RANCHI: Taking a unique initiative to make Ranchi a beggar-free City, Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) has started 'Kayakalp' Public School in Ranchi for providing free quality education to the poor children, mostly beggars and destitute.
The school, spread over 3.5 acres of land on Ranchi - Patratu Road at Bukru, around 20 km from State Headquarters, will be developed on the lines of other private schools give an opportunity to the destitute also to excel in their lives under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project of CCL.
Brainchild of CCL Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Singh, it intends to provide similar facilities like other modern schools for the deprived section also so that they could also get a chance to excel in their lives. But unlike other schools, only criteria to get admitted in the school here is poor economic background of the child.
Presently, the School has been started with 30 children of age ranging between 5- 8 years who have been picked up from the adjoining villages, while six of them are from Indira Nagar Beggars Colony in Dhurwa for whom, CCL has provide a bus to pick and drop them to their doorsteps. The children were admitted after recommendations made by a three-member committee of CCL officials who conducted a survey to find out whether they actually were destitute or not. According to CCL CMD, tremendous change has been witnessed in their orientation towards life in the last six months since the School was started on January 15 this year.
"We want Ranchi to make a beggar - free city having no child beggars in it. If any child - beggar is spotted anywhere in the city, you just need to give his or her address to us. We already have a school for them where they can get quality education free of cost," said CCL CMD Gopal Singh.
'Kayakalp' Public School started at Ranchi - Patratu Road, being run the CCL, is specially meant for beggars and destitute, he added.
"Now, the children admitted here have developed understanding of things and have also started receiving formal education," said the CMD.
At present, there are 30 children in the school, picked up from different places in Ranchi, and a tremendous change in their orientation towards life has been witnessed in the last six months, he added. Singh, promising best infrastructure to students, said that there will be no compromise with the quality of education.
He further said that the objective was to create good human beings so that they can play active role in nation-building. Not only education, children are also provided breakfast, after they reach here and lunch in afternoon, before they leave for their homes. In addition to that, they also have to undergo medical checkups by a team of doctors from Central Hospital at Gandhinagar in Ranchi.
"Presently, we have started with the first phase - Class 1 to V, following which second (VI to X) and third phase (XI, XII) will also be started gradually as students admitted here goes to higher classes," said General Manager (CSR) Umesh Singh. Children are also provided our pair of school uniforms, school bags and other stationary items as and when required during their education, he added.
"The School is being run on CBSE pattern and the students will also be given free technical and skill development training when they reach class IX, so that they could also get equipped with an additional certificate to cope up with this fast growing competitive world," said the GM CSR.
Moreover, performing students will also get coaching and other assistance for various competitive examinations like Engineering and Medical once they complete Class X, he added.
"As our objective is quality education in limited resources, if this this project is successfully, there will be a revolution in the field of education," said the GM.
Special focus is given on children of beggars, besides the children coming from downtrodden, destitute and landless families, he added. The GM also added that many qualified and experienced officers and retired teachers have offered to contribute voluntarily in the school but, looking at number of students, presently retired Principal of St. Paul School in Ranchi S Gaekward and another lady Rajeshwari have been teaching the children in School free of cost.
Presently, the school has one classroom while other two more are under construction to be occupied by the children admitted here in the next session.