Chapter 12: Work We Do
काम अपने-अपने (दीपाली की कहानी, बाल श्रम एवं घरेलू जिम्मेदारियाँ)
Don't Let a 20-Minute Bubbling Delay Cost You CTET Qualification
In offline CTET exams, bubbling 150 bubbles takes 18 to 22 minutes of mechanical time. A single misaligned row can trigger an 8-question domino error. Practice bubble-filling this chapter's solved MCQs inside Mentora's official OMR simulator.
- Community Workers & Interdependence: Masons building masonry walls, tea stall vendors serving tea and snacks, cobblers (*मोची*) repairing shoes under roadside banyan trees, barbers grooming customers, sweepers cleaning municipal streets.
- Deepali's Story (Gender Burden & Dropping Out): Deepali is the eldest daughter; when her father sells vegetables and her mother washes dishes in homes, Deepali must stay home to cook food, clean the house, and look after her younger brother and sister; she was forced to drop out of school in Class 3.
- Right to Education (RTE): Deepali loves books; when her siblings grow old enough to join school, Deepali re-enrolls in the school library, demonstrating that education is every child's fundamental statutory entitlement.
- Trap: Why did Deepali leave school? Correct: **To take care of her younger siblings and perform domestic chores while her parents worked**.
- Trap: Pedagogical intent: Sensitizing educators to the unequal burden of domestic labor placed on eldest female children in marginalized families.
NCERT Core Facts: Division of Labor, Unseen Domestic Work & Child Rights
NCERT Class 3 Chapter 12 highlights community professions and structural barriers to female education.
1. Everyday Street Occupations
- The tea stall owner boils tea and serves morning commuters.
- Traffic police officers direct vehicular flows at crossroads with arm signals.
- The cobbler (मोची) sits under a shady tree with an iron anvil, leather awl, and black polish to repair broken sandals.
- Fruit and vegetable vendors transport handcarts to residential lanes.
2. Deepali's Dilemma: Domestic Labor vs. Schooling
- Deepali woke at dawn to cook rice and dal for her siblings.
- She accompanied her little brother to her father's vegetable cart.
- She escorted her younger sisters, Suman and Shila, to school.
- Yet, she herself could not attend school because:
- She had to fetch water from the municipal tap.
- She had to wash pots and sweep floors.
- She was the eldest daughter bearing adult domestic burdens.
- NCF Directive: Teachers must not view dropouts as 'unmotivated'; educators must acknowledge socio-economic inequities and help working children transition back into schools.
Test Your Mastery: Work We Do
Authentic CBSE exam questions tested directly from this NCERT chapter.
In NCERT Class 3 EVS Chapter 12, why did Deepali leave school at an early age?
कक्षा 3 की एनसीईआरटी पुस्तक में दीपाली ने छोटी उम्र में ही स्कूल जाना क्यों छोड़ दिया था?
What tool does a roadside cobbler (मोची) typically use to repair leather footwear under a shade tree?
पेड़ के नीचे बैठकर चमड़े के जूते ठीक करने वाला मोची मुख्य रूप से किस उपकरण का उपयोग करता है?
Why could Deepali not continue her school education in Class 3?
She had to look after her younger siblings and perform household cooking and cleaning while her parents worked.
What fundamental statutory right does Deepali's story advocate for?
The Right to Education (RTE) for every girl child.