EIF

ISSN - 2348-2397 SHODH SARITA

APPROVED UGC CARE Vol. 7, Issue 28, October-December, 2020
Page Nos. 163-173
AN INTERNATIONAL BILINGUAL PEER REVIEWED REFEREED RESEARCH JOURNAL

Locating Education in the Socio- economic Context of Badarpur Khadar, Delhi, India
Manish Kumar*
Nikita Gupta**

ABSTRACT
The paper explores various dimensions of Badarpur Khadar community, which is a Muslim dominated village with
special focus on its socio- economic status. It highlights the role of education amidst the current status of educational
facilities in the community and how they are impacting the residents. The paper discusses various interventions
undertaken by the social work trainee for enhancing learning capacity of children through non formal classes and also
in the area of school admissions, career guidance and by working closely with school authorities to facilitate the latter
to come out with better options for school activities. The trainee has aimed to impart a comprehensive view to the
paper by highlighting the status of Muslims in India by including the findings of Sachar Committee Report which
highlights data that point towards social exclusion of Muslims in India. The paper also discusses capability approach,
theoretical perspective, education as a means of empowerment and school dropout in India. The paper strives to
present a holistic approach by also throwing light upon the status of education in India and the inclusion of education
as a Sustainable Development Goal.
Keywords: Community, Education, Empowerment, Interventions, Socio- economic, Status of Muslims in India and
Sustainable Development

* Assistant Professor in Department of Political Science, SHSS, Sharda University

** MSW Final, DSSW, University of Delhi

Introduction Badarpur Khadar is also known to be the last

India is predominantly a rural country. The rural social
organization, power structure and leadership mostly
retain their traditional hierarchical character with
higher castes and landlords maintaining the power
equilibrium.
In the capital city of Delhi, there is a sleepy yet not so
slumbery village known by the name Badarpur
Khadar. As the name suggests Khadar denotes low-
lying areas that are floodplains of a river (here
Yamuna) which is usually relatively narrower
compared to comparatively safer Bhangar area.
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA
village/constituency of Delhi hence embarks the
boundary of UP. It represents a community where the
social base of group formation still continues to be
caste, kinship, territorial ties and patron-and-client
relationship.
In India, community has a strong relevance where
people live and share social, religious, and sometimes
even occupational and other common characteristics.
In some aspects a community has its own unique
identity which distinguishes itself from others. A
community emerges as a social unit with commonality
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of norms, values, customs, religious beliefs,
occupation and cultural practices which all together
constitute the social economic context of the
community. Badarpur Khadar also represents some of
these characteristics of a community. Within the
community, education is seen to be one area which
needs intense intervention.
Focus of the paper
The paper focuses on the quality of education within
the socio-economic context of the community. The
paper discusses the role of education in forming a
strong pillar of Sustainable Development Goals and in
elimination of poverty. The paper discusses various
interventions undertaken in the community by the
social work trainee in the field of education and
rationale behind the same.
Review of Literature
On talking about education, it is the process of
facilitating learning, acquisition of knowledge, skills,
values, beliefs and habits. There are various methods
of education viz. teaching, training, storytelling,
discussion and directed research based upon which
there are different forms of education like formal,
informal and non-formal. Considering the relevance of
education; a right to education has been recognized by
some governments and the United Nations with some
regions providing compulsory education up to a
certain age.
In the context of Badarpur Khadar, the findings of
Sachar Committee Report (2006) can play an
important role in understanding the Muslim dominated
community. The recommendations to address the
status of the Muslim community includes: Equal
Opportunity Commission to look into grievances of
deprived groups like minorities, create a nomination
procedure to increase participation of minorities in
public bodies, establish a delimitation procedure which
does not reserve constituencies with high minority
population for SCs, increase employment share of
Muslims especially where there is considerable public
dealing, working out mechanisms to link madrasa’s
with higher secondary board and to recognise degrees
from madrasa’s for eligibility in defence, civil and
banking examinations although only 3% of Muslim
children among the school going age attend
madrasa’s. The report frames the issues as related to
identity, security and equity. Barring some generic
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA
observations about the causes for the ‘development
deficit’ among Muslims, there is less explicit or
detailed discussion of the causes of such situation.
