Primary education is must for all and if school students are imparting it to the kids who are underprivileged and that too under a tree! Great, isn’t it? That is exactly what students associated with Sudha Open School have been doing for the past nine years, since its inception.
In order to encourage them for their contribution, the Children Entertainment Foundation (CEF) on Saturday honoured three school students from Gurgaon with Junior Citizen Awards at the Constitution Club of India. These students were recommended by SUDHA (Society for Upliftment & Development of Human Being by Action).
(From left to right: Nishant Goyal, Shivam (Brother of Mausam Kumari), Mr G K Bhatnagar and Shreya Parashar)
Mausam Kumari, a Class IV student, studies in Gurgaon’s DPS (Delhi Public School) Shiksha Kendra, Sector 45. As a volunteer, she attends Sudha Open School for two hours before leaving for DPS. Mausam teaches little kids there who cannot afford to go to school. Besides teaching, she also participates in social activities conducted by this society.
Similarly, 13-year-old Nishant Goyal, takes out time on weekends and holidays to teach underprivileged kids. Nishant, a Class VIII student of DPS Gurgaon Sector 45, also takes part in various social activities organised by SUDHA.
Shreya Parashar, another Class VIII student studying in Gurgaon's Amity International School, Sector 46, while participating in activities like street plays, skits etc, teaches kids during her weekends.
A total of 19 students from Delhi, NCR, Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar were honoured on this occasion.
Founder of Junior Citizen Awards, Gorkhi Bakshi, while concluding the award ceremony, hinted at funding one of the students from next year who will carry out such voluntary initiatives.
Sudha Open School, is the brainchild of Gopal Krishan Bhatnagar, who left his bank job in 2009 and started the mission of teaching destitute children under a tree, located in a corner at South City 2.
He started out with 30 kids and 25 volunteers, who are students and retired persons. Around 100 students till now, who have studied in this school, got admission in government schools.
When City Spidey asked G K Bhatnagar, president of SUDHA, about his plans to expand such work in future, he said, “I am looking for people who can support me with this in a transparent manner.”
Presently, the money required to run this school comes via his pension amount, donations from well-wishers and his daughter, settled in the US.
