Skipped your bath? Take a shower in school
INNOVATION FOR CHANGE Volunteers who give free soap and towels to kids also raised money to buy school furniture and a submersible pump
LUCKNOW: At the government-run primary school in Behsa-2, Sarojini Nagar, the students begin their day with the daily morning prayer “Tan Ho Sundar Man Ho Sundar, Prabhu Mera Jeevan Ho Sundar.” Soon after, they are made to follow the prayer quite literally. As a routine, those who come without taking a bath are identified, and given a shower in the school itself.
LUCKNOW: At the government-run primary school in Behsa-2, Sarojini Nagar, the students begin their day with the daily morning prayer “Tan Ho Sundar Man Ho Sundar, Prabhu Mera Jeevan Ho Sundar.”
Soon after, they are made to follow the prayer quite literally.
As a daily routine after the prayer, those who come without taking a bath are identified, made to take off their clothes and take a shower using a hosepipe on the school premises itself. Soap and towel is also provided to them on the school premises. With a special focus on hygiene, the students’ nails, nose and ears are also checked regularly before their classes begin.
While the boys are made to take off their shirt and trousers, girls are taken to a separate location and only made to wash their hair .
This initiative has been possible because of a group of 5-6 students from different universities and degree colleges, who run a campaign called Innovation For Change (IFC).
Harshit Singh, a final semester student of Masters in Social Work, University of Lucknow, who is also the president of IFC works voluntarily with other members of his group at this school.
Students are also happy with this initiative. Ankit and Shiva, both Class 2 students say, “We got up late today. We just rushed to the school without taking a bath and were caught by the volunteers. But it was fun to take a shower with friends on the school campus.”
OVER ₹1.5 LAKH RAISED AS DONATION
Till the last academic session, the students had no furniture and were forced to sit on the floor.
IFC volunteers collected money from people and raised over ₹1.5 lakh. “We were happy to see that several individuals contributed up to Rs 10,000 each,” said Harshit.
Using that money the volunteers bought colourful tables and benches. Jyoti Rai and Anmesha, both class 4 students said, “Things have changed for the better ever since a young group of people started coming to our school. We sit on benches now. We attend school regularly now.”
As there was no proper drinking water facility in the school, IFC volunteers installed a submersible water pump.
“We are in the process of getting interlocking
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We got up late today. We just rushed to the school without taking a bath and were caught by the volunteers. But it was fun to take a shower with friends on the school campus.
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ANKIT & SHIVA, students
We are not here to interfere with the teaching process which is mostly being done by para teachers. We carry out parallel activities in the school to ensure that students remain healthy VISHAL KANNOJIY, secy, IFC
tiles on the school premises so that water does not accumulate during the rainy season. We have also raised the height of the boundary wall so that outsiders are unable to enter the school for urinating, etc,” said Harshit.
“We are not here to interfere with the teaching process which is mostly being done by para teachers. We carry out parallel activities in the school to ensure that students remain healthy,” said Vishal Kannojiya, secretary IFC and a final semester student of MSW at Shakuntala Misra University.
THINGS DIDN’T CHANGE OVERNIGHT
In November last, IFC members zeroed in on this school and began their mission. They found that several students came to school without taking a bath which was beginning to affect their health.
So when the new session began in April, if students came to school without taking a bath they were coaxed to take a shower on the school premises, said Ashish Kumar, an undergraduate student of Jai Narain PG College.
School principal Sudha Srivastava can not stop praising these volunteers who are working hard to bring about a change. The basic education department officials are also delighted to see the positive change that can be brought about in a school and in its students through public participation.
They now want to replicate the same model in all government schools.