Two cops impart lessons to five children in Greater Kailash

Five children aged between three and nine years in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash, who, during the initial days of the lockdown, didn’t even have access to food,

Five children aged between three and nine years in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash, who, during the initial days of the lockdown, didn’t even have access to food, are now able to count, recite rhymes and draw pictures, thanks to two police personnel who took it upon themselves to impart lessons to them every evening for six weeks.

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Overcoming their initial reluctance to the initiative, the parents of the children also attended a few classes and have gained competence in counting numbers, said Atul Kumar Thakur, the deputy commissioner of police (south).

A desperate situation brought the children and their parents in contact with the police. “On April 10, we received a call from a family that did not have food to eat. When head constable Tara Chand and constable Neelam Toppo visited them with food, they found two families, with five children in all, facing difficulties,” Thakur said.

One of the couples, with two sons aged six and five years, used to work as labourers, while the other family, with three daughters aged between three and nine years, were dependent on a sole breadwinner, who worked as a gardener.

While the gardener’s two daughters had been attending school prior to the lockdown, his three-year-old girl was yet to be enrolled. The labourers’ two sons, meanwhile, had never been enrolled in schools.

The two police personnel decided to hold hour-long classes for them every day. “I have a seven-year-old son and a daughter, who is a toddler. I knew exactly what these children needed to be taught,” said Toppo.

Toppo and Chand used an open space near their huts, set up on the premises of an old building, for the classes. “The nine-year-old girl needed a separate curriculum since she was already attending school. The others were put together and taught basic subjects,” said head constable Chand.

One of the children, Gudiya, said that she learnt alphabets, rhymes, tables, names of body parts and numbers in the last six weeks. “I can recite Ba Ba Black Sheep and Twinkle Twinkle little star, but I like colourit and sketching the most,” said Gudiya.

When the senior police officers at the police station and the district got to know of the initiative, they arranged the necessary stationery items for the classes.

“When we interacted with their parents, we got to know that one of them didn’t even know how to count. Even to use their phones, they would seek others’ help. We convinced them to attend the classes on numbers,” said Chand.

The two officials said they are hopeful that the parents would benefit from having learnt to count. “Last Thursday, I got to know that the two boys and their parents left in a truck for their home in Jhansi. I hope our classes have made them better equipped to deal with this difficult time,” said Chand.