Lack of schools, shifts in locations and parents’ fear of their children being kidnapped have deprived Bengali Migrant worker’s children of education.
Bangalore, March 1, 2018: The scene is the same every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. On the dusty roads leading to what locals refer to as ‘Bangla Camp’, children can be seen gathered around the big banyan tree right at the entrance of the slum, practicing tables, reciting poetry or drawing.
This is a part of weekend schools that was started by Dhiman Sau, an IT professional working at Bangalore and a group of like-minded professionals from West Bengal, who took upon the task of educating the out of school children of the slum near Kundanahalli. “We wanted to help these children blend in with the society in Karnataka, for which Kannada is necessary,” added Dhiman.
Although only English and Maths are taught in these two and a half hour long classes, plans have already been rolled out to start Kannada classes. “The tent school which is being built is going to teach Kannada,” said Ananda Mitra, another teacher. “Presently we are looking for full timers who can come in and teach the language since none of us know it,” he added.
After a study that was conducted independently, it was found that out of 30 houses that were surveyed, only four families sent their children to school.
Hasin, 7 is one such child:
Saleem Pasha, Block Education Officer of KR Puram Zone said that the Department of Education at Karnataka has provisions for tents schools, which help in bridging the gap in education for out of school children.
Some parents like Nazma are reluctant to send their children to school since they cannot drop off their children at far off locations:
