Providing Educational and Nutritional Support for Girl child of Urban Poor and Homeless Families

The growing urbanization in bihar has resulted in a development of over 165 informal inhabitations of Urban poor and homeless residing in temporary shelters, slums spread across the city of Patna and as temporary housing for over 4500o families. Most of the families work as daily wage earners or run petty trading activity for earning a livelihood. In adequate income of majority of these families exert pressure on children to earn and support household works especially girls in hazardous occupations, rag pickers etc. resulting in large number of school drop outs and adversely impacting the educational processes. 

Dalit Vikas Abhiyan Samiti (DVAS) has been promoting home based learning approach in 14 urban slums of Patna through its cadre of Volunteers to address the learning loss of such 432 girls and enhancing their learning levels with engagement of their parents in the teaching learning process. Further the organization is also sensitizing such families to bring the girl child back to the folds of the schools and have been successful in enrolling around 86 girls in the government schools in the vicinity of the settlements in cooperation with the school teachers enabling the children to pursue their primary and secondary education. DVAS has also linked over 800 urban poor and homeless families with different social security schemes of government to reduce the pressure on children to earn thereby encouraging parents to send their child especially girls to schools. 

The impact of the program would be enhancement of about 400 girls in the formal education process. In 20-21 around 400-450 girls were provided education support (expense of books, copies, shoes, water bottle etc) .The program will also make marked difference in instilling confidence of the children enabling them to pursue their education and completed their formal education in primary and secondary levels.