Citizens Association for Child Rights – CACRAnnual Project ReportJuly 2014 to June 2015

Writer: Lara ShankarInputs from: Nitin Wadhwani, Lara Shankar, Mohindru Mirchandani and Richa Singh.Editors: Vidya Vaidya, Nitin Wadhwani Cover Design: Anagha NigvekarLayout Design: Nikita Sayed

INDEX• Notefromthefounder

• CACR–IntroductionandBackground

• CACRTeam

• CACRVolunteersandMembers

• Projects

• CACREvents

• CACRPartners

• FuturePlans

• OverallResultsfromthisyear

NotefromtheFounder

Greetings to all, I’m proud to acknowledge that it has been a very positive year for our NGO CACR, not only did we manage to execute most of our projects well, but we also now have a fairly strong connect with the MCGM Education Department in Mumbai.

CACR is probably unique in its approach, operating within the framework of the MCGM Education System while questioning the concerned authorities simultaneously, striving for accountability on all levels. Our various suggestions regarding requirement of education from pre-primary to Class X in every Municipal School, providing varied

and quality mid-day meals through Centralised Kitchens, etc. have been taken seriously by the authorities and we will put in all our efforts for their proper implementation during this academic year.

We also recognise the need for interacting with our political representatives and sensitizing them about the importance of ensuring quality education as well as health care services for the children enrolled in Municipal Schools.

With a lot of new interesting projects designed, like the introduction of skills based vocational training, regular health check-ups, educational trips for children to various places like Nehru Planetarium, getting support from NSS for greater outreach in implementing the existing Computer Literacy Programme, increasing the Spoken English Programme to many more Schools, strengthening our association with CFSI and Enactus HR, and getting support from the reputed J J School of Fine Art to help in imparting Art education to children in MCGM Schools, we have a lot of intense work to look forward to.

I must thank each and every member, volunteer and intern, who has participated and helped us to implement these projects during the year and look forward to their continued support. We will continue our efforts to reach out to newer members to further strengthen our network, amplify our voice and uphold the rights of the underprivileged child.

Lastly, I would like to state that NGOs have an important part to play, understanding the various schemes and policies of the MCGM and our Governments, State as well as Central, and ensuring that these reach the actual beneficiaries rather than creating parallel systems within the MCGM Education System.

CACR is in for the long haul, ensuring accountability in the responsibilities of the MCGM and the Government in providing free, compulsory and quality education and healthcare to all children. To do this we need all the support we can get. On behalf of all the CACR members I sincerely request for more volunteer involvement and commitment.

Nitin WadhwaniFounder Director Email: connect.cacr@gmail.com

Citizens Association for Child Rights - CACR

IntroductionCitizens Association for Child Rights (CACR) is a not-for-profit organisation working towards better access to education for children belonging to economically-challenged backgrounds in Mumbai. The focus of the organisation’s work is to ensure that basic education and healthcare remain accessible to all, ensuring that disadvantaged children are protected from further vulnerabilities. CACR works to ensure that Mum-bai’s Municipal Schools, function effectively providing opportunities for children to learn and grow to their full potential. A dedicated team of professionals, volunteers, and like minded citizens volunteer to closely monitor, visit, and work in these Schools.

VisionCACR aspires to be one of the most credible and respected NGOs in the field of education and healthcare rights of children. By working within the framework of the education system, strengthening it and not creating parallel systems, CACR aims to ensure the best possible quality of education and healthcare for underprivileged children.

MissionCACR’s mission is to get like-minded citizens to take active part in improving the system of education and healthcare for underprivileged children, improving accountability in the system and to become a strong and credible voice in demanding rights for underprivileged children.

GoalsEnsure increased student enrolment in MCGM Schools1. Work towards student retention in Schools2. Extend basic civic rights to marginalised communities3. Work out processes for ensuring right to healthcare4. Demand rehabilitation of children who are presently employed by businesses in violation of the Child 5. Labour ActEssential educational necessities of handicapped and special children are met6.

ShortandlongtermgoalsCACR has also identified, as part of its targeted intervention, some short and long term goals. While we believe that sharing monitoring and evaluation reports will go a long way in fixing the lacunae in the sys-tem, we also would like to focus on short term goals that can immediately help the children in the MCGM Schools. These inputs are given to the teaching staff during formal meetings of the education depart-ment and they include RTE training, teacher training, method to conduct enrolment drives and spoken English classes. These initiatives take note of the fact that often short term activities help utilise the exist-ing infrastructure and help motivate the staff. Particularly, the English speaking classes and the Computer Literacy Initiative have been able to arrest dropout of children from vernacular backgrounds.

MonitoringIndicatorsIn order to achieve a desired level of accountability CACR has employed a unique tool – Monitoring Indi-cators. These Monitoring Indicators for infrastructure, curriculum, midday meals, have been devised after careful consideration with the education department as well as the communities benefitting from these schemes. Our team of members and volunteers visit Schools to collect data and then measure the perfor-mance of each School by employing these monitoring indicators. These parameters ensure that there is a standard mechanism to evaluate problems. This data and analysis is then shared with all the members of our organisation as well as with the Education Department. This is followed up with further planning and implementation of activities together with the very people with whom the report is shared.

The CACR Team:

AdvisoryBoardMembers

MohinderPalSinghBachherMohinder Pal Singh Bachher is a businessman trained in Marine Equipment Sales and Support. His Marine business includes selling equipment and spares for ships and representing marine equipment manufactures from India in U.K, New Zealand, and Germany amongst others. He has also undertaken first level training for Water Jets, Out Board Motors and Stabilizers. M.P.Singh has been the President of the Rotary Club of Bombay Bandra and is involved in many social activities. He is associated with the Guru Harkishan School SantaCruz West as a Life Member, and the H (W) Ward Federation.

MeenaKauraMeena Kaura is a teacher and social activist. She has been a lecturer at Chandigarh College of Higher Education. For the past 25 years she has been a full time volunteer and devotee at the Ramakrishna Mission in Mumbai. She runs the Sharda coaching classes at the Mission for children from underprivileged families attending Schools nearby. She also organizes and conducts annual Elocution Competition for all Mumbai Schools at the Mission. She is a Trustee of the Guzdar Scheme Residents Trust (GSRT) since its inception, which looks after the civic aspects of Santacruz (W) residents.

SandraShroff Sandra Shroff has been actively involved in the United Phosphorus Limited Company from its inception and is currently its Vice Chairman. Some of the positions she holds include Director at Enviro Technology Limited, Bharuch Enviro Infrastructure Limited and Vapi Waste and Effluent Management Company Limited, Member of ICC (ICMA) western region, Associated with FICCI & ASSOCHAM, Chairman of Burns Association of India, Airoli, Chairman of Smt Sandra Ben Shroff Gnyan Dham School in Vapi, Chairman of Ankleshwar Industrial Development Society, Ankleshwar, Governing Board Member of Sharada Mahila Vikas Society (promoted by Sewa Rural) Bharuch, Governing Board Member of Development Support Centre (DSC) Ahmedabad, Governing Council Member of GIDC Rajju Shroff Institute of Management Studies, Donor Trustee of Haria Rotary Hospital and Trustee of Gnyan Dham Vapi Charitable Trust. Most importantly she is actively involved in the social and welfare activities of village Schools and has been successful in establishing Schools and hospitals in South Gujarat.

