Vidya Bharati’s “School on Wheels” initiative brings education to remote areas

Once Swami Vivekananda said, “We want that education, by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, intellect is expanded and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.” But sometimes, the spirit of the entire system gets lost due to some social, political and ethnic unrest in a particular region. Normalcy is completely lost under this state of affairs, and mostly, the student community would be deprived of their thirst for the learning process, and as a result, a big gap exists amidst them.

The Russia-Ukraine war is one of the burning examples globally out broke and a good number of Indian students were under the purview of that situation and went for higher study in Ukraine, especially in medical science. They are bound to return to India because the conflict continues. This type of war not only damages property, buildings and humans life but also breaks social life completely, especially the nurturing of the younger generation. In our North East, Manipur is also reeling under some conflict between two communities, Kuki and Meitei and tensions boiled over when Kukis began protesting against the demands from Meiteis to be given official tribal status. Kukis argued that their strength was already influenced by Government and society, allowing them to buy land or settle in predominantly Kuki areas. During this conflict, village after village was ablaze, and the meiteis people were compelled to shift to relief camps where school-going students were generously the victims of conflict.

The root cause of Manipur violence is the dispute stemming from the rivalry between the Meitei majority and the Kuki-ZO tribe, which make up about 16 per cent of its population. The Meitei population is predominantly Hindu and lives largely in the capital, Imphal, and the nearby valleys. To give some support, especially to the student’s community, Vidya Bharati Purvottar Kshetra has taken the initiative in this regard. Vidya Bharati Purvottar Kshetra is a sister organisation of Vidya Bharati, which was established in Gorakhpur in the year 1953, looking after the education sector with the concept of Bharatiya and spreading across India. Likewise, Vidya Bharati has established schools in the North East region, and more than 600 schools are running at present. Vidya Bharati is always in search of those thrust areas where the ray of light in education has not even reached, and for that purpose, with the help of local communities, tries to establish schools for the benefit of those students. But this practice is not possible all the time, and in that case, a single teacher is deputed for teaching to students from their localities for the smooth running of teaching- learning process, which is called ‘Ekal vidyalaya’ (Single teacher).

​The unrest situation in Manipur prevailed almost a year back and might be continuing further, and keeping in mind Vidya Bharati Purvottar Kshetra took the initiative to provide education to the needy students who are still in relief camps. To find out this solution, we have planned to run a bus where all facilities of educational tools will be available in the name of ‘School on wheels’. In this connection, we approached PVSLN Murty, Chairman of NEDFI and according to his advice, met the Chief General Manager of State Bank of India, Vincent MD. Accordingly, we applied for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund, and it was generated through the Mutual Fund of the State Bank of India. The indoor of the bus was designed for students’ friendly facilities, which give them a classroom environment. The bookshelf was framed on both sides of the bus, and tables with stools were also provided for computer access. The students will be provided laptops to access their computer-based study where facility of wi-fi will also be available. Inside the bus, a LCD projector with a screen is also installed, and that can be utilised by students when it’s needed. Some playing tools for sports activities, both indoor and outdoor games, may also be available inside the bus. The bus is well decorated with various pictures of children’s activities, which are displayed outside it, making it colourful for the attraction of the students. Four teachers will be deputed on the bus for teaching or other sports activities. The ‘school on wheels’ will move from one camp to another within a stipulated period of time. It will not be an issue to move the bus in and around the relief camps because the camps are within the jurisdiction of 10 to 12 kilometres. A well-managed committee is formed in Manipur to look after the noble purpose and hope of benefiting the needy students who are deprived of regular schooling.

​It is to be noted that the Assam State Government also launched Vidya Rath—School on wheels project on the occasion of India’s 76th Independence Day at a function held at the premises of Gauhati High Court. This project was aimed at imparting elementary education to economically challenged children of society. The main concept of the project is to bring our children who have been hitherto outside the ambit of formal education.

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However, Vidya Bharati Purvottar Kshetra is looking after proper education under Vidya Bharati, running schools across the northeast region comprising seven states and guiding schools for all-around development equipped with all modern learning process facilities. It also looks after other activities like sports, health, science-related projects, etc., where students participate in a phased manner, reaching the National level competition. On the other hand, an additional mode of teaching has been introduced recently, i.e. “School on Wheels”, which helps needy students who are deprived of education in an unrest situation like Manipur. The bus was launched/inaugurated on April 30 from the premises of the State Bank of India Head office, Dispur, to Manipur in the presence of all high officials of the Bank authority. Further, in Manipur, the same was formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Governor of Manipur, Anusuiya Uikey, in the presence of the Chief Secretary of Manipur and officials of Vidya Bharati on May 5.