Basic information Site Visitor’s Information

• Name: Anjan Nandi • Address: 1104/2, Panchanantala Road, Kolkata-700041, India.

• Phone Number(s): +91 9836667780

• Email: anjanandi@gmail.com

Visit Information

• Date: 5th and 6th April 2009 • Name of Project: MAGJS-Asha Project

• Name of the NGO running the project (if different):

Murshidabad Adibasi Gramin Janakalyan Samiti (MAGJS)

• Was your site visit planned and known to the project, or was it a surprise visit? Planned and known to the project

• Primary Project Contact:

Name: Jahangir Fakir Address: Murshidabad Adibasi Gramin Janakalyan Samiti (MAGJS) Village & Post: Shaikhpara Police Station: Raninagar District: Murshidabad Postal Index No: 742308 West Bengal, India Phone Number(s): 03481-242502, 03481-242188 Fax: 03481-242502 Email: magjs@rediffmail.com

On 5th April, around 10pm I reached Baharmpur railway station and got a warm welcome from Mr. Fakir, the Secretary and Mr. Ramchandra, the Accountant of the NGO along with a flower bouquet. Baharampur is the district head quarter and situated at a distance of 30km from their office, at Shaikhpara. I was brought to Shaikhpara by an air-conditioned car which was said to be the property of the organization MAGJS. Shaikhpara is a very small-town with few thousands dwellers. MAGJS is running an office at a portion of a two storied building shown in the photograph. It has few rooms along with a guest room where I slept at night. On the next day I visited three places, namely Porashpur, Babultali and Nawdapara.

MAGJS office at Shaikhpara

Mr. Jahangir Fakir at his office

Poraspur This place is situated at a distance of around 30kms from Shaikhpara, on the bank of river Padma. The village has been destroyed many times due to erosion and so the villagers are compelled to live under temporary constructions with no facilities at all. There are no distinct roads in the village, only some temporary houses to be seen here and there.

Porashpur village

1. About the surrounding community

• About how many families live in the area to which the project caters? Around 500 families

• What do they do for a living? Most of them are fishermen & labors and some of them had some land but now destroyed by the river.

• What is their economic/religious/educational background? All are very poor, almost uneducated, equal percentage of Hindus and Muslims.

• How do they view the efforts taken by the organization that runs the project? There is a primary school running nearby but no such crèche centre is there. I spoke with one comparatively established person there and he said that there is indeed a need for such crèche where parents can leave their children while going to work, and the local people will appreciate such a development.

• Has the community supported the project (financially, donating land, volunteering, etc.)?

The crèche is being run at the place provided by Mr. Gopal Mondal voluntarily.

2. About the project

• How far away is the project site from the main town/village? How do children commute (foot, bus, etc.)? Children come from nearby houses. They have to walk at most 15min to reach the project site.

• Please describe the infrastructure and facilities currently available to the project (e.g., furniture, toilets, midday meals, library, sports, residential facilities).

Are the buildings permanent or temporary constructions? What is their physical condition? How big are the classrooms? How many children per each room?

The crèche is presently being run in the courtyard of Mr. Gopal Mondal’s residence. There is no classroom or any other facilities for the children.

House of Mr. Gopal Mondal

3. About the teachers

• How many total full-time/part-time teachers/volunteers are involved in project? I was told that there are two teachers but I met one, Ms Supriya. Other was said to be ill.

• What is the average age of these teachers/volunteers?

22yrs.

• How many women involved in the project and what are their responsibilities? Both the teachers are women.

• How many volunteers/teachers are from the local community? Both are local.

• What is their level of education and professional background? Both of then have passed the Higher Secondary Examination.

• What it the motivation for them to work for the project?

Supriya told me that she likes the job. She wanted to continue with her education but due to her family condition she was unable to do so and therefore she wants to remain attached to an educational system.

• How long they have been with organization/project? Approximately two years.

• Where do they live, and how much they travel to work here? Both of then live nearby and have to walk around 15mins to reach the site.

• If paid, are they satisfied with their salaries? They are occasionally paid Rs 500. Supriya told me that she has no other better option.

• How many teachers/volunteer have left the project in the previous year? How many new teachers/volunteers have joined in the previous year? No one has left yet.

• Does the organization train the teachers? If yes, how do they provide the training? Supriya told me that once she had attained one training workshop organized by MAGJS.

Children at Poraspur crèche

4. About the students • What portion of children from the local community attend this school? What is the age group?

Boy/girl ratio? They are trying to incorporate as many as they can. If the school starts running properly, then definitely more will join. Now they have gathered 25 students, out of which 9 are boys and 16 are girls. Most of them are between 3-6yrs of age.

• What is the socio-economic background of students? (Are they first generation learners, what is the educational and monetary background of family etc.) They are all first generation learner coming from very poor family.

• What are their activities they perform outside of school hours? • What is their motivation for attending the school?

Some of them are too small to interact with and elder students seem to be very shy. Only one girl recited a poem. They nodded their heads when I asked if they like the school or not.

