Bhubaneswar, April 16: Four years ago, Tehasin Khan's life was all about mopping tables and serving food at a mess. A dropout by choice, all he dreamt was earning a few more bucks. Education never figured in his list.
It was at this juncture that Suryanarayanan Balasubramanian, a student from National Institute of Science Education and Research (Niser), spotted him. Khan now studies in Class II at Shaala in Bhubaneswar and the authorities are planning to promote him to Class IV next year.
Miracle, you say? It is.
"It was disturbing to see this child clean our tables and mop the mess floor. He had willingly dropped out of a government school. However, one day the boy informed us that he was about to quit his job in order to find another one with a better pay so that he could save enough to go back to school. That was when I, along with a few friends, decided to take up the challenge of getting him back to school," said Suryanarayanan.
They got together to acquire necessary funds to send him to a good quality school. However, the real challenge was not that. "In three months, Suryanarayanan and his friends were able to find one private school that was willing to discuss the terms of his admission. But they were forced to reject the offer as they required him to learn four languages in three months," said Shalik from Institute of Physics (IOP), who also volunteers to teach poor children.
After many a desperate emails later, the students finally found Shala in Bhubaneswar. In November 2014, they got Khan admitted to the school.
Success with Khan inspired the Niser students to take up the issue of educating those from the underprivileged sections of society more seriously. In order to understand the plight of the poor kids, the students visited the slums near Niser campus to talk to the parents. They then collaborated with some other students of Institute of Physics (IOP) and IIT Bhubaneswar to reach out to at least 50 children in a city slum. Thus Zaria, Niser's social outreach club, was formed.
"We contacted students from other institutes interested in volunteering for the cause. The biggest problem for us now is to reach out to this slum children after we move to our permanent campus in Jatni. However, volunteers from IOP and IIT have assured to continue with the job. We are also trying to rope in our alumni to help us set up a study centre for the kids," said Suryanarayanan.
For the past two months, 41 student volunteers from these institutes have been conducting 'get-to-know' sessions with these children.
"During these sessions, each volunteer spends at least three hours with the kids assigned under him or her every week. The objective is to establish a genuine relationship by teaching these children. In the long run, we will facilitate their admission into schools," said Suryanarayanan, who kick started the initiative.
The volunteers pick the children from their homes and bring them to the institute campus where they are taught.
During the past two months the students have been successful in getting 24 dropouts back to school.
"We have collaborated with the social clubs of IIT Bhubaneswar and IOP and it has been a great experience for all of us. We are now aware of the difficulties that students from low income families face and understand the ground realities," said Preeta Pratakshya, another student from Niser.
"Tehasin talks to me daily about the exotic birds that visit the school campus, the vegetables that his caretaker grows in the school plot and his activities in school. His progress in just two months has been outstanding," said Suryanarayanan.