LaraShankarLara Shankar is a social development professional and child rights activist. She has over 12 years of experience in the field of child rights, child protection, community development, gender and education. Herself a founder member of CACR, she holds citizen activism and the fight for justice for children very close to her heart. She has done a variety of work ranging from directly interacting and training street children, qualitative research, process documentation, writing of case histories, newsletters and annual reports, building citizen action and child rights campaigning to analysing and advocating policy changes. Lara Shankar is a published author. Penguin India published her book of life stories of homeless children namely ‘Midway Station’ is 2006. She continues to use her writing to highlight the impact of development work.

AnandiniThakoor Anandini Thakoor has been actively involved in social initiatives and public service for more than 50 years. She has been associated with many NGOs, ALMs, Mohalla Committees and Citizen Groups such as the H (W) Ward Citizen’s Trust, Khar Resident Association, and Bal Jeevan Trust among many others. She is also the member of Road Safety Advisory Committee and the president of BTUA- Bombay Telephone Users Association. She has been committed to a whole gamut of causes such as good governance and children’s education. Anandini Thakoor continues to zealously support and guide the citizen groups and non-profits working in these areas.

NareshKarmalkerNaresh Karmalker is a citizen activist for the past 20 years. He has been involved in the formation of Mumbai-based citizens’ associations such as the Khar-Bandra Youth Club, H-West Federation, Citispace and AGNI. He is one of the founder-members of ‘Mumbai 227’, which was an attempt to create a common platform for independent candidates at the 2012 Municipal elections. He is also an environmental activist associated with bodies such ‘Clean Bandra Campaign’ working with 15 Schools in the H (W) Ward on the issue of waste management, ‘Stree Mukti Sanghatana’ and ‘Burhani Foundation’. Naresh is associated with Habitat for Humanity, an international NGO working in the field of right to housing and sanitation, and with Business Network International (BNI). He is also part of the Editorial Board of ‘The Teenager Today’ magazine and co-founder of its event ‘Teen of the Year’.

NanjibhaiShahBorn in a small town in the Kutch area of Gujarat, Nanjibhai Shah came to Mumbai in 1970 to become a doctor. Since his financial conditions were not good enough, he couldn’t fulfil his dream. He had two options - either to wait for his financial condition to change or step ahead to change it by hard work. He chose the latter. He worked as a labourer, sold kites and washed vessels, tirelessly keeping in mind his determination to amount to something. In 1980 he opened a shop at Khar west, Mumbai with a mere Rs. 5,000. Neelam Foodland was born. Today Neelam Foodland is a byword for those who want to buy high quality foodstuff, including rare products that are difficult to procure anywhere else. Nanjibhai Shah’s store Neelam Foodland is today a popular landmark in the suburb.

ShaileshGandhiShailesh Gandhi is the former Information Commissioner with the Central Information Commission, New Delhi. He has been promoting and teaching RTI ACT and has conducted over 500 workshops for students, citizens and government officers guiding them to use the RTI. He has been awarded the Nani Palkhiwala Civil Liberties Award in 2008, the Distinguished Service Award and the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Bombay, among others.

IndraniMalkani Indrani Malkani has involved her trust ‘V Citizens Action Network (VCAN)’ in the particular matters of Revision of Electoral Rolls, and Voter Registration/Deletion to positively impact voter turnout. As Trustee, VCAN, and Founder Trustee & Hon Secretary of Malabar Hill Residents’ Association, she is associated with many non-profit organisations, citizens groups, and NGOs who value her experience and guidance.

CACRDirectors

NitinRWadhwaniNitin Wadhwani is a Science graduate from Mumbai with a Diploma in Radio Electronics. He is a Direc-tor of a company, which is in the business of distribution of Electronic Components, specialising in the field of Power Electronics. He is also a promoter of a joint venture - Indo Italian manufacturing company - which manufactures transformers for export and domestic markets. On the social work front, Nitin has been volunteering to improve the quality of education in Municipal Schools of Mumbai since 2008, be-fore founding CACR in 2013. He believes in networking with like-minded citizens, institutions and NGOs in the field of education and health to strengthen and supplement the system.

VidyaVaidyaVidya Vaidya is an Artist and Social Activist. She is an Alumnus of the Sir J.J. School of Fine Art, Mumbai and has held a number of art exhibitions in Mumbai and other cities. She is now fully involved in commu-nity work for almost 25 years and deeply associated with advocacy groups to protect ‘Public Spaces’ and ‘Child Rights’. She is the Trustee and Hon. Secretary of the ‘H (W) Ward Citizen’s Federation’ and the ‘Gen. A. K. Vaidya Nagar Rahivasi Sangh’ of Bandra Reclamation and a Member Trustee of ‘BRAVO” and ‘Cel-ebrate Bandra Trust’ which has organized the popular Celebrate Bandra Festival since 2003. She is also as-sociated with the RTI groups of Mumbai and is one of the founder-members of ‘Mumbai 227’, which was an attempt to create a common platform for independent candidates at the 2012 Municipal elections.

RichaSingh(DirectorProjects)Dr. Richa is a dreamer, dentist, sports fan, amateur painter, and voracious reader. She has completed her graduate degree (BDS) in Dental Surgery from Mumbai and obtained a professional diploma in manage-ment from Thadomal Shahani trust, Mumbai. She also holds a certificate in Management Principles as well as CSR and Value creation from Audencia Nantes School of management. Richa is passionate about the causes of education and healthcare and has volunteered with NGOs such as AGNI and CRY. She has been part of the CACR team from the genesis and has played an active role to build and expand its im-pact and reach.

TeamMembersCentraltoCACR

RoshniSinghRoshni Singh has completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from M.L. Dahanukar Col-lege, Masters Degree in Computer Science from Ramnarain Ruia College and Post Graduate Diploma in Slum Studies and Development from Mumbai University. She is an ardent worker in the field of education and health. She believes that everyone should come together and stand for a good cause such as educa-tion and help institutions improve the quality of education.

DilmohanNidharakDilmohan Nidharak is an IT developer, website designer, activist, movie buff and sports enthusiast. He has done his B.E in Computer Engineering from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College (T.S.E.C), Mumbai. He has worked with Infosys as a CRM developer and is now the founder and C.E.O of VirtuoSky, a website development company. He has been a fervent supporter of the cause of child rights and teach-es Computers to School children in Municipal Schools as a CACR volunteer. He is actively involved in the youth wing of CACR, is responsible for the I.T wing of CACR and plays an active role in maintaining and developing the CACR website.

