TEN-YEAR-OLD SHONU Sambajika likes going to school not for the love of studies but for a meal in the middle of the day .

Volunteers from CRY, which works with the Sarva Shikshya Abhiyaan (SSA), would probably settle for that, as long as Shonu does not drop out. Because with 26,713 children still remaining to be sent to school in Mumbai by the end of this year - and a drop out rate of nine per cent at the primary level the city's education department has its task cut out.

After missing the target for 2007, the city district primary education department is now working with NGOs and committed individuals to ensure the target is met by 2008 at least. The centrally-funded SSA had a tar- get of sending all out-of-school children to school by 2005, retain them till 2007 and ensure quality education by 2010. Mumbai dis- trict is far from achieving this.

The experiment has been suc- cessful for 21 children from the Gajra-making community . Nitin Wadhwani runs an electronic shop in Mahim and works as a volunteer to help children attend regular school. The model has given some hope to the education de- partment. "We are taking help from NGOs to achieve our targets. Last month, we started a door-to-door campaign to ensure that all street children are covered with their help," said Arun Jagannath Thakre, deputy secretary, SSA. The campaign will last for a month, he said.

Rani Maynak, who has done her MBA and works with Tata Consultancy Services, shares her time and expertise to help bring street children to school.

"Integration between different schemes yielded better results. The Rs 725 crore Mahatma Gandhi rehabilitation plan introduced in 2006 for street-dwellers failed, but when coupled with this, it worked," she said.

There are others like Maynak and Wadhwani who are helping the state achieve its targets.

"Our experience with the Gajramaking community in Khar has shown that every child who is not going to school is working. Without a holistic rehabilitation plan, enrolling every child will not be possible," said Bidisha Fouzdar, senior manager, CRY.

The volunteers have kept at it for over a year.

"It was very difficult to inspire these children to go to school on a regular basis. Counseling parents about their children's schooling and connecting them to ration shops helped," said Maynak.

"Attendance was nil in the first few weeks. We used to go to the slums every morning and get the children ready for school and used to get back to work only when they were securely in the class rooms," Wadhwani recalled.

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