Dharna (Balotra), Rajasthan
Every morning at around 6:30 AM, the sheer sight of the grey mini-bus brings a smile on the face of Bhavna, a 14-year-old student who lives on the periphery of Dharna village in Rajasthan’s Balotra district.
“Since my house is situated amidst the agricultural fields, away from the village, it was difficult for me to go to the school on time. I used to go to the school on foot and often got late. My parents were also not very keen to send me to the school. I was thinking of dropping out of the school due to the hardships,” the young teenager told Gaon Connection.
The distance between Bhavna’s house in Dharna village to the Rajasthan Public Upper Primary School where she studies is three kilometres.
A number of children in villages neighbouring the public school have benefited ever since the educational institute started a mini-bus.
“But ever since my school got a bus, I can easily commute to the school and never get late for my classes,” she said.
Like Bhavna, a number of children in villages neighbouring the public school have benefited ever since the educational institute started a mini-bus, which every morning picks up children from their village homes and brings them to school. After the school gets over, the students are dropped back to their homes.
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And the credit for this goes to Bhabhuta Ram, the director cum teacher at the private school. Ram spent Rs 1.6 million (Rs 16 lakh) from his earnings from his agricultural fields to finance the mini-bus for rural kids.
“We started a bus service in 2019 to help students like Bhavna. Many of these students live almost twelve kilometres away from the school. They had to walk all their way to the school, crossing sand dunes in the scorching heat of the desert,” narrated Ram.
“Now, such students can easily come to the school in the bus and nothing hinders them from studying anymore,” he added.
According to him, the school bus has led to a massive increase in the number of enrolments. “In 2019, we had just 30 students. The number grew to 80 in 2020 and today I am proud to see more than 225 students in my school,” said Ram.
Teachers are happy to see students regularly coming to school.
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Chamma Ram Suthar, a farmer from the Dharna village, told Gaon Connection that his two kids named Raju aged seven years and Pinky aged five years, are able to access education because of the bus service introduced by the teacher.
“I pay a transport fee of Rs 500 per month for each of my children but the money is worth it as otherwise there would have been no education for my children,” said Suthar.
Teachers at the school are happy too as students regularly come to school and show an interest in studies. “I am happy that the students don’t have to face hardship anymore. The bus dutifully brings these students to the school on multiple trips and takes them back home daily,” Deva Ram, a teacher at the school, who lives about five kilometres away in Padru village, told Gaon Connection.
