A school on wheels, which is also known as the Hope Bus, is an initiative started by TejasAsia, a Delhi-based NGO. They run four mobile schools, which travel to nine different areas everyday. The educational project to provide everyone with education has continued for the last 10 years but was put on hold due to the Covid lockdown.
During this time, they provided free meals to the poor. Students from different areas come and attend the school and some students are called from their homes so that they can get an education.
The students are aged 6-13 years of age and worked as ragpickers. But with them now attending school, work is now on hold. The children here are provided with chalk and slates, so that they can write. Once street urchins with no future in sight, these children now dream of a future, thanks to the Hope Bus.
(This appeared in the print edition as "You Gotta Catch the Hope Bus")
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Text and photograph by Suresh K Pandey
