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Amongst Slogans and drumbeats to express their joy, the community at Bijnad a village 3 kms from the nearest road head was abuzz with fervor to see their much-awaited dream come true. The dream of a Primary school for this marginalised community came in through the relentless initiatives of RLEK in partnership with the Foundation Focus on Education, the Netherlands.
The inaugural function of the Primary school witnessed the young, enthusiastic first timers, present a cultural program for the guests from Netherlands and the RLEK team. The highlight of the event was a game of soccer organized for the children who proudly donned the soccer shirts sent by the soccer club, Netherlands.
Three girls child with hearing disabilities were amongst the children enrolled in the school, which clearly indicated the ambitions of the parents to educate and include their girl child in the mainstream of education.
Bijnad is a remote village at a considerable height, having 35 km drive from the nearest village Lakhamandal, which is 148 kilometres from Dehradun. The village is about 6000 ft above the sea level. This village is a 3 Km trek from the roadside up in the mountains. Previous generation of today’s Bijnad families were cobblers by profession and were engaged in making and repairing of shoes. At present, these people are working as farmers with small land holdings and for livings they work as hired labourers in the nearby towns. The reason for relinquishing their traditional old profession of shoe making was the globalisation. Due to the coming of globalisation, no one used to buy shoes from these people, which resulted in to migration among men. Migration has become rampant, as there is lack of employment opportunities. The people who were left behind in the villages have become bonded labourers.
The literacy rate is very low. Although there exists one government school in village this Gram Sabha, at a distance of more than 2 km but young children are not sent to this school because of the trekking involved and the land sliding is rampant.
Generally, the people of this village practice early marriages. The average of age of the marriage is 15-16 years. The average life of a person is 60 years. Their main professions are weaving, agriculture, labour, animal husbandry. Agricultural labour is common livelihood in this region. Traditional weaving is not in good condition because the market is not well developed. They practice their traditional weaving when there is no labour work. They like to play traditional games and perform cultural activities. They do household work, work in the fields, and tend the animals. People in this area practice polygamy as well as polyandry.
Hans one of the guests from Netherlands extended his heartfelt gratitude to the villagers who had donated the land for the primary school, which was an exemplary example of community partnership and bonding. Harriet in her speech highlighted the essence of education and also emphasized the role of teachers in guiding and educating the children, as they shall be the enlightened citizens of tomorrow.
Ruchi Kukreti, of RLEK commended the people of Bijnad for making the girl child a part of this education initiative, which could be evident by their large number present in the classes.
Annemiek and Rikko from Netherlands expressed their appreciation to all the villagers and children for being part of this event and program.
To give a momentum to its philosophy of “Reaching the Unreached and Including the Excluded” the RLEK Primary School at Bijnad is the twenty first school in the series of its initiatives in the field of education
Avdhash Kaushal stated, “Since education is a Fundamental Right of every child, RLEK is determined to make this a reality.”
RLEK has made a start in the village by giving opportunities for education and making self-help groups of women for income generating activities. These SHGs are involved growing non-seasonal vegetation. The groups also sensitises for various issues of health, family planning, mother and childcare etc. These SHGs will also keep an eye on working of this school as well as in maintaining the continuity of education in this school.
