Poor city kids brought one step closer to school

Volunteers of ‘enroll a child’ initiative under the You Read They Learn campaign by HT reached out to hundreds of underprivileged families in Delhi to convince people to send their children to school.

Volunteers of ‘enroll a child’ initiative under the You Read They Learn campaign by HT reached out to hundreds of underprivileged families in Delhi to convince people to send their children to school.

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The volunteers, who had been allotted particular areas, went to several communities and identified families where children are not being sent to schools. The volunteers talked to the parents of such children and collected relevant data about them so that they could be enrolled in the nearest municipal school. The enrollment drive would be taken up Monday onwards.

Child Rights and You (CRY) is the NGO partner of the campaign.

The volunteers are divided into nine zones in Delhi. Each zone has mentors from CRY to guide them. The volunteers were briefed about the Right to Education (RTE) Act and how to talk and convince parents to send their children to school.

“We are going door to door, convincing parents to send their children to school. The age group we are focusing on is between 6 to 14 years. From my zone, I have received details of over 170 children. I am hoping that we can enroll maximum students,” said Nidhi Gupta, mentor of South Zone-I team.

The young volunteers displayed enthusiasm and commitment to the cause. “This is the best platform one can get to spread education. I feel I am doing something important and contributing to the society,” said Ayushi Rajdua from Sheikh Sarai, a volunteer.

The second batch of the volunteers will visit their respective zones on July 7.