Teacher’s Night School Extra Mile For Migrants’ Kids
1/8
Pune: Zilla Parishad (ZP) school teacher Rohini Lokhande, who travels 25km every day to reach the school, always keeps an eye out for out-of-school children nearby.
2/8
Since 2008, Lokhande has been teaching children of sugarcane cutters, who have migrated to villages near her school. When lockdown struck in 2020, the 46-year-old realized that poverty was forcing parents to choose work over education for their children so she set up a temporary night school.
3/8
She paid a local volunteer from her own pocket, so the kids could have basic competency in reading, writing, and arithmetic. She also sponsors the education of a girl from Solapur, who had to drop out and work after her fathers’ death.
4/8
Three years ago, Lokhande had joined the ZP school in Nandor, Daund, when some children came to fetch water at the school. “they told me they had come from Aurangabad and other districts as sugarcane cutters. I saw that a huge ground held makeshift tents and the workers would stay there, “said the teacher.
5/8
She took Class 7 students to the area and conducted a survey of the families. The students later made Diwali lanterns for each family and contributed to buy Diwali sweets.
6/8
“One by one, students from the camp started enrolling at the school,” said Lokhande. However, the pandemic made the situation tough. “I realized most of the children were made the situation tough. “I realized most of the children were made to work due to the severe money crunch faced by families. Education was the least of their priorities. That is when I thought of conducting the classes at night,” said Lokhande.
7/8
Lokhande set up the classes at the bungalow of a local resident, a postgraduate, whom she paid from her pocket so the woman would teach the students too. “We got workbooks in Marathi and Maths. She even taught the students about personal hygiene, discipline, and so on,” said Lokhande.
8/8
“From teachers to outsiders, I’ve found help everywhere. When I wanted mobile phones for these kids, a Kothrud-based society donated five phones. People can do wonders.”
Source : Times of India
