Catching them young

Catching them young

Films like English Vinglish, Hindi Medium and the upcoming Angrezi Medium, show how the English language is given a lot of importance in most countries, including India. Swasya foundation is working to counter this mindset and bridge the educational gap between the privileged and the underprivileged children, by providing the latter with equal opportunities.

Shilpa Shivram (37), a banker, left her job to raise her children. When the kids were small, their friend circle included a few underprivileged children. However, she noticed that once her children got admitted to a good school, they got distanced from those kids. She decided to do something about it and so she and her mother-in-law Lalitha Sundararajan (66), came up with Swasya educational foundation.

“The disparity between the kids is too much to take. As a mother, I felt the need to educate the less-privileged children. While brainstorming, we realised that three or four are the foundation years for a child. Therefore, when the kid gets admitted to a big school, s/he already has missed out on this period. We started to teach children of three years, resulting in the foundation of Swasya,” she tells.

There are some criteria to get enrolled in the organisation. The first is that the kids should have access to basic needs, food, clothes and shelter and at least one earning member in the family who earns Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. The family member has to contribute Rs 10,000 per year since they have a responsibility towards their children. All other expenses are taken care of by the foundation. The kids come from the nearby basti, primarily Viman Nagar and Ramwadi. 

“I am very stringent with issues like domestic violence and alcoholism. I personally visit the kids’ houses and meet their parents. I like to found out if they want to improve their situation and if they are ready to give importance to education, Swasya helps them,” Shivram says.

The set up
Swasya enrolls children from the age of three so that they get acclimatised with privileges like having a washroom, air-conditioner and e-learning equipment. The medium of teaching is English with three languages running parallel to make them grasp instructions. “But you’ll be baffled to see that my current batch of eight is equally talented and well learned, just like the privileged ones. So my affirmation is that when you catch them young, English becomes a part of their blood,” she says.

She runs three batches -- first in the morning which is the Montessori setup of eight children, second batch is of 10 kids, and the third batch is of eight children. They are also enrolled in Pune International and VIBGYOR High School.

The organisation has two paid teachers and four volunteers. The Kalyani School, Manjari via its social service, motivates its school kids and parents to volunteer at Swasya. “I tell the parents to not give these kids pencils, sharpeners or books -- we’ve plenty of that, but to play with them. Spend one hour talking to them on different topics. They treasure that the most,” says Shivram. 

She goes for the PTAs on behalf of kids’ parents since they cannot understand how the child is faring, what s/he is lacking in and so on. 

The schools these children are enrolled in respect their backgrounds and never belittle them. Shivram makes it a point to not tell them that their current position is not good. Instead, she inspires them to work twice the amount their parents did to achieve a better position.

The challenges
It is tough to make people from an underprivileged background understand the importance of learning. “For us, enrolling kids was never a problem. To retain them and getting them to be serious about the cause is a challenge since education has never been of any importance to them,” she says.

“For the children, if they are able to count and sell vada pav, it is enough. Parents don’t aspire that their kids would work in a multinational company. It is a too long shot for them. So we motivate the families to educate their kids,” she points out.

The organisation doesn’t believe in limitations. Hence, kids get trained in every field of life. If they want to learn an instrument, they are taught that. “I believe in an absolutely open teaching-learning environment. We’ve taken the kids to watch football matches and historical places. We use modern educational tools like audio-visual medium, math and science equipment and book reading tools as well,” Shivram says.

When asked if she struggles to manage her kids, home and the organisation, Shivram says that Swasya is an extended part of her life. “I don’t see any difference between mothering 26 kids here and mothering my two kids at home. I finish mothering these, I go back home and mother my two. So I wear the mothering crown the entire day,” she proudly says.

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com