T P Venu
With the launch of ‘School on Wheels’ recently, the Assam Government has taken a giant leap that would change the educational landscape. Aptly called- Vidya Rath-School on Wheels project coinciding with the 76th Independence Day celebrations, the launch from the Gauhati High Court by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was fitting in more ways.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma speaking at the launch of Vidya Rath-School on Wheels
Assam is India’s 14th most populous state, with 35.5 million people and 81 per cent living in rural areas. ‘Schools on Wheels’ is the way forward if the state is to make any progress especially in elementary education. A good 41 per cent of the population is under the age 18 and are vulnerable to natural disasters. In several cases, students are unable to travel to schools due to inundation by floods. Mullick, 42, a retired school teacher says, “If the students cannot come to school, we should go to them and this decision by the Assam Government will go a long way in improving the literacy rate in the state.”
It may be noted that in 2016, the Assam government launched a strategic vision document “Assam 2030 – Our Dream, Our Commitment as a roadmap to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with child development a vital aspect of this vision.
Vidya Rath- School on Wheels project aims at providing economically challenged underprivileged children access to elementary education for a period of 10 months after which they will be integrated into the conventional education system. Students will be provided free mid-day meals, uniforms and textbooks under the project.
The School on Wheels project is important as a large section of students who are unable to get into the system would now be able to. According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2019, Children should enter class 1 at age six, but in Kamrup district 47.7% children studying in Class 1 were 7-8 years old.
In remote places the dropout rate is high especially among girls. The people are hopeful that the ‘School on Wheels’ project will change their lives.
