To begin with, the group has come up with an extensively researched project on dropouts in BMC schools.

The project is a part of the Pukar Youth Fellowship programme. While the reasons for dropping out were many, the group decided to focus on an important demand made by the respondents (parents of non-English medium schools) involved in the research— the need for English as the medium of instruction.

The sample survey consisted of around 100 parents whose children were enrolled in Telegu, Tamil and Kannada medium BMC and private schools. “We zeroed in on Dharavi as our focus area because we are all students of slum studies and are acquainted with all the communities there. We chose south Indian languages because of a proposal mooted by BMC last year to convert all south Indian language BMC schools into English medium schools, which had been opposed by several quarters. We wanted to know what the south Indian community felt about English,” said Rajkumar Janagam, the team leader.

Questionnaires were distributed among the parents of school children, asking them to state their preferences. Over 80 per cent felt that they would want their wards to study in English medium schools.

An equal percentage of parents suggested that BMC could teach one subject in vernacular language and the rest in English. Hundred per cent of the respondents felt that studying in English would boost career prospects.

“All the parents wanted the BMC to start more English medium schools. However, they also expressed concerns about the quality of English in BMC schools,” said Jui Gangan, a team member.