Doorstep learning for girls in domestic work

Our Doorstep Learning model was developed from our pioneering work providing education centres and learning opportunities for boys doing hazardous work. We wanted to build on our learning about interventions with working children – and provide literacy, numeracy and life skills for working girls, too, so we adapted our model to use in domestic settings for children – girls and boys – doing domestic work. We realised children doing domestic work may not be allowed to travel to a local centre, so we designed this programme to take learning directly to the domestic settings where children work. Our specially trained community teachers support individual children or small groups who work near to each other, with the employers’ permission, in their homes.

At present we are working with 176 children engaged in domestic work at 14 different locations of Sylhet. 90% of those children are girls. 16 community teachers supervised by 1 full time field coordinator and 1 part-time curriculum coordinator are directly working with these children. They are lead by the Project leader.

Here is the story of Ratna( not real name) a 10 years old girl who work in a home to earn for her family. Her father is a rickshaw puller earning very little and her mother is a beggar. She has a younger sister and a younger brother. His brother is handicapped ( crippled). Ratna's ( not real name) mother goes to beg every day with her cripple brother. Ratna ( not real name) never got a chance to go to school but she want her younger sister to go to school. The employer in the house where she works she is a police officer, so Ratna ( not real name) also wants to be a police officer when she grows up. Now she is studying in the pre-primary . She is very happy to be a student of this project because she think that this is a huge opportunity for disadvantaged children like them.

Please make a regular or one-off donation to UKBET today – this will enable us to continue giving transformative support to working children and their families, like Ratna ( not real name).