the age of 15 years.

Sapurna and Nagesh, along with four other students from the school, participated in the two-day consultations and training programme for NGOs, teachers, lawyers and other stakeholders of the RTE Act.

The consultation was organised by the Karnataka Child Rights Observatory (KCRO), a Bangalore-based child rights’ group.