Mumbai: School on wheels educating slum children

Mumbai: It's a school on wheels. Bina Laksharia's unique initiative of transforming buses into classrooms in Mumbai is educating many slum children.

With 5 school buses transformed to classrooms, Bina's "Door step school" reaches out to many slum children.

Farzana lives in the slums of Rey Road in Mumbai. Once she is done with her household chores every morning, her mother sends her to the "Door Step School" or school on wheels. Bina Laksharia, a teacher, started this Door Step School in 1997 where a school-bus is converted into a travelling classroom across Mumbai slums.

Bina says, "We take them for picnics, they have art and craft classes. These children have great potential in painting and we also take them for lot of visits. Above all that we have lot of festival celebration."

Today, Door Step school has 5 buses in Mumbai and Pune and hold 3-hour long classes everyday. With 10 teachers on their payroll, the school costs Laksharia over Rs 6 lakhs per year. And funding wasn't easy.

"Initially it was very difficult. When we launched this bus there were lot of phone calls and every one wanted to give bus. But running expenses are more important. You must have come across large number of projects which is on wheels but projects which do not work regularly do not have any meaning. So we face tough time convincing the donor that we want running expenses."

Besides parting education, Bina provides food to the children on special occasions.

Learning how to read and write is a dream comes true for these little minds. And through Door Step School, Laksharia is igniting some minds.

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