The 'Schools on Wheel' initiative of the HOPE Community School, an NGO, is taking education and classroom learning closer to children amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
HOPE, a community school under an NGO, is helping underprivileged children to learn through mobile buses that take education closer to them during these testing times.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent restrictions, the education sector has been adversely affected. For many, now classes take place online through their smartphones and the internet, but this kind of education is still inaccessible to many.
Marlo Phillip, founder of Tejas Asia said, "Through the 'Hope Buses', we aim to go to kids, especially in underprivileged communities, because they don't have access to schools. We want to take schools to where they are. It is our dream. We have seen that this initiative has changed many lives. We also give them a mid-day meal which is cooked in our Hope Kitchen in Tughlakabad.
He said that the concept was started 7 years back and they currently utilize four buses, which go to different locations in Delhi.
"About 7 years ago, we started the concept of taking education onto the wheel. We have got 4 buses at the moment and every day the bus starts from Saket. We take buses to different locations in Delhi. We have recently started a project in Gurgaon as well. We have a Hope community school. Every day, around 1000 children are given free meals and free education," he said.
Students are also pretty happy with this initiative and the way it has helped them catch up with their education.
Sapna, an 11-year-old, used to go to school in Madhya Pradesh before the pandemic hit. Due to school being shut, she lost the track of her studies. Now that the mobile bus service has again started, she is really happy.
"I aspire to become a police officer. I learn good things here on the mobile bus. When I will go home from here, I will take my notebooks and will learn," says Sapna.
Preeti, one of the students on the mobile bus said: "I used to go to a nearby government school. Since the schools are closed, I am coming here to study."
Further adding on the initiative, Marlo said: "The pandemic was very tough. All kids were asking about the bus since this is their school. We had to wait for the government to permit us. In last few days, we have started to go to a couple of locations and kids were happy to jump inside the bus. The number of children has increased after Covid. I believe that Hope buses are bringing hope in their lives."
As per Marlo, it takes at least six months to develop a proper relationship with people wherever they go. They provide slates, coloring pens etc. in their bus.
Parents are happy with this initiative of education for the underprivileged in buses.
Aaspati, father of a student, who is a rag picker said, "I send my child to study on the bus so that they do a little better in their lives. Our lives can also be better through this. We are just trying to push our children."
Babli, another rag picker also said that the family is not educated enough to ensure that kids learn at home and they have started sending their children to these mobile buses for their education.
Ebina, the leader of the bus says that surveys are utilized to find out the children who need their services and they also enrol children in government schools if there is potential in them.
"Once we find a location where there are kids with no education, we do a survey and we find out how many kids are not going to school and what are the reasons behind it. If we find that there is a need, then we start a bus project in that locality. We have four busses which go to 8 locations, one in the morning and the other in the evening. After making them study for 2 hours, we provide them food and make them go home. We make them learn basic education like language, basic math skills. After we see that there is some potential in a child, we enrol them in government schools," said Ebina.
( With inputs from ANI )
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