• What is drop out rate among the students? What do they do after they leave the project? It is expected that they will join the primary school after leaving the project.

• Are the children charged fees for attending school?

No.

• What curriculum does the school follow? (State Board/ Central/ Alternative). What are the children taught? Mostly ‘nursery rhymes’, some of them have not started to speak properly, teacher tries to make them talk.

• What is the medium of instruction? Bengali.

Though I was told that the school has been running since two years with almost 3-4 days per week, the wife of Mr. Gopal Mondal told me that this type of gathering of children takes place 2-3 times in a month, but she appreciates the work and expects betterment in near future. It seems that MAGJS has intentions to run the school properly, provided they receive the grant. Apart from occasionally given salaries, I think MAGJS have not spent much fund here.

Babultali This place is situated at a distance of about 3km from Shaikhpara. This crèche is funded by the scheme of ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Crèche Programme’ under the Govt. of India, and they get an annual grant of around Rs. 44k towards the salary of the two ‘mothers’, Tiffin for 25 nos of students and yearly medical check-up.

The Babultali crèche

1. About the surrounding community

• About how many families live in the area to which the project caters? Around 500 families

• What do they do for a living? Mostly they are labors.

• What is their economic/religious/educational background? Mixed background, not all of them are poor or first generation learner.

• How do they view the efforts taken by the organization that runs the project? I did not get any chance to interact with the local people but had a feeling that local people are acquainted with this project and so not much curious.

• Has the community supported the project (financially, donating land, volunteering, etc.)? It seems, Mr. Samar Paul has provided the place voluntarily.

Inside the Babultali creche

2. About the project

• How far away is the project site from the main town/village? How do children commute (foot, bus, etc.)? Children come from nearby houses, they have to walk at most 15min to reach the project site.

• Please describe the infrastructure and facilities currently available to the project (e.g.,

furniture, toilets, midday meals, library, sports, residential facilities). There is a room of about an area of 10 ft X 20 ft approximately with a blackboard, table, few chairs and a divan. There is also a first-aid box and a football. Students usually sit on mattresses. The school runs for about 5-6 hours daily and they are provided with tiffin.

• Are the buildings permanent or temporary constructions? What is their physical condition? The building is a temporary construction made of brick. Physical condition is satisfactory. • How big are the classrooms? How many children per each room?

Classroom is about 10feet X 20feet. There 25 students are registered but I found more than that. They said some of them are now in primary school but they love to come here.

3. About the teachers

• How many total full-time/part-time teachers/volunteers are involved in project? Two, but only one was present, Ms Lalita Majumdar. Other was said to be ill.

• What is the average age of these teachers/volunteers? One is of 26yrs and the other is of 31.

• How many women involved in the project and what are their responsibilities? Both are women. Apart from teaching and caring, they took the responsibility for preparing Tiffin for the children.

• How many volunteers/teachers are from the local community? Both are local.

• What is their level of education and professional background? Higher secondary.

• What it the motivation for them to work for the project?

Ms Lalita told me that she loves to work with children.

• How long they have been with organization/project? Approximately 2yrs.

• Where do they live, and how much they travel to work here? Lalita travels 15mins, other one travels for one hour.

• If paid, are they satisfied with their salaries? They get Rs 1000 per month and they are not satisfied with it.

• How many teachers/volunteer have left the project in the previous year? How many new teachers/volunteers have joined in the previous year? No one.

• Does the organization train the teachers? If yes, how do they provide the training? No

Inside Babultali creche

4. About the students • What portion of children from the local community attend this school? What is the age group?

Boy/girl ratio? Children are between 3-10yrs. Ideally it should not exceed 6 but some of them are older, some of them go to regular primary school. There were 16 boys and 9 girls registered.

• What is the socio-economic background of students? (Are they first generation learners, what is the educational and monetary background of family etc.) They are from mixed background. There were 4-5 adibasi (tribal) students also.

• What are their activities they perform outside of school hours? • What is their motivation for attending the school?

They seem to enjoy the school. Many of them can read, write and recite poems. Their main attraction for coming here is for playing and interacting with friends; a child also said that he comes for food.

• What is drop out rate among the students? What do they do after they leave the project? They join regular primary schools, I met two of them.

• Are the children charged fees for attending school? No.

• What curriculum does the school follow? (State Board/ Central/ Alternative). What are the children taught? Children are taught to read and write and to recite poems.

• What is the medium of instruction? Bengali

Nawdapara This village is situated at a distance of about 10km from Shaikhpara. The crèche here is being run without any fund but I found a slightly better situation than Porashpur.

House of Mr. Zakir Hussain

1. About the surrounding community

• About how many families live in the area to which the project caters? Around 500 families

• What do they do for a living? Mostly landless labors

• What is their economic/religious/educational background? Very poor, almost all are Muslims and illiterate.

