Hena Ahmed/Kolkata

Mamoon Akhtar’s strong belief that the deprived children have a stake in the future has pushed him to work towards bringing about a change. This socio-preneur has been educating the children of unlettered parents in Tikiapara, a sprawling slum in Howrah, in his school with 6,500 students.

He has been trying to make a difference by running a school for underprivileged children for three decades.

“My father was a civil contractor and after our family fell on bad times I had to leave school. Initially, I did not give up and continued till class XII but my father died and my condition became worse” said Akhtar.

Nonetheless, Akhtar's passion helped him in overcoming the deprivation and the love for education motivated him to start teaching in his own house with 5-6 children. That was 20 years ago.

More and more children started coming in to attend his class. Mamoon had to construct a room to accommodate all. This was the starting of Samaritan Help Mission School; it began with 25 students.

“I canvassed from door to door to raise money along with my own contribution, although it was very challenging the parents came from very poor backgrounds but the organisation grew steadily over the years” said Akhtar.

A class in Mamoon Akhtar's school

The parents of the students were rickshaw pullers, daily labourers.  In some cases, Akhtar had to persuade them (parents) to stop selling drugs and take to a dignified livelihood.

As many of the children come from families afflicted with social maladies, the mental health and well being of students is also taken care of. The school is open to children booted out from another due to several reasons.

Things took a turn after Akhtar approached Lee Alison Sibley, the Jewish wife of staff in the US consulate in Kolkata. She provided financial support and asked a local journalist friend to write on how Akhtar supported the children from all communities.

In 2007, the Samaritan Mission School became accredited and recognised by the West Bengal government. Today it is a co-educational English-medium school, affiliated to the state board for secondary education.

The school charges Rs 5 a year because Mamoon believes that people will not value anything that is free. Funds to run the school come from Mamoon's savings and private donors. Further expansion took place, and a new school was constructed which was earlier a garbage dump for years. It was supported by Howrah City Police and Howrah Municipal Corporation, the police removed the encroachments.

So now there was more room for teenagers on the verge of dropping out or those coming from abusive households.

Inclusive learning

Apart from a range of subjects to choose from, practical workshops on common everyday skills like basic woodwork, plumbing sewing, embroidery   etc are also held here. The main focus is on  producing confident, well-rounded citizens who feel as though they belong and have value in society.

Sending children to any other English-medium school in that area would have been 10 times more expensive. It is a safe haven where no learner is shunned considering the creed or financial standing.