CACR Volunteers

CACRhasadensecitizen’snetworkfromvariousALMslike

H (W) Ward Federation • Gazdar Scheme Residents’ Trust• Rotary Club, etc. and •

god support from various students’ organizations such as Enactus H.R.• NSS Ruia• NMIMS students’ body, • SoRT team of VESIT, etc.•

CACRNetwork–LocationofVariousprojectsfromJuly2014-June15(Wardwise)

MUNICIPAL WARDS PROJECTS/ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED BY CACR

H West CLP, Cleanliness week, e-Teach H East CLPK East CLP , Cleanliness week, Nalanda Dance initiative , Project Saarthi,

English is funG South CLP , Cleanliness week, Kalaghoda Art festivalF North CLPM West e-Teach

L Soft skill training for MCGM School teachersR Central School Observation R North School Observation R South School Observation

CACRCitizenMembersWhoDriveTheChangeWithTheirExemplarySpiritAndDedicationToTheCauseOfChildRightsAndTheRightToQualityEducationare:

Mohindru Mirchandani Pratibha TiwariMani Patel Marshello Mendonca

Caroline D’Souza Harsha DesaiDr. Sharad Wagle Sanjeevani KashikarNarinder Madan Pradnya More

Sheeba Nair Tina SarkarIshan Mehta Rahul ModyCdr. S.K. Jana Mr. Natrajan

Shobha Madye Asha ChitampalBaruna Amre Amrapali Salvi

Debonita Biswas Anitha Chandrashekhar

PROJECTS UNDERTAKEN

1.ComputerLiteracyProject-CLP

With the aim of assisting the students in Municipal School to be computer (I.T.) Literate, CACR collaborates with the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay, which has developed video lessons called ‘Spoken tutorials’. The Spoken Tutorial project is the initiative of the ‘Talk to a Teacher’ activity of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Government of India.

Website:http://www.spoken-tutorial.org/

NeedforCLPinMCGMSchools:

Many Municipal Schools have a computer lab with functional computers but don’t have qualified teach-ers to impart basic IT skills. Moreover, students from the vernacular mediums are unable to grasp the language and keyboard content in English. To address this need gap CACR introduced basic computer training via multi-lingual spoken tutorials in MCGM Schools. In few Schools, where spoken tutorials could not be implemented the CACR members with an I.T. background trained students on their own.

ProjectImplementation:

This was the 2nd consecutive year of project implementation in various MCGM Schools by CACR. There has been both a quantitative and qualitative improvement this year.

Statsfrom2013-14:

NumberofSchools• - 11 Schools (IIT spoken tutorials) + 5 Schools (non-IIT CLP).

Wards• - K (E), K (W), M (E), M (W), H (W), G (N)

StudentBodiesvolunteering• - Enactus HR College, Social wing Vivekanand Engineering College and Citizen Volunteers, TATA CMC (corporate employees).

Totalnumberofstudentsbenefitted• - 1250 to 1300 students.

BasicITskillspickedupbystudentsin3-4hoursofprogramexposure:• keyboard familiarity, text typing, editing, saving and opening a document.

Teachertraining:• 24 teachers in 6 Schools trained for 1 day by CACR; IIT conducted the teacher training program too.

Volunteers:• Richa, Roshni, Ishan, Jinal, Zinal, HR Enactus students, VESIT SoRT group, Deepak Wadhwani, Akhil Killawala, Prafula Killawala, Sheeba Nair, Anju Agarwal, Kalpana Joshi, Dr Wagle, Archana Wagle, Tanklane volunteers, among others.

Roshni teaching keyboard functions in the Marol School

Statsfrom2014-15:

NumberofSchools• - 21 Schools (IIT spoken tutorials) + 5 Schools (non - IIT CLP).

Wards• - G (S), F (N), H (E), H (W), K (E).

StudentBodiesvolunteering• - Enactus HR, NSS Ruia and KC Colleges, NMIMS student wing and CACR members.

Totalnumberofstudentsbenefitted• -1400 students.

BasicITskillspickedupbystudentsin3-4hoursofprogramexposure:• Keyboard familiarity, text typing, editing, saving and opening a document, making a spreadsheet, inserting photos in a document, creating charts.

Volunteer:• Enactus HR, Ruia, NSS, NMIMS and KC College Students, CACR members, Narinder Madan, Dilmohan Nidharak and Rahul Mody.

Therewasa102%increaseinnumberofstudentswhounderwentcomputertrainingusingIIT• spokentutorials.

Totalnoofstudentsbenefittedin2years-2600+

Numberofstudents

Increase in computer literacy impact

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

180

1190

650

590

2014-15

2013-14

Year

CLPNON-IIT CLPIIT

TraintheTeacher:

To make the Computer Literacy Project sustainable it is essential to train the teachers in the Schools who must takeover when the CACR volunteers leave. Especially, when the aim of the project is not to adopt the Municipal School or its responsibilities but offer a limited time-bound support. Ultimately the system must effectively function and by equipping the MCGM teachers with the required skill sets we hope to phase out the trainings and instead monitor the program for consistent quality in teaching.With this in mind CACR members have conducted a number of teacher training workshops on Computer Literacy in Municipal Schools across various language mediums. Usually teachers from a medium attend the meetings together with a full workshop comprising of 10 teachers or number of desktops at the venue. Each session is of about 3 hour’s duration.

A training program for teachers and administrative officers was conducted in H (W) Ward School by CACR Member Dr Sharad Wagle was well attended by 15 - 16 teachers and administrative officers said:

“Last year I was able to bring a majority of students at Petit School to what I would call a reasonable level of computer literacy. What they needed was further practice so that they can improve their speed and confidence. From my experience I feel each MCGM School student from class 4 to 7 can become computer literate in one semester through effective 8-10 computer sessions! But we need to find out how the teach-ers can be made accountable to what they teach. Without that I am afraid it will be a case of so much water down the drain, no matter how we help them”

ContinuedEfforts: CACR has successfully lobbied with the MCGM departments to ensure each of the 200 School buildings get its very own full time computer teacher. Also, CACR is pushing for a provision for the annual main-tenance and anti-virus protection contracts for the computers by the education department. In 2015 - 2016 CACR plans to continue this program to bridge the digital divide and take on the ambitious target to make 1.5 lakh students in upper primary MCGM Schools computer literate. More collaboration with College student bodies for volunteer support is underway.

