P.J.
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What slum children can teach us
Anandan is an unusual teaching institution in Calcutta. It aims to provide all-round, supplementary education to very poor slum children.
It was started in 1999 by a group of middle-class housewives, among them my sister. They did a survey of slums near their homes, were dismayed by the poverty and paucity of education the children received and so they started out with 10 students and one teacher, whom they paid out of their own pockets.
The aim was not to replace the children's regular schooling - whatever meagre schooling they may have been getting - but to provide additional skills - logic, elementary English and, generally, the excitement of knowledge.
The hope was that a few would find their imagination sparked and would break away from the indigence into which they had been born.
Over the past two years Anandan attracted the attention of sponsors, Indian and international, and has grown substantially. It has moved into its own rented premises and has more than 200 children - the slums of Calcutta having a supply to match any facility.
Please read more from here
BBC NEWS | South Asia | What slum children can teach us
Anandan is an unusual teaching institution in Calcutta. It aims to provide all-round, supplementary education to very poor slum children.
It was started in 1999 by a group of middle-class housewives, among them my sister. They did a survey of slums near their homes, were dismayed by the poverty and paucity of education the children received and so they started out with 10 students and one teacher, whom they paid out of their own pockets.
The aim was not to replace the children's regular schooling - whatever meagre schooling they may have been getting - but to provide additional skills - logic, elementary English and, generally, the excitement of knowledge.
The hope was that a few would find their imagination sparked and would break away from the indigence into which they had been born.
Over the past two years Anandan attracted the attention of sponsors, Indian and international, and has grown substantially. It has moved into its own rented premises and has more than 200 children - the slums of Calcutta having a supply to match any facility.
Please read more from here
BBC NEWS | South Asia | What slum children can teach us
