They now go to school
K. Lakshmi

* 575 slum children will get education, thanks to initiative by Asha Nivas
* PROUD POSSESSION: Children of the city Corporation schools with new uniforms they received from Asha Nivas on Thursday.

CHENNAI: Six-year-old Saritha from a slum in Otteri used to play on the pavement and never knew what school was till a year ago. Now she is one of 575 children from similar backgrounds who will join school.

It was a happy evening on Thursday for the children who assembled at the Samarpana Shelter Home for Boys at Otteri to take home new uniforms and school kits provided by Asha Nivas.
The organisation has enrolled street children and school dropouts in city corporation schools. While 300 street children had earlier had non-formal schooling at 15 centres operated by Asha Nivas, 275 school dropouts attended alternate schools with a specified syllabus from Chennai Corporation.

Lily Josephine, chief coordinator of Asha Nivas, said many of the children, who came from slums from Mylapore, Perambur, Guindy and Saidapet, were rag pickers earning between Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 a day. They were convinced to study in non-formal schools run by the organisation. While the street children were educated in the evening under the Integrated Development Programme supported by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, school dropouts were educated under the "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan" programme monitored by Chennai Corporation.

After undergoing education at these centres for one or two years, the children were then admitted to Corporation schools in classes depending on their abilities.

Kurian Thomas, founder and director of Asha Nivas, gave away the school kits to the children who were admitted for regular schooling on June 1. About 300 social workers of the organisation are involved in identifying children without proper schooling.

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