West Bengal boy is world’s youngest headmaster
There is hardly anything unusual about Babar Ali. The teenager comes across as just another face in the crowd while he is sharing space with his classmates in a government school of rural West Bengal.
It’s when his school gets over and the boy returns home where the doors of another school opens up, that instance, we realise there’s more to this story.
Now the soft-spoken Babar dons a completely new role. and we meet the "youngest head master of the world" as the boy is popularly referred.
The distinction is validated by his achievement. This young boy’s effort has resulted in making the word — literacy — a reality for hundreds of boys and girls in his and the neighbouring villages. And the learning happens free of cost.
Babar, himself a first generation school-goer in his family, feels poverty is the biggest deterrent to education.
"I have been attending a government school, where no fees is charged, but the expense on syllabus books and uniform has to be borne by my father. And the transport cost is also there. (The school is a good 10 km away). In a place like Midnapore, where the poor barely manage a hand-to- mouth existence, one can hardly blame them if education doesn’t feature on their priority list," he ascertains.
But the young boy was determined to make a difference and seven years back, he gave his ideas a practical shape.
"Initially it seemed a child’s play. I was barely nine and decided to convert my house backyard into a learning centre and the first batch of eight students streamed in, including my younger sister. I taught them whatever I had picked up at school," he recalls.
"But soon I realised the effort should be channelled into a proper direction. And following syllabus is the best possible means to achieve it," he says.
Of course, the word on the "alternative school" spread and hordes of children started coming, all eager to learn the letters. The school starts at 3 pm. The timing is quite suitable for students who wrap up their work by then. Currently, the school has more than 800 students (of which 500 are girls and 300 are boys) and it functions seven days a week. Like- minded adults have volunteered to teach at the school. "We have government officers, students, teachers contributing to this initiative. And, by the way, those first students are now set to appear for their final examination," he says.
His commendable work has found good support. Recently, the Mukesh Ambani Trust has donated a plot of land near his house to set up a concrete structure for the school. A hostel too features on the list of things. "We have people of all religions and castes coming to our school. Not a single penny is charged and no one is refused admission at Ananda Shikha Niketan," he says with a smile of an achiever.
By Shagufta Kalim
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