Inspiration
Cycle Guru taking schools to the darkest corners of Lucknow
Aditya Kumar, a science graduate from Lucknow cycles around 40 miles with books and his possessions on the back of a bicycle to educate India’s slum children. He is also called as the cycle guru and has been honored by the Limca Book of World Records.
Cycle Guruji is a moniker that conjures up images of a typical baba in ochre robes, vermillion on his forehead and a mystic smile. You will be amazed to know the man behind this non assuming title. It is Aditya Kumar, a science graduate from Lucknow who cycles around 40 miles with a heavy payload of books and his meager possessions on the back of his battered old bike to educate India's slum children.
This cycle toting science graduate has dedicated his life to teaching in the slums of Lucknow, home to some of the country's most deprived communities and hence the tag Cycle Guruji. He charges nothing for his lessons, which he delivers all over the city, simply parking his cycle and converting the surrounding areas into an impromptu classroom.
The Right to Education Act 2009 guarantees state schooling for children aged 6 to 14 in India. However, the execution of the act has left much to be desired. Many schools are overcrowded, while some are simply not equipped to provide education while some of the schools actually turn away students.
However, Kumar has been conducting his mobile school for around 2 decades now, long before the government even mooted the now celebrated RTE Act. He does not follow a fixed curriculum or even standard text books as most of the children he encounters have had no previous education at all. He teaches functional English and mathematics, with the aim of preparing the children to start going to a regular school.
He has no teaching qualifications and he admits of never nursing any ambitions to become a school teacher. He believes he can make more of an impact on literacy through his mobile school, which he says reaches around 200 children a day.
Figures released by the Uttar Pradesh Government reveal that around 97% of children of primary school age are in school, but campaigners say the true figure is far lower. Even if conservative figures were to be considered, the learning outcomes of those who attend classes are dismal. Only about 25% of children aged 8 could read a text book meant for 7-year-olds, a survey of 570,000 students found.
Kumar's heroic efforts are cheered d by child rights activists, including teacher Roop Rekha Verma who said it was "no mean feat" teaching from a bike.
"I am so glad that his efforts have exposed so many underprivileged children to the world of words," echoed former vice-chancellor of the University of Lucknow.
But she stressed much more needed to be done to deliver even basic education to India's millions of under privileged.
To earn money, Kumar occasionally provides paid tuitions. But mostly he survives on donations, sleeping on the streets like many of his pupils.