Education

Education

In the Beginning when we start this school bringing these children to our school has never been an easy task, as some of them are equally helping their parents to earn bread and butter for their family. They are making money through various tasks like garbage collection, shoe polishing and even begging. These families consist of 5 children on an average, so it becomes impossible for the illiterate and jobless parents to bear the expenses. In order to fulfill their daily needs, they force their children to work along with them and almost fail to understand the need of education. SHRESTHA is putting its best effort to make these slum dwellers understand the importance of education in one’s life, curb the child labor and convincing the parents to send these children to our school.
We are working right from the foundation of these children so that they can start reading, writing and do the calculations, required for the day to day life, and gradually proceed towards higher classes. We have divided this school in two age groups: one is 5 to 8 years and the other is 9 to 16 years. We are also running skill-based classes like stitching, knitting, jewellery making and painting with an aim to improve their future prospects.
(In this section you can explain how the situation was and how it is now, due to your work)

Shrestha believes education is at the heart of improving the children’s prospects – not just for the children, but for their parents, too. We see it as equally important to engage with their parents and community leaders in the slum area to help them understand the value of education, as a way to help the whole family’s prospects in the long term. Through building relationships with the parents over the past few years, Shrestha has gained their trust and support, which is critical to ensuring that the children continue to attend school for as long as possible. The first Shrestha school was right in the heart of the slum, and we regularly invite parents to special events at our new schoolroom in a basement nearby.

At the Shrestha school, we teach the children Hindi, English, maths and computing, in a friendly and supportive atmosphere, while also assisting in their moral development. We provide vocational training so that the children can learn a range of crafts, from jewellery making and art through to henna tattooing and tailoring clothes and bags. Our hope is that they’ll head into adulthood equipped with the skills and knowledge to start their own business or find a good job in a company and reach their full potential in society.
We also put a strong focus on fun and social skills at the Shrestha school. We celebrate festivals and birthdays with the children, which gives them a lot of happiness, and each school day ends with a session of sports and games, to make sure they always leave with a smile.

When you started, how was the situation you found regarding education in the area.The formal education provided, the informal education provided. Improvement (if most have learn to read, basic maths, etc). If you help them join the Government schools, how. Talking to families, etc. How many children are studing in Shrestha, what ages, attendance, schedule, school material given, what vocational training you have been doing.