New Delhi: Until recently, school was not part of the morning routine for many children in east Delhi’s Lal Bagh, Shahdara. Some accompanied their parents to collect discarded clothes, plastic and scrap meant to be sold, while others stayed put in the settlement through the day.For 17 children from these families of scavengers, mornings now mean uniforms, school bags and a journey to classrooms. Another 10 are expected to attend school from next Monday.For several of these kids, this is their family’s first brush with formal education. Generations have lived in the cluster of small shanties beneath an elevated Metro corridor, with children growing up around the working schedule of their parents.When they are not accompanying adults to collect scrap from streets, they spend their time huddled in the settlement. School, with its fixed hours, classrooms and daily attendance, was simply not part of that routine.Bringing them into the education system, therefore, required much more than finding vacant seats. Parents who had never attended school themselves had to be persuaded to send their children to classes every day, sometimes at the cost of an additional pair of hands contributing to the family’s meagre earnings. Non-existent I-cards and documents, unfamiliar admission procedures, and the challenge of helping children adjust to the discipline of school added another layer of difficulty.The Lal Bagh settlement is home to around 6,000 people, many living in cramped shanties measuring barely 10 feet by 10 feet, set amid open drains, poor sanitation, unsafe water sources and limited access to healthcare and other basic services.The effort is being facilitated by Asha Community Health and Development Society, whose teams have made repeated visits to these shanties, counselled families, helped them arrange documents, complete admission formalities, and gave them uniforms, school bags, books and stationery.The organisation estimates that around 250 school-age children live among nearly 400 families in the settlement. The first group entering classrooms, therefore, represents only a small part of the task ahead.For Satrupa, who has lived in Lal Bagh for 20 years and earns a living selling discarded clothes and scrap, getting her seven-year-old into school is just the beginning. Her two older children, aged eight and 10, don’t go to school. “I wanted all my children to attend school, but we did not have Aadhaar card or their birth certificates, and schools refused admission because of that. Now, at least my seven-year-old has started attending classes. I am happy,” she said.Monica faced a similar problem with her eight-year-old daughter. Without the necessary documents, she said, the family did not know how to navigate the admission process.But getting a child enrolled is only one part of the challenge. For many residents, the working day begins around 4am, when they step out in search of waste, discarded clothes and other reusable material in different parts of east Delhi. They return at 10.30 or 11am, often with their children accompanying them. The kids then spend their time playing.“The children are used to this routine. They have not grown up with the idea of school and don’t know what regular education means,” said Anita, Asha’s team leader in Lal Bagh. “Even children who had entered school earlier would suddenly stop going to classes. Some families would go back to their villages and not return for months. By the time they would come back, a child was once again outside the formal system.”Admission, Anita said, consequently marks the beginning rather than the end of the effort. “We have to keep track of them and ensure they attend regularly. In some cases, we even ask parents to give us in writing that they would send their children to school every day,” she said.Vandana, who goes as far as Seelampur and Welcome daily to collect scrap, said she initially saw little reason to send her son, RK — named after Ranbir Kapoor — to school. “We didn’t know how this would benefit him. But when we were told why education was important, we agreed. Now he attends classes regularly,” she said.Another child, Nirahua, named after the actor, dropped out of school after his uniform, drying outside his home, was stolen. His family could not afford to buy another one.Inside Lal Bagh, a small learning centre set up by Asha — it has a blackboard and books — is being used to prepare more children for school. “For generations, many of these families were deprived of the light of education. Asha is now working to ensure that this deprivation does not pass on to another generation,” said Dr Kiran Martin, founder and director of Asha Community Health and Development Society.Poor health creates yet another barrier. A mobile health clinic visits Lal Bagh twice a week, while around 45 residents are given meals each day based on their nutritional need. “Malnourishment is the most common problem among these children, and, in some cases, prevents them from attending school,” said Kusum, who is in charge of the mobile clinic. “There was one child who was severely anaemic and could not even walk. With intervention, she has now recuperated. Soon, we hope she will be able to go to school.”