Sachar Committee report highlighted a pertinent issue
of participation of Muslims in Central Government
departments and agencies which is abysmally low at
all levels and there is not a single state where the
representation matches their population share. This
opens the discussion on community-based
development rather than region-based development.
The findings and recommendations are relevant for
delving into a deeper analysis of the community which
is very important for any intervention or introduction
of a new policy.
In the article, ‘Women Empowerment: Role of
Education’, (2019), Ritu Ajbani discussed about the
empowerment of women through education and
presents a feminist perspective. Women have always
been an indispensable part of society. The author
strongly puts forth a point that however rich and
humongous India is no aspirations or goals of our
people can be achieved without effective education.
Education not only educates a person but also
enlightens a person with a thought that he is a vital
element of society and has the potential to bring about
positive change. Occupational achievement, self-
awareness and contentment are among the various
things that can be guaranteed through effective use of
education. The author concludes by stating that the
presence of women in the corporate world is steadily
expanding. Now in the 21st century when women are
coming out of their shells it becomes imperative for
India to focus on women education to tread on the path
of becoming a super power. The lines from the article
shall be sufficient to present the crux of the article,
“Education is a milestone of women empowerment
because it enables them to respond to challenges, to
confront their traditional role and change their life”.
In the article, ‘The Importance of Education in
Developing Countries’ (2019), Kudroli Foundation,
laid much emphasis on the role of education in poverty
alleviation, boosting economic growth and increasing
the GDP of a country. It helps reduce infant mortality
rate and increases human life expectancy. Education is
a significant investment in a country as it yields huge
dividends. Nowadays school going children are limited
to academics with little exposure to soft skills which
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affects the employability skills of an individual in the
later run, we need to make sure that school education
equips them with necessary life skills. Special
attention should be given to vulnerable groups who are
mostly at the receiving end of lack of trained teachers,
inadequate learning materials, unsuitable education
infrastructure and sometimes no education
opportunities at all.
In an article, ‘School dropout rate in India and the
craze for ignorance’, (2019), Zedua articulated the
travesty of the phrase ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ which lies in
the fact that people often run away from reality just to
find themselves in bigger trouble. All challenges
arising out of illiteracy, inequality, harassment,
poverty emanate from ignorance. When we pompously
celebrate Independence Day then are, we justifying our
role and existence as citizens or the emotion of
patriotism is so occasional and sporadic in nature? The
tinted glasses of ignorance delude us from
acknowledging the realities of life which culminates in
slackened pace of growth of the country and our
contribution towards nation building. Looking at the
condition of school dropout in India, one can be
compelled to consider the obvious reasons behind the
same. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2009 states the right to education is a
fundamental one for children from the age group of 6
to 14. The act recognizes the importance of education
and was applied to provide free and compulsory
education. However, the rate of drop out is high. Lack
of financial stability forces people to find education as
luxury and not necessity. Insufficient funds, unskilled
staff, lax attitude of the officials, infrequent classes are
some of the reasons which detriments the backbone of
education system of India.
In an article, ‘Importance of education’, (2016), Adam
Sibuyi beautifully penned down the importance of
education in a conversational tone. The opening
statement says that proper and good education is
essential for all of us. It promotes quality learning all
through the life among people across the globe, it is
the process of achieving knowledge, values, skills,
beliefs and ethics. It is the need of the hour that people
value the importance of knowledge more than before.
The author made a significant point that seeking
quality education is the birth right of every individual.
It transforms the personality completely, boosts our
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self- confidence, enhances career growth and helps in
differentiating between good and bad. He also suggests
some healthy tips for kids like writing essays,
participating in debates and discussions and many
more skill enhancing activities in the schools or at
home using simple essays.
