UTTARAKHAND : As dusk settles over villages on the fringes of Jim Corbett National Park, children with responsibilities bigger than their age begin arriving at modest classrooms. For them, the evening does not mark the end of the day. It signals the beginning of school.
Behind the classrooms is Navendu Mathpal, an English lecturer at Government Inter College, Dhela, in the Ramnagar area of Uttarakhand. For the past six years, Mathpal and a small group of teachers have worked to educate children hit by poverty, displacement and disaster.
Under the banner of Rachnatmak Shikshak Mandal, or the Creative Teachers’ Collective, the team now runs three evening schools in rural Ramnagar. Supported through community contributions, the centres reach more than 400 children. The initiative took shape after the devastating floods in the Kosi river in 2020. “When I saw the condition of children who had once attended school but were now deprived of education, I resolved to do whatever I could with my time, effort and personal resources,” Mathpal recalled
On November 26, 2020—Constitution Day—Mathpal and his colleagues opened the Jyotiba Phule Evening School at Puchhdi village. The plan was to run classes for three months and help children who could not attend regular school.
A visit to Puchhdi, however, revealed the scale of the challenge. “We discovered that nearly 80% of the children were going to school. Many were working as labourers,” Mathpal said. “We decided to hold classes in the evening so that they could study after work.” The volunteers erected a temporary shelter at the site and began teaching there.
In January 2021, the campaign expanded to Patrani, a village surrounded by dense forest near Corbett National Park. There, the team established the Savitribai Phule Evening School. A computer learning centre for girls was subsequently added at Patrani. At the start of the 2021 academic session, more than 200 children from these areas were enrolled in nearby government schools.
By late 2025, Mathpal had turned his attention to the Buksa tribal community in Sanwalde West. To create a permanent learning space, he withdrew Rs 25 lakh from his personal savings to secure land and essential resources.
The foundation of the new centre was laid by V P Simlati, then secretary of the Uttarakhand Board. On January 30, 2026, Additional Director of Education S P Semwal formally announced its opening.
More than 100 children are now associated with the Sanwalde West centre. All classes are free and local youth teach. Besides textbooks, notebooks and other educational material, the children receive warm clothes during winter.
His commitment to public service is rooted in a remarkable family legacy: his paternal grandfather, Haridatt Mathpal, and maternal grandfather, Ambadatt Belwal, were both freedom fighters.
The initiative still faces challenges yet its strength lies in a simple community model: local youth teach, government educators guide, residents contribute and children learn.