• How do they view the efforts taken by the organization that runs the project? I spoke with few of the villagers. They appreciate the effort but at the same time they are concerned about the possible misuse of money.

• Has the community supported the project (financially, donating land, volunteering, etc.)? The crèche is being run in the courtyard of Mr.Zakir Hussain; he voluntarily permits them to use his place.

2. About the project

• How far away is the project site from the main town/village? How do children commute (foot, bus, etc.)? The project site is within the village, children commute on foot.

• Please describe the infrastructure and facilities currently available to the project (e.g., furniture, toilets, midday meals, library, sports, residential facilities).

No infrastructure or facilities at all. Teachers told me that they occasionally gave them food. • Are the buildings permanent or temporary constructions? What is their physical condition?

How big are the classrooms? How many children per each room? It is simply a courtyard of a village hut owned by Mr. Zakir Hussain. There were 27 students registered.

At Nawdapara crèche

3. About the teachers

• How many total full-time/part-time teachers/volunteers are involved in project? Two

• What is the average age of these teachers/volunteers?

Both are of 21yrs

• How many women involved in the project and what are their responsibilities? Both are women. They take care and teach the children for 5-6 hours in a day; they arrange their Tiffin also.

• How many volunteers/teachers are from the local community? Both are local

• What is their level of education and professional background? Jayashree Mondal passed Higher secondary examination and Nandita Paul is in B.A. 3rd yr.

• What it the motivation for them to work for the project? They both are enjoying their job; it seems they are motivated by the social cause associated with this job.

• How long they have been with organization/project? Almost 1yr

• Where do they live, and how much they travel to work here? Both live nearby. They come by bicycle; Jayashree takes 10min while Nandita takes 15-20min.

• If paid, are they satisfied with their salaries? They are paid irregularly by Rs. 500. They are not satisfied but expect hike in near future.

• How many teachers/volunteer have left the project in the previous year? How many new teachers/volunteers have joined in the previous year? None

• Does the organization train the teachers? If yes, how do they provide the training? No such training

4. About the students • What portion of children from the local community attend this school? What is the age group?

Boy/girl ratio? All are from local community. Ages are between 3-6yrs. Out of 27 registered students, 16 are boys and 11 are girls.

• What is the socio-economic background of students? (Are they first generation learners, what is the educational and monetary background of family etc.) All are from very poor family; first generation learners.

• What are their activities they perform outside of school hours? • What is their motivation for attending the school?

They seem enjoy their school hours.

• What is drop out rate among the students? What do they do after they leave the project? Drop out rate does not applicable; the crèche was told to be started only 1yr before.

• Are the children charged fees for attending school? No

• What curriculum does the school follow? (State Board/ Central/ Alternative). What are the

children taught? They are taught to speak, read and write, and to recite poems.

• What is the medium of instruction? Bengali

5. About the NGO

• What is the main ideology of the organization behind the project? • How old is the organization? • How and why was it founded? • What it their vision about the future of the project? • Who are founders? Do the founders work full time with the project or do they hold other jobs as

well? Are the founders paid? Where do the founders live? • What were the initial challenges faced by the organization and by the founder in particular? How

did he/she over come them? Who helped them through the initial stages? • Has the organization ever approached the government for funding? If so, what was the outcome?

If not, why not? • What are the typical problems that they face? • Is the organization/founder involved with any other social issues/causes other than running the

school?

6. Financial Information and statistics 1. What are the different sources of funding for this project? (different agencies/government) 2. What is the annual budget? 3. Are detailed records of past funding and spending available? I f possible, please

request a copy (of annual financial statements, for example). 4. What is the largest portion of expenses (salaries/infrastructure/etc.)? 5. What is the total enrollment? What is the teacher/student ratio? Drop-out rates?

Comments: Most of the questions in the schedule 5 & 6 are already answered by MAGJS and was directly sent to you. I would like to add few more comments here. 1. The main business of MAGJS is micro-credit. They take monetary loans from the reputed banks, help the rural women to form self-help groups, lend them money for small business with a low rate of interest, and ultimately collect money from them to repay the bank loan. They run around 900 such self-help groups in the surroundings. Their main effort goes here. 2. Apart from the micro-credit business, they run an anti-trafficking campaign program funded by ‘Indo global social service society’ (website: www.igsss.org). The project has just ended but Mr. Fakir told me that they are carrying the project. 3. They are now very busy with the construction of their college building. It seems to be their dream project; a college of their own. Since 2yrs it is running at a different location and very soon it will be shifted to the new building. 4. So, primary education is not their main focus. They run the Babultali crèche under the ‘Rajiv Gandhi national crèche scheme’. Under this scheme only Rs. 2.08 is allotted for Tiffin per head per day, which is definitely inadequate. 5. The other two crèches I visited were not running regularly and properly and very little money is invested there. But there is indeed a need and I found the teachers willing and impressive. If MAGJS receive the fund, having such a nice infrastructure, they can surely improve the status of those two crèches, at least up to the standard of Babultali crèche.