In an article, Amartya Sen’s ‘capabilities approach to
poverty’, (2014), Muhammad Taufiq Bin Suraidi
wrote about poverty and why it is not merely an issue
of access to income, education, health and other
aspects of life which those in the developed world are
fortunate enough to possess. Amartya Sen views
poverty as the deprivation of a person’s capabilities to
live the life he has reason to value. According to Sen’s
capabilities approach, development should focus on
maximising the capability of an individual by his
ability to choose in life which in turn affects his well-
being as the actual enjoyment. The capability approach
marks its distinctiveness from utilitarianism and
libertarianism by providing an option to choose and
exercising the freedom of choice. This allows the issue
of poverty to widen its domain. Amartya Sen proposed
five general freedoms undermine capability: political
freedom, economic facilities, social opportunities,
transparency in relations and protective security.
Through this lens, poverty do not remain only an
economic and educational issue but provides scope to
explore the extent of freedom of choice of an
individual which is largely to be blamed.
In an article, ‘Factors leading to school dropouts in
India: An analysis of National Family Health Survey –
3 Data’, (2014), TV Sekher brought forth many
pertinent issues related to education and factors
affecting school dropouts in India. Primary school
level dropout was 9% for India as a whole and varies
across the states from 1.8% in Kerala to 15.5% in West
Bengal. Further analysis suggests that 6% of girls in
rural areas and 2% in urban areas dropped out of
school when they got married. Slum dwelling
population is at the most receiving end due to common
influences such as low socio-economic status, lower
parental literacy rates, high juvenile delinquency and
poor status of girl child. Mildred B. Levy in his paper,
‘Determinants of Primary School Dropouts in
Developing Countries’ used data from 42 less
developed countries tried to explore the relationship
between social, political, economic and educational
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variables and the dropout rate from primary schools. It
was found that school systems with high rates of
repetition also have high dropout rate over the primary
cycle. This directs towards automatic promotion which
may reduce educational wastage. While increased
urbanisation and development of communication
systems increase school continuation. There is some
evidence of the fact that economic returns to education
are significant determinants of school continuation.
In the article, ‘The role of education in economic
development: a theoretical perspective’, (2001),
written by Ilhan Ozturk, the author presented the role
of education in economic development. The author
says that education in every sense is one of the
fundamental factors of development. The author
presents a theoretical perspective based on which he
vehemently puts forth the fact that no country can
achieve sustainable economic development without
substantial investment in human capital. According to
the author, education enriches an individual’s
understanding of himself and the world at large.
Education enhances the productivity and creativity and
encourages entrepreneurship and technological
advances. Overall, it plays an eminent role in securing
economic and social progress and improving income
distribution.
In a country like India, permutation and combination
of discrimination, social attitudes, poverty, lack of
political will, and poor quality of human and material
resources leaves children marginalised. Children who
have access to quality education perform better and are
successful as compared to their counterparts. Lastly,
access to education can improve the social and
economic status of citizens, especially in developing
countries. Nevertheless, achieving these goals is not
easy. Policymakers have executed multiple measures
to increase the scope and access to education but the
results remain mixed.
Badarpur Khadar, a brief profile
Geographical location
The Community comes under Karawal Nagar
Constituency of North East Delhi. It is situated near
National Highway No-2 on the Eastern Yamuna
riverbed which is about 12-15 kilometres upstream
from Wazirabad Barrage and 6km from Chauhan Patti
a border village. The community is next to Tronica
city which is the place of commercial significance in
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Ghaziabad district of U.P.
Demography
Total families - approx. 200
Total votes - approx. 1000
Male - 557 (59%)
Female - 387 (41%)
Badarpur Khadar, through the lens of Sachar
Committee
A high-level committee was constituted in 2005 to
prepare a report on the social, economic and
educational status of the Muslim community of India.
