Inspiration
IIT-B professor opens school in rural Madhya Pradesh
Dr Chetan Singh Solanki, a professor at IIT-B has opened a school in rural MP – Education Park. Powered by solar energy, the school also cares about teachers’ remuneration and accommodation.
When an IIT Bombay professor decides to open a school you can be rest assured that it will be a school with a difference. For one, the school located in Khargone district of MP is called ‘Education Park’. Despite its grandeur inducing name, it is a not-for-profit school aspiring to provide quality education to rural kids.
Dr Chetan Singh Solanki believes that quality education is one that makes a person self-sufficient after graduation. The professor shares that he has ensured that the teaching and infrastructure of the school are at par with the city schools to ensure that the kids gain a strong educational foundation just like their urban counterparts.
Education Park uses solar energy for all its electricity needs and presently caters to over 1000 children enrolled from the nearby 40 villages. Being a professor, Solanki believes that teachers should be adequately compensated and hence he is relying on crowdfunding to institute a Teacher’s Fellowship and provide accommodation to the teaching staff. Currently, Education Park needs additional funds to build more classrooms and buy more schools buses.
A native of Khargone district, Solanki himself is a product of a school with a single classroom. “Rural schools are not well equipped. Schemes like Mid-day Meal are good only for enrolment,” He has observed that many middle-income families from rural areas are willing to educate their children when the schools have good infrastructure. “In such a big country, one Education Park is not sufficient. Once this model is complete, we want to replicate it in other places as well,” concludes the professor who has been teaching at IIT-B since 13 years.
