A Prodigy from the Hamlet of Bas Hariya, Haryana

To let a child be a child is, at times, the most difficult thing to do.

Bas Hariya, a small hamlet in Haryana with nearly 1000 households with children, once saw its lanes filled with laughter - children running barefoot through narrow paths, chuckling, dreaming, and growing! Yet, behind those smiles was a quiet struggle. Many of these children performed poorly in school, not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked guidance. Their dreams were fragile and often gave way to harsh socio-economic realities - child marriage, child labour, or simply the absence of awareness. For those living on the privileged shores of society, these may be small concerns; but for these children, it was the slow fading of a hopeful future!

That is where Child Rights and You (CRY) stepped in. What seemed like an overwhelming challenge became an opportunity - to build a bridge of hope through STEM-based interventions, and to help children believe that their dreams were worth holding on to.

The journey began with a pre-test, designed to understand why these children were underperforming. The answers lay not in their effort, but in their foundations. A weak conceptual understanding of STEM subjects had been holding them back. 

After the pretest got over, the results gave us the direction in which we had to work! In all, around 86 students from classes 8 to 10 were identified as the ones who needed focused academic support and specifically 17 of them were to appear for their boards. It became clear that what they needed was not just schooling, but structured guidance, something that could strengthen their roots and help them grow.

And so, a STEM Centre was set up in Bas Hariya village, giving shape to CRY’s Holistic Education and Child Protection Programme. Here, learning became more than textbooks and marks. CRY worked patiently on the children’s basics, ensuring they stood on foundations strong enough to face their board examinations with confidence.

They took the exam and then came the result! The result was absolutely incredible!!!

Among many remarkable performances, two shone the brightest. One being Nancy Kumari who scored 84% and topped her school. The other being a young girl, who had once scored just 6% in the pre-test, but went on to secure 68% in her board exams once she found the right guidance. 

So out of the 17 students with whom CRY set out on their Board Examination journey, 15 passed - with 3 securing distinctions, 8 first divisions, and 3 second divisions.

But CRY knew that this change must last beyond results. To make it sustainable, the team worked closely with families, schools, and government departments, advocating through the right channels and strengthening support systems. The project evolved with innovations that sparked curiosity and participation, one of them being the Self, System, and Society model, where,

Self implied intervention through a Child Activity Centre (CAC), that helped mainstream children who dropped out of school, while the STEM Centre strengthened academic skills. Several awareness sessions introduced children to their rights, safety, and voice.

The System implied collaboration with local schools and government departments. The project aligned itself with larger educational and child protection goals, reinforcing action against child labour and early marriage.

Lastly, Society implied CAC becoming a space for the community - where parents learned about the importance of education, child rights, and protective laws, creating an environment that supported every child’s growth.

Today, with this model in place, CRY’s vision and children’s courage, many students like Nancy Kumari have shone bright with flying colors. A prodigy in her family’s eyes, she is studying in Class XI at the Government Senior Secondary School, Bas Hariya. She looks ahead with quiet determination, aspiring to pursue B. Tech in Electronics from the Indian Institute of Technology. 

Under the mentorship of CRY’s Science Lab staff, she has begun preparing for JEE, turning to books, guidance, and even YouTube videos to clear her doubts and strengthen her concepts.

This is not just a story of achievement.
It is a story of the possibilities that come through when the right approach to education meets children’s will to dream.