Once child labourers are now heading for a bright future. Thanks to the first-of-its-kind camp school a new Residential Boys Camp School at Basti no 10 in Sidhgora was inaugurated on Tuesday aims to educate erstwhile child labourers by Tarun Daga, managing director, Tinplate Company of India ltd (TCIl) and Biren Bhuta, chief, CSR, Tata Steel.
The camp school is a project under the CSR (corporate social responsibility) of Tata Steel and Tinplate Company of India ltd (TCIl). Others like Smita Agarwal, head , Education, Tata Steel CSR was also present at the inaugural function today.
A total of 46 boys have been enrolled in the school. Operating from a community development centre of Tinplate, the school will offer an eleventh-month bridge course, which will help the kids join mainstream education. The boys, aged between 9-14 years, are from vulnerable backgrounds, who have either not attended any school or dropped out due to financial constraints, or other problems.
This camp school comes on the lines of two Tata Steel’s all-girls residential camp schools in Pipla and Noamundi, which have been functioning for nearly a decade now.
“At the time of admission I was quite afraid. I have never been to a school. But with caring teachers and staff, it’s great to be here,” shared Vikas Gope, who worked as a slag picker before joining the school.
Gonu Ghose, another student who worked at an eating joint, said, “life here is quite different. I don’t have to bother about food anymore. I even get ample time to play with friends here.”