The Hindu : New Delhi News : Shiksha Kendra for slum children

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 12, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Shiksha Kendra for slum children

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 11. Promoting the slogan "Every child has a right to education'', the Delhi Public School in Rohini has taken up community programmes in a big way. Apart from opening a Shiksha Kendra for slum children in its premises, it has also taken up a rainwater harvesting project in its premises resulting in rise in the ground water table.

The Shiksha Kendra was recently inaugurated by the Delhi Public School Society chairman, Narendra Kumar, who termed it a first step towards their endeavour of making a literate society.

According to the DPS Rohini Principal, Rita Sen, the Shiksha Kendra provides free education to slum children of the adjoining localities and helps them grow in a friendly and literate environment. At present, the school has taken 25 children.

The classes for these children are held in the afternoon and they have been provided regular school uniforms, books and other related material.

The parents in the adjoining slum localities had been encouraged to send their children for this project so that they were able to join the mainstream.

Stating that DPS Rohini had been in the forefront of helping in community related programmes, Ms. Sen said under the guidance of Dr. Kamla Chaudhary, the pioneer in the field of rainwater harvesting, the school had initiated a project within its premises and has met with fantastic results. Within one year, the levels of water have gone up by three feet.

She said that DPS children in various cities have led campaigns advocating rainwater harvesting in the community and are taking keen interest in informing the neighbourhood schools about the benefits of conserving water and installing rainwater harvesting structures.

The DPS Society firmly believes that the children need to get involved in protecting the nations resources and acknowledge the wisdom of cultural practices such as rainwater harvesting.

She said it was important to know how the rainwater harvesting structures can be installed and maintained.

For this purpose the launch of UNESCO's CD-Rom was of immense help.

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