Smile For All Society, established in Jaipur, is on a mission to return slum children to school. Patrons may assist children in poverty get a good education by purchasing Happiness Subscriptions, which start at Rs 500 per month. We are happy that smile subscriptions are educating over 1000 kids across India’s Slums.
Even though urban India’s literacy rate of 87.7% is higher than rural India’s 73.5%, children from underprivileged families sometimes fall through the gaps of the Indian educational system. According to the 2011 Census of India (the most recent year for which data is available), slum families account for 13.7 million people in 63% of the country’s cities. In urban slums, approximately 22.72 million children (aged five to eighteen) are out of school. Jaipur-based Smile For All society (SFA) is trying to get these children back to school. An initiative by Bhunesh Sharma and his wife Neha Sharma, SFA is an NGO (non-governmental organisation) dedicated to providing private school education to underprivileged children.
Humble Beginnings of Bhunesh Sharma:
Bhunesh Sharma, an educator and partner at edtech platform Unacademy, saw a couple of kids at a traffic signal in 2015. They asked for a pencil and paper from Bhunesh through the car window. This odd request caught him off guard because most kids are there to sell things or ask for money. Instead, they desired assistance in meeting their pressing need for education. Bhunesh rushed to a neighbouring stationery shop and bought pencils for them right away. There were three children, two of whom were boys, ages four and eight. The other was a three-year-old girl who lived in a nearby slum. He contacted their parents to learn more about their children’s circumstances and whether they were in school. This event motivated him to tutor them.Â
Tutoring the underprivileged:
When Bhunesh saw the kids needed help with their education, he volunteered to teach them for free. However, he was simply a random stranger who showed up on their doorstep and offered to teach their children, so the parents declined. They were also concerned that he would lead them down a path of illicit activity. Bhunesh did not give up and spent the next week persuading their parents until they finally agreed. He promised the parents that he would pay daily visits to the children and teach them at home, where the parents could observe the sessions. He was working at a startup and could only spare an hour a day to teach them. Around seven parents approached him after seeing his honest attempts and asked if he might educate their children. As the semester progressed, the number of pupils increased to 40 by 2017. However, Bhunesh quickly realised that the children would thrive more if they went to school.
School Enrollment:
Bhunesh took out a Rs 1.5 lakh loan and enrolled 40 children in school through the Right to Education programme (RTE). A total of 15 of them were enrolled at a private school. As news got out, additional parents asked Bhunesh for assistance in getting their kids to school. Taking out a loan was not a viable choice for Bhunesh in the long run. Bhunesh and Neha founded Smile for All (SFA) in February 2019 to encourage public participation and promote openness in the child protection field. After that, the pair began devoting their evenings to teaching children from the slums. Neha tutored almost 80 pupils at one point.
It is not easy to establish a non-profit organisation. Many parents are hesitant to send their children because they are concerned about bogus NGOs that entice children with education promises before trafficking or training them to beg. Their fears were legitimate, as the world can be a frightening place, especially for the less fortunate. Bhunesh and Neha tutored youngsters in the slums to alleviate their fears, where the parents could ease.
Smile subscriptions:
Bhunesh with SFA began an OTT-like subscription business two years later, in 2021, to get patrons to support education for underprivileged children. The subscription model works in the same way as Netflix, Amazon, or Hotstar do. People who desire to support children’s education can join up for a monthly subscription starting at Rs 500, and the money is spent directly on the children’s education. The approach calls for complete transparency in the process, with the subscriber receiving a receipt that includes a description of the student who will get the funds. The subscription gets a monthly assessment and performance report on the student. It contains academic reports, attendance records, and other information. The subscriber can make a phone call or visit with the student in person. For every five students, one volunteer is assigned to observe and exchange information. Four thousand volunteers from India’s slums, including Kolkata, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Noida, have volunteered their time to teach children from 100 slums.
Education for all:
SFA’s core team and volunteers seek to raise awareness about the situation of children living in slums and the necessity of excellent education and literacy for poor people. The team has also counselled families, who assure them that their children will be safe and accepted in their new school. SFA also assists families in registering on the Aadhar portal, as admission to any school is prohibited by law without an Aadhar Card. It helps children and parents obtain documents like income proof, Aadhar card, and date of birth certificate. It’s all part of making sure that the child is registered in school. Aside from that, SFA pays for school tuition and other expenses, such as school uniforms, books, and stationary, for those parents who truly cannot afford them. The team is currently in the process of switching its evening programs from open-air to permanent learning centres. In an interview, Bhunesh states, “My dream is to see every child from a slum access education. I believe that education can help bring a better life for everyone as it opens multiple opportunities”.
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