2. EnglishTeachingProgram

While children from good Schools and privileged families achieve proficiency in the English language easily, it is not so for children from the MCGM Schools. With little assistance from their homes and the poor quality of English teaching available in MCGM Schools, children from these Schools cannot cope without external support. CACR’s efforts continue to be geared to make these children fairly proficient in English. To achieve this it conducts the following programs in English teaching:

a. ProjectSaarthibyEnactusHRCollegewithLeapForWard(LFW)

b. e-TeachbyBCPT(NGOBombayCommunityPublicTrust)

c. ‘EnglishisFun’byGyanodaya

a. ProjectSaarthi

Enactus H.R College’s Project Saarthi was initiated in October, 2013 with the aim of enhancing the English language skills of primary students. For achieving this goal Enactus HR College has partnered with Leap ForWord (LFW), an NGO working in the English teaching space for the past six years and has successfully touched over 4500 students from various MCGM and Zilla Parishad Schools. CACR was the facilitation and implementation partner in MCGM Schools.

PROJECTImplementation:

2 Saarthi’s (Shobha Ghewade and Sonali Shedge ) have been teaching in Nitynanand Municipal MPS School in K [E] Ward from Feb 2015 onwards till date. Students go through -1 mapping or Pre-interven-tion test, 3 periodical tests and 1 final test. Detailed Performance Reports would be submitted to MCGM for review

TargetStudentGroup:1st to 8th Grade Students. (90 students)

ProjectTimeline:1.5 Months of classes completed till April 2015. Classes to continue from June to August 2015

Attheprogramcompletionstudentsenrolledintheprogramwillableto: Read Sentences and Paragraphs made up of 3 & 4 Letter Words. Read Complex Breakable words from (2nd to 4th Grade English Text Books). Comprehend substantial number of words from their respective English Text Books.

“On monitoring the primary students i.e. 1st and 2nd std., it was noticed that they do not grasp the content as quickly as students from 3rd to 8th standard. Hence, we will divide their classes and may extend the earlier time limit of the project. We have seen 44% improvement in students English Skills in one and half months: said Shikha Rathore, HR Enactus College, Project Coordinator

Students with their English trainers

b. e-TEACH

For the purpose of teaching English to the children aged 5 to 7 years studying in MCGM Schools it was best to use animation-dependant audio visual material. DVDs which worked with animation videos were chosen by Citizens Association for Child Rights for the purpose. This would help both parties – children would respond better to interactive material and it would be convenient for a teacher to teach in this manner.

These DVDs were facilitated by the BombayCommunityPublicTrust-BCPT and made by TATA Interactive systems. The DVD’s are based on the prescribed curriculum of the Maharashtra government. Moreover, the DVDs are such that they do not put any additional strain on the teachers and the instructors because they can introduce concepts of the language to children in a creative and engaging manner.

PROJECTImplementation:

CACR volunteers and BCPT coordinators implemented the project in 16 Schools of H (W) Ward and 1 School of M (W) Ward mentioned below

H(W)WardBazar Road Marathi Navpada Urdu

Petit Urdu Navpada HindiKhar Danda Bazaar road Urdu1

Khotwadi Marathi Bazaar road Urdu2Khotwadi Urdu Bandarwadi UrduKhotwadi Hindi Reclamation Chapel Rd

Tank Lane Station Road UrduManekji Gazdar Supari Tank

MWardChembur Naka Marathi

Volunteers:Swati , Madhuri, Athiya , Mr Mirchandani, Baruna Amre, Usha

TargetStudentGroup:Students of 1st and 2nd Standards

ProjectTimeline:From August 2014 to Feb - March 2015

Childrenbenefitted: In Standards 1 and 2 - 963 in H west and 20 students in M Ward

E-Teach at KharDanda MCGM School

c. EnglishisFun

Gyanodaya, a Community Engagement Initiative, in collaboration with CACR conducted the ‘English is Fun Program’ at Marol Police Camp medium Marathi Municipal School from July 2014 to March 2015 with students from Std V to Std VII.

A part of the session is used to help children read and comprehend their English text books. Every ses-sion ends with the children being encouraged to write a paragraph in English from their lesson done in the class.

Numberofstudents:

• 60studentsinStdV,• 60studentsinStdVI,and• 65studentsinStdVII.Thusatotalof185students,arereachedoutto,throughthisProgram.

ProgramImplementation:

The English is Fun Program is conducted with the help of 8 volunteers on Tuesdays and Thursday at 10.30 am for a 45 minute session. The afternoon session is from 3.30 pm onwards.

The emphasis of this Program has been to give the students an opportunity to speak English and improve their comprehension of the language. The class begins with the singing of Nursery Rhymes and action songs etc. making it fun and exciting for the children. The volunteers have covered topics like Myself, Use of the 4 Magic words, Days of the week, month and year, and Use of today, tomorrow, and yesterday. The students enjoy the class and look forward to these interactions. A number of students who found it difficult to read and write English before, have shown tremendous improvement and are moti-vated to make an effort during these sessions.

Said the CACR Volunteer Project Coordinator Ms Caroline D’Souza:

“We are indeed grateful to CACR for granting us the permission to work with this School. This being our first experience, it has been a great learning one. Of course we need to review and modify our sessions to meet the students’ requirements. The School Principal Smt. Karande and the teachers are very cooperative and interested in the project. Parents too have expressed their happiness about the project during the SMC meeting”

Numberofstudentsfor3EnglishProjects

983

185

90ETEACH

SAARTHI

ENGISFuN

3. CACRandNalandaNrityaKalaMahavidyalayaDanceInitiative

The Nalanda Dance Research Centre’s Nalanda Nritya Kala Mahavidyalaya College Of Indian Clas-sical Dance, accredited by NAAC, is permanently affiliated to the University of Mumbai in the Faculty of Fine Arts/ Performing Arts aWarding Degree (B.P.A. Bachelor of Performing Arts), Post-Graduation (M.P.A. Master of Performing Arts) and Ph. D. in Dance.

The College is housed in its own spacious premises at Juhu Scheme, Vile Parle (West). TheNalandaDanceResearchCentreisanofficiallyrecognizedResearchInstitutebytheMinistryofScienceandTechnology,GovernmentofIndia,theonlydanceinstitutiontobesorecognized. Acceptance of formal academics in dancing at the university level and recognition of dance as a full-fledged discipline for scientific research are the two pioneering achievements of Nalanda.

ProjectImplementation:

The institute partnered with CACR and began working with the children in the Schools in December 2014 and a large number of students were really eager to learn to dance. Nalanda deployed 20 of their professional dance students to work with CACR to teach the students on Saturdays until March 2015 Schools and sessions: They instructed 360 children in classical dance in 3 MCGM School buildings of K (E) Ward involving 13 to 14 Schools including Dixit Road School, Chakala School and Nityanand School, holding 24 sessions in all.

“We have had a yearlong positive endeavour with CACR, a team that is truly dedicated and passionate about the children they strive for. This is what has put Nalanda in awe of the concept set forth by the wonderful team and we are ready to give our heartfelt support to the cause”- Smt. Vaidehi Rele NNKM

“Our aim is to spread awareness in the students of the MCGM Schools regarding alternate reputed education options they can take post their Schooling. Besides, classical dance by itself is a matter of pride and honour and we want the students to be aware of this wonderful heritage and culture of our great country. It is for them to take to such honourable occupations in the future thereby earn great respect for themselves” -Smt. Kanak Rele founder of the Nalanda Dance Research Centre

ContinuedEfforts:

CACR looks forward to partnering with Nalanda Academy in the coming academic year and hopes to stage a show wherein Municipal School children can showcase what they have learnt and be encouraged to continue. Our mission is to reach all Schools and all the children.

