Students of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) visited the slum area close by and realized the interest and eagerness of the underprivileged kids to learn. Following this, the students have taken matters in their hand and have started a project to educate the children in Delhi’s Shram Vihar area close to the university.
JMI students have started a community called Aaghaz-e-Taleem to teach 8 to 12 years old children from the slum community. The aim of the community is to ensure that these children learn enough to enroll in regular school. The community was started by Gitesh Aggarwal, final year mechanical engineering student at JMI.
He talked about the project and said that students from all over the world come to pursue higher education from the university and leave after graduation . He said that this cycle does not help the society flourish, especially those who are underprivileged. He also said that JMI students have joined hands with the NGO CRY in order to help students who drop out of school to continue their education .
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Aaghaz-e-Taleem comprises students from the JMI who teach, organize and manage education sessions for the nearby slum kids. There are 30 educators, 5 team managers and 10 organising teams in the community. 2 educators focus on one child and ensure that the child is taught 6 subjects in a 60-hour study plan .
The community had earlier started as a project and gathered funds through crowdfunding in order to cover the traveling expenses of volunteers . Induction programs were also conducted for volunteers in order to teach the slum kids , prepare reports and get them signed by the parents of children. Weekend workshops are also organized by the community to engage children in painting, drawing and self-defense activities.
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With enough support, the project moved to phase 2 and started work at a full pace to ensure that all students are enrolled in school. Parents of these children are also offered guidance to acquire necessary documents that are required to get the children admitted in schools. So far the community has helped 15 children in starting normal schooling.