A total of 214 children, which include 128 girls and 86 boys, are yet to be admitted to schools when there’s less than a month left for the new academic year to begin.
Over two hundred children from the Vaidu community are at the risk of staying ‘out of school’ due to dearth of funds and lack of support from within the community to educate them. A total of 214 children, which include 128 girls and 86 boys, are yet to be admitted to schools when there’s less than a month left for the new academic year to begin.
Community activist Durga Gudilu had initiated a special out of school survey back in 2015 to document the number of students from the community, who either never went to school or dropped out in between. Gudilu’s initiative began with the support of the Maharashtra Vaidu Swayamsangharsha Samajik Sanstha, and it conducted two surveys in the last two years.
In the second leg of the survey this year, the group found that 412 children have either never gone to school or have quit school due to some reason or the other. While a total of 198 students were adopted with the help of an NGO and some generous individuals, Gudilu and her group are now fighting several hurdles — both financial and social while ensuring that these students get education.
“Most Vaidu families are still not very convinced about educating their children, especially girls, as they see these children as additional working hands for the family. If we try and admit these students into corporation schools, parents often refuse to send them citing poor infrastructure or giving some other excuses. Therefore, we try and admit them into budget schools,” said Gudilu.
Over the last few months, Gudilu and the group have been running from pillar to post to get some funding for these students but have only been able to manage funds enough for 198 students. “For us, the donor should not only fund a child’s education for a year but should also try and keep track of his progress throughout the year. If we are not able to get this, it would be difficult to convince parents once again, and these students would lie at the risk of being out of school,” she said.
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