Our privacy policy working with families under the Right to Education Act

Privacy is of fundamental importance to our organization. 

At present, we have no intentions of posting a full picture of a child admitted under the Right to Education Act. Every clear image of a child seen on this blog or website is one who resides in the neighborhood, but did not partake in the RTE drive. 

From an organizational standpoint, I recognize that few would suggest this move. Showing pictures of adorable children and telling their individual success stories would no doubt boost our group's reputation. It would increase our legitimacy, and help us attract funding. Storytelling is straight out of Nonprofit PR 101, after all. 

While the children we've worked with are incredibly adorable, I'm personally wary of broadcasting their identities and telling their stories of financial hardship. It's no secret that reservations are a hotly contested issue. Furthermore, no parent wants their child to be the RTE poster kid. Just imagine an organization helping you to overcome some type of private difficulty: then imagine that group asking if they can use your picture and story to highlight their work to broader society, all with a "donate now" button underneath your photo. You would likely say no and possibly feel mildly exploited. While there is nothing inherently shameful about economic inequality, it is not something that should be expressed from a loudspeaker, either. 

Just as you would not post your IT returns and upload a picture of your credit card statement, I do not want to weave a story that sounds something like, "This single mother set aside 5 Rs. a day during her job as a maid in hopes of giving her child a better education. When her husband became an alcoholic, money became tight but she never gave up hope. Then she applied for admissions under India's Right to Education Act with assistance from our group, and her child's future became brighter." I... just can't do that.   

It is our wish that every child expresses who they are on their own terms. Not ours. I do not want another parent in a school Googling the names of their child's classmates and having our work be the first thing they see. We do our best to give parents full autonomy. If we ever hand over their contact information or other details to a third party (such as the press), it is only with consent given to us well in advance. We do hope that parents will work with us in the coming years, primarily during our community outreach efforts. But we also respect their desire to assimilate into the schools outside of our PR limelight. 

If you are a third party wishing to know more about our families, however, we do have some parents who are willing to discuss their experience. We would be happy to forward your queries to such families, but we ask in advance that you respect the parent's sovereignty as well. Put yourself in their shoes when asking questions: would you want your answers publicized if asked such personal things? 

It is with these considerations in mind that we have created this informal privacy policy. We may highlight a student later in the event that we issue a merit-based scholarship or conduct some type of activity, but this will focus on a child's achievements or unique talent rather than "being an RTE student." We will also give due consideration as to how this may impact their assimilation in school. And as always, we will get the parent's permission when sharing such events and stories. 

This is the closest we get to publishing a
child's identity.