To discourage students from migrating, Greenlawns High school, Breach Candy will take some students from tribal areas on a tour to witness the squalor of slum dwellers.
A renowned school in South Mumbai has the perfect solution to tackle the growing number of migrants to the city. To discourage students from migrating, Greenlawns High school, Breach Candy will take some students from tribal areas on a tour to witness the squalor of slum dwellers.
As part of their ‘community responsibility’ programmes, the school on January 22, will play host to 35 girls and five teachers from Dolkhamb village in Thane district.
While the school will show them the famous landmarks of Mumbai, they will also be taken to slums. Through such activities, the school is seeking to give the students’ big city dreams a ‘reality check’, says principal Kiran Bajaj.
“People from the villages do not know how bad the situation is in Mumbai. They blindly migrate to city thinking it will solve all their problems. But they end up with debts and poverty. So we want the students to see the pathetic conditions of people who have blindly migrated to the city. We are teaching them that not everyone can make it big. They should not give up their land and life back in the villages to come here seeking a fool’s paradise,” she said.
The school conducts such visits every two years. Earlier, around 20 girls from Ambata village in interior Maharashtra, were taken on a visit to Dharavi. This time, the children will be shown other slums in the city.
They will be informed about the sanitation problems like open gutters, shoddy toilets, and also the rising crime rate in such areas. “Once the children see such destitution they realise how much better off they are in the villages. Hopefully, these children will learn a lesson from the visit,” she added.
Not only do they visit slums, but the students are made to sleep in empty classrooms. The school asks the parents to sponsor these visits — ticket charges, food, travel, etc.
Students are encouraged to donate utilities like sheets, clothes, mattress, pillows, soap, and towels, so that the students can use it during their stay.
Few years ago, the school would even make their students cook for these children. But due to parents protests, they have discontinued this tradition.
The final day is marked by a cultural programme where students perform dances and skits. “Such visits give our children a chance to interact with a variety of students. I think they are really constructive. It also helps the students from the villages to see the reality of Mumbai and not just the glamour portrayed on the silver screen,” said a parent.
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