From Plastic Waste To Education

Akshar Forum uses unconventional methods to educate young children from underprivileged communities.

Nestled on Dakini Hill of Pamohi, near Garchuk in Guwahti, Akshar Forum, is giving children, who are mostly victims of child labour, a chance at quality education. The visionaries behind the initiative is Mazin Mukhtar and his wife, Parmita Sarma. Having studied in New York, Mazin moved back to India to work on social development initiatives. He was working on such a project in Lakhimpur when he came up with the idea of setting up a unique school that has a holistic approach towards education, with focus on the environment. His work in the education sector led him to Parmita, a social work student from Tata Institute of Social Science who shared his worldview. And, together they started the Akshar Forum in June 2016.

The school has 110 students. ‘Focusing on underprivileged children from the areas of Pamohi, Garchuk and Boragaon, Akshar Forum trains children for reallife problems using techniques and methods adapted from the education system in Finland, where education is skill driven and 80 percentage of the curriculum comprises practical experiences,’ says Mazin, Associate Director.

Principal Parmita had to go door-to-door, in the beginning, to ask parents to send their children to school. ‘Parents were willing to send their kids as long as we do not charge money,’ Mazin reveals. ‘The students are given Cambridge worksheets for practicing. Some students are school dropouts, and some might have never even been to school. There are cases of even 15-year-old students who joined school for the first time. Hence, the nature of students is diverse, and so, we need to frame our curriculum accordingly,’ added Parmita.

Empower and Educate