4. ToyLibraryinNityanandSchool

As a pilot project, in MCGM’s Nityanand Mumbai Public School, CACR entered into a partnership with Toybank, a NGO doing the exemplary work of providing toys to children. This partnership addresses the need of children deprived of extra-curricular activities and their right to play and leisure. A good toy library has been set up in one of the vacant rooms in the School in Sep - Oct 2014 and children from

Balwadis and the Primary School get an opportunity to play with toys! And learn while doing so. We hope to build on this partnership in the near future and bring a smile on to the faces of many more children in Municipal Schools.

5. ScreeningofEducationalMoviesinMunicipalSchools

To activate the MCGM Education Depart-ment’s Virtual Studio and also provide an opportunity to children in their Schools to stimulate their creativity, compassion and critical thinking, CACR has tied up with the Children’s Film Society of India - CFSI.

CFSI is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, formed to exhibit socially relevant, award winning children’s’ films directed by some of the finest luminaries of Indian Cinema like Mrinal Sen, Satyen Bose, K Abbas, M S Sathyu, Sai Paranjpe, etc. CACRwithCFSIreachesoutto480MCGMSchoolsatonetime,thusallowingmorethan40,000childrentoviewthesemoviesscreenedfromtheVirtualStudiosintheSchools.Permissionhasbeenobtainedtoexhibitatleastonefilmamonthonthelastworkingdayofeachmonth.

The first CFSI film, ‘Boond Boond se Saagar’, was screened for the children through the MCGM Virtual Studio on 31st March 2015. The film was exhibited to 311 MCGM Schools all over Mumbai and more than 10,000 children were able to view it at the same time. The second film ‘Aaji Aajoba’ was shown in 246 Schools on June 30th 2015. Needless to say, the children enjoyed the films very much.

Totalreach:557 Schools and 27,000 + children in these 2 screenings

6. VolunteerCACRTeachersin4MunicipalSchools

As per records available with the MCGM Education Department, there are sufficient well paid and qualified teachers employed as per the Teacher Student Ratio of the RTE Act, which is 1:30 for lower primary and 1:35 for upper primary Schools. Yet there is always a shortage of teachers in many Schools, as some mediums have a much larger number of teach-ers than required and teachers cannot be moved from one medium to another. This along with innu-merable teacher training programmes and respon-sibilities that keep teachers away from the School creates a big vacuum.CACR was requested by the MCGM department to provide a few volunteers teachers for English and teaching the Secondary School students.

The children enjoying the films

Amrapali Salvi CACR volunteer with students

CACRprovidedthefollowingteacherswhotaughtfreeofcostasashorttermsolution:

• ShobhaMadge–DixitRoadMunicipalSchool(7,8,9thstandard)• Mr.Natrajan–DixitroadEnglishmediumSchool• AmrapaliSalvi–NityanandPre-primarySchool• PradynaMore–ChakalaMarathimedium(6thStandard)• AshaChitampal–ChakalaMarathimedium(4thStandard)• PratibhaTiwari–NityanandHindimedium(5and6thstandard)• 3-4CitizenVolunteers–TanklaneMunicipalSchool

7. HealthandCleanlinessWeekinMunicipalSchools

CACR participated in and organised varied activities for the ‘Cleanliness Week’ in Municipal Schools. This week long MCGM program was called “Balak Swachhata Mahotosav” organised during the celebration of 25 years of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and Children’s Day. The event was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Fadnavis at Dixit road Municipal School, Vile Parle on Children’s Day, November 14. CACR members organized various innovative programs. School children were prepared to address the then AMC Mr. Kharage via open letters, intervention and awareness programs for parents and children, and a 2 minute video message to the Prime Minister was made among other events.

Thefollowingeventswereorganizedforthecleanlinessweek:

• Nov10-Fourvideosoncleanliness,sanitationandhand-washingcreatedandeditedbyCACR were given to MCGM Virtual Studios to be broadcasted through the virtual classroom to 480 Municipal Schools.

• Nov13-Screeningof2moviesoncleanwaterandcleanfoodforparentsofChakalaMunicipal School Marathi medium was done followed by Q n A on Malaria, Dengue, Waste Disposal, and Hand Washing. http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?edorsup=Sup&queryed=820009&ed_page=2&boxid=356 04&id=72893&eddate=2014-11-14&ed_date=2014-11-14&ed_code=820009&wintype=popup

• Nov14-Children’sdaycelebrationatAdarshNagarWorliHindiandMarathiSchoolsbyCACRvol unteers and Enactus HR College students and Twitter chat on Children’s day on mission sanitation.

• Nov15-Healthtalkwithdoctorscoveringdentalhygiene,personalhygiene,andnutritionat Nityanand Municipal School with 300 School children and 50 parents

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?edorsup=Sup&queryed=820009&ed_page=6&boxid=276 87&id=72966&eddate=2014-11-16&ed_date=2014-11-16&ed_code=820009&wintype=popup

Dr Richa in a Q & A session with parents.

• Nov15-”SaafSwachhSushikshitSamaj”playbyMujeebKhanatPetitandGazadarMunicipal School before an audience of 300 students in presence of Mrs. Apte, Superintendent zone 3 and Deputy Mayor Mrs. Alka Kelkar.

• Nov16-Postersoncleanliness,handwashingandwastedisposalmadeandeditedby CACR interns.

• Nov17-PlaybyMujeebKhaninNityanandandChakalaMunicipalSchoolbuilding(8Schools with 700 students)

• Nov18-Childrenof7and8standardofMarathiandHindimediumofChakalaMunicipalSchool write open letters to Additional Municipal Commissioner Mr.Vikas Kharage. Also a poster making competition for 3 to 6 class students on the theme ‘Clean India Mission’. Prizes for top 3 given by CACR. http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?edorsup=Sup&queryed=820009&ed_page=6&boxid=320 14&id=73060&eddate=2014-11-19&ed_date=2014-11-19&ed_code=820009&wintype=popup

• Nov19-ChildrenofKharDandaMunicipal School Marathi and Hindi medium record their 2 minute messages on cleanliness for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Also HR College students conducted games based on UNICEF’S project WASH http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.

aspx?edorsup =Sup&queryed=820009&ed_page=7&boxid=32173&id=73098&eddate=2014-11-20&ed_date=2014-11-20&ed_code=820009&wintype=popup

• Nov19-Blogarticleoncleanlinessweekand Swachh Bharat Abhiyan http://cacr6.blogspot.in/2014/11/clean-india-mission-it-starts-with-me.html

Khar Danda School event

Packed hall of students and parents enjoying the playThe play ”Saaf Swachh Sushikshit Samaj”

8. MeetingtheMCGMEducationDepartmentduringtheAcademicYear2014-15

One of major objectives of CACR is to ensure continuous interaction with the hierarchy of the MCGM Education Department with inputs and suggestions on improving the functioning and quality of educa-tion in Municipal Schools. Issues related to implementation of various important projects like Computer Literacy Programme, Spoken English Programme, participation of members in School Management Committees, strengthening the E learning Programme through Virtual Studio, giving children an op-portunity to learn dance, participate in health and sanitation programmes, monitoring the quality of mid-day meals, highlighting the delays in distribution of 27 items to children in Municipal Schools, etc. to bring about positive change.Frequent interactions with the authorities during the year, both at Ward and Zone level and with the Edu-cation Officer, DMC Education, AMC, the Education Commissioner and also the State Education Minister have helped to network and advocate for the right to education.

