A lot of children in India still do no longer have to get right of to entry education. Despite numerous projects to promote and inspire children to enroll in college, many discover it difficult to pursue training because of various factors.
But the efforts maintain unabated. Rajesh Kumar Sharma is dedicated to the cause of youngsters’ training and ensures that children get the primary schooling they need to move ahead in their lifestyles.
For the past 13 years, Rajesh has been teaching three hundred underprivileged children underneath the metro bridge close to the Yamuna riverbank in Delhi. Named ‘The Free School Under the Bridge,’ the school runs in shifts, one from September 11 am for a hundred and twenty boys, and the second, from 2-four:30 pm for one hundred eighty ladies. The college also has seven instructors who volunteer to teach the scholars elderly among four to 14 years, in their unfastened time.
Unlike different faculties, this open college with no structure below the bridge has the simplest five blackboards, which is nothing but a black coat of painting on the wall. To assist instructors, it has primary stationery like chalk, dusters, pens, and pencils. The students carry their notebooks and sit on the ground that is covered with carpets.
The college has separate lavatory facilities for each woman and boy, similarly to which college students are also taught about fundamental hygiene and cleanliness.
Speaking to the New Indian Express about the support he acquired, Rajesh stated,
“Initially, a few NGOs contacted me and attempted to be associated with the makeshift faculty, but I in no way allowed them as they all looked suspicious. None of them were serious about children’s schooling and their future. All they were inquisitive about became being profitable by showing something and claiming something else. I did no longer approve of their manner of functioning, which had many loopholes and room for discrepancies.”
Most of the students are children of ragpickers, rickshaw pullers, and beggars who can’t have enough money for fundamental schooling for their youngsters.
According to India Today, some shopkeepers additionally donate drinking water, which is maximum welcome at some point in the summertime.
The cause to begin college is coping with a problem, which Rajesh himself faced throughout his more youthful days. Due to the poor monetary condition of his family, he couldn’t complete his BSc degree and is aware of how essential schooling is for youngsters.
Rajesh, who is now the sole breadwinner of his family of 5, runs a small grocery keep in an equal locality to help them. He now assists instructors like Laxmi Chandra, Shyam Mahto, Rekha, Sunita, Manisha, Chetan Sharma, and Sarvesh, who assist him in running the college.
“Some human beings go to the school now and then and distribute biscuit packets, the result, water bottles, and packaged meals. Some youngsters have a good time on their birthdays with the kids, cut desserts, and feature food together via sitting below the bridge. Such occasions make them feel they’re additionally a part of the society no matter in which they stay or what heritage they belong to.”
Rajesh also continues an attendance file to maintain track of his students, and if a person doesn’t turn up for long, he contacts the mother and father to understand the reason.
Six-yr-antique Sunita, a college pupil, stated, “I need to achieve hugely in my life, and that is why I come here each afternoon. Sometimes, the college is closed because of horrific climates like heavy rain or thunderstorms, but my passion for studies by no means gets weakened,” reports Hindustan Times.
