Page 57 - Education World September 2021

platform’s technology. I am also in
talks with a German automotive
company that manufactures adapted
retrofit products. I believe once
they enter the Indian market,
customised cars equipped with
advanced technology for people
with disabilities will become a
reality,” says this exemplary can-do
entrepreneur.
Divya Sharma (Delhi)
Sunderbans

saviours

lumni of Calcutta University
— NILOTPAL BARMAN (25),
ARAJU DAS (25), and MIRA Nilotpal (left) & Raju: supplementary school model
BARMAN (23) — are co-founders
of Ananda Niketan Pathshala Covid-19 pandemic, the little learn- they read or write Bengali. Severely
(ANP, estb.2020), a free-of-charge ing that children received in the under-staffed government schools
learning centre-cum-primary school village’s government school was dis- across the state fail to engage and
for children from predominantly continued, and most of them joined retain children. Therefore, ANP’s ob-
Muslim and tribal households of the informal labour force. This total jective is to provide supplementary
Shitaliya village (pop.20,000) sited collapse of education in our native learning support to enable children
deep in the Sunderbans, the world’s village deeply affected us, and we to bridge learning deficits. Moreover,
largest mangroves delta. ANP’s registered ANP with the objective of we want to ensure that our support
six teachers offer supplementary ensuring learning continuity, nutri- will continue in the post-pandemic
learning to 55 children enrolled in tional and socio-emotional support period. We hope to develop a sccess-
the local government primary school. for its children,” says Nilotpal Bar- ful community-run supplementary
Newspeg. In May, ANP celebrated man, an Islamic history and culture school model,” says Raju Das, also an
its first anniversary. However, and education postgrad of Calcutta Islamic history and culture postgrad
celebrations were muted as cyclone University. of Calcutta University.
Yaas which hit the Sunderbans on According to the trio, ANP’s Future plans. With ANP receiving
May 23 inflicted large-scale damage. supplementary curriculum has been enthusiastic support from the village
Since June, the Shitaliya-born trio specially designed to encourage cre- community especially children, the
who graduated from Calcutta U last ativity, critical thinking and life skills trio is accelerating its programme
year, together with ANP students are development and features a mix of to build a library and also construct
engaged in cleaning up their village, academics, poetry, theatre, sports, a hostel. “Some of our students go
and mobilising resources for build- art and crafts, conservation of the re- without food for days and are at high
ing a school library. gion’s rich biodiversity and cultural risk of dropping out. To address this,
History. Of the 102 islands in the heritage. More important perhaps is we plan to build a hostel asap which
Sunderbans, only 58 are inhabited that the 55 children are provided a will house, clothe and feed the most
with the region’s 5.1 million resi- nutritious breakfast and lunch every vulnerable children. This has been
dents living below the poverty line day. The expenditure of Rs.4 lakh incorporated into our community
of whom a mere 10-15 percent are incurred over the past year has been development plan. The hostel will
literate. Moreover, their life is under crowd-funded through social media also enable us to enroll underprivi-
constant threat from tidal floods, posts and contributions from friends leged children from neighbouring
coastal cyclones and other natural and well-wishers. villages,” says Nilotpal, who plans to
disasters. Direct talk. “Most children even in work full-time with ANP in the post-
“When all schools countrywide classes IV-V of the village govern- pandemic era.
were ordered to shut down in March ment school cannot write English Wind in your sails!
2020 following the outbreak of the alphabets or numbers. Neither can Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)

SEPTEMBER 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 57