Doorstep School

Door Step School addresses literacy amongst the marginalised sections of Indian society. It was established in Mumbai, India in 1988 and later expanded to Pune in 1989. The school built its programme to address three major problems: Non-enrollment, Wastage and Stagnation.

Rajani Paranjpe, Founder – President Door Step School (ex-officio member)

Mrs. Paranjpe (or Rajani Tai as she is fondly called) founded the Doorstep School along with her ex-student Bina Lashkari, out of a passion for children and education. As a professional Social Worker she realised that Education was the single most important factor that could bring about a change in the lower strata of society. With this goal in mind she co-founded the Doorstep School which today has become a 750+ member strong organisation.

Rajani Tai has a Masters in Social Work and is a retired professor, having taught subjects like Indian Social Problems and International Social Welfare. She has held posts at both the College of Social Work, Mumbai and the Shikoku Christian University, Japan and has a teaching experience of more than 20 years. In addition to teaching she has also headed the Research Department and Anganwadi Training Centre at the College of Social Work.

The organisation provides education and support to the often-forgotten children of pavement dwellers, slum dwellers, construction site and many other underprivileged families. Many of these children are not enrolled in school and have limited access to books and a place to study. Additionally, many children drop out of school to work or care for younger children.

With neither support nor resources at home some children also suffer from very low learning levels. We are trying to bridge this gap by bringing education to the doorstep’ of these underprivileged children. Door Step School has impacted the lives of over 50,000 children since its inception.

Doorstep School
They believe all children deserve an education. An alarming number of India’s urban poor still remain without an opportunity to receive formal education. Their mission at Doorstep School is to bridge this divide using innovative programmes that will bring education to these children and help them make the transition to literacy and a brighter future.

In Pune, they plan to scale their operations by covering more construction sites, and municipal schools. They also plan to put more children into mainstream schools, which is their ultimate goal. They would also like to create more community learning centres where they can offer services for children. Specifically, they target to achieve these things this year (2010):

* To add one more Community Learning Centre to the School
* To add 50 new Reading Classes
* To add 70 new sites to Project Foundation

In Mumbai, the Future Plan for Door Step School:

* Is in depth training for pre-primary, Non Formal Education and study class teachers.
* Educational Visit to Tiku jinni Wadi
* Summer Camp for Bal Samuha members.
‘* Vanchan Mahotsav’ (Reading Festival) for Non Formal Education and Study Class beneficiaries under Community Learning Centre during vacations; and
* Launching of the fourth School on Wheels in the Suburban parts of Mumbai.