Walking through the garbage strewn on the road as I entered the Sangam Nagar slum in Wadala, Mumbai, where Parivartan Shikshan Sanstha (PSS) operates, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of despair. Thankfully, there is an oasis of hope for the approximately fifty students who attend school in the slum. Their classrooms are filled with the joy of learning. PSS is an educational institution operating in the slums of Wadala, Mumbai and is comprised of two schools: one in Azad Moholla and the other in Kamala Nagar. The schools are less than a mile from each other, but in entirely separate sub-developments. Teachers teach in 2 rooms; one is a permanent structure (Azad Mohalla) but the other is only a tin shack (Kamala Nagar). In the latter, the teacher has to regularly exhort the denizens of the neighborhood to decrease the volume on their stereo so she can teach!  

This little boy came back after his class for more - he sat on the stairs and took in the lessons.  Photograph by Amar Kapadia

Despite the odds, PSS is clearly making a difference. Students often come back for more; one student I met usually attends the morning class, but he enjoys school so much that on the day I was visiting, he was back in the afternoon. Well, it wasn’t his class so he wasn’t let in. But not one to be denied the opportunity to learn with the older children, he decided to camp on the stairs. Some of the children who had graduated from PSS and were now attending a regular Municipal school also came back for more. The Municipal school itself came to fruition largely as a result of a seven year long battle, in which PSS founder Shakeel Ahmed played a key role.  With an emphasis on all-round development, PSS designed the curriculum to include fun-filled activities like drawing, craft work, sports and story-telling. As a result, the children look forward to attending their classes. When was the last time any of us saw children come back for more school?

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Amar Kapadia, Pittsburgh