Optimizing enrollment of out-of-school children became a mission for the community in Pune

This year’s school admission drive in Pune’s DP Road, Nagar Road, and Yerwada wards became a powerful initiative focused on enrolling out-of-school children. From April to June, Community Mobilisers (CMs), supported by the community conducted door-to-door outreach to identify and enroll vulnerable children, spurred by the shared conviction that education is a pathway to dignity and opportunity.

Unlike previous years, the campaign prioritized group meetings in community halls to engage parents, fostering wider participation and peer exchanges, which enhanced awareness of enrollment and the documentation required for it. The team also committed to strengthening school retention through consistent family and school follow-ups. These efforts targeted areas populated by daily wage earners and migrant families facing limited access to resources and faced huge challenges in furnishing all the documents required for enrolment.

CMs identified 333 children across the three wards who were dropouts, had never attended school, or were left behind due to migration or poverty (87 in DP Road, 37 in Nagar Road, and 209 in Yerwada). These children were primarily served by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) schools offering free or subsidized education in Marathi, English, and Urdu.

A major obstacle was the stringent documentation requirements (birth certificate and Aadhaar card) for PMC school enrollment, which many families, particularly migrants, lacked. Consequently, 240 children could not be immediately enrolled. CMs provided guidance on obtaining these documents and educated families on it and provided personalized support throughout the process.

For the parents of 93 children who got enrolled, they found the CMs’ assistance invaluable. One parent recounted how CMs helped correct discrepancies between their daughter’s birth certificate and Aadhaar card, enabling her admission to Genaba Moje School. Another shared how CMs facilitated their child’s admission to Balance Urdu School.

Parents found the experience deeply rewarding. With CMs guiding them through government procedures, referring them to local PMC schools, and providing clear, step-by-step advice, parents secured necessary documents and gained confidence in navigating the system.

Another parent recounted being guided to Vandana Madam at a nearby school, resulting in Amina’s successful admission to Senior KG.

Family counseling proved critical. CMs addressed the common misconception among daily wage laborers that early childhood education was not a priority. Through one-on-one sessions, they emphasized the developmental, cognitive, and social benefits of schooling, reinforcing education as a necessity.

One community mobilizer shared an experience about successfully enrolling a young girl, who was six years old and had never been enrolled in any pre-school or even in the anganwadi program, into Dhole Patil English Medium School. The primary document used for her enrollment was her birth certificate. However, just having the birth certificate did not make matters easy as the details mentioned on her birth certificate did not match those on her Aadhaar card. Furthermore, the child’s family did not possess a bank passbook, which is required for certain formalities. Undeterred, the community mobilizer extended assistance to resolve these issues.