DuringtheseinteractionsCACRhashighlightedvariousconcernsespeciallywithrespecttothefollowingissues:

1. Proper functioning and implementing of the important clause of RTE Act i.e. School Management Committee (SMC).

2 Provide varied and quality mid-day meals through centralised kitchens.CACR believes that centralised kitchens will ensure better control on quantity, quality and nutritional value of the

meals, as well as better variety for all children under the Mid Day Meal Scheme.3. Ensuring that every MCGM School provides education from pre-primary to Class X at least.4. Improved quality and Timely distribution of 27 items to children as soon as Schools open for the

new session in June.5. Strengthening E Learning and providing support to the Virtual Studio of the MCGM Education Department.6. Review and monitor the various Public Private Partnerships in MCGM Schools and spaces given to

NGOs for non-educational purpose.7. Improved Health Check-up programmes for children and create awareness about the Accident Insurance and the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana to ensure that children in MCGM

Schools get access to good treatment in case of minor or major illness.

It is equally important that while CACR is handholding and implementing various important projects in Munici-pal Schools, the sharing of observations and suggestions with the departments and policy making members con-tinues in order to improve the functioning of the system.

CACR strongly believes that regular interaction with the MCGM Education Department as well as political repre-sentatives, who are equally responsible, will go a long way in making a positivedifference.

Meeting with Education Commissioner Mrs. Ritu Tawade.

9. SchoolManagementCommittees(SMC)inMunicipalSchools

SMC –School Management Committee is a constituent body formed in accordance with the RTE Act- Right to Education Act, to monitor the various amenities, facilities, budgets, infrastructure, and most importantly the quality of education. The School Management Committee has to be constituted in every School, other than an unaided School, within six months of the appointed date, and reconstituted every two years.

CompositionofSMC:As per RTE Act, 75% of the strength of the School Management Committee shall be from amongst par-ents or guardians of children i.e. 15 parents from 20 members.

Category No Position Preference

Parent (PTA) member 1 Chairman Women

Parent of CWSN/ Vulnerable 1 Vice-Chairman Member 1 (Preferably the chair person)

Head Master 1 Convener Women Member-1Teacher representatives 1 Member Women Member-1Parents including from disadvantage groupand Weaker section* 12 Member Woman Member 7

Elected Member of Local Body 2 Member Woman Member 1Educationist/ Philanthroist / NGO / Retired Official 1 Member

Self Help Group member (parent) 1 Member Woman Member1Total 20**

FunctioningoftheSMC:

The SMC has to meet at least once a month and the minutes and decisions of these meetings, have to be properly recorded and made available to the public. It has major functions like:

MonitoringthefunctioningoftheSchool

• Preparation,Recommendation,ImplementationandmonitoringoftheSchoolDevelopment Plan (SDP)• MonitoringofutilisationofthegrantsreceivedfromtheappropriateGovernmentorLocal authority or any other source• Performanceofotherfunctions

InourcontinuedeffortsinmakingadifferenceinthefunctioningofMunicipalSchools,CACRhadnominatedalmost40membersasNGOrepresentativesasSchoolManagementCommitteemembersinvariousMunicipalSchoolsduring2014-15.

For our volunteers, functioning as a SMC member is an important step towards monitoring the vari-ous aspects of the proper functioning of the activities in a School. Its infrastructure, Mid Day Meal pro-gramme, the teacher student ratio, timely distribution of 27 items, health check up programme, etc. and also empowering and involving parents to participate, they being the direct stake holders in the system.Since it is expected that SMC members would work together with the authorities in improving the ac-countability in the functioning of the Municipal Schools, the response from the Head Masters and

Teachers was quite disappointing.There was no proper planning by the authorities at School and Ward level in ensuring that this important clause of the RTE Act is implemented well in word and spirit. Irregularity in holding meetings, meetings called at the last minute were the norm in most Schools, which resulted in a large percentage of the members not being able to participate regularly and some of them even dropping out. This clearly indi-cates the lack of accountability on part of the authorities in implementing such an important clause of the RTE Act.

Out of the 40 odd Municipal Schools, CACR managed to participate and activate regular SMC meetings in about 10 Schools and some of the best meetings were held in Schools in the K/E and H/W Wards, where our members Dr. Richa Singh and Mr. Mohindru Mirchandani kept a close track and build up a good rapport with the concerned Head Masters and parents too, which helped in conducting regular monthly meetings with a fair amount of involvement from all the participants.

Our other members Ms Mani Patel, Dr.Sharad Wagle and Mrs.Archana Wagle, Mr.Narinder Madan, Mr.Haridas, Ms Debonita, Mrs. Anitha Chandrashekhar, etc. also managed to participate and attend in some meetings in their respective Schools during the academic year.

ListofthemembersWardwise/Schoolwise,whocouldparticipateinSMCmeetingsduringtheacademicyearApril2014-March2015:-

Nameofmember MunicipalSchool Ward

Dr. Richa Singh Nityanand K/E Dr. Richa Singh Chakala Marathi K/E

Mr. Marshall/Ms. Caroline Marol Police Camp K/E Ms. Mani Patel Petit Gujarati H/W

Dr.Sharad Wagle Petit Marathi H/WMrs. Archana Wagle Petit Urdu. H/WMr. Narinder Madan Tank Lane Hindi H/W

Mr. R L Haridas Khotwadi H/WMr. M.S. Mirchandani Laxmi Nagar H/WMs. Debonita Biswas Maravali Urdu M/E

Mrs. Anitha Maravali Hindi M/E

Tothebestofourknowledge,CACRistheonlyNGOwhichhasnominatedempoweredcitizenstobeapartoftheSMCmeetings.

In fact, we also conducted SMC Orientation sessions for the parents in some Schools as well as a few Resource Centres of the MCGM Education Department to help in proper implementation of this impor-tant clause of the RTE Act. We need more active citizen and community participation during the coming years to strengthen the School Management Committee in Municipal Schools which will help in improv-ing the functioning and quality as well as accountability.

