Wednesday 08 May 2024

This ‘super teacher' wants to empower slum children through education

Known as 'super teacher', 61-year-old Kanchan Sharma, who retired as a lecturer from after a long service of over 39 years is using her own resources to run a slum school in Jammu’s Maratha Basti

| JUNE 17, 2021, 11:26 PM IST
This ‘super teacher' wants to empower slum children through education

Kanchan Sharma, a retired government teacher, occasionally visits slum dwellers at Maratha Basti in Jammu to conduct a two-hour open class with the motive to keep the underprivileged children engaged and empower them through education.

The 61-year-old is actively working with the community, originally hailing from Pipri village of Maharashtra's Nagpur, since 2009 after motivating their elders for several years to get the children enrolled in her makeshift primary school 'Sangarh Vidya Kendra' at the slum.

I saw my efforts going haywire after noticing some of the children missing the online classes and begging at a city square amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown last month, Sharma, known as 'super teacher', told PTI.

Over three dozen neatly dressed students have turned up to attend their offline class at an open area inside the slum amid strict adherence to the Covid protocol.

Sharma retired as a lecturer from School Education Department after a long service of over 39 years in March last year and is using her own resources to run the slum school after getting permission from the department.

It all started in 2004 during my posting as a teacher at government girl's high school Gandhi Nagar. Three students from the slum came to get enrolled and I asked them whether there are any other students who want to join the school and their response in affirmative motivated me to visit them, she said.

The teacher said she was surprised to notice minor children sitting idle in groups, playing cards and even chewing tobacco. I told myself that I need to work with them so that the children get empowered through education. The effort saw 40 children getting enrolled in Gandhi Nagar high school.

"Subsequently, I got permission from the department to open a private school that will provide free of cost education at the slum," she said, adding her students at the slum are sharp and intelligent and just need a proper atmosphere to grow as good citizens.

Over 100 children enrolled at her school which was finally opened at a makeshift tin-roofed shed, provided by the slum dwellers, in August 2009 and many of them are presently reading in high and higher secondary schools.

After the coronavirus-driven lockdown forced closure of schools in April, I visited the slum and arranged a few smartphones to run online classes for the enrolled students whose number presently stood at 120. Their parents are poor and hardly afford to provide smartphones to children.

The initial days of enthusiasm disappeared and there was a visible change in the behavior of the children. I was surprised to notice some of them begging at Gandhi Nagar market which hurt my soul and I visited their parents to motivate them not to ruin the future of their children for some bucks, she said.

The teacher said she would have easily provided them ration or other necessities of life but instead opened a school for them.

She said the best way to eradicate poverty is education. I decided to organise a two-hour open class once a week to keep them engaged so that they remain focused and do not lose track.



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