Guest teachers, parents start campaign to identify kids not in school, help them with admissions

The All India Guest Teachers’ Association has identified 472 venues in which to conduct this campaign based on inputs from teachers on where there is likely to be a sizable number of children, mostly slum areas.

Their campaign started on April 14, a school holiday because of Ambedkar Jayanti, and teachers said that they will continue with a door-to-door identification exercise on holidays.

“I had gone to the Shashi Garden slum area on Thursday. While we had not covered all of it, we identified 60 children in one day, mostly younger children who had not been enrolled at all. Most of them have had issues with producing the necessary documents. We will be working with the AIPA to find solutions to help them get enrolled,” said Shoaib Rana, a guest teacher.

“We are going to galis and asking parents if they have children not in school and if so, find out the problem and try to find a solution for it. We have started in around 40 camps, but we will be conducting this exercise in all the identified venues,” said Sunil Shastri, another teacher.

Ashok Agarwal, National President AIPA, said they are collaborating to bring together the interests of both children and the issues of guest teachers. There are 22,000 guest teachers in Delhi.

“We have asked them to help bring in children aged 3-18 out of school… increased enrolment will also mean that the demand for teachers will give them a higher chance of job security. Teachers are the backbone of the education system, if they come to the forefront, they can do wonders,” he said.