Education must make us stronger, bolder, better, humbler and more humane in protecting the rights and dignity of all especially the marginalized, the neglected and the excluded part of society. Education plays a pivotal role in laying a proper foundation for the over-all socio-economic development of any region. Education is considered as one of the principal means to foster deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war (Delors Commission, 1996). The four pillars of education. Education throughout life is based on four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. Learning to know is by combining sufficiently broad general Knowledge with the opportunity to work in depth on a small number of subjects. In India since Independence (1947) several initiatives have been taken for qualitative and quantitative expansion of education like operation black-board, DPEP, SSA, mid-day meal scheme and many others , one of the latest being RTE. The RTE Act 2009 provides a justifiable legal frame work that entitles all children between the ages of 6-14 years to an education of reasonable quality, based on the principles of equity and non-discrimination.
Slums are usually a cluster of hutments with dilapidated and unstable structures having common toilet, lack of basic amenities, inadequate arrangement of drainage and disposal of solid waste and garbage (GOI report on Slum Population, 2005). Slums are highly unhygienic and disease prone.
Not a single mother was found who had studied after class X. Problems faced by the slum children in achieving education among various problems faced by the slum children of 6-18 years age group in achieving education most significant are large family size, poor living condition, poor health, unfavourable home condition, surrounding environment, migration, language problem, unstable occupation and economic condition, poor parental educational background and school environment.
This area is also breeding ground for various anti-social activities like crime, theft, burglary, drug-abuse and so on. When urban area on one hand is characterized by modern life-style, having access to latest technologies, higher level of educational attainment, high income, more opportunities, fashion and health conscious, better communication facilities on the other hand the urban poor and marginalized group suffers from adequate standard of living and access to health, education of children and meaningful and well paid employment opportunities.
All most all of the families (100 %) were found to occupy small single dark, damp, room without proper ventilation provision which serves them for multi-purpose activities i.e. living, dining, sleeping, storing, bathing, washing, cleaning, cooking etc. Bunk system is often used to accommodate all family members and their varied activities.
In this context the researcher would like to study the prevalent problems of non-enrolment, drop-out and irregular attendance of slum children of 6-18 years age group of Kalvankarai Saidapet.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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