Purna Shiksha Education Society

The Purna Shiksha Education Society is an informal, creative, and makeshift-learning center for not-school going children from all walks of life. PurnaShiksha aspires to provide a learning space for every child who does not get an opportunity in mainstream school. PurnaShiksha today has more than 100 children (between the age of 4–15 years) in its two makeshift schools: one in Kabir Colony and the other in Suneria village within the city of Rohtak.

History

PurnaShiksha was born on 23 August 2014 in an open ground in Kabir Colony, Rohtak with 65 rag-picking children.

Evolution as an organization

Purna Shiksha originated from a conversation between two perfect strangers. It happened on 21 August 2014. One of the founding members of Purna Shiksha was on his usual bi-cycle ride in the night at around 23.30 near Shila-Bypass in Rohtak. He met a man riding a tricycle at that odd hour and started talking to this man (who called himself Sonu). This led to the beginning of a new world of unparalleled happiness for the whole team of PurnaShiksha.

Having heard of the misery of Child labour, Purna Shiksha member asked Sonu "Can I offer to teach these children? Will they be willing to learn from me?" Sonu did not have a definite answer. Instead, he said, "Please come and meet our contractor". He then bade good-bye.

Purna Shiksha member had a job as a professor at Indian Institute of Management Rohtak. As he already had a handful of work in his hands, he was not sure of what he could do. Next morning (i.e. on 22 August) he kept asking several questions to himself. Should he jump into this problem and solve it? Should he continue to focus on his present work and let others solve grander problems such as child labour, and illiteracy? Who those others would be? If he gets involved in a work like this, would he be compromising on his present academician’s job? And so on…

At that juncture, no matter what his mind suggested, our Purna Shiksha member made his mind to become a teacher for those rag-picking children. He went down to Kabir Colony and spoke to the contractor who looked after rag picking community. Nobody openly opposed the idea of teaching & learning. Everyone looked happy and convinced. Our Purna Shiksha member and his student volunteers from IIM Rohtak had set up an open field school on 23 August 2014. On the very first day, they had an overwhelming number of sixty-five children in the school. Using minimal resources, mainly a stand, a black board, and a set of slates, the team had set up what was soon going to be known as Purna Shiksha. In the following picture, you can see Purna Shiksha’s first school. This is where the team Purna Shiksha continued the school until November 2014 before moving into a rented place in Kabir Colony.