Eight-year-old Anita Solanki’s tryst with education began on a hot summer day last year when a bright yellow-colored bus rolled into her poor neighbourhood in Ahmedabad. The daughter of an auto-rickshaw driver who was struggling to make ends meet, today, she attends an international school in the city. Like Anita, around 415 poor or homeless children, who had either never attended school or were forced to drop out, have been enrolled in regular schools after completing a bridge course from 12 such buses that double up as ‘Signal Schools’.
Launched in March 2022 by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in collaboration with the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority (GSLSA), these buses pick up street children, aged between six and 14 years, around 7-8 in the morning and drop them off back in the afternoon.
This story is from the January 29, 2024 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 29, 2024 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS
A TRIBE OF YOUNG, EDUCATED INTERNET WARRIORS IS SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION WITH CURATED VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Scoring a Century
Manoj Bajpayee has just acted in his 100th project-Bhaiyya Ji
FRAGMENTED RUINS
A new exhibition at Gallery XXL, Mumbai juxtaposes the artworks of an Indian and a Spanish artist
United by Art
Moments in Collapse, SAHMAT's group exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi brings together artworks with politically charged themes
In Her Mother's Voice
Vidya Vox's exuberant new EP, Sundari, is primarily in Tamil as a tribute to her mother
"MURDER, HE WROTE"
Ashutosh Rana and Vijay Raaz shine in JioCinema's Murder in Mahim, a web series based on Jerry Pinto's layered crime novel
FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS
Gujarat sees another major tragedy as businesses flout safety norms and officials look away. This time it's 33 lives lost in a blaze at a gaming zone
THWARTED FRANCHISE
Robertsganj, on the southeastern tip of Uttar Pradesh, is a study in how a coalition of other castes often defeats the aspirations of the majority caste among Dalits-in constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes
THE LAST FRONTIER
PURVANCHAL HOSTS THE BIGGEST STAR CANDIDATE IN INDIA: NARENDRA MODI IN VARANASI. THAT MAY BE A NO-CONTEST, BUT CRAFTY CASTE PLAY BY THE SP-CONGRESS POSES A CHALLENGE IN THE OTHER DOZEN SEATS
THE FIGHT FOR POLITICAL CAPITAL
Leading the campaign as non-playing captains or taking the electoral field themselves, a whole range of political players exemplify the churn that Punjab's politics is going through