Universal education isn’t reaching many children, including those who work in brick kilns, while they also lag on nutrition

Indian parliament enacted the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act on April 1, 2009. More than a decade has passed after the enactment of the law, but few know that Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, while framing the Constitution had made provision for free primary education for all in the country.

However, it’s also a fact that not every child has been able to access education. Even today lakhs of children are out of school. Majority of the children of migrant workers and daily wage earners have been left out of the education system. Many landless labourers leave their abode after the harvest for work in brick kilns or sugarcane fields with children in tow.

This exodus results in their children not having access to education and proper nutrition. Driven by poverty, child marriages are also perpetuated and frequently cut girls off from education. The number of out of school children is in lakhs but no one is really paying heed.

In this backdrop, ‘Arise Vishwa Society’ under its Milaf project has started weekly schools in Pune district (Maharashtra) for the children of brick kiln workers. Brick kiln work is hazardous; you have to work in the sticky mud under the burning Sun. With their feet trapped in the slush, these workers have to mix the soil with a proportion of water, knead it to compact it into a mould.

Children lend a helping hand by ferrying these molds for drying and firing. They are also involved in pulling the cart for lighting the furnace and laying one brick on top of the other in the furnace. When the bricks are ready, children have to take part in loading them in trucks. The hands of these children get bruised because of handling bricks all the while. At any point you will see coats of dust on their face and hands. Their clothes are soiled, faces sunburned and hands ruptured. This is the state of the brick kiln workers and their children.

The workers raise their makeshift abode at the site using mud, stones, ply, sackcloth and tin. In the local language, it’s called Kopi. The height of Kopi is so low that you have to bend your head to enter. A gloom is cast over the settlement, unrelieved by a single ray of hope.

In the midst of this despair some efforts are on to address the needs of the children of brick kiln workers who the Sarvashiksha Abhiyan forgot. Non-formal schools have been started in a few villages near brick kilns close to Pune-Saswad Road. When the social workers first went to meet the parents, their children were working with them in the brick kiln. They assembled the children and asked them ‘Do you want to study? Would it be alright if we teach you?’ ‘Yes’, said children in chorus. Then discussions with their parents were held. But they sought permission from the brick kiln owner. It was essential, as no activity would be possible without his go ahead.

To begin with, the NGO conducted a survey to collect information about the number of children, their age and educational background. They also found that on any brick kiln there are 10 to 12 children on an average, with the majority of them working with their parents.

Rapid research done by the social workers before embarking on the project found that children have a great passion for learning. Brick kilns are normally in the deserted areas.

The parents are not able to teach children, because they themselves were deprived of education. They are also bogged down by the workload they have to endure. Bhimashankar Gurushantappa, 13 years, from Karnataka is in the 7th grade, but he has not been to school for six months. He was not able to study on his own because he just didn’t have the time for it. By the time the work gets over Gurushantappa is fully exhausted.

But his handwriting is beautiful. He likes to write and to express. Kannada is his mother tongue and he also tries to read English. There was no one to take care of him in his village. Hence, his parents brought him along. He can’t attend the nearby Marathi school because he doesn’t know the language. He understands a bit of spoken Marathi but not the formal Marathi, which is used in textbooks. He wants to rejoin the school after returning to the village. But integration of migrant children into mainstream classes has not been smooth. They are also likely to drop out of school by the next harvest.

Eleven-year-old Rani Basavraj Shrigani from Kalburgi district Karnataka has to take care of her younger siblings during the day. She doesn’t have the privilege to attend school. She’s good at studies and would like to learn English. “I want to be a cop. For that I have to practice running,” she shared. But she didn’t know that along with running one also has to crack the entrance exam.

Nine-year-old Akshara Rode from Deglur in Nanded district in Maharashtra is in the 3rd standard. She has spent the last six months on the brick kiln far away from her school. She has to help her parents in pushing the cart full of bricks and in building the furnace. She loves to study and she looks forward to Sunday school. “I want to be a lawyer, but I don’t have books and notebooks. But I enjoy the Sunday class,” she says gladly.

Thirteen-year-old Kirtan Ghate who is also from Naded is very sharp and intelligent.

Although he was deprived of schooling for the past seven months, he knows all the multiplication tables by heart. His English is really good for his age. No matter what word it is, he spells it correctly. He remembers everything and his general knowledge is also good. He studies verbally, tries to solve mathematical sums verbally.

Twelve-year-old Nandini from Nanded studies in the 6th standard. She had to accompany her parents to the brick kiln to take care of her younger sibling and to cook. She likes to prepare different dishes. She prepared pav-bhaji for all the children from the brick kiln. She also tries to assemble children in the evening for fun and play.

These are some of the representative stories. The list can go on and on. But each case is unique. The NGO has found 25 children from two brick kilns who have not been able to attend school for the last six months. There are thousands of brick kilns in Maharashtra alone and there will be thousands of others in other states. What will be the number of children working in brick kilns nationally? We have no idea.

Along with education, nutrition is also a grave issue. These children have been deprived of their fundamental rights like right to nutrition, right to education, right to play among others. This is not just about one educational year; this cycle continues year after year.

{The author works with the NGO, Arise Vishwa Society. The article was translated in English by Alka Gadgil.)