Manu’s HHOC started a Free Tuition Centre to an Underprivileged Peddamalla Community Kids at Kondagattu, Jagityal, and Telangana. I have observed several children begging at Kondagattu temple on two occasions in December 2023 and January 2024. I reached out to ASI Ramana Reddy for information about these children. Subsequently, I visited their community to converse with both the children and their parents. It became evident that these families have been dependent on begging for several generations, with the current generation of children trying to follow the same path. While some are enrolled in school, others are not, and even the enrolled students exhibited irregular attendance on specific days like Tuesdays and Saturdays to go for begging at Hanuman Temple. Further visits to their homes revealed that these children rarely interacted with other kids in the village and were socially isolated. Moreover, the perception of these families among the villagers was unfavorable.
Efforts to engage the local sarpanch, panchayat secretary, and Anganwadi teachers in finding a tuition teacher for the children faced challenges. However, after persistent follow-ups, we secured the assistance of one Anganwadi teacher to find a tuition teacher. The tuition began with 30 children aged between 4 to 14 years on 1st May 2024. We invited Jagityal DSP Raghu Chandar Sir and CWC Chairman Dhana Laxmi Madam for a counseling session with the parents on importance of Education on May 5, 2024. Initially, while distributing fruits/snacks to the children, we noticed signs of ingrained begging behavior. However, with consistent guidance from the teachers, the children are gradually adjusting.
Currently, we are providing tuition to 69 members, and we have arranged two teachers. Our ongoing project focuses on eradicating begging and reintegrating the children into mainstream society.
Our objectives include:
For 4 and 5 year old kids will try to create interest among those children towards academics and teach basics to join them in the Govt/Pvt School.
For the children above 5 plus years old and who have been enrolled to school, will be provided with the bridge course and try to integrate them to the respective classes in Govt/Pvt School.
After the school hours we are arranging tuition like to provide students with an additional coaching as they don’t have parental support at home towards education.
