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Changing lives with a mat, a board, and some grit

The Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya, founded by two senior citizens, provides free education to slum kids

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Asha Kumari (inset) attends a lecture with her classmates
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Young girls and boys with beaming faces sit on large mats under the shade of trees. But what they are enthusiastically looking forward to is not a picnic. It’s their school. 

Founded by Rear Admiral (Retired) HC Malhotra, 81, and Sunil Razdan, 78, the Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya has been providing free-of-cost education to Noida’s slum children for the last 10 years. 

Talking about the initiative, Razdan said he used to feed poor children outside a temple every Thursday. Then in 2006, Admiral Malhotra, who was present at the temple, questioned his actions. “He said instead of feeding them, one must contribute to change their lives. That’s when we decided to start teaching the underprivileged children,” said Razdan.  

The two began their journey with just a board, a mat, and 7-8 students. Initially, the classes were held once a week. Since their school is not recognised, they had to get the students enrolled in a nearby government school, so that they could take Class XII board exams. “At the time, we didn’t know what was in store for us. But we were clear that we wanted to educate the children and help them get out of the slum,” said Malhotra. 

This small step turned into a blessing for many children. Though there is no proper infrastructure, many other facilities, including sports, theatre opportunities, career and family counselling, and personality development classes, are provided to the students. The students are also provided with milk and snacks on a Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya daily basis, and on Sundays, they get a treat of their choice.In 2012, the late President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, had visited the school to express his appreciation. 

The duo says some of their students have done very well for themselves. Speaking with pride and satisfaction about one such student, who now works for an electric equipment manufacturing company, Malhotra said there isn’t a better feeling than to see these slum kids grow up into educated and confident young minds. 

“I walk a long distance to come here but it is fun. Also, we get snacks and milk. The teachers are very sweet and educate us in a friendly manner. This school takes us to places that I couldn’t even have dreamed of,” said Asha Kumari, 9 , a student.

Earlier, the students were given an opportunity to visit Agra and Dehradun, and now they are planning to trip to Mumbai soon. 

“My life has changed completely since I started coming here. I used to beg on the roads and outside temples. Now I feel that education can help me achieve whatever I want. We get really good facilities here. Apart from academics, we get to participate in many extra curricular activities. I have developed an interest in Karate, as a teacher comes here to train us in the martial art form,” said Dilip Kumar, a Class XI student. 

Poonam Tohari, a teacher, said: “I decided to join this organisation so that these students don’t have to face what their parents went through.”

The enthusiasm of these children is reflected in the fact that most of them travel for 7-10 km daily to attend these classes. In most cases, they are the first ones in their families to get educated. Their family members are generally illiterate migrants, living along the Yamuna river belt in temporary hutments. Their livelihood consists of farming, river fishing or labour work on leased farms.

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