After school hours, teens impart lessons to underprivileged kids

THANE: “Good evening teacher” — that’s what 40 slum kids, who were so far fighting playfully or chatting in a small classroom at Bal Vikas School, Vartak Nagar, said in unison when six youngsters, carrying school bags and water bottles, walked in at 5pm.
One of these youngsters picked up a chalk to prepare for an hour-long session of simple arithmetic.These youngsters, who are about 17-years-old, are students of Sulochanadevi Singhania School here. For a year now, they have devoted two-and-half hours daily to teach these kids.
Revathi Srinivasan, principal of Sulochanadevi Singhania School, initiated the project last year. “I wanted the youngsters to reach out to those kids who are deprived due to circumstances. Mini Subodh, who runs an NGO, had suggested that I ask my students to take up this teaching activity. When I discussed it with them, a group of 30 students from classes XI and XII volunteered,” Srinivasan told TOI.
The first batch of young teachers — Surendra Surwade, Maanasi Marathe, Aniruddha Deshpande, Vineet Nandakishore and Ruth Mathen — took up the challenge. After finishing their college at 1.30pm, they used to go to Bal Vikas School and take turns in teaching the kids.
“We had decided that we would not restrict ourselves to plain textbook teaching. If we had to generate interest in these children, we had to make learning fun,” said Surwade.
To keep the kids’ interest level alive, the young teachers even organized occasional quizzes and game sessions.
“It was a challenge for us to keep the interest going in the kids as they were attending our classrooms after their normal school,” said Patel.
“From 20 students initially, the classroom size has swelled to 40. This shows are efforts are being appreciated,” said Surwade.
After dedicating themselves for a year, Surwade and his group passed the baton to their juniors in class XI, as they had to concentrate on their class XII. There are 24 young teachers in the new batch.
Student participating in such activities will be presented with a certificate for their contribution in development of society.
Srinivasan said the school has also been running a rehabilitation centre for street boys for eight years. They are given professional and vocational training from experts in various fields.