Past Present And Future Of Pehchaan The Street School

So when we talk about a specific NGO, Pehchaan the Street School, some of you may consider that Pehchaan the Street School is one of the reputed non-profit organisations in Delhi, NCR, that works for the welfare of underprivileged children, and their aim is simple to make education interesting and affordable for those children who cut their feathers to become mature before the age and created themselves as the backbone of their family. Hence, they come out of the loop of poverty as soon as possible.

Ok, this is just a glimpse of NGO Pehchaan the street school. So, as you said, Pehchaan the street school, provides quality education to underprivileged children for free. And on the other hand, you said that these kids are mature before their age due to seeing their family's unfavourable condition.

If I asked you how our NGO educated over 1500 underprivileged children in just a short period of 9 years, what’s your attitude?

You may say it’s great! Good! Well done! Excellent!

Despite this, you don’t want to know how Pehchaan the Street School dedicatedly served for nine years successfully. 

In this article, we discuss the past, present, and future of one of the most prestigious NGOs in Delhi NCR: Pehchaan, the street school.

past of Pehchaan the street school

So the story begins in 2015 with the five childhood friends who often served as a volunteer in the slum areas of Delhi. When they were working as a volunteer in those areas they observed the ironic situation of these underprivileged families who happily live in one room. Approximately one in four families are professional labourers.

Why should I use the word professional? So we should understand that underprivileged families are engaged in labour work since a child wants to start their learning. Thus, the friends see that every six-year-old child is engaged in labour work. Their hands are occupied by hard hammers and these hammers break the strong granites.

Six years old is the age of mantle growth. And what does an underprivileged child do in this age? They were highly engaged in the services of begging, reg picking and serving tea, labouring, etc.

In this situation, these five childhood friends were strongly affected and decided to do something for the children's welfare.

Consequently, Pehchaan the street school, was born in Delhi. 

The dedicated team of five youngsters and some contributors came and started an open school in Adarsh Nagar, Delhi, for the underprivileged children.

So this is the story of the birth of Pehchaan the street school. Now, what struggles have we faced in the whole period?

In the past, you mentioned that underprivileged families work hard to attain a standard of living. The entire family is involved in labour, including the children. Therefore, when our seniors started the NGO, many children enrolled as Pehchaan children but only attended school for a few days before becoming absent.

Except for this, some challenges come when their parents disagree about enrolling their child in Pehchaan the street school. They believe that 800 rupees is more important for their family than their child's education.

However a few parents were hesitant to enrol their children in our school due to a lack of trust, which had often been broken by many politicians,

And sometimes our team of volunteers and interns left volunteering and internships due to a lack of interest.

These are some of the challenges we often face.

But life is like a rollercoaster ride; if we have a fear of the ride and don’t sit on the train of a rollercoaster, we don’t define our powers, and if we are unable to define our powers, we are considered a reckless creature in the eyes of the world.

In short, if we want something, it's necessary for us to strongly face every problem in the path of our goal.

So Pehchaan the street school, is not exceptional; we are prepared for every challenge to achieve our goal. 

You may be asked how we overcame the problems.

So we organised personal and group meetings with the children's parents and explained how education is so crucial for their children and how if their children access education, eventually they will pass the loop of hunger, or how we educate them.

And for our team, we maintain a strict culture among us.

In this way, we served for 9 years successfully, and we will be serving for 100 years like this.

We are unstoppable.

Present of Pehchaan the street school

Let me share a story that I read in my 12th-grade English textbook. It was written by a poet, although I don't remember his name. The poem depicts a scenario in an elementary school where underprivileged children study in miserable conditions. The school had a black room where the children sat on mats, and despite the belief that they were learning, the reality was quite different. Upon entering the room, we found the teacher's chair broken and the children suffering from kwashiorkor and malnutrition.

Even though it seems like what their teacher's voice explains, they don't care. Even the teacher’s behaviour also describes something which was not hidden; this was the teacher’s carelessness.

The poet describes the situation of children, where a small boy who is symbolised as a mouse sees here and there; his eyes are sharp and big; he finds something; and he is suffering from malnutrition. It’s not hidden that every child who was sitting in the school was hungry.

Despite this, the non-attractive wall of the school has two posters. One poster has a map of the country, and the other is a photo of Shakespeare. It’s supposed to be ironic from the children.

Why should I narrate the story? In the presence of Pehchaan the Street School, I am going to share my experience here.

I joined the NGO as an intern approximately three months ago. Over time, I have gained a better understanding of the organisation's work. It feels like I am working with prestigious schools such as Delhi World Public School and the Doon School. These schools provide quality education to their students and focus on developing their soft skills by offering additional courses. This helps their students foster their skills and build confidence through real-life experiences.

Similarly, Pehchaan the street school, has made efforts to support underprivileged children. We provide them with quality education and practical knowledge through digital classrooms, and we also take care of their health and sponsor their further studies.

We offered workshops on carpentry, dancing, drawing and painting, music, etc. thus helping the children gain hands-on skills. Not only this but also we provide Pehchaan children with emotional support.

That’s why we are called Pehchaan the street school. If you are Indian, you may understand the meaning of the word “Pehchaan”, but if you belong to another country, let me tell you that the term “Pehchaan” is a Hindi word that means “identity”.

We believe that our efforts help underprivileged children set their own identity in the eyes of society.

Future of pehchaan the street school

As I said, we served more than 100 years in society by teaching underprivileged children until the literacy rate of our country and the world achieved 100%. Therefore, we will expand our workforce, build Pehchaan the street school in every small and big city in India, and organise many workshops for underprivileged children.

We have every single effort for Pehchaan children. We focused on the pehchaan children overall development, so they could enjoy their future or get their families out of the loop of poverty.

In this way, we have attained our goal.