There’s a school in a small village called Pamohi in Assam where students turn up not with bags full of books, but full of plastic waste!

Why plastic waste?

That’s how they pay their fees to the school!

Here’s a on the inspiring story of the @AksharForum school

When Parmita Sarma & Mazin Mukhtar moved to Pamohi to build