A traffic police officer starts a coaching class, Pransenjit Chatterjee, an officer in charge of southwest traffic guard in Kolkata was touched by the zeal of the children who came from a local Shanty. Chatterjee knew what he would do for them. So, he requested his subordinates to arrange regular coaching for the children and trying to make sense of the books they were reading, near Majherhat Railway Station in the Southern part of the city.
The cops turn teacher, Chatterjee said, “It was August 11 and I was patrolling the area as usual. While passing through the shanty area, known as Madhu Bustee, I saw a group of boys sitting on a cycle van. Curiosity took me closer to them. I was surprised to see them trying to study on their own.”
The children’s parents were too poor to afford books and smartphones as the Covid-19 restrictions have made their condition even more pathetic. The Traffic Police personnel would sit under the open sky and teach the children for two hours every day.
Chatterjee said, “We arranged a board and marker pen to Teach the Children. We maintain physical distance in the coaching class. The tuition session has brought back smiles to the children’s faces. It is a precious gift to me.”
With the 30 old students, The coaching class runs in two shifts for students up to class IV.
“As regular classes are closed for over a year, online classes have become a part of education, right from primary standard to higher education. But most of these children do not have a smartphone to enable them to attend online classes. Their family members are daily wagers whose income is badly hit by the pandemic. We have decided to continue the coaching till schools reopen,” says Chatterjee.”
However, The parents are grateful to the men in the uniform. Gopal Shaw, a father of three children says, “ I work as a driver of a private bus. The pandemic has made us even poorer. I could not afford a Smartphone for my daughter’s online classes. And I can’t even think of sending her for private tuition because I am struggling to earn.”
Author: Papri Nath
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