With the most recent amendment in the constitution, it has become a fundamental right for children up to 14 years of age to receive elementary and secondary education in not only the schools set up by government or in those schools receiving government aid but also in private schools if they have means to pay the expenses. It is also a crime punishable under the law to employ any child less than 14 years of age in any industrial set up or commercial shop.
Despite such ordinances in place, close to 8.1 million children in the country in the school going age are denied access to the most basic education. These are the children that live in the rural parts of the country or in the slum area in the urban areas of the country.
The plight of the slum children was effectively portrayed in the Oscar Winning film Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle chose Indian slums as a background for his movie and that got him an Oscar as well. One cannot decide whether it is a matter of pride for the Indian Diaspora or something that entails serious thought and consideration.
There was a huge row over the private schools denying admission to slum children in various parts of the country. The parents who wanted to provide their kids with quality education and other modern amenities sought admission into the private educational institutions in cities. They were ready to shell their hardest earned penny to pay the 5 digit annual fee of these private institutions. So when their kids were denied admission on account of their slum background, all the NGOs in India were up in arms.
These NGOs are formed with the aim of doing social service in India and work for the betterment of otherwise neglected and underprivileged sections of the society. As far as the cause of slum education is concerned, the India NGO is taking all the necessary steps to provide adequate educational opportunities to the hundred thousands of slum children in the country.
A special mention of Tarang is of much importance at this stage. It is a nongovernmental organisation that caters to the children dwelling in the slums located in and around the city of Mumbai. As mentioned earlier, Tarang has taken up the cause of providing free and quality education to slum children as well as every other child under the sun. In short, it has taken up the task of achieving universal education, at least for children in the school going age.
At present this particular NGO in India has championed the cause of slum children in Mumbai only. But it plans to extend its activities to other cities in the country as well. It has achieved milestone success in the case of slum children in Mumbai. As a special gesture, its team members had even launched special crash courses for the 10th standard students who are a part of its special education cell.
Author Resource:
Govind A is the author of this article on India NGO .
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