New Actualities: Bridge School

This Saturday we went to a bridge school for ex-child laborers. A bridge school is specially catered to the needs of children who have never been to school before or dropped out because they were forced to work. India has the most child laborers of any country. The statistic is 90 million children ages 6-14 do not go to school and are engaged in some occupation (often times hazardous). In the region I'm in (Andhra Pradesh) an organization called the H.V Foundation has volunteers stationed in 1,000 villages. Their job is to persuade parents and guardians in the community to send their children to the school and take them out of the labor force. This is a difficult task considering almost all of the parents have little concept of school and most public school in their areas are unreliable (teachers don't show up or are abusive towards students), transportation is also a major issue. Some children have to walk through the dangerous jungle to get to school. Also, these families are living in extreme poverty and the parents feel it's necessary that the children are brining in some money. Some of these girls are even married so persuading the husbands and his family is also necessary. These circumstances can become violent and sometimes it takes years for the parents to say yes. Volunteers try to explain that if the children are out of the work force wages will increase and there will be more work for adults. Also, an educated child has a much better chance of providing for their family in the future.

Currently there are 100 girls at the school, they are a new batch and are still getting used to living away from their village. Usually the girls spend about 1 1/2 years at the bridge school before being integrated into the mainstream school system.

Geeta was one of the girls who shared her story. She was orphaned at a young age and taken in by her uncle. Her job was to watch over her uncle's children, they got to go to school but she didn't. Eventually a representative from the M.V foundation persuaded her uncle to send her to the school and she said that one day she dreams of becoming a teacher. Here she is showing her Hindi writing. Most of the girls speak Telegu and then learn English and Hindi at the school.