VOCATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATION
When the Government began Vocationalization of Education in 1992, Don Bosco Institutions were the first to implement the scheme and under its aegis started job oriented Vocational Education for the youth. Don Bosco Self Employment Research Institute (DBSERI) in Howrah ventured out on a novel project with the Construction Industry in view. A new curriculum was draw up which was vetted by the Government. This was approved and adopted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi. DBSERI was affiliated to ICSE Board to teach and prepare candidates for the CVE (Certificate of Vocational Education) Examination at 10+2 level. This board conducts a series of job oriented Vocational Examinations at the Higher Secondary level and a new breed of Hands on Training Technicians in various Contemporary Technologies emerge from ICSE affiliated schools.
One such technology that DBSERI excelled in, is the Civil Engineering Technicians, a much sought after trade. One of the unique features of this course is that, at the end of their curriculum, the entire class takes up a house building project. It is a programme in which all that they learned in the course of study will be manifested in the project, which will be assessed by some Competent Engineers from Construction Industry or Professors from Engineering Colleges. DBSERI has been implementing this project since last 12 years. The students with social responsibility first survey the locality to identify the most-needy homeless person. Once the beneficiary is identified he is asked to contribute at least 25% of the cost either in terms of labour or money while the balance amount is sponsored by some benefactor of Don Bosco SERI. After all this, the students get down to all the logistics, such as survey of the land, lay out, design of the building, make the plans and detailed estimation, in terms of the building materials, labour, other over head expenses etc., and also the time schedule. Finally, the work begins and the entire class is involved, one student a week acts as the Site Supervisor while their teacher administers the project Sites. It takes anything between 12 to 16 weeks depending on the design, land-condition, whether clemency, material availability etc.
The first house that Don Bosco SERI built was 10 years ago for Mrs. Hara Oraon a lonely lady abandoned by her husband. Since then Don Bosco boys and girls have built 25 houses so far. In 2001 Don Bosco SERI adopted the Valmiki Ambedkar Awash Yojana (VAMBAY), a programme of the Government of India to assist the urban poor in their struggle for a shelter. Under this scheme, we constructed 15 houses where the Government contributed 50% of the total cost and the balance was contributed by the beneficiary and Don Bosco SERI at a ratio of 30% and 20%, respectively. Over and above, 75% free labour being a contribution from the side of the students, made the VAMBAY Project a success.
Two years ago, our lads took up a project at the most unsuitable area of Howrah, the garbage dumping place of Howrah City, where plastic bags and rags constituted 50% of the soil. Our boys found the site most unsuitable for a concrete building. Yet that 1 ½ khatta was the only property of that poor family! The poor have no choice. Seeing the face of the mother and the daughter, a tender child, studying in class X, we felt that we had to do something to give them a shelter. Finally, we had to go for a “WELL FOUNDATION” method, where each ring of the well had to plough through 12 feet plastic paper and plastic bags reinforced soil of garbage, till we touched the original soil. Such 12 wells held the actual foundation and columns of that little two room concrete house, with a cast roof. The environment study, a compulsory subject of the course, made our boys and girls to integrate on this house a Rain Water Harvesting concept. This too, because of the condition of the ground water was more polluted than the water from the heavens! Today that “CHOTA PARIWAR” lives there happily, in-spite of the stench of a garbage dumping ground.
The latest venture was to attempt to build two houses simultaneously by our out going Civil Engineering students, 34 boys and 4 girls, divided in to two groups; one, for a Rickshaw Puller - Budharam Mahali and the other, for Kalicharan Sil, a foot path Barber. Both houses are at the finishing stage and on 25th July the two houses will be assessed by two separate Engineers. Each candidate will get his/her grade for the Civil Engineering Technicians’ Diploma awarded by Don Bosco SERI much appreciated by construction Industries both, in India and abroad. Funding has been an area of major concern for us. Even though the government puts in 50% we still faced problems to pool in the balance. But, by the grace of God, we came across Dr. Helgo Hamme Mayer who hails from Hamburg – Germany and runs an NGO in India. He works to prevent child labour in India and has now become the back bone of our projects. May God Bless him and his organization!
