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Our visit to Agra coincided with the Pratham Agra Republic day celebrations in Jagdishpura. And since January also marked a year of working in Agra for the Pratham team, this was a double celebration! Children from various Pratham programs performed dances, sang songs and put together plays, with a lot of exuberance and some very able assistance from the Pratham volunteers. And as we watched the rough and tumble of tiny performers, painted faces peeping out of the temple (which served as the green room), and gods and demons brandishing paper maces, we could not but want to know more of the work being done here, see how far Pratham has come in a year's time. This was a good time to be in Agra!
Ajay, Shabnam and Reena, all of whom have been a part of the Agra program since its conception, see it as a year of hard work and excitement. Along with Jagdishpura and Nalaburhan Saiyad, work is now going on in 8 other bastis across the city, with L2R, R2L and Library classes. The summer Camp held in May - June 04 was particularly successful and 118 classes took place. Work begun in communities during the Summer Camp was then continued through the year, extending the number of classes to include more children from there. Almost 800 children have been bridged to school in the past year, the team estimates.
 The Republic Day Function was being held in Jagdishpura, one of the bigger slums of Agra. Work began here during the May04 summer camps. There is no Government school here. Large numbers of children work, making shoes being a household industry in this area. At the moment, Pratham runs 17 classes here (4 R2L and 13 L2R), with almost 500 children. Children who finish the L2R classes are encouraged to go back to school, as a follow up. The follow up is taken seriously. The Balsakhis often talk to the schools themselves and ensure enrolment- sometimes working out fees concessions of up to 50% for students who cannot afford a large fee. This has meant negotiating with the schools and wary school authorities, keeping the lines of communication open so that they can keep checking to see that the children remain there. The question of retention, whether the child stays on in school after the Pratham programme is a tricky one- how does one make sure that the children are not back in the streets or working again … This is a concern often shared by Pratham workers in many states. But the Pratham workers in Agra are upbeat about bridging children successfully to school. And they feel that there has been a lot of co-operation from both parents and schools, to ensure that once the child is reading, he stays on in school. Even as we talk, children who had been in the Pratham programs come up to talk to their didi, telling her that they have come here after the morning celebrations in their new schools. As we visited Pratham classes in other communities, we got a better idea of the challenges in getting children in these neighbourhoods to begin reading, come for class and eventually go to school.
Nalaburhan Saiyad is another community where Pratham has continued working after the summer camp. Like Jagdishpura, there is a high incidence of child labour here. It has taken a while to get the children to come for these classes. A childhood spent out of school has much better use in the eyes of most people here. Manufacture of shoes and brushes is a local industry and children often work at home or in the neighbourhood, stitching and putting together shoes. A large number of the girls work in other neighbourhoods as domestic help. Or children simply wait for the coal trains to make a stop at the railway crossing, and wait for a chance to scoop coal off the bogeys. A very profitable activity, we guessed, as trays of coal can be seen spread out to dry in almost every terrace in Nalaburhan Saiyad.
 In these conditions, a large part of the work has been to mobilise the community on the need for education. Once you have convinced the community that you are really here to educate the kids, things become easier, Shabnam tells me. Vinita Rani's L2R class is being held in the temple premises. Initially, they spent a lot of time looking for a place to hold the class, and finally convinced the owner to let them use this room. It is large and airy, with barakhadis stationed amidst pictures of assorted gods. There are problems, most parents are difficult to contact as both parents work, and are rarely home. But the children are doing well - it has been a month since the class began and children are already reading confidently. As one child after the other takes a turn reading, Vinita Rani beams. Then suddenly she breaks out - " But I don't know what it is with this boy, how his brain works, he never learns anything." Ajay and Shabnam wince. And gently tell her that the matter will be looked at. It is not easy for these balsakhis either, having to follow a method without a stick, where care and patience is the premium. But everybody is working at it. In Agra the child's progress is monitored from week to week and there are weekly reports to assess the level of the child.
Nalaburhan Saiyad is divided by a railway track. Trains often stop here for a long time. But this time it is a goods train and not a coal-laden rake and does not attract much attention from the residents. On both sides, there are the same narrow lanes and open drains, but the divide creates its own suspicions. Balsakhis from one side were reluctant to go over to the other. There were only two out of the twenty Balsakhis from this side who were willing to go to the other side to teach. But once the work started, the co-operation just built up.
 Our last stop was Neetu Verma's L2R class on the terrace. A group of 25 girls sat there, with their books. They are in the age group of 14-19. Most of them have never been to school and a lot of effort was required in the beginning to even get them to leave their houses and come here to study. A part of the credit goes to the enthusiasm of Shahjahan 'khala' who owns the house. Though she doesn't teach herself, she has taken it upon herself to ensure that the girls attend class regularly, and study well. She sits on a charpai and looks over the class. The houses are all close to one another, and there are a few people in the other terraces looking at the class in progress, perhaps they will send their own girls for the next class. The girls feel that this is a big opportunity they have, to be able to come out of their homes and study. Their teacher has been unwell with a toothache and khala and the girls were planning to take her to a dentist nearby. It doesn't do to have your teacher sick! The girls are spirited and read for us. They are earnest and take this business of acquiring an education seriously. Every day, they finish the cooking and cleaning at home and then come here for class. And they study later at night too, they insist, after the housework is done. " We have left watching films and TV serials because we have to study", a talkative girl in a blue salwar tells me. Neetu runs a library too and the since the girls are beginning to read, they often borrow books to practise reading. We can also see another Pratham class in the neighbouring terrace. And Mina Pal's L2R class is our next stop. The children are swaying to the rhythm of the barakhadi. A mother who lives in the neighbouring house instructs her child sitting here to read well from her own terrace. There are the usual problems; a child who has been making progress has not been allowed to come, as there is housework to be seen to. Shabnam makes a note to talk to the parents.
 A toddler who has accompanied his seven year old sister to the class begins crying as we are leaving, there is a flutter -the girl tries to quieten the child by saying, "shhh- here, I will give you a nice book, stop crying." Perhaps in this girl's response is the beginning of a silent revolution, where the written word will soon be a part of life for every child in Agra. We could not get a glimpse of the Taj from either of these neighbourhoods, but the work being done here is perhaps as monumental.
Parismita Singh
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