A class, 25 km away from city...

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN Sanand (Ahmedabad): Shravan Jadav, resident of Hasannagar in Bawla taluka, stays in a hostel in Sanand. His parents are farmers and do additional labour work to eke out a living. Schooling is a luxury and tuitions to get a good score in class X board exams, a distant dream for this 15-year-old. For children like Shravan, a few more marks could make or break a career, as it is a ticket to education in a better school. But unlike other unprivileged kids, Shravan has help at hand. Professors of SM Patel Institute of Commerce (SMPIC) are taking him one step closer to his ambition. This group of teachers travel 25 km every Sunday to take voluntary classes for students appearing for class X and XII board exams. This is a joint initiative of SMPIC and Lokseva Foundation, that began in 2007. “Our mission is based on the premise that one educated person can teach 10 others. This will help strengthen our education system. We teach children from poorer class who can’t afford private tuitions. They are bright, but don’t have access to quality education,” says BN Shah, principal of SMPIC. Currently, there are 170 students benefiting from these classes. “This is a kind of supportive education system by which students who are finding it difficult to cope are able to get through exams and bright ones can score well. Often, poor board exam results ruin a student’s career,” says Sanjay Munjapura, lecturer at SMPIC and co-ordinator of this programme. Most of the students stay in hostels or commute from nearby villages for the classes. Their primary goal is to get admission in a PTC and start earning. The classes are run in Sanskar Madhyamik School in Sanand.