BMC mobile school misses the bus

October 5: Two years ago, the BMC came up with a unique proposal to impart `informal education' to child labour. At its core were mobile s...

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October 5: Two years ago, the BMC came up with a unique proposal to impart `informal education’ to child labour. At its core were mobile school buses which would travel to the sites where children were employed for a daily two-hour study programme so that they could be literate.

However, all that is left of the proposal today, is a bunch of excuses belted out by civic authorities and elected representatives who have not bothered to follow it up in a classic case of the best plans floundering on a lack of commitment. What began as a crusade to get the hundreds of children — slaving away at Mazgaon’s prawn shelling units, those hawking flowers and garlands near traffic signals and those working in restaurants, construction sites etc — literate is just a concept in a long-forgotten file.

Surprisingly, the proposal faced no hurdles at the time it was mooted during the Mayor-in-Council’s tenure in the BMC by the then Education Committee Chairperson, Sadhna Mane. The concept involved having 3 BEST buses converted into schoolrooms, complete with blackboards and benches, with one bus each for city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs for starters.

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“We had thought of hiring private buses, but the cost factor didn’t support garages, drivers and regular maintenance,” said Mane. So it was decided that the BEST Undertaking, a sister concern of the BMC should be roped in. Accordingly a request was made to the then BEST Committee Chairperson, Arvind Nerkar. “I had given green signal to the proposal,” Nerkar said adding that the Chairpersons who followed probably did not care to look into the matter. “It was decided that the BEST administration would give us 3 buses from scrap at a cost of Rs 1 lakh, which is very minimal compared to the rates at which the scrap buses are sold,” said Mane. “BEST would provide drivers, maintenance and parking facilities in their garages across the city,” she added.

Areas in the city and suburbs where informal education to child labourers could be imparted was identified. “Two hours of education meant introducing the child to the world of education. The child would be taught to read and write. If he or she chooses to pursue studies further then the municipal schools are always there,” Mane said. The teaching job was to be handled either by the surplus teachers in our municipal schools or Community Development Officers. Some NGOs were also interested in the project and had come up with their support.

However, the proposal went down the drain along with the MIC system. Education Officer Bhau Gawande when asked said that the proposal has been pending as the BEST Committee had not yet passed it. However BEST General Manager, Rahul Asthana said that he doesn’t know of any proposal of the kind and he would need to check the files if any recommendation of the kind has been made. BEST Committee Chairperson, Rajesh Sharma also expressed his ignorance on the matter which only goes to show that neither the officials from the civic Education department nor the elected representatives from the Education Committee have bothered to follow the proposal.