Many children in India still no longer have to get the right to enter education. Despite numerous projects to promote and inspire children to enroll in college, many find pursuing training difficult 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 advance 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, nothing but a black coat of paint on the wall. It has primary stationery like chalk, dusters, pens, and pencils to assist instructors. The students carry their notebooks and sit on the ground 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 did not allow them as they all looked suspicious. None of them were serious about children’s schooling and their future. All they were curious about became being profitable by showing something and claiming something else. I no longer approve of their manner of functioning, which had many loopholes and room for discrepancies.”
Most students are children of ragpickers, rickshaw pullers, and beggars who can’t afford 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 of beginning college is coping with a problem that Rajesh faced throughout his youth. 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, now the sole breadwinner of his family of 5, runs a small grocery kept in an equal locality to help them. He 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 by sitting below the bridge. Such occasions make them feel they’re a part of the society no matter where 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.
