Deepalaya - Enabling Self-Reliance

India is an emerging economic superpower in the making. Yet there are scores of people still living below the poverty line.. Many face a bleak future with very little hope of working their way out of poverty. Enabling them with marketable skills can help break the continuing cycle of poverty and deprivation. Education coupled with income generating skills can make the future generation employable which is necessary to ameliorate them from poverty. Moreover when these educated youngsters become adults, they are more likely to educate their own children, ensuring that the chain of poverty is broken permanently.

Realizing the importance of education and the need to possess employable skills, Deepalaya had started a chain of schools across Delhi and the NCR (National Capital Region) to provide education to the not so fortunate children. Soon Deepalaya realized that for the deprived families, teaching of their children alone was not enough. The adults who were illiterate were really not concerned about their children’s education. It was felt that if the adults too were to gain literacy, it would enrich their lives. Soon it was realized that if some marketable skill was also gained by the adult along with literacy, this would go a long way in transforming their lives and change their attitude towards the need to educate their children. .

Thus in 2002, a sewing center was started at Ramditti J.R.Narang Deepalaya (RJRND) School. Currently, the center has 14 students. It provides a basic one-year course and a two-year advanced course. Students learn all the intricacies of tailoring. Starting from making children’s clothes, students ultimately graduate to the level of making designer suits.

The story of Ruma is an eye opener. 12 year old Ruma is the youngest to learn sewing at RJRND School. She also accompanies her mother for work to big kothies. Ruma wanted to spend more and more time at Deepalaya School. On seeing children studying at the school, Ruma joined the adult literacy classes that were conducted in the same building. Ruma was able to appreciate the importance of education in her life. Establishing a sewing center ultimately had the effect of changing people’s mindsets towards adult literacy classes conducted at RJRND.

Students from sewing center were motivated by Deepalaya staff to join adult literacy classes. The classes that began in 2006 catered to students of different age groups. Since then adult literacy classes have been benefiting large number of people from the nearby communities. 18 students are enrolled free of cost currently at Ramditti Deepalaya School. 45 years old, Bina, a grandmother of two is not embarrassed about studying alongside students much younger. Urmila who runs a tea stall realized customers often cheated her as she could not total numbers properly. But the adult classes have changed all that. She now proudly says, “I know counting, tables till 5 and have also learnt to read and write the alphabets in Hindi and English. I have started using calculations at my tea stall”.

The curriculum for such special students is planned by the teachers at Deepalaya School. “They do not require constant grilling of a formal educational setup. Classes are customized according to their requirements”, says Yogmaya, teacher for the adult education classes. These classes help the grown ups to use their signatures in banks, ration shops etc; and the younger lot is benefited as they can secure admissions in formal schools. Three girls from adult literacy classes cleared class VIII NIOS exams this year. They are taking admission in class IX.

Bringing an educational reform and vocational training in the lives of conservative slum dwellers has instilled a sense of confidence in them. Women have been all praise for our efforts. “Stitching clothes, free of cost attracted me. If I could not earn anything, at least I would save much by stitching my family’s clothes”, said Anita, a student of Deepalaya sewing center at RJRND.