Page 59 - Education World November 2022

Newspeg. Bachpan is celebrating its since Yadav started teaching slum
20th anniversary this year. children in his off-duty hours, he
History. Gupta’s edupreneurial pas- has become a media star with the
sage is a story of extraordinary grit national newspapers, television
and determination — of a differ- channels and social media showering
ently abled individual who overcame this policeman with encomiums for
formidable hurdles to succeed. Born his sustained commitment to educat-
into a business family he was struck ing out-of-school children.
with polio in infancy and suffered History. Born into a family of poor
70 percent locomotive disability. farmers in Azamgarh village, Yadav
Despite paralysis in both legs and and his three siblings experienced
left hand, using calipers, young severe financial hardships in child-
Gupta attended a local govern- hood, but made their way through
ment primary before transferring to school and college on scholarships
Ramjas School, New Delhi. But with and donations. “Though all of us are
the school providing neither ramps now well-settled, we remember the
nor elevators, he had to drop out pain of extreme poverty and depriva-
of school and completed secondary Gupta: extraordinary determination tion, and understand the importance
school through the National Institute of education support, however small,
of Open Schooling. K-12 schools countrywide under the in a child’s life,” recalls Yadav, who
Determined to make his own way franchise model. “A precondition of pressed on to acquire a postgrad
in the world of business and indus- licensing Bachpan and AHPS schools degree in philosophy from Banaras
try, Gupta experimented with several is that they have to be entirely Hindu University. In 2011, Yadav
vocations including retail, chit funds friendly towards differently abled was appointed a constable in the
and stockbroking before promoting children. Contrary to the popular UP state police and promoted to the
S.K. Educations Pvt. Ltd in 1999. imagination, India’s 27 million dif- position of sub-inspector four years
However in 2001, as a parent ferently abled citizens, especially later.
of a four-year-old daughter, Gupta children, can be transformed into Last November while patrol-
became deeply disillusioned with national resources if they are pro- ling Ayodhya’s Naya Ghat on a cold
the quality of pre-primary educa- vided child-friendly education,” says winter morning, Yadav noticed a
tion provided by preschools in Delhi. Gupta, whose life story validates this number of young children begging
“Well aware that early childhood valuable insight. for alms. Perturbed by their lack of
education is the foundation of all Autar Nehru (Delhi) warm clothing, he followed them to
learning, I sold my computer educa- their homes in the slums of Jaisingh-
tion business and ventured into the Exemplary policeman pur ward, and discovered that none
preschools sector and franchised our of them were attending government
first Bachpan play school in Jaland- schools because they didn’t have
har, Punjab in 2002,” he recalls. n extra-curricular activity of “identity documents”. “I bought
Applying his knowledge of the RANJEET SINGH YADAV, a notebooks, pencils, erasers, and mats
franchise business, Gupta persisted Asub-inspector of Sub-inspector R.S. Yadav: beyond duty call
with the franchised model in his new the Uttar Pradesh state
venture. S.K. Educations doesn’t police has transformed
own or operate any of its schools. him into a press and so-
Instead, it offers a range of services cial media star in India’s
from market research, curriculum most populous state (215
and pedagogy to teacher training to million). In his off-duty
all franchisee schools whose number hours, this Ayodhya-
has grown to 1,200. based hak i w ale guruj i
k
Future plans. An inspirational edu- (‘teacher in khaki’) runs
preneur who hasn’t let his disability an informal school for
come in the way of his mission to 65 children under the
provide high-quality early child- shade of a peepal tree in
hood education to India’s youngest the slums of Jaisinghpur
children, Gupta is determined to roll ward of the holy city.
out Bachpan preschools and AHPS Newspeg. One year

NOVEMBER 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 59