The mandate of the committee helps to assess the
social, economic and educational status of Muslims in
India at the state, regional and district levels. It also
helps to gauge the condition of Badarpur Khadar from
different aspects owing to Muslim dominated
community. “In India, populations of all major
religions have experienced huge growth in the recent
past, but the growth among Muslims has been higher
than average.” The committee determines a few factors
which can be thoroughly studied by keeping Badarpur
Khadar as a reference:
a) The share in public and private sector
employment- Worker population ratios for
Muslims are significantly lower than for all
other Socio Religious Categories (SRCs) in
rural areas. Participation of Muslim salaried
workers in both public and private sectors is
quite low and the average salary of Muslim
workers is lower than others possibly as more
Muslims are in inferior jobs. The lower ratios
are mainly due to much lower participation in
economic activity by Muslim women which
again be linked to availability of limited
opportunities. The people in Badarpur Khadar
are primarily daily wagers, private employees
or are into dairy work. The circumstances in
which the families live are devoid of proper
houses, proper diet and even proper hygiene.
The women are involved in gota work, saree
work and also making rakhis which require
long working hours, meagre wages and
sometimes no work for weeks. This makes
human capital more vulnerable to harassment
both by the family and the employer. There
are many women in the community who are
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literate but due to lack of jobs and stereotypes
such as women not being allowed to step out
and earn, they are forced to stay at home and
look after the family. The trainee identified a
few women who can work as Anganwadi
workers or in similar jobs but since the
community lacks Anganwadi the women have
no option but to stay at home. Hardly there are
people in public sector in the community and
the ones who can be traced as government
employees are also on the verge of retirement
which means no fresh recruitment from the
community.
b) The level of their social- economic
development- Muslims face relatively high
levels of poverty. According to NSSO data,
overall, 22.7% of India’s population was poor
in 2004-05 with SC/STs together as the worst
off at 35% followed by Muslims at 31%. The
report exhibits comparisons between
consumption expenditures across SRCs.
Relative deprivation of the Muslim
community in terms of consumption
expenditure is much higher in urban areas than
in rural. The fact holds true in the case of
Badarpur Khadar, despite the village being in
the National Capital the socio- economic,
political and cultural situation is dismal. The
roads are in poor state, minimum accessibility,
less or no opportunities for women and
children, negligible power to the elected
candidates and a rudimentary Panchayat
system. All such factors culminate in poor
socio- economic development of the village.
c) The proportion of OBCs from Muslim
community in the total OBC population in
various states- Owing to the weak socio-
economic condition of the community,
majority of the people lack OBC certificate
which excludes them from the privileges
provided by the Government in reservations
for employment and subsidies as a result
poverty, illiteracy and unawareness play a
terrible trio. The probable reasons are people
do not know exact procedure to make OBC
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certificates, some do not know about such
reservations while others cannot afford
transportation and processing fee.
d) Access to education and health services,
municipal infrastructure and bank credit
provided by Government/ public sector
entities- There is an evident inverse
association between the proportion of the
Muslim population and the availability of
educational infrastructures in small villages.
The committee discovered that about one third
of small villages with high concentration of
Muslims do not have any educational
institutions. Thus, there shall be no amazement
in learning the fact that the Literacy rate
among Muslims in 2001 was 59.1% which is
below the national average (64.8%) with the
gap greatest in urban areas. Above data can be
related with the community where the school
came up only in 2012 and there is no waste
management, drainage system, Self Help
Group or even an operational post office.
Medical services in the community started
with Mohalla Clinic in 2019.
Need of education in society with special focus on
Badarpur Khadar
Education helps to earn a better livelihood and can
also help in achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals at a faster pace. An educated person is an asset
to the society which contributes in shaping the
community in a desired manner by focusing on
progressive factors.
Badarpur Khadar is a community with its own set of
challenges. The community faces issues of poverty,
meagre employment opportunities, meagre wages,
transportation inaccessibility, low literacy rate, rough
terrain, absence of coal tar roads, poor knowledge
about contraception and family planning and perhaps
the biggest reason for all the problems is ignorance
due to the ongoing tussle between Delhi and the state
of Uttar Pradesh regarding the inclusion of Badarpur
Khadar. Though the village lies in Delhi according to
the census but Delhi has not been able to do justice
with the village in providing basic facilities.
