Biplab, a category 8 pupil within the Bagdabra forest space in Murshidabad, West Bengal, is a first-generation learner. Finding out within the authorities faculty close by, the COVID-19 lockdown was an enormous blow for younger Biplab and his pals.
A part of the tribal neighborhood, many college students like Biplab began going to work with their dad and mom as faculties had been shut. Entry to on-line courses was a distant dream for these youngsters, the place primary sources stay out of attain. With no steering, a hand-to-mouth existence pressured these youngsters to finally drop out, with faculties remaining shut for nearly two years.
The tribal communities couldn’t afford the luxurious of digital classes. Close to their village, even earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic, common tree plantation drives had been being performed. These expanses of inexperienced attracted the kids, making them common guests on the website. As luck would have it, the particular person conducting these tree plantations was a trainer by the identify of Angshuman Thakur.
Noticing the pattern of faculty dropouts and seeing the kids accompany their dad and mom to work deeply moved the 40-year-old. Since their faculties offered mid-day meals to youngsters, Angshuman first began offering the identical to a bunch of 5.
Together with the meals, he additionally served them spoonfuls of information via his open air courses.
An alumna of Visva Bharati College in Santikentan, he imbibed the ideas of Rabindranath Tagore by offering a holistic schooling in sync with nature, which fits past merely phrases written in textbooks.
Began with 5 youngsters in 2021, immediately over 105 youngsters examine at Angshuman’s ‘Anirvana Gacher Iskul’ (Anirvana means inextinguishable and Gach means tree). Operating on the benevolence of sort strangers and his personal financial savings, it prices Rs 300 monthly to teach a toddler on this faculty below a tree.
Studying within the lap of nature
Angshuman works as a Bengali literature professor at Prof Syed Nurul Hasan Faculty in Farakka, Murshidabad. Raised within the lap of nature and impressed by Tagore’s teachings, he pursued his greater research at Visva Bharati college.
Nature had all the time been his buddy and supported him via thick and skinny. Whereas going via a troublesome time personally in 2019, the trainer sought solace in nature once more.
“I observed that the inexperienced cowl was steadily decreasing. I used to be depressed and wished to utilise my time in a productive method submit work. I put out a Fb submit in 2019 that I used to be going to plant saplings and other people had been welcome to hitch,” Angshuman shares with The Higher India.
The response was overwhelmingly constructive and led to the formation of the Gach Inexperienced Fingers Social Welfare Belief whose first agenda was planting 50 saplings on 5 June 2019. Being on the bottom led to a number of interactions with locals and college students. The trainer took a few of them below his wings and would remedy their doubts on occasion.
Certainly one of his former college students hailed from a village known as Samlapur in Farakka and urged him to go to their village. It was after the primary lockdown that the trainer visited the village, and he was astonished by what he noticed.
“The setting of the village matched Santiniketan. It was lovely and luxurious inexperienced. I had been that means to begin a faculty for youngsters, and seeing the village and its youngsters gave me the push I wanted,” says Angshuman.
With no monetary backing, developing 4 partitions for a faculty was additionally not possible.
A tribal hamlet, Samlapur housed first era learners, who had been severely affected by faculties shutting down. Their dad and mom, who had been day by day wage employees, had no work and their worsening financial conditions pressured the kids to go to work, dropping out of faculty.
“College students had been closely depending on the mid-day meals. The scholars, who hail from Adivasi households are extraordinarily marginalised. I wished to make sure that they proceed their schooling,” provides the Farakka resident.
A brand new age Santiniketan
Anirvana Gacher Iskul, an open air faculty below the shades of timber was born in 2021 to supply an alternate faculty to those youngsters.
“The main target to start with was offering them primary schooling and meals. We began with 5 college students and inside every week, we had over 20,” smiles Angshuman.
Based mostly on Tagore’s philosophy, the kids are taught below neem timber and mango timber. A primary sense of environmental consciousness and oneness with nature is inoculated. Ideas are taught by correlating them with what they see round them, as an alternative of specializing in merely bookish information.
Drawing from his personal experiences as a pupil in Visva Bharathi college, the Anirvana faculty focuses on studying in sync with nature.
“We studied within the open, below timber in Santiniketan, with a concentrate on nature and tradition. In contrast to different schools, the place the main focus is just on textbooks and curriculum, we’re taught to be one with nature. Our creativity is enhanced and out of the field considering is inspired,” he provides.
On the Anirvana faculty too, youngsters are given a chance to study drawing, paintings, dance, music and sports activities. Skilled artists go to the college and train the kids easy clay modelling and different artwork types.
“Most of those youngsters are naturally very inventive and excellent at drawing and clay mannequin making. We wish them to discover their expertise with regionally out there supplies,” he provides.
After the faculties reopened, the college continued to operate earlier than faculty hours. College begins at 6:30 am and offers breakfast. They observe the federal government curriculum, however with a twist.
“We train them poems, tales, historical past from their syllabus with stay examples present in nature. We assist them relate no matter we train with native examples. For instance, if they’re studying about flowers, we attempt to present them no matter followers are regionally out there which improves their understanding and results in an appreciation of their environment,” he provides.
Lecturers are inspired to show this manner, with out poring over the books. Seeing the success of the college, the village mukhiya (head) gave them the neighborhood centre, the place courses are performed throughout the wet season.
Going forward, Angshuman hopes to buy some land and arrange a faculty with an eco-friendly campus. He additionally needs to arrange a pc lab and library for the kids.
“Via this initiative and the kids, we hope to enhance the financial system of the village. We’re sowing the seeds of entrepreneurship in these youngsters, which can attain the neighborhood and enhance their livelihoods,” says Angshuman.
The faculty at present has 105 college students from kindergarten to Class 12 and 7 lecturers. It prices Rs 300 per little one monthly, which is Rs 3,600 per yr.
You possibly can help a toddler by donating via UPI on 7001714095@axl or right here:
Account no: 41165791703
Identify: Gach Inexperienced Fingers Social Welfare Belief
IFSC: SBIN0018784
Edited by Padmashree Pande, Pictures Courtesy Angshuman Thakur.
