A government school and that too for SC/ST children ispresumably nothing much to expect from. And if it houses children rescued fromthe Maoist-affected districts of Chhattisgarh, expectations cease to existaltogether. Sympathy is most likely to be doled out to them in the form ofscarce funds and an unlimited supply of genuine concern. But that certainly wasnot the feeling which Ajay and his students shared when they met the presidentof India in New Delhi recently. They were there on an invite from theRashtrapati Bhavan after two of Ajay’s students cracked the IIT entrance examin 2012 and another 151 the all India engineering entrance exam (AIEEE). Whileit is no mean achievement in itself, the odds stacked against them have madethe feat spectacular.
Prayas (Hindi for attempt) was aptly chosen as the name ofthe school started by Ajay in Raipur in 2010 under the Mukhyamantri BalBhavishya Suraksha Yojana. The Chhattisgarh government established the schoolunder a public-private partnership (PPP) to rescue children from falling intothe hands of Maoists. The school imparts free education and provides anopportunity to these children to shape their future.
A PhD in physics, Ajay who taught for a few years atTribhuvan University of Nepal before coming back and establishing an inhousecoaching institute in Patna, was driven by a desire to do his bit for thesociety. Armed with faith as a weapon, Ajay took on a seemingly impossibletask. It was not easy to deal with children who came from diametrically oppositebackgrounds. Initially Ajay had to struggle to communicate with the boys whoknew neither Hindi nor English. "The first interaction was very difficultas I could not fathom how to instruct them. I was befuddled and hopeless. Iasked them to communicate by writing to us," he reminisces.
After a brief period of mutual suspicion, resistance anddistance-keeping, the ice between them was finally broken. However,communication was just one of the many hurdles Ajay had to face. A moredifficult task was to make the boys understand the value of education. Thetoughest part, says Ajay, was making the boys follow the routine of studying 12to 15 hours a day. "We had to work hard to make sure the students followeda regime where they revised what was being taught. I would interact with themindividually to know their problems and brief the teachers accordingly. It wasvery important for us to understand their predicament “ to improve on our ownstrategy," says Shova, Ajay’s wife who counselled students regularly.Guiding and motivating teachers is also a part of the programme.
Among those who cracked the IITs were Jay Prakash who camefrom the Maoist-affected Sarguja district and Surya Prakash Netam from thebackward Bastar district.
"It feels good when students tell me they wonder whatthey would have done had they not come here. Some wanted to be vegetablevendors, others labourers. The programme had a positive impact on the people ofthe villages the students came from. The villagers are now seriously consideringeducation as an option," says Ajay.
Encouraged with the success of the programme, the governmentis taking it forward. In 2011, Prayas admitted the first batch of girls whowill appear for their class 12 board exams in 2013. The performance of boys hasraised expectations and everybody is hoping for similar results from girls. Themagnitude of achievement for Ajay and his team is yet to sink in; nonetheless,they are already busy preparing the next batch.
