MUMBAI: At 11.30 a.m. every day, a discarded shipping container at the Teen Haat Naka traffic signal comes alive with the sound of children’s voices, as the Signal School begins its day. Since June 15 this year, this shipping container is where 22 street children come, clad in uniform and ready to tackle situations beyond getting bored commuters to part with alms before the traffic signal turns green.
The Signal School, named for homeless children who hang around this busy traffic signal in Thane, is the State’s first such, says Bhatu Sawant, CEO, NGO Samarth Bharat Vyaspeeth. The Pune-based organisation is in collaboration with the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) for this project, with the latter providing basic infrastructure. The school now works on donations and funding received by the NGO.
Mr. Sawant said, “Our NGO had conducted a survey on the livelihoods of people living on the streets and under flyovers and bridges. During that survey, we realised that kids are the most ignored aspect of this livelihood. A regular school couldn’t have helped these children. Hence, we brought the school to the signal for these children.”
The inside of the shipping container — the classroom — has an audio-visual system, a library with 200-plus books, a toy library, individual lockers and a washroom. Along with education, the children are given meals, toiletries, four sets of school uniforms, educational toys and a playground with swings, see-saws and other facilities. Like any school, students’ names are entered in the TMC school register and exams are held regularly.
The school aims at cultivating healthy sanitary and eating habits in the children, says Mr. Sawant. “Initially, we focused on ‘de-learning’. These kids had developed a lot of bad habits over time, such as irregular sleeping patterns, dietary habits, sanitation and even learning habits. We worked on all these aspects and now. after six months, they are accustomed to healthy habits.”
To gauge their capacity for learning, the NGO conducted an IQ mapping test in the beginning. Students were divided as per the test results, and four teachers and volunteers were assigned to provide individual attention. Besides the basic reading-writing lessons and elementary maths, students are also taught drawing, story-telling, art and craft, communicating in English, yoga and karate. Currently, the school is running a crash course which includes basic learning from Classes I to III.
“The initial struggle was to convince parents to send their kids to this school. We overcame this challenge by implementing an innovative way of learning, sanitation and a daily meal,” said Mr. Sawant. “Also, most of these children were suffering from a variety of skin diseases. We conducted health tests and began providing vitamins and nutrition tonics, which also resulted in increased attention span.”
The school also provides space and blankets for the kids at night. “We want these children to come out of their past life, and we try to keep them away from it,” said Mr Sawant. He added that the children are reluctant to return to their old ways even when their parents ask them to.
The NGO is also conducting counselling sessions for parents and providing alternate business solutions, and parents’ involvement in school activities and celebrating festivals is helping bridge the communication gap between them and their children. “The families staying at Teen Haat Naka signal came to Mumbai from Beed and Osmanabad districts due to the drought situation. The children have survived difficult situations, but they are bright and have amazing grasping ability. In just six months, they have grasped more than what a regular student would,” says Yogita Sawant, a teacher and coordinator at the Signal School.
“We are hoping to bring all kids living at signals in Thane to this school, and plan on getting a school bus ,” Mr. Sawant said.
The writer is an intern at The Hindu
