Educators on a mission to get street children to school

The sun does not peep there. In one corner, a physically challenged man was having his bath. In another, was a group of teenagers, who were under the influence of drugs. Amidst this children from a jhuggi situated behind Kalkaji temple,  were trying to decipher what has been written on the blackboard. The  children who are forced to beg, sell flowers, balloons at the traffic signals are now being given basic education. These children who may have migrated from villages across India are not short of big dreams. But with their families struggling to make ends meet they fall in the clutches of drugs and other cheap methods of getting intoxicated.

“I want to become a police officer when I grow up,” said four-and-half-year-old Pidiya, with twinkling eyes.

Seeing these children struggle, Anil Kumar Tripathi, retired Principal of Balwant Rai Mehta Vidya Bhavan, Dr Manorama Khanna, ex-principal, Amity and her son Ranjan Khanna, an Indian Revenue Service officer, and Tripathi’s students have started with fun-cum interactive class on every Sunday.

The students are first shown cartoons to generate interest, following which books and pens are given to them. While some of these children are enrolled in government schools, others have lost all connection with academics, as they moved from their villages in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and left to fend for themselves.

The one-hour long class is held in open air under flyovers where these underprivileged children of all age group sit together to pick up the lesson of the day.

To ensure that these children do not forget what has been taught to them, the educators have put up posters so that they can refer it till the next class is held.

Neelam, a native of Bihar, is now happy that her five kids are now on the right path as they are getting education apart from school which they often skip.

“I am very happy. But I want that these classes are held more often because the kids tend to forget the lessons. Most of the government schools where my children go do not have teachers and the students hardly learn anything,” she said.

The idea, as Tripathi said, was to give education to the children who had not seen the gates of the school. “We have been working in the field of education for a long time. So we thought that we should now reach the children who have not gone to schools because of their economic condition. Even their parents wanted them to study, and have a secured life. Hence, we started these classes,” said Anil Kumar Tripathi.

At present classes are being conducted under the IIT and JNU flyover, and at a slum near Kalkaji Temple. The group later plans to get more volunteers to teach the students every day after school.

“All the students who attend the classes are of different age and this poses a problem for us. So a group of 2-3 students are attended together by one teacher. We also provide special mentoring to the bright students,” Tripathi said.

FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Vocational training is also imparted to many of the children who have now crossed the age of studying. The group aims at holistic upliftment of these children which would also include medical facilities. “There are many kids who are 16-17 years and have never been associated with education. We give vocational training like mobile repairing, driving, electrician and tailoring so that they can earn in a dignified manner,” said Ranjan Khanna.