‘Hope’ on wheels: Bringing education to underprivileged children

Since the beginning of the pandemic, these students have forgotten what going to school feels like. Many may have moved to online learning, but not everyone was able to transition as smoothly.

Realising this gap, a Delhi-based community school HOPE set out to help the many underprivileged children living in the city who do not have access to online education through mobile classrooms and free mid-day meals.

Every weekday, four Hope Buses, launched by NGO Tejas Asia, head to slums in New Delhi and Gurugram to provide education to the children of underserved communities residing here. Around 60 students, aged 4-13, wait eagerly to take their seats on the buses. Some even put a pause on their part-time work so they can study instead.

Manik, a student of Hope mobile school, says,

“I like studying here. My teachers are very polite. We study here for 3-4 hours everyday and our parents can also go for their work in the meantime. We also get healthy dal chawal after classes. I want to become a scientist and my teachers are helping me.” 

The children are educated for two hours and then given a simple but nutritious meal. They are taught basics of languages like Hindi and English, some basic Math, and also music and dance as extracurricular activities. And before getting on the bus, the students also queue up for a daily morning prayer. 

Ebna Edwin, Project Coordinator at TejasAsia, says, “By creating a strong relationship with the children, our teachers have managed to change their conceptions about education and enabled them to dream bigger. Apart from training the kids to excel academically, our way of teaching helps them reach their full potential and achieve a better standard of living.”

The mid-day meal, mostly dal and chawal, is cooked in the Hope Kitchen in Tughlaqabad. Most of the parents of these children are either ragpickers or daily wage labourers, living in temporary settlements, who head for their work after the children are at the mobile-school. 

Mapuza, mother of a student says, “We feel relieved as our children are safe with the teachers. I have seen a lot of improvement in my kids. Now, they know how to read and write. We usually come back in 3-4 hours, and by then their classes are over.”

TejasAsia, launched in 2010, has been serving mobile schools for a few years now.

Founder Dr Marlo Philip says, “The education given to the children is not only an opportunity for schooling but also precious time away from manual labour or scavenging the landfills with their families. We want them to be educated and not waste away their precious childhood. Our goal is to give them access to education, nutrition, and medical care for a better future.”