and 80 students belong to a village namely Chandapada, Lodhma, Block- Karra of Khunti District, Jharkhand. They are those students who earlier were studying in a government school or were dropouts or were going to a small slum school. With vouchers from Pratigya these children took admission in better private schools of the choice of their own and their parents. The school in which they are studying now is YMCA Public School, St. Annes’s High School , Prabhat Tara School , St. Anne’s Middle School, Birsa Shiksha Niketan, Yogoda Satsang Vidyalaya etc. The Voucher Project is being run with aim to strengthen the movement of "Right to Choose School, with Right to Education" for every child of the nation irrespective of social and economic condition they hail from. Pratigya intends to include over 1000 children under this project in next 3 years and act as Policy Demonstrator for sustainable model of Quality School Education for the last mile children. This model also has the potential to solve problems regarding quality and choice in the present government education system.

We are also working at the policy level advocacy to get the policy level gaps pertaining to this provision of the RTE Act filled in Jharkhand We started this campaign on pilot basis at Ranchi in December 2014 to ensure that the rights granted to underprivileged children by the enactment of Right to Education act 2009, reaches the masses that need it the most.

Activities under this campaign:

• Mass Awareness : We are making the community aware about this porvision of the RTE Act through various means including posters, pamphlets , community meeting, print media etc. We are reaching to the underprivileged community living in various slums and rural areas of Ranchi.
• Facilitation in admissions: Around 20 volunteers of Pratigya visited the slums in 55 wards and rural areas of Ranchi and spread awareness about the Right to Education Act. They are also helping the parents in filling up forms for admission to private schools and accompanying parents to facilitate the childrens admission into school.
• Helpline number, 0651-6888898: Any parent who wishes to understand the law and get their children admitted to private schools under this act can call this number in order to discuss and resolve any difficulties that might be having in gettings their children admitted to private schools. The helpline will provide counselling to anyone who needs it.
• Dialogue with the schools: We have written letters to the 70 schools of Ranchi and have emplored them for their support in this campaign and for their support in getting children admitted to the schools. Our volunteers are going to every school and are meeting the principal in this regard.
• Advocacy with government to fill policy level gaps -Delegation of Pratigya met HRD Minister , Jharkhand , and Principal Secretary –HRD , Jhakhand regarding various issues being faced by parents and schools regarding this provision of the act , team also raised various policy level issues and still advocating for the redressal of the same. Pragmatic issues with the implementation of this provision of the act were raised in several discussions and follow up meeting with District Administration and District Education Department. A dedicated team of Pratigya is engaging with government in a meaning full manner to make this opportunity accessible to the disadvantaged children of the society.
• Action on denial of application / admission by school- On denial of blatant denial of application of children from poor communities and denial of entry in the school premise by many private schools , Pratigya raised this issue vehemently at various levels and made complain uptill HRD Minister , Jharkhand. About 300 application denied by various schools were submitted at District Education Department and team is still engaging and pressurizing on day to day basis with the department to facilitate the admission.

By the end of March, 31st 2014 Pratigya reached over 2,000 households directly in various slums and rural areas of Ranchi and more than 5,000 families indirectly through various means. Volunteers of Pratigya also facilitated appliation of over 400 children for various private schools of Ranchi and admission of over three dozen students were completed by the end of the year. RTE-25% campaign is being continued in the academic / financial year 2014-15 as well. Admission of hundreds of student from BPL category as per the provision of Right to Education Act is under process in the new year and Team Pratigya is dedicately putting its effort to make this campaign a success and ensure the Right to Education to hundreds of last mile childern.

so that they can excel in their academic, personal and social life as a responsible student and an individual. The major themes on which we work on, with them are- Life skills, Social Education, Financial Education, Counseling, Art and Craft and Extra Curricular Activities. On these themes, different activities using different motivational fun games and interactive sessions are organized with the help of various Resource persons and Counselors.

aware them and mobilize them to become an Active & Responsible Citizen we organize several seminar, workshop and training programme on various socio-economic and political issue. The major events so far had been Debate and Discussion on "Present School System", "Am I an active Citizen?" seminar and Right to Information Workshop at various colleges in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dumka and Dhanbad etc.