Mumbai:
First parents-teachers meeting at GBGBA’s Children Learning Centre
Social backwardness and exclusion affects a child’s growth in the absence of opportunities to get education. Education has been recognized as playing unique role in liberation from social and economic backwardness. For those children who are deprived of cultural capital, they need to be supported by components of a learning friendly strategy, such as improved opportunity structures. To provide support to these children so that they can take advantage of the available opportunities GBGBA came up with the idea of children learning centre. This learning centre will provide pre school training to the children. To run such centre in the community where parents are reluctant to send their children to school was difficult task in itself. To run this centre with the support of community, the need to bridge the communication gap between parents and teachers was felt.
In order to get the parents support, the first parents-teachers meeting was organised at GBGBA’s Children Learning Centre, Sanjay Nagar on 13th October 2018. The meeting was held to discuss the hurdles coming in the way of educating slum children. Issues such as the importance of formal education, factors affecting the learning power of the children, economic problems faced by parents while sending their children to schools and the expectations of parents from this learning centre were discussed in the meeting. The meeting received a huge response from the parents.
During the discussion on problems faced by children in formal educational spaces like municipal or private schools were discussed, parents shared their experiences that how schools have middle-class orientation and how their children get alienated in that environment. Parents have also asserted that there is a need for more such learning centre to provide the remedial classes to the marginalised children who are not given special attention in the school. “ I have two children, one of them goes to Municipality school, but teacher often discourage him saying, “your child is dumb, he can’t grasp anything taught in the school”. Me and my husband, we both are illiterate, we cannot teach our children at home or we cannot help them in their homework. This help they are now getting from learning centre. This is big relief for me.” , said one of the parents. She has now decided to admit her daughter to school, who dropped out from the municipal school due to discouragement. This was big achievement of the meeting.
The meeting concluded with the discussion on building the relationship between parents and teacher, understanding the psychology of children and designing the class timetable and activities according to that. Parents showed their support to the centre and promised to send their children daily to the centre.
Children Learning Centre introduced to bring hope to the lives of 90 slum kids living in deonar dumping ground, with generous support from funding community. We were able to enroll four children to school till now. As we are completing three months now, a remarkable change is seen the children who have been attending sessions regularly and are showing excellent improvement in attendance.
CLC has a nominal monthly expense of only Rs. 12,000 as we only have to pay to the part time teachers. We are getting books and stationary through donations. No children is charged a fee here. It is the least amount in which a lot of underprivileged children can be assured education opportunity. Any big or small contribution/commitment from your side will contribute making possible for these children to have a better world–out of the garbage.
You can commit to pay once or every month or for any specific period. Contribution can be full amount to any amount between Rs. 500-Rs. 12,000.
If you decide to contribute, do send your contribution online by following this link. Please email us the receipt after you have made the payment, at gbgbandolan@gmail.com so that we can keep track of who is sending the money. In case you have problem sending money online, you can write to us at the same email address.
Thank you,