Sister Cyril: A shelter for the vulnerable

Way back in 1994, Loreto Day School had started admitting kindergarten students by lottery to relieve little children of the trauma of appearing for admission tests. The state government emulated the example two years later.

Twelve years on, another novel initiative of the Sealdah institution — aimed at rehabilitating street children, especially girls — is set to be adopted by over 65 schools across the country.

Over the past few years, a group of street children, mostly girls, is spending nights on the safe premises of Loreto Day School. Out on the street, they would have been vulnerable to all forms of abuse at night.

“Our school is empty every day from 3 pm to 8 am the next morning. We decided to provide shelter to the local street children during that time. They would otherwise have been molested or even dragged into drugs and prostitution,” said principal Sister Cyril.

Encouraged by the success of the scheme, the school had posted the model on the Net and requested institutions across the country to adopt it for the benefit of disadvantaged children.

Sixty-five schools have responded to the proposal and Sister Cyril has invited their principals to attend a workshop on the Sealdah campus on August 11 and 12. Except The Heritage School of Calcutta, all institutions are run by the Catholic church.

At present, more than 300 street children, mostly girls, live on the premises of Loreto Day School. Apart from providing their daily meals, the authorities, with help from social welfare groups, have admitted the children to various schools. Similar homes are also run by two other Loreto schools — Loreto Bowbazar and Loreto House Middleton Row. Loreto Bowbazar provides shelter to 140 children and Loreto House to 118 children.