Deepalaya - Enabling Self-Reliance

PROFILE OF THE SCHOOL :
Ramditti J.R. Narang Deepalaya School is one of the five formal schools of Deepalaya. It is located in a slum cluster called Jagadamba camp, close to Panchsheel Enclave. It is a collaborated project of Deepalaya and Ramditti J.R Narang Trust; New Delhi. The trust has provided the school building after they were touched by Deepalaya’s mission of transforming the most underprivileged children from the slums of Delhi.

Started in February 1995 with the enrollment of five girl children in Lower Kinder Garten (L.K.G) the school presently has a total strength of 337 students-170 girls and 167 boys, studying from Lower Kinder Garten to Class VIIIth. Class VIIIth is introduced from the academic year 2006. Out of them 111 students are sponsored under the Individual Sponsorship program. There are 17 teachers, a principal and two Administrative staff members. Apart from them there is an Ayah (maid) and a sweeper in the school. Besides these staff, the shortfall is met with volunteers in both teaching and administration.

TARGET COMMUNITY: Keeping a focus on girl children, the school is working for children in slums as a whole. Their parents have migrated to Delhi from various Indian states for a better livelihood. There are about 800 huts with a total population of about 5000 with an average of six to seven members per family in the Jagadamba camp. Being a slum cluster it has all the civic problems such as poor sanitation, open drainage, water scarcity and no legal electricity connections etc.
The men are mostly laborers and also involved in petty trading and women mostly illiterate and housewives. Average income is Rupees 2, 500/- to 3,000/- per month. That is not enough even to meet the daily expenses of their family. The community is a beautiful example of India’s Unity in Diversity, consisting of people from different regions, practicing different religions and culture. Majority of them are Hindus. There are Muslims, Sikhs and very few Christians. However, all respect each other and participate in other’s celebrations and functions.

APPROCH TOWARDS EDUCATION: As most of the parents are illiterate, they were not showing much interest in the education of their children particularly of girl children. It was with the efforts of Deepalaya that a sense of need for education has been inculcated in them. Large size of the family and poverty were two other factors which stood as barriers for them in providing education to their children. Social taboos also contributed towards their lack of interest in providing education particularly to girl children. Deepalaya has been motivating the community to take part in their children’s education by door-to-door home visit and personal counseling. There is a perceptional change in the attitude of parents towards education; they are now enthusiastic to send their children to school, particularly to Deepalaya.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: Deepalaya believes that without proper community participation, it cannot achieve much. Hence, effort is made for total community participation in all Deepalaya programmes. Deepalaya social workers make regular visit and conduct meetings with community. The response is very encouraging. It is pertinent to mention that women in large number are coming forward to be part of every activity of Deepalaya such as Adult Literacy classes, Tailoring classes, health campaign, income generation programmes, parents teachers meetings etc. As a result of the efforts of the past eleven years in the community, the people have become aware of the importance of education and how it changes lives. They are now conscious of hygienic living conditions. Besides these, they have come out from the web of illiteracy. The great impact is that they cannot be any more exploited easily by moneylenders and their employers, as they have become semi literates. There is much more to be done for their total transformation.

Adult Education Center:

Deepalaya School RJRN in 2006 started an Adult Literacy project sponsored by Ms. Danielle for the next five years. 25 illiterate women from the nearby Jagdamba Camp community come for the evening classes. The timing is from 3 to 5.30 p.m.

Sewing Project:

The Sewing Project is initiated for the girls of the community and also for interested School students. This project is also sponsored by Ms. Denielle Brink. There are six sewing machines in the center. Two machines are donated by Narang Trust. Twelve girls from the community and twenty school girls are attending the class between 2.30 P.M. to 6.00 P.M.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES:

The classes are run from LKG to VIII from 0800. A.m. to 5.30 P.m. (In two batches). The morning session starts from 8.00 A.M to 2.00 P.M. The evening session is from 11.30 to 5.30. Due importance is given to the health of children and their community through medical check-ups, health awareness campaigns on AIDS, cancer, T.B etc. Deepalaya’s area of health work is primarily on preventive measures. Pre and postnatal care, sanitation drive, immunization against polio, T.B etc. are conducted periodically. Following Deepalaya’s concept of Education RJRND School also does not confine to textbooks. We believe children develop their latent talents along with education. Training is given on Drawing, Art& Craft, Music, Dance, Embroidery, Clay modeling etc as part of non-curricular activities.

All national and religious festivals are celebrated in school with fun and fare. School Annual day is an avenue in which children perform their latent talents. Educational Tours/ Picnics are a regular feature in Deepalaya

Different School activities- at a glance:
Examination: Two terminal examinations conducted during the academic year. First term exams began in September and final examination in the month of March.

NIOS Open Basic Examination: This students appeared in the NIOS examination show a 100 % pass percentage.

Summer Activity: During the summer- vacation special classes on music, art and craft, needle work, painting, cutting, tailoring, drama and dance etc are given by School teachers and volunteers.