Village has a Government Sarvodaya Vidyalaya from
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Nursery to Intermediate functioning in both medium.
School was started in 2012. School has a permanent
building and presently has 800 students enrolled with
around 200 from the community. If we discuss about
ground reality, the current literacy rate of the
community is around 5%. The community also has a
Madrassa operating in the mosque which has been
teaching Arabic and verses of Quran.
The community is backward on grounds of education.
Most of the people above the age of forty have not
gone to school. It is difficult to find a graduate in the
entire village. Even after the establishment of the
school there are many children in the community who
are not sent to school. Some of them don’t have birth
certificates and Aadhar cards which is required for
seeking admission in schools. Though the school is till
twelfth standard there are many children who drop out
in between. Effects of poverty are evident in the
community as they are multidimensional.
Completion of schooling of girl child is not so
entertained because of child marriage, poverty,
household work. Many girls have complained against
inappropriate behaviour of a few teachers in school
hence many parents are hesitant in allowing their
daughters to study with boys. As a result, girls are
more likely to drop out. One of the possible solutions
for this problem could be adjusting the school timing
so that girls and boys have separate timings. If the
classes are conducted for girls separately then
probably the parents would be more enthusiastic to
send them to school and the girls themselves would be
more confident and comfortable.
Education equips an individual with a well-informed
mind which uses the knowledge in improving the
socio- economic status of the self and the family.
Education is not only training an individual to read and
write but also adapt to the surroundings. Education
helps to earn better livelihood and will also help in
achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at a
faster pace. An educated person is an asset to the
society which contributes in shaping the community in
a desired manner by focusing on progressive factors.
Interpreting Education as per Amartya Sen
Basic education can play a preventive role in curtailing
human insecurity of nearly any kind if widened the
coverage and effectiveness. It is important to consider
briefly the various ways in removing discrepancies and
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA
neglect in education which can further lead to
minimising human insecurities in the world. The
impact of education is observable and is highly
acknowledged by poorest of families too. Even they
want their children to learn, grow and become
successful in life despite the many hardships the
families face.
A strong point is made by Amartya Sen that school
fees should not be at the helm of market forces since
schooling to all children is a social obligation. He also
presents the obstacles which are faced on the ground
like thinly staffed institutions, high fees, ensuring
safety of the children which contributes in reluctance
of the parents which is justified to a large extent.
Inability to read and write limits the understanding and
implementation of legal rights of individuals. Indeed,
this tends to be a persistent problem for people at the
bottom most rung whose rights are often effectively
alienated. The educational ridge definitely has a
connection with class. It also has a gender connection
since it can be a pertinent issue for the security and
upliftment of women for, they can never question the
injustice and wrongs done to them owing to illiteracy.
There is also a remarkable evidence that fertility rates
stoop down among literate women as the women tend
to be more aware of family planning, home budget,
maternal health and most importantly start questioning
the happenings around her.
Lastly, basic education is not just an arrangement of
developing skills but is also an awareness of the nature
of the world, accepting its diversity and its richness,
and an appreciation of the importance of freedom and
ability to reason things.
Inclusion of education in Sustainable Development
Goals
In September 2015, the General Assembly
adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development that includes 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the
principle of “leaving no one behind”, the new
Agenda emphasizes on a holistic approach
towards achieving sustainable development for
all.
The agenda of Sustainable Development Goal which
says “a plan of action for people, planet and
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prosperity”. SDG 4 vividly talks about complete free,
equitable and quality primary and secondary education
leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
The goal reinforces the importance of education for
sustainable development of a country and promoting
effective pre-primary by well –trained educators along
with early childhood development and care.
Education is the weapon to fight drudgery and
encourage upliftment of the marginalised sections of
the society. Lack of education and awareness leads to
poverty and unemployment. It also becomes a barrier
in the way to become skilled labour and engaged in
menial jobs, the situation poses the burden on the
nation thus affecting its Gross Domestic Product and
the overall performance.