SMC meeting in progress

ImpactmadeduetoParticipationintheSMCsbyCACRmembers:

1. There have been discussions on important issues like utilisation of School Development Fund, Moni-toring the Mid Day Meal quality and kitchen visits of the self help group, initiating the Eklavya Library Programme, monitoring the infrastructure, housekeeping and security, Virtual Classroom Programme, monitoring the health check up cards, etc.

2. One of the highlights of participation in SMC meetings was the suspension of a Self Help Group in the K/E Ward, which was providing criminally poor quality of mid day meals to 3 municipal schools

covering almost 15,000 children.WormsandotherforeignobjectswerefoundintheinadequateKhichadisuppliedandthematterwasimmediatelyelevatedtothetophierarchyoftheMCGMEducationDepartment,resultinginitsimmediatesuspensionfor45days.

The HM of one of the Municipal Schools courageously refused to reinstate the Self Help Group and another HM was pulled up for not keeping a proper check on quality of meals provided. Also for the first time, the Beat Officers were asked to visit the Kitchen of this Self Help Group and provide an assessment report after our NGO CACR sent an official report to the Deputy Mayor regarding this issue. An example of how vigilant and empowered citizen volunteers can help in making a difference by being a part of the School Management Committees as per RTE Act.

WeneedmoresuchactivecitizenandcommunityparticipationduringthecomingyearstostrengthentheSchoolManagementCommitteesinMunicipalSchoolswhichwillgoalongdistanceinimprovingthefunctioningandqualityofeducationreceivedbychildrenaswellasenhancetheaccountabilityofthesystem.

CACR Events

1. MuSTRun–Dec14,2014

CACR’s first members and support have been from the Federation and even now, we have the maximum number of citizen volunteers and SMC members in this Ward.

CACR participated in the MUSTRun organised by the Federation that brought together professional ath-letes and amateurs along with the Municipal School students. The 4th edition of MUSTRun marathon was flagged off from St. Stanislaus High School grounds in Bandra west hosted a 21 km race as well as a special 1 km race for the disabled. The theme of MUSTRun 2014 was to support the cause of disability and strive to make public spaces more accessible to the disabled. ‘Access for All’ project was launched to create a barrier-free H-West Ward to ensure ease of access for the differently abled as well as to senior citizens, pregnant women and people with injury. The run also supported an ‘Oral Health Awareness Campaign’ along with H-west Federation’s partner The Dental Nexus to spread the importance of good dental hygiene.

CACR involved almost 550 School children in the age group 11-16 years from neighbourhood MCGM Schools who participated in the Dec 2014 2 km run.

“Earlier in March 2014 we had 250 School children participate in the DNA Ican marathon. It was heart breaking to see them battle the discomfort as they ran without shoes. It was only their enthusiasm and perse-verance that helped themcomplete the race. So this year CACR worked towards raising funds to get all the 550 MUSTRun Municipal stu-dent participants new pairs of shoes and socks!” – Mani Patel, CACR.

And as 550 School children in uniform ran the race, all the by-standers cheered them on to the finish line! After the race the students were given a food hamper and refreshments donated by Neelam Foodland.

CACR also organized a photo booth session for all the participants and volunteers present at the venue. Each person posed with a quote that they felt suited them the most. The quotes spoke about education, child rights, equality and justice for all. All the partici-pants posed happily with the posters.

2. SolarCookingFestivalSuryaKumbh-Jan15,2015

Surya Kumbh 2015 was organised by the Bandra Hindu Association with the objective of connecting School children with nature, understand our environment and experience the environment friendly solar energy concept. 1600 children from Schools all over Mumbai participated in the programme. Almost 70 children from Petit Municipal School and Manekji Gazdar Municipal School and 30 students from Taklane Municipal School from the H (W) Ward participated through CACR. The children were given a demonstration on the use of the alternate energy with a first-hand experience of solar cooking using a self-assembled Solar Cooker. The chil-dren also had the opportunity to interact with the Central Minister for Energy and Coal, Mr. Piyush Goyal, the MLA Adv. Ashish Shelar and the Deputy Mayor of Mumbai, Mrs. Alka Kerkar, amongst other dignitar-ies who came forward to talk to them. The event was very inspiring and informative for the children.

CACR Director Vidya Vaidya said:

“What was remarkable was the composure with which the Municipal School children conducted them-selves. All children who attended were given food packets as breakfast. Each Municipal School child said that they had had breakfast at home and would eat after the programme was over. In marked contrast to the private school children who tore into their packets and started eating and littering almost before the distribution was over. The Municipal School children listened carefully to the instructions and followed them to their best abilities. When they left in an orderly manner their area was clean of all litter, the only area that was so. We are really proud of our Municipal School children!”

3. InternationalDisabilityDayDiscussion

As a child rights NGO committed towards ensuring implementing important RTE clauses in Municipal Schools, which includes inclusiveness in education, CACR deputed 30 members and HR College interns to the discussion organised by ADAPT on World Disability Day On December 4 2014 at the Prince of Wales Museum. Dr. Mithu Alur the founder of ADAPT addressed the audience and led the discussion. It focussed on ensuring equal rights for the disabled, including access, employment opportunities, and the role of media in promoting their cause. The dignitaries who participated in the programme included Nagesh Kukunoor (film maker), Ashish Shelar (BJP MLA), V. Ranganathan (Chairperson, The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee), Brinda Somaya (renowned architect and urban planner), Rekha Vijaikar Educationist and Dr. Ketna Mehta (Founder, Nina Foundation and Associate Dean, Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research). A charter on awareness creation on Disability was signed by the participants at the event.

4. KalaghodaArtFestivalWorkshoponFeb7,2015

The Kala Ghoda festival welcomed children from 15 Municipal Schools to participate in the creative art workshops at the Prince of Wales Museum garden. The workshop was on 3 D modelling taken by renowned artists Arzan Kambatta and Sunil Padwal. In fact a team of 3 MCGM students from Adarsh Nagar Hindi Medium won prizes during the workshop. The children awarded tennis rackets and board games as their prizes. They were delighted.

“It’s the first time in my life that I’m getting such an opportunity” - Nandini Bind, School student shares.

CACR volunteers Krupesh, Rochelle and Fenny lead the kids and felt that MCGM School students should participate in such creative events in increasingly larger numbers.

6. DanceRecitalandCACRFundRaiserMay2,2015

CACR’s first fund raising event on May 2nd 2015 was held with performances by teachers and students of the renowned Nalanda Nrityakala Mahavidyalaya. The event saw a good response with the BJP MLA Adv. Ashish Shelar as the Chief Guest and the former Chairperson, MCGM Education Committee Mr. Vinod Shelar, Mr. Satinder Pal Singh, Consul General of Georgia and Dr. Mrs. Kanak Rele, Padma Bhushan and Founder Director of the Nalanda Dance Research Centre as the guests of honour. The programme was sponsored by YES BANK, Mr. M.P. Singh (Past President, Rotary Club of Bandra) and ‘Players’, an initiative of young entrepreneurs. The programme was well attended by almost 350 people and we were able to raise some amount of donation for the cause of improving the education system in Municipal Schools.

