Right To Education March

Shiksha Adhikar Yatra essentially is a physical entourage aimed at awareness on importance of education in one’s life. The Shiksha Adhikar Yatra team is normally comprised of 15-20 persons. All team members are identified committed social leaders having a history of social action. They are trained, educated and fully committed to motivate people, especially the first generation learners or illiterate families, and enable them to understand the importance of education in their day-today life and well-being.

Shiksha Adhikar Yatra teams are trained to generate interests of both literate and illiterate in understanding their rights and obligations for achieving sustainable universal elementary education. The teams cover low literacy areas, rural and urban both, in targeted areas. Interactions with the people are aimed at ensuring achievement of quality elementary education for all with the participation and stake of the people.

Sikhsha Adhikar Yatra uses powerful tools such as Nukkad Natak (street plays), to have visual interactive communication and have a deep lasting impact on the people. The Yatra conveys its message through wall writing, mime, skits, dialogues and discussions in public gatherings in villages or in urban habitations. Card, Posters and Badges with SAY aims and objectives are designed and distributed to the children. Questionnaires are also used during various cultural performances to gather feedback of the people. The questionnaires are drafted in such a way so that answers reflect the educational status, problem and involvement of Village Education Committee in education system of a village.

Shiksha Adhikar Yatra has been proved hugely successful in addressing the following issues:

Mobilizing community for the realisation of Educational Rights in the context of all Dalit children, including socially, educationally and economically backward classes, including Muslims and other minorities.
Promoting girls’ education.
Creating awareness among all stake holders, Panchayats members, members of Village Education Committee (VEC), Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) about universalization of education.
Promoting active participation of villagers, VEC and PTA members in the planning, implementing and monitoring and evaluation process of education of a village.
Strengthening of Local Community Based Organizations, Panchayats and Parent-Teacher groups, Village Education Committee for promoting transparency and accountability.
Helping researchers to undertake Policy Analysis and Advocacy through media and other stakeholders such as political groups, teachers’ union etc

Shikasha Adhikar Yatra (SAY) – Haryana

Shiksha Adhikar Yatra - Haryana (SAY - Haryana) was about education and how it shapes the life of people, getting people involved with education for all, objectives of SSA, rights of the children, roles and responsibilities of the village education committees, elected representatives, parents, teachers, community organisations etc. The Shiksha Adhikar Yatra during its course encouraged the drops out and out-of- school children, their parents and the community, and motivated them for enrolling the out-of-school children in schools.

Shiksha Adhikar Yatra was an outcome of NACDOR's experience in Haryana for last five years, where a large number of Dalit and marginalised children still remain out of school. Girls are far behind than the boys. NACDOR, which has been successful in creating awareness among the Dalits about their dignity, self-respect and human rights, now spearhead this Siksha Adhikar Yatra. The Shiksha Adhikar Yatra was conceptualized to build the stake of the community, especially of Dalits, Muslims and other marginalised in Education and its delivery.

The basic principle of Shiksha Adhikar Yatra is to address the education delivery mechanisms where community remains indifferent. Despite every school having a Parents-Teachers Association, Village Education Committee, education and its quality has not become common agenda of these stakeholders. The Shiksha Adhikar Yatra bring the schools, their environment, and habitation of the children as common agenda for all - the parents, community, teachers, school administration, village education committees and local self government and the state government - all working towards ensuring quality education of children.

Centre for Alternative Dalit Media (CADAM) in association with the National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) and with the support of Haryana Prathamic Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) organized this Shiksha Adhikar Yatra (Journey for Right to Education) in all districts of Haryana.

Shiksha Adhikar Yatra was a physical entourage of a team of educated, trained, dedicated and committed social leaders to motivate people in respective districts for educational attainments. The Shiksha Adhikar Yatra was comprised of more than 200 grass root activists from Haryana and other Hindi speaking states traveling in 20 teams, each team had two decorated four wheelers and vehicles of the local activists and participants. Each day this Yatra covered 80-90 villages and adjoining slums, brick kiln, Dalit hamlets etc and about five thousand households. The Shiksha Adhikar Yatra covered more than 5000 villages before coming to close.

The message of the Shiksha Adhikar Yatra was conveyed through wall writing, street plays, mime, skits, dialogues and discussions in public gatherings and meetings in villages, rallies in Blocks and District Headquarters to motivate parents and out of school children. Specially prepared handbills, posters, badges are also distributed and pasted in the villages. All out of school children were issued specially prepared Shiksha Adhikar Cards (Education Guarantee Card). Shiksha Adhikar Card, which had the approval of the Haryana Prathamic Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad guaranteed admission to the child having this card. For following up, NACDOR identified socially sensitive educated activists willing to contributing one-two hours daily or few hours weekly. Known as Shiksha Ke Sathi (Friends of Education), these activists formed Jan Nigrani Samities (People's Monitoring Committees) and monitored service delivery mechanisms locally. The primary function of the these Jan Nigrani Samities is to encourage and motivate people to play proactive role in the functioning of Village Education Committee, ensuring 100% enrolment, retention and educational attainments of the children of the villages.

Prior to launch of Shiksha Adhikar Yatra by the Shri Phool Chand Mulana, Hon’ble Education Minister of Haryana on 17th April in Ambala, the participants were provided a six-day training at Pooja Place, Rakshak Vihar, near Police Post, Ambala Road, Jagadhari in Yamuna Nagar District of Haryana. More than two hundred socially committed leaders from all districts of Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh participated in this training.