Deepalaya - Enabling Self-Reliance

Location : A-14, Kalkaji Extensions, Opp. T.C Camp, Govindpuri, New Delhi – 110019

Contact no. : 91-11-40561452, 40561453
Email : support@deepalaya.org
Coordinator : School Principal

Commenced From : 1999
Funding Agency : The Dewan Foundation, Oriflame, Motorola

Beneficiary Number : The total number of students for the year 2006-07 is 904 (Girls-571 & Boys-333).

BRIEF PROFILE

Deepalaya started the school with the aim of providing value-based education to the children coming from economically and socially weaker sections like the narrow and slum cluttered streets of Okhla, Govindpuri, Transit Camp and Bhoomiheen Camp of South Delhi. The school gives special emphasis to the promotion of education of ‘girl child’. The school and its teachers strive hard to make the students responsible and resilient citizens, because, we at Deepalaya think that every child is a bud, which is waiting to be nourished to bloom into a flower.

The children are exposed to interactive classes with personalities from different walks of life. They are also initiated to take part in various activities such as quiz, declamation, singing, dancing, sports and physical education etc. that would help in empowering the children with knowledge and information. The students are also taken for periodic excursion trips for example the recent trip to Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh to stimulate and widen their perceptions of the realities of life and the environment we live in. Our role as guide is to observe and nurture them to the best of our ability.

The total strength of the school for the year 2006-2007 was 904 with the girl strength coming to 571. The ratio of the girl-boy comes to 63:37 as Deepalaya encourages girl child education. The school has 28 teachers including a music teacher, a sports teacher and a librarian. The school follows a syllabus based on the curriculum of National Council of
Education Research and Training (NCERT). The figures and pie-chart shows the number of students passed through the NIOS examination in the previous three years.

They are encouraged to take part in inter-house competitions to develop their latent talent. Deepalaya regularly conduct Parents -Teachers meeting so that growth of a childl takes place as a result of constant interaction between the school, student and parents. Parents are encouraged to play active role in the education of their wards and also help in mobilizing their community regarding education and Deepalaya.
As school days play an important role in an individual’s life and shape its future appearance, Deepalaya caters to the holistic development of a child from academics to sports and extra curricular activities. During the summer break students are encouraged to join hobby classes to explore and discover their latent skills. Subsequently, the school regularly organizes inter-house competitions of drawing, quiz, sports and many more. Children are constantly encouraged to participate with other organizations like Nehru Bal Samiti, Lakotia group, WWF, UNICEF in competitions such as essay writing, dance, painting etc.
Attending the competitions, students from Deepalaya bring laurels to the school. Ravi Pahuja, a student from class XIth won the first prize in a painting competition organized by HUDCO to celebrate the World Habitat Day. Another student Smita of class VIIIth got third prize in the junior category. Renuka, a student of class VIIIth was the runner-up in the Seed Painting Competition. 16 of our students participated in a painting competition at Pragati Maidan on 27th Feb 2006.

The students have also formed clubs like the Eco-club, Interact club. The Eco – club is involved with environmental awareness programmes for example recently in the month of October the club launched an anti - cracker community drive during Diwali festival. The Interact – club is involved with cleanliness drive in the communities, they enact street plays on social themes. Moreover, after their school hours they take up adult literacy drives in their communities.
As the children belong to diverse cultural background, the school in a true Indian spirit celebrate all the National, religious and regional festivals such as Republic day, Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti, Holi, Diwali, Christmas, Id, Raksha Bandhan, Durga Pooja etc with fun and frolic. Cultural programs, decorations, competitions, sweet distribution etc are common features during the festive times.
An alumni association of Deepalaya students was formed in 1999. The core objective of its formation was to monitor the studies and progress of the former students and provide them with various inputs. There are at present 480 children in the association, many of whom are working in different fields while some are pursuing vocational courses in Deepalaya itself. Tabular information is shown below of the former students and their present status.

Individuals and organizations in their capacities help and encourage us in our endeavour. The famous danseuse Ms.Sonal Mansingh give dance classes to eight students of the school. The eminent santoor player - Abhay Rustum Sapori introduced the students of Deepalaya to the soothing music of Santoor during the month of January. A netball leadership program was initiated by Naz Care, supported by the Standard Chartered Bank. They are working in five modules – Leadership, Communication, HIV, Entrepreneurship and an open topic was left. Some friends to encourage the students in their academic achievement has instituted various scholarship like Prakash Award for the best all rounder in class IVth, Commodore Amar Thukral Memorial Award for best performer in class Vth etc.
A recent development to bring about enrichment in schooling and create curiosity amongst the students for learning is the Motorola e-learning project. This project is a joint effort of Motorola’s Corporate Social Responsibility unit and Deepalaya, where the focus is to provide quality education at large scale. It is an attempt to bring technology in education as well as introduce the wonders of distance learning to the students. The project commenced in July 2006 and is currently in a pilot phase.

Vision of the Project
The vision of Deepalaya is to provide quality education at an affordable rate to the children from the poor and marginalized sections of the society.

Future Plans
Deepalaya is working towards getting recognition for its Schools. The Government has laid down some rules and regulations for a school to be recognized and has cited that Deepalaya schools do not meet some of the requisite conditions to be recognized. They have given numerous reasons like the infrastructure of the school is not up to the standard, the salaries of the teachers are not given under the norms put down by the Government etc.

How Can You Help?
Deepalaya is committed to make a difference in a child’s life by ensuring his/ her physical and psychological health and this can be done through education and support of families on a range of issues that could change their life for better. You can help us in our endeavour by

• Being a volunteer in our school.
• Sponsoring a child’s education.
• Sponsoring a class of our school in their education.
• Being a partner of our Project Sponsorship. Project Sponsorship is a programme through which a sponsor /donor gets an opportunity to assist a particular Deepalaya project / school for its various activities. It is an integrated community development programme with child being the entry point.