Social and Development Research & Action Group
Ugta Suraj: School is My Right!
The Great Journey
Inception: 2007 –2026
Ugta Suraj: School is my right. Focusing on education as the basic right of children under the Right to Education Act 2009. The program has been operational in Districts of U.P. since August 2007. We work with Out of School children of migrant households in the formal school system, functional in 3 communities: Village Nagla Charandas & Village Haldoni in Noida and Village Tughalpur in Greater Noida, U.P. These children are either school drop-outs or are the first generation learners who have been deprived of formal schooling due to family or the systemic reasons. We mainstream these children into formal school system after a yearlong training in basic reading, writing and communications. An Ugta Suraj centre is a space for children to indulge in educational and recreational activities through games and fun.
We
follow SLATE curriculum designed especially for children from underserved
communities. SLATE includes imparting of basic learning concepts through
experiential and life skills approach.
Ugta
Suraj is essentially meant for children in the age group 6 to 14 years.
Each
Ugta Suraj centre has 45-50 children. These children are identified during
community surveys and they are enrolled in the centre for nearly a year.
After children are mainstreamed through government, private and
charitable schools, we help them with their school studies. Together with the
parents and school, we ensure the child’s assimilation in the formal school
environment. Each child is monitored for school performance, attendance, and
regularity for a period of one year to ensure that children do not drop out of
school.
Objectives of Ugta Suraj to :
• Uphold the basic right to formal education for children from underprivileged communities.
• Provide foundational learning experiences that enhance school readiness.
• Facilitate access to recreational and creative resources, supporting holistic child development.
• Create a safe, nurturing environment within the community.
• Empower children through artistic, craft-based, and diverse learning opportunities.
Vidya Ratna: School Sponsorship Program
An offshoot of Ugta Suraj, the program Vidya Ratna started in 2007 as our endeavor to let the children not leave their school education due to lack of money at home. The program began with a commitment of supporting the entire formal school education of one child in a reputed public school in Noida, U.P. Soon, our friends and acquaintances came forward and readily took the responsibility of supporting the school education of five children. The program grew with the support of The Ahluwalia Baradari Trusts, a Delhi based organization, which supported the school education of three of our children for 4 years. The program was institutionalized with the support of Noon.ch, a Swiss Group of Professionals who are supporting the school education of 18 children from the village Nithari, Harola, and Agahpur centers. These are the children who are on their way to complete their formal school journey to class XII. Belonging to an underprivileged background, these children are determined to take on their lives in a big way.
A total of children appeared for annual examination in Noida Public Senior Secondary School during the year 2018-19.
Government schools (U.P.)
What began in 2014-15 as JEEWAN KI SAMAJH – FROM LITERACY TO EDUCATION for government school children transformed in nature into an endeavor to empower Adolescent Youth taking into cognizance the age that poses several challenges in life and needs a balanced and healthy approach to grow into adulthood.
The program continues over 2016-17 to 2017-18 with an aim to cover around 3000 young adolescent youth studying across 30 Government schools in District Gautum Budh Nagar in the state of U.P. Through this endeavor, we aim to equip the youth with psycho-social competence to be able to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life with following main objectives:
- An adulthood to take up the role of responsible citizenship;
- A meaningful and productive life
- Channelizing youth energy in a meaningful direction &
- Diversion from the path of delinquency and violence