CACR PARTNERS

CACR has been fortunate to have collaborated with key institutions and experts many mentioned in the report, in the implementation of the programs in Municipal Schools across Wards in Mumbai. Partnerships have in fact proved to be very effective in reaching out to more children and enhancing the quality of our programs. We will continue to network in the coming year and forge new partnerships with organisations and domain experts.

FUTURE PLANS

CACRFutureProgrammes:

1. IITBComputerLiteracyProgrammeforchildrenofClassVtoVIIandnowprobablyClassVIIItoo(asperRTE):CACR is in now discussions with the IIT B Resource Team to involve the National Service Scheme (NSS) and Rotaract this year, in the implementation of this program. CACR will also pursue issues with the MCGM Education Department with respect to getting better support in implementing this project in more Schools, and will keep a track of its implementation.

2. BCPTSpokenEnglishProgrammeforVernacularMediumChildreninClassIandIIinMunicipalSchools: During the last year, CACR managed to get permission to implement this very useful and important project as a pilot project in H/W Ward and it was implemented in almost 15 Municipal Schools. In fact teachers were also trained to handle this programme independently. CACR is supporting BCPT and has taken up the matter with the MCGM Education Department to improve the reach of this program to many more Municipal Schools in other Wards as well. However we need a lot of continued support from our members in implementing this programme.

3. SchoolHealthProgramme:A new project which CACR plans to review and implement is the extremely important School Health Programme for children. We need to ensure that the Health

Check-up programme is implemented well and also more than 120 Municipal Dispensaries and 5 Municipal and Government Hospitals provide better support with respect to treatment for minor and major illnesses if any, especially for children enrolled in MCGM Schools. We are also planning to organise counselling sessions on cleanliness, health and sanitation during the year in some Municipal Schools as a pilot project.

4. StrengtheningtheELearningProgrammethroughVirtualStudio:CACR’s partnership with Children Films Society of India has opened up other avenues. For instance, CACR now plans to introduce workshops on different aspects of film making in few Schools during the year with support from the renowned Films and Television Institute of India.

5. ChildCounsellingSessions: During this year, CACR is also looking to get Child Counsellors to conduct Child Counselling Sessions across language mediums. Also explore the possibility of tie up to conduct Aptitude Tests for children in Class X in Municipal Schools.

6. Skillbasedvocationaltrainingcourses:CACR is in talks with R.V. Technical Institute Khar and the SNDT University to help children passing out of Class X to get an opportunity to learn skill based vocational training courses. CACR would look into sponsoring some children for this project during the year.

7. NalandaNrityakalaMahavidyalaya: Our association with Nalanda will continue and we expect to reach out to more Schools depending on volunteer support. CACR will work with Nalanda to plan and train a few interested studentsand hopefully we will have a programme wherein MCGM School children will perform along with Nalanda volunteers and students jointly in the near future. The MCGM Education Department has assured CACR that they will provide the Dinanath Mangeshkar Auditorium to conduct this programme.

8. ArtEducation:CACR has had a very positive interaction with the J J School of Fine Art faculty who have agreed to sponsor some student volunteers to come down to a few Municipal Schools on a weekly basis to teach Drawing and Painting to children in Classes I and II.

9. EducationalTrips:CACR will be organising and sponsoring educational trips for MCGM School children to the Nehru Planetarium, Museum, Science Centre etc during the year and we expect to take at least 1000 children from Class V to VIII.

10. SMC:CACR is committed to increasing its and the stakeholder parents’ participation in monthly School Management Committee meetings.

11. SportsCentres: CACR will continue to advocate for implementing Sports Centres in some of the Municipal Schools with adequate playgrounds and other facilities. These centres can become excellent coaching grounds for creating opportunities for Municipal School children to also become great sports persons.

12.Mid-DayMeals:CACR will continue to advocate for better quality Mid-Day Meals through Centralised Kitchens as mandated by the Hon’ble High Court Bombay Order in the WP No. 4353 of 2012.

13. EnglishTeachingProgramme:Enactus HR will continue to implement Project Saarthi in Nityanand Municipal School and we can explore the possibility of adding few more Schools as well as the ‘English is Fun’ by Gyanodaya.

CACRImpact2013-14and2014-15:TotalNumberofChildrenBenefitted

ProjectName YR2013-14 YR2014-15 2YEARIMPACT

Computer Literacy 1240 1370 2610

Spoken English 750 1258 2008

Health Week NA 1100 1100

Nalanda Dance Initiative NA 360 360

Kalaghoda Festival NA 15 15

MustRun Marathon 400 550 950

DNAican women’s Run 75 NA 75

Inclusive education 1375 30 1405

Toy Library NA 1 library Pre-primary students

CFSI movie screening NA 557 Schools 27850

Infrastructure Budgets Rs.6.5 Crores NA 0

Solar Cooking Festival NA H west Ward Schools 100

Mujeeb Khan plays NA 5 School buildings 4000

4000

70

27850

1405

75

950

15

360

1100

2008

2610

2 YEAR IMPACT

2YEARIMPACT

2YEARIMPACT

CACR PROJECTS 2013 - 2015

MuJEBKHANPLAYS

SOLARCOOKINGFESTIVAL

CFSIMOVIESCREENING

INCLuSIVEEDuCATION

DNAICAN

MuSTRuN

KALAGHODAFESTIVAL

NALANDADANCEINITIATIVE

HEALTHWEEK

SPOKENENGLISH

COMPuTERLITERACY

ComputerLiteracy

SpokenEnglish

HealthWeek

NalandaDance

Initiative

KalaghodaFestival MustRun DNA ican Inclusive

education

CFSImovie

screening

SolarCookingFestival

MujebKhanplays

2610 2008 1100 360 15 950 75 1405 27850 70 4000

Totalnumberofstudentsbenefitedindifferentprogrammes

To implement these projects and programmes in Municipal Schools, we need a vigilant citizens’ group who will meet the MCGM Education Departments to share their observations and suggestions and follow up with the concerned officials and authorities in improving the functioning and quality of education.CACR believes that it is every child’s right to learn in a safe, clean and encouraging environment. We also consider this our responsibility as citizens of India to make sure that our children are getting equal opportunities in life.

CACR invites you to join the movement in ensuring that every child has access to free and quality education and in implementing the Right to Education – a fundamental right in our country and in advo-cating for better standards in education implementation and monitoring in MCGM Schools. These rights, when fulfilled can effectively build a strong and prosperous nation with happy, healthy and able citizens. Of course there is a lot to do and more to learn… but we have began.

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