JOIN USTransit home, a ray of hope for school dropouts in M'lore
Twelve -year-old Pushpa dreams of becoming a teacher when she grows up. She argues that a teacher can mend the life of children like her and she does not make the statement all of a sudden, but based on her own life experience.
A school dropout, Pushpa who hails from Bijapur, was undergoing a tough time here in Mangalore while staying with her mother, a daily wage worker. With her father abandoning the family, Pushpa had to undergo harassment from the men in her neighbourhood, which forced her to quit the school.
But, Chinnara Tangudhama has changed her life for good. Now she is not only free from all the harassments, but also can study and play in a more comfortable atmosphere at Chinnara Tangudhama.
It is not just the story of Pushpa, but of several other children who were into begging, household work or wandering on the city streets thus not going to school. But, Chinnara Tangudhama, the transit home for street children located at Bejai-Kapikad has become a ray of hope in the lives of such children.
The transit home that began functioning in December 2011 and was formally inaugurated in July 2012, is a joint initiative of the education department and city based NGO Prajna Counselling Centre.
As many as 143 school dropouts and children who had never attended the schools so far have taken shelter in Tangudhama. At present, the transit home accommodates 18 children belonging to the age group of six to 14.
Every child here has one or the other story to tell. If the three girl children Sowmya, Anjali and Pooja were into begging, Ganesh and Manjunath were rag picking with their parents. Nine -year- old Lakshmi, a street kid had never stepped into a school, but started receiving her basic education at Chinnara Tangudhama five months ago. “The way she has responded to our teaching has made us wonderstruck. She is quite receptible and learning quickly,” said Veena K who teaches at Tangudhama.
Grooming children
Tangudhama is functioning under the supervision of a co-ordinator, with the help of two teachers, a field staff, a warden and a cook. Special attention is given to children facing speech problem and children migrated from other States. Three Tamil children picked up from slums, who joined the transit home three months ago, are already learning Kannada. Classes are conducted in Tangudhama for four days a week, while on the two other days children will be taken to the DK ZP HP School Kapikad which is located in the same premises.
“We take children to the school to make them interact with other children and have a feel of regular schooling. Our children actively participate in sports, cultural and academic activities and the prizes they have won in some of the competitions reflects their capabilities,” Geetha, the teacher, said with pride.
After an year’s bridge course the children are sent to regular schools nearby or admitted to the government residential school in Belthangady. There are instances of children who are admitted to the residential school, returning to Tangudhama, for they are so closely associated with this place. “I had a very different life before I was admitted toTangudhama. I had stopped going to school because I did not know the importance of school, till I joined Tangudhama. Here we learn with fun,” said Pooja.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Chinnara Tangudhama Co-ordinator Shwetha said that with a decrease in number of school dropouts, the number of children in Tangudhama too has come down. Though a branch of Tangudhama was opened in Bunder a few months ago, it was closed down due to shortage of children.
The education department and NGOs carry out raids now and then, but find less number of school dropouts, off late. It is a positive sign that the number of children getting admitted to Tangudhama is becoming less day by day, she said.