Sustainable Development Goals or the SDGs broadly
focus on 17 goals which determine the growth and
development of the country. If we take a step closer,
all the goals are related to education. In a way, if a
citizen is educated then it would be easier to reach the
goals faster as he would be more aware of human
activities and its impact on the Earth. SDGs also focus
exclusively on Quality Education as Goal 4 which
ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Situation of School Dropout in India
Looking at the condition of school dropout in India,
one can be compelled to consider the obvious reasons
behind the same. Despite the Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 says that the
right to education is a fundamental one for children
from the age group of 6 to 14. The act recognizes the
importance of education and was applied to provide
free and compulsory
The rate of abandonment is so high. Lack of financial
stability forces people to find education as luxury and
not necessity. Insufficient funds, unskilled staff, lax
attitude of the officials, infrequent classes are some of
the reasons which detriments the backbone of
education system of India.
Teaching becomes more of a routinely job for teachers
with little scope of efficient learning in and around the
classroom. Although the average of school dropouts
among boys and girls is equal but the reasons remain
gender specific. Girls are the biggest and easy victims
of stereotypes and stigmas such as marriage,
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA
household work, patriarchy or even eve teasing leads
to their abandonment from school. These factors
slacken the growth and overall development of the girl
which allows other people to rule over her due to her
lack of awareness. On the other hand, boys drop out
from school as a result of drug abuse at an early age,
sustaining family needs, lack of interest in studies and
sometimes boys who hail from rich background drop
out from school for not finding education important
and rather continuing the family business and the
Curriculum which mars the spirits of the child who
joins school with great fervour. As per an article on
Hindu, 2019 - of an initial enrolment of 100 students,
on an average, only 70 finish school in India. While
the number of students in the elementary education
level is high (94), many drop out during the secondary
level with 75 left. There is no gender disparity in
dropouts which means boys and girls drop out for
various reasons but in the same proportion.
The above factors lead to a spike in dropout rates
which adds to the many cases of unequal distribution
of professional and poverty. As Ralph Waldo Emerson
rightly said, “The secret of education lies in respecting
the student”, education system requires a sturdy and
flexible curriculum which suits the needs and interests
of the students and can produce desired and notable
scholars. The ‘one size fits all’ situation can hardly
work for a diverse and multi-structural
country like India.
Despite governmental efforts, investment and many
policies, the school dropout remains alarmingly high in
many states. In this backdrop, it is not only the
provision of schooling facilities and quality of
education which matter but also the right and
appropriate policies and other household and social
factors which play a pivotal role in influencing
education.
Situation of school dropout in Badarpur Khadar
The reasons and impact of school dropout in Badarpur
Khadar by and large remain the same as in the national
context. The girls tend to drop out from school for
reasons of marriage, household work, lack of guidance
and support and poverty while the boys drop out from
school for reasons such as lack of interest in studies,
lack of family support, inaccessibility of means,
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meeting family needs and not finding suitable career
due to lack of employability skills.
The above-mentioned reasons could be identified as
the major cause of backwardness of the community
which paints more or less similar national picture. The
reasons and its impact are not different from that of the
country and represents proportional statistics. As a
result, the young boys and girls either stay at home or
work but the vigour of their age and the vision to do
something in life gets blurred. This presents a sorry
figure for the social work trainee and emboldens to
work for the community in the field of education.
Interventions undertaken by the trainee and
rationale behind the same
“If we live in a world where everyone only cares about
themselves, then it would be a cruel and selfish world.
That is not the world that I want to live in” – Timothy
Lam.
Community interventions is known by a variety of
terms in social work (Weil and Gamble, 2005). Each
term connotes a somewhat different orientation and
emerged in different context. One overarching purpose
of community intervention is to increase community
competence- the ability of the members to identify
their needs and solve problems (Brager and Purcell,
1967; Brager and Specht, 1973; Kahn, 1991).
