Prayagraj: Every Sunday at 8 a.m. on the carpet under the new Yamuna bridge, 60 to 80 children scramble to get the best seat in the class. Some want a roadside view, while others want a front row.
His school has neither classrooms nor salaried teachers, but his thirst for education is met by teachers who are students of their own. Allahabad University and its affiliated colleges, and most NCC Cadet, Though these young teachers are no less than their deserving counterparts from the elite public schools of Sangam City, their focus is on shaping the future of slum children.
This group of undergraduate, postgraduate students also distribute stationery, slippers, food items and clothes to the children of the slum without any financial assistance and does all this with their own pocket money.
However, the parents of some of these students are now donating money seeing their dedication.
The ‘Open’ school which started 20 months ago has become the lifeline of more than 80 children of the slums. It all started when a group of five law students Shiv Pratap Singh Rana Seeing the slum children outside the Mankameshwar temple begging or doing rag pickers, he decided to teach them every Sunday.
“It was not an easy task to motivate the children of these slums,” Singh said.
“I started visiting their homes in Kidganj slum with food on Sundays and promised to give them more if they come to study. Initially, the response was poor and only three-four children agreed, but gradually the numbers went up,” Singh said.
“When I asked him why he didn’t go to school, he said, ‘We don’t have money to pay the fees’,” he said. Soon more AU students joined the group and contributed to recreational activity-based learning. The classes lasted for two hours, followed by a session on solving maths and science questions for students of all age groups.
Since most of these children were supporting their families, the challenge was to keep them engaged. “We introduced activity-based learning so that they too get some time to play and even arrange necessary articles for them,” Singh said. The group brainstormed and memorized all the tricks they had learned during their school days to simplify the principles, formulas and equations for these children to understand.
Singh was selected as the leader of the group Combined Defense Services Exam This year, however, his fellow friends will continue to teach the children.
His school has neither classrooms nor salaried teachers, but his thirst for education is met by teachers who are students of their own. Allahabad University and its affiliated colleges, and most NCC Cadet, Though these young teachers are no less than their deserving counterparts from the elite public schools of Sangam City, their focus is on shaping the future of slum children.
This group of undergraduate, postgraduate students also distribute stationery, slippers, food items and clothes to the children of the slum without any financial assistance and does all this with their own pocket money.
However, the parents of some of these students are now donating money seeing their dedication.
The ‘Open’ school which started 20 months ago has become the lifeline of more than 80 children of the slums. It all started when a group of five law students Shiv Pratap Singh Rana Seeing the slum children outside the Mankameshwar temple begging or doing rag pickers, he decided to teach them every Sunday.
“It was not an easy task to motivate the children of these slums,” Singh said.
“I started visiting their homes in Kidganj slum with food on Sundays and promised to give them more if they come to study. Initially, the response was poor and only three-four children agreed, but gradually the numbers went up,” Singh said.
“When I asked him why he didn’t go to school, he said, ‘We don’t have money to pay the fees’,” he said. Soon more AU students joined the group and contributed to recreational activity-based learning. The classes lasted for two hours, followed by a session on solving maths and science questions for students of all age groups.
Since most of these children were supporting their families, the challenge was to keep them engaged. “We introduced activity-based learning so that they too get some time to play and even arrange necessary articles for them,” Singh said. The group brainstormed and memorized all the tricks they had learned during their school days to simplify the principles, formulas and equations for these children to understand.
Singh was selected as the leader of the group Combined Defense Services Exam This year, however, his fellow friends will continue to teach the children.