Known as the free school under the bridge, Rajesh Kumar Sharma, a 49-year-old, has been teaching poor and underprivileged kids of Delhi under a metro bridge. He has been doing this for the past 8 years without any aid from any NGO or the government.
Sharma, who has his own family of five, takes two different batches. The morning shift, between 9-11 am is for the 120 boys in that area. The other batch is in the afternoon, between 2-4:30 pm, in which he accommodates 180 girls. With bare minimum accessories required for a basic school like blackboards, chalks, and duster, there are 7 teachers, who have volunteered to this work with him.
Sharma, during his time of B.Sc, dropped out of college due to the poor financial condition of his family. Ever since he has pledged not to let students deprived of school and education if they are poor. Sharma runs his little grocery shop when he is not teaching the kids, spending more than 50 hours with them.
The school takes care of everything for its students
However, the disappointing thing is despite the efforts of Sharma and the volunteers for the past 8 years, the government never recognized their efforts. Sharma, devoted to his selfless goal, told that initially there were some NGOs who tried to associate his school with them.
Sharma didn’t find them trustworthy and more importantly, didn’t take them for someone who cared about the school. So he denied them. Although, sometimes people do visit the school, provide kids with biscuits, fruits, and packed items, which they gratefully accept.
After all this, Sharma personally makes sure that the kids are enrolled in the schools accredited by some board so that they can get their degree. He has built different toilets for boys and girls and there is a special class dedicated to cleanliness awareness.
What’s most commendable is that these kids help their parents with their jobs and whenever there is time, they come for studying. The kids are dedicated too, which makes the job easier for Sharma and his team.