The social work trainee worked at micro, meso and
mezzo levels with children. As interventions emerge
from needs. Majority of the families are illiterate,
parents toil hard to make both ends meet, often the
children are deputed on fields and strenuous household
chores, some children are innocent victims and witness
to domestic violence. The children are susceptible to
skin and ENT allergies due to the presence of khadar
all around. All these factors affect the studies of
children in the community. Firstly, the trainee
identified a group of children who were regular and
enthusiastic in Unnat Bharat Abhiyan activities. This
led to brainstorming the ideas of what can be done in
the community to enhance the status of education in
the community. The trainee interacted with mothers
and children and sought their opinion on conducting
non-formal classes in Baratghar for helping the
children overcome their academic difficulties.
Though the children in the community are very
talented and hard-working but still many lack
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA
communication skills and do not have enough
knowledge about opportunities for establishing their
career. In this regard, the trainee interacted with such
youngsters who are pursuing graduation from School
of Open Learning and spent hours with them to discuss
about the career goals and steps required to accomplish
the same. The trainee came across students who were
in their board classes and found that the students are
clueless or have little idea as to which subjects to
choose next or what is the possible road map to reach
their goal.
Career counselling - Riya, a young shy girl who is
assiduous in her attempts, wants to do something in
life but does not know what can be done and this is
where the scope of intervention lies. The family is
originally from Gonda district of North Eastern Uttar
Pradesh. When the trainee spoke to her mother,
observed her inclination towards seeing all her three
children becoming successful in life. The social work
trainee started preparing Riya for job interviews and
building self-confidence. Based on Riya’s skills and
qualification she was exposed to job options like
typing, maintaining accounts in nearby factories,
Anganwadi worker, ad hoc or part time teacher in
community school, increasing the number of children
in her tuition classes by reaching more to the
community people and enhancing her expertise as she
also started a computer learning course. The trainee
has set the ground for preparing Riya and other young
opinion leaders of the community for continuing with
the interventions especially the non- formal classes as
Riya is one of the few in the community who is
pursuing graduation and aspires to complete her
studies.
Kailash, a young boy studying in 10th standard is
confused as to which stream to opt after his board
exams. The trainee sat with him and gave him relevant
tips for his board exams, assessed his interest in some
subjects and guided him to focus on his exams first
and then can schedule a detailed session with the
trainee to brainstorm his career with his favourite
subjects.
Aman, another young boy pursuing Polytechnic from
Delhi wants to make his career in relevant field for
which he requires some guidance. The trainee
discussed the possible avenues with him and his
mother who is also motivated to see him progress.
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Non- formal classes – This is the favourite project of
the trainee which emerged during the Unnat Bharat
Abhiyan activities. While working closely with the
community, the trainee could make out that many
things could be done with the local children in the field
of education. Initially the trainee had only 3-4 children
in Baratghar who helped in arranging the old, dusty
and heavy benches. In the beginning, the sessions
seemed difficult due to excessive heat, no drinking
water, lack of infrastructure, fans, chalk, duster, board
or even basic stationery for the children but what
worked was the enthusiasm of the kids.
The trainee utilised her teaching experience of her
previous job in formulating the schedule of the classes.
She assessed the needs of the children and taught them
various important concepts of Mathematics, English,
Science, Elocution, Art and Craft and interesting yet
enriching games to keep the show going. All these
activities immensely helped the trainee to build rapport
in the community. A house was also identified where
the sessions could take place and where around twenty
children started to attend classes on regular basis. The
sessions also helped to instil hope among the families
about their children’s education. The sessions greatly
helped the children to gear up their performance in
academics.
Stationery Supply Drive – While the onset of non –
formal classes, the trainee faced various challenges
pertaining to collecting the children, convincing
families, finding space to continue the classes, finding
interesting activities for the day suiting all ages and
standards and above all finding resources for the
classes. All this paved way to operationalizing school
supply drive, a task that evolved purely out of
serendipity.
The social work trainee was strictly prohibited to
spend her money in the fieldwork placement for any
work. Therefore, the trainee started resource
mobilisation drive. The trainee posted videos of the
classes and children in her class WhatsApp group to
apprise other social work trainees of the difficult
conditions in which the children learn the concepts.
Since then many social work trainees have come
forward to extend help. Several notebooks, pencils,
erasers and sheets have been provided to the children
to attend the classes and learn from them. It is to be
noted through these supplies the trainee does not
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA
intend to underestimate the potential of the community
or make the children dependent rather promote a sense
of giving, upcycling and helping the community
realize its full capacity.
School admissions – As per Article 21(A) Right to
Education, each child between the age of 6-14 shall be
granted compulsory education. Such is the importance
of education in making of the nation. Setting this as a
precursor to the intervention of school admissions of
children who are immigrants, do not possess required
documents to seek admission or simply missing on the
admission dates.
While preparing the children for school admissions,
working closely with the school authorities was
equally significant. The trainee undertook the non-
formal classes and meeting the school officials
simultaneously to ensure that the non- school going
children seek admissions in 2020. The school Principal
as well as senior teachers were informed about the
interventions undertaken by the trainee and could win
their full co-operation and support for admitting the
children in the school. The school authority shared the
entire procedure of admissions along with number of
children per class to be admitted. This helped the
trainee to boost her interventions with the non-school
going children and teach them the concepts which are
likely to be taught once they join the school or have to
face at the time of an entrance exam. The trainee also
collected the school admissions forms to fill on behalf
of the children with the consent of the parents.
School Annual Day – The trainee found an excellent
opportunity to build better relations with the school
authorities by offering help in organising the School
Annual Day. The trainee from her past experience of
organising events helped in brainstorming ideas in
utilizing human resources, using space, allocating
different roles to all, setting deadlines and preparing
the checklist. The trainee understood the theme of the
School Annual Day, 2019, worked out possible ways
and started working with around two hundred students
from classes 8th till 12th. The preparations began with
meeting the concerned teachers, interacting with
students, working on themes, forming committees,
rehearsing and performing on the Annual Day. All
these nuances helped the trainee to understand the
functioning of a government school, challenges faced
by the students and staff, administration issues, work
171 QUARTERLY BI-LINGUAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
 EIF
done by Delhi Government in the field of education. developments are a common sight in the community
Birth certificate drive – Alongside non –formal which compels to work on similar agenda to curtail the
classes and the process of school admissions, the adverse impact of illiteracy.
trainee started working for the birth certificates of the
local residents as it forms one of the most important References
documents for any citizen of the country. 1.
Undoubtedly, the task was difficult as it was very
challenging to apprise the local people about the
importance of documents in one’s life for school and
college admissions, address proof, passports, gas and
electricity connections, moreover maintaining the 2.
documents in a flood prone area makes the task all the
more difficult, secondly, rushing to the concerned
department in Nand Nagri to enquire for the 3.
documents to be attached with the application, thirdly,
convincing the people to join the trainee to visit the
department and learn about the process to make them 4.
self- reliant. After a few trips to Nand Nagri, the
trainee could get a clear picture as to which all
documents were required to make a birth certificate 5.
and what were the provisions to have an alternate
document to help the children in seeking admission in
school. 6.
Conclusion
The paper presents the situation of Muslim community 7.
with special focus on status of education within the
Muslims. The study examines the relevance of Sachar 8.
Committee to study Muslim community in India and
the wide gap between Muslims and other communities.
The suggestion of the Committee to “sharply focus on
inclusive development and ‘mainstreaming’ of the 9.
Community while respecting diversity” is highly
remarkable. The paper highlights the household and 10.
parental aspects which probably plays a big role in
school dropouts in India in general and in the 11.
community in particular. Such reasons can be worked
out by educating the families, providing necessary
12.
facilities to the students so that the families don’t find
education as a burden and child labour as soft option.
The paper tries to link education with the socio- 13.
economic condition of the community as the former
influences the activities of the latter. Secondly, owing
14.
to the poor economic status of the community, it
becomes imperative to state the fact that illiteracy and
poverty are intertwined hence underdevelopment and
unemployment form the vicious circle. Such
Vol. 7 Issue 28 Oct. to December 2020 SHODH SARITA 172
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