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In order to bring light into the lives of underprivileged children, Deepalaya, an NGO based at Janakpuri, thought of a unique idea of a musical bus which is a school in itself with a music and a mathematics teacher inside it.

Nonita Aggarwal, project manager of 'Mewsic bus' said, “The parents of the children say that they cannot send their kids to school due to financial constraints. These children work at vegetable markets, construction sites, etc. and do not have time to go to schools. We thought they cannot go to school, but what if the school comes to them. Therefore, we started a new concept of musical bus in 2006 with an aim of empowering and educating children in a fun way. Every year, Rs 10-11 lakh are spent on this project without any help from the government.”

The bus reaches the locality where these children live and they are taught for two hours. Presently, almost 500 kids are educated through this programme every year. “Learning can be made interesting through music. We play guitar and sing along poems, national song, English and Hindi alphabets. Children also sing along. They easily learn alphabets, numbers, poems by singing. If music is played with a words then children grasp it easily,” said Himanshu, music teacher at the bus.

The 'Mewsic bus' starts its journey at 8 in the morning passing through Wazirabad, Adarsh Nagar, Haiderpur and ends at Bhalswa Dairy at around 5.30 pm. The slum kids are taught for two hours at every stop for five days a week.

Apart from teaching mathematics and language, they also teach art and craft skills. They have a special period of art every week. Festivals are celebrated in the bus and children are made aware of the significance of those festivals.

The volunteers of 'Mewsic bus' hunt for underprivileged kids in the slums, vegetables markets, shops and probable sites. They encourage their parents to send their kids to the bus for two hours class. Nonita said, “We also prepare students for admission in main school. We groom students who have not been admitted in a school at the appropriate age. We get them admitted in the class depending upon their age”. 

Source: http://www.iamin.in/