Teaching first-generation students from streets

They were proved wrong. From the humble beginnings of the organisation in 1997 when Pathchala had only 19 children,the school now has 107 children who are studying under the guidance of 16 dedicated teachers. Two batches of students have just appeared for their secondary examinations and a batch is preparing for their higher secondary examinations. Special tuition is provided for students who want to appear for competitive examinations. And the most significant thing is most of them are first-generation learners whose parents have never seen what a classroom looks like.

“Last year,one of our students Pratima Bhandari won the Sarat Samiti Annual Debate Competition on the topic ‘What role do parents play in their child’s education?’. Even a few days before the debate,she did not know what debating meant. She took training for over a week and once she got the drift she added her own points to the speech that we had prepared for her. She was so happy she could beat her competitors from well-known schools of the city,” says Gupta,who took training in Montessori education from London before she joined Navanalanda school.

Pratima,the eldest among five sisters,says,“I want to study a lot and then I want to educate more people.”

“The school serves several purposes. On one hand,the students are given education in an environment that they can only dream of. Secondly,most of the senior students come back to teach the junior students. That is very inspiring for the children who otherwise do not find support at home,” says Gupta. She recounts incidents where parents often told the children to go and beg near the Kalighat temple as that meant they had a steady flow of earnings. But that did not stop several children from making their mark in other fields. She said,“Last year Bapi Patra from our school won the prize for the best artist in a state-level drawing competition. He was felicitated at the Sisir Mancha by the Chief Minister himself.”

Starting from a room at the Greek Orthodox Church donated by Father Ignatius,the school has now moved to a rented accommodation at Gokuleshwar Lane. But the new facility is too small to accommodate so many children. The organisation has also started a health programme to help the parents of these children. Her future plans include starting a training programme for vocational courses so that the children are employable. However,there is a severe financial problem.

Gupta says,“We have never received any considerable financial support from the government. The organisation depends entirely on donations from individuals and a few companies. Of course,most of the teachers also sacrifice a significant part of their earnings.” She also received a large sum of money from a donor in the US but that got caught in a legal tangle involving the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and the money never reached them. She sounds hopeful,when she says,“Mamata Banerjee,the new Chief Minister is from Kalighat. I am sure she will do something for these children.”