Help finally trickles in for lone teacher of impromptu Pragati Maidan school

NEW DELHI: About two weeks after Hindustan Times showcased the struggle of 33-year-old Neetu Singh, who teaches children from her neighbourhood slums battling all odds, through a special photo feature on Teachers’ Day, help has started coming in.

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Volunteers are coming and taking classes at this impromptu school next to Pragati Maidan Gate No. 1, adjacent to the Shiv Hanuman Panchvati Mandir. Some aid in the form of stationery and notebooks is also trickling in. Even the number of students attending her informal school has gone up.

“Bohot accha lag raha hai mujhe (It feels really good),” Neetu says with a smile. “So many people have come and met me in the past three weeks. They tell me what a good job I am doing. It feels good.”

Ten more students in the class and a plastic sheet as roof have made her “happy”.

One of the people lending a helping hand to this tutor is a 65-year-old Defence Colony resident Lata Bhasin.

“Some of my friends and I, who got to know about Neetu through the newspaper coverage, are trying to create an atmosphere for slum children so that they can learn some basic education. Some even go to government schools so they come for help with their studies,” Bhasin said.

Donations which have come in include sweets, books and stationery. A sports coordinator is also coming on Saturdays for the past couple of weeks. “The school, it seems, has a future now,” Neetu said.