In order to bring light into the lives of such children, Deepalaya, an NGO based at Janakpuri, thought of a unique idea of a musical bus which is a school in itself with a music and a mathematics teacher inside it.
Six-year-old Asha wakes up in the morning at 5 and accompany her parents at work. The family sells vegetables at Azadpur vegetable market. She helps her mother in cleaning the space where the cart has to be kept. Bruises on her fingers caused due to loading and unloading of vegetables from the truck is a usual affair. All day long, she stands in the scorching heat to help her father sell the vegetables. Asha is one among the 43,53247 (census figure) children in India who do not get the privilege to attend school and work to support their family at a tender age.
In order to bring light into the lives of such children, Deepalaya, an NGO based at Janakpuri, thought of a unique idea of a musical bus which is a school in itself with a music and a mathematics teacher inside it.
Speaking with iamin, Nonita Aggarwal, project manager of 'Mewsic bus' said, “The parents of the children say that they cannot send their kids to school due to financial constraints. These children work at vegetable markets, construction sites, etc. and do not have time to go to schools. We thought they cannot go to school, but what if the school comes to them. Therefore, we started a new concept of musical bus in 2006 with an aim of empowering and educating children in a fun way. Every year, Rs 10-11 lakh are spent on this project without any help from the government.”
The bus reaches the locality where these children live and they are taught for two hours. Presently, almost 500 kids are educated through this programme every year. What is unique about this bus is that the teachers teach the children through music. “Learning can be made interesting through music. We play guitar and sing along poems, national song, English and Hindi alphabets. Children also sing along. They easily learn alphabets, numbers, poems by singing. If music is played with a words then children grasp it easily,” said Himanshu, music teacher at the bus.
The 'Mewsic bus' starts its journey at 8 in the morning passing through Wazirabad, Adarsh Nagar, Haiderpur and ends at Bhalswa Dairy at around 5.30 pm. The slum kids are taught for two hours at every stop for five days a week.
“I take leave from my school but never miss a class in the 'mewsic bus'. I love coming here. They teach in a fun way. We are not taught like this in our school,” said Radhika, a seven-year-old student.
Apart from teaching mathematics and language, they also teach art and craft skills. They have a special period of art every week. Festivals are celebrated in the bus and children are made aware of the significance of those festivals.
The volunteers of 'Mewsic bus' hunt for underprivileged kids in the slums, vegetables markets, shops and probable sites. They encourage their parents to send their kids to the bus for two hours class. “We also prepare students for admission in main school. We groom students who have not been admitted in a school at the appropriate age. We get them admitted in the class depending upon their age,” said Nonita.
For the original version of the report, click here
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