Non Formal Education For Working Children 

AID - Jharkhand (Palamau Chapter)

 

EDUCATION THE STEPPING STONE TO SUCCESS

AID started running 20 non-formal education centers for working children. Since the children were involved in picking forest produce, collecting of fuel wood and agriculture labour they could not attend the regular schools. Further the government schools in the region are not functioning and hence the children were left without any basic education.

The starting of non-formal education for the working children, in the time convenient to them has been a great success. What we initiated in 1994 now has grown by leaps and bounds as number of other agencies have come in to help large number of working children to get basic education. With a small group of 500 children going to school has now increased to 5500 in the region.

CAMPAIGN AND LONG TERM REHABILITATION FOR DROUGHT RELIEF

The years 1994- 1995 witnessed one of the worst droughts in Palamau district of Jharkhand. More than 59 people died due to starvation in one block of Lesliganj alone. Several starvation deaths went unreported. The rain starved region had no employment for the people.

AID made plans to make demonstration unit of Mulberry sericulture in the region for the first time and secondly to rejuvenate the tassar sericulture which is a traditional occupation but slowly eroding due to lack of seeds. This timely intervention with the support of IVDT enabled to set up:

Five acre demonstration unit for the mulberry sericulture

Oil seed cultivation demonstration plots of groundnut and sunflower

A training center constructed for training in tassar silk reeling, spinning and weaving in Palamau district of Jharkhand

Earlier tassar cocoon were reared and sold but not processed.

Through this new intervention not only rearing of cocoon but the spinning and reeling of the cocoons were introduced for the first time in the region

The thread was again woven to bring out raw silk cloth. This process enabled the tribal and dalit women in the region to gain skills and earn money as well

Totally 420 tribal and dalit women were trained and their traditional skills enhanced

The rejuvenation of tassar silk has enabled to indirectly protect the forest through safe guarding the Asian and ashok trees in 525 acres, which are the host plants for tassar cocoon rearing.

The drought relief campaign had ripple affect in the region with the district administration handling over several drinking water schemes to AID in the region.

Drinking water wells in 24 villages

Irrigation wells in 26 villages

Check dams in 42 villages

Through a special scheme 242 drinking water wells were constructed in the villages by AID in record time of 90 days

The district administration initiated the watershed management activities in the region through AID to cover 1200 hectares of land.

Phulmani Devi is a stone cutter in Sons village. She and her husband are engaged in stone cutting from their livelihood. They have six children and all are engaged in grazing and farm labour. Stone cutting is a dangerous vocation where most of the time the stone chips are flayed across in the eyes and some of them have lost vision as well. But Phulmani had no option until the tassar silk reeling, spinning and weaving training were organized for the deprived dalit women like her.\par She has been trained in this vocation for 6 months and now she is independently weaving with a loom provided through the local government schemes by AID. She also got a house through the housing scheme and a well through the local schemes by AID. Now she is also sending her children to the Bal Vikas Kendras [Non formal education centers]