School on Wheels

“School on Wheels” – Education for Under-Represented Migrant Workers Children

(proposal)

Project statement:

Brahmi, based on the platform of success it achieved through its formal school Anjana Vidya Kendra, would like to extend a helping hand to the underprivileged children of migrant workers by creating an alternate avenue to provide a window of childhood and basic schooling through the scheme “School on Wheels”. The purpose of this proposal is to join hands with like-minded organizations & people to expand the reach and create a  meaningful impact together.

Proposal:

“School on Wheels” program is simply a bus (equipped with schooling requirements, food & refreshments) and a teacher, visiting makeshift settlements and erecting a tent-school to engage children in play and basic schooling activities regularly. And after initial ramp-up and grooming, the children will be provided a base for continuing elementary education at Anjana Vidya Kendra School for the children of interested parents.

We would like to get an annual commitment from the supporters [INR. 11,39,700 (10,64,700, fixed +              75000, variable)] so that the program runs smoothly without constraints. Though we wish for a permanent association, we welcome annual review and commitment based on the progress and project impact review. We also welcome the funding of fixed component on yearly basis.

More details on AVK school and current version of this project explained at the end of this document.

Expected Impact:

Migrant families live in temporary/make-shift-tents for the duration of the project like construction sites before moving to the next site. It is well known that their children stand a risk for a lifetime of labor, poverty, exploitation and suffering from an early age.

“School on Wheels” aims to reduce this adverse situation in locations in-around Anjana Vidya Kendra(AVK) School. We would like to do our program in two locations (twice a week per location) and try to enroll 30 kids every-year into regular schooling – either in a nearby Government school or in Anjana Viday Kendra.

Cost Analysis:

• Fixed component of the project:

S.No	Item Particulars	Monthly cost(INR)
1	Salary for one qualified teacher	18000
2	Salary for Driver/Helper	10000
3	EMI* cost for Bus (*EMI is for first four years only)	30725
4	Operational cost (fuel, bus-maintenance, school supplies, aid- materials etc)	30000
Total cost per Month		INR 88725
Annual cost for running “alternate make-shift school”		INR 10,64700

• Variable component: This financial cost is based on number of children enrolled for that year from the program. Sponsor those kids who gets enrolled into regular schooling after incubation (Rs.15000/kid/year)

For the current Academic year [2017-18]  we are hopeful of 5 children enrolling from the previous year’s program and this requires a financial support of INR.75,000 [towards tuitions, School Supplies and NoonMeal].

For Academic year 2018-19, the target is 20 children, if we can successfully run this program in the current academic year, requiring a financial support of INR 3,00,000 [towards tuitions, School Supplies and NoonMeal].

Current progress of the project:

In early 2016, a team of teachers from AVK, headed by Mr. P. Sujay and accompanied by the head of the worker group visited the settlements (between Bodhanahosahalli & Dunnasandra villages) close to the school to create an awareness among parents and to persuade them to send their children to schools.

As a result of their persuasive efforts, a group of 15 children got enrolled to Anjana Vidya Kendra School. These children were picked up by our school van after the regular trips. A nine-year-old girl child moved to 2nd grade within a span of one year, starting with learning alphabets and numbers.

Threats and Challenge:

The main threat is that these children are not exposed to schooling in their initial years and has difficulty in coping up in classes with the standard set by established schools like AVK. They need some incubation period and training separately and have to be enrolled in regular classes based on their grasping.

The first challenge is to ensure the children attend classes regularly. Many parents also treat these kids as aid-workers and use them either in home or in work place at sporadic intervals. Bringing the school environment to their stay place, Brahmi would like those children to experience the joy of being in a school environment.

What next?

On securing the financial commitment of the project for one full year, we would be able deploy full-time facilities and person for the project as required. We will then able to survey and locate the spots or sites where we can setup the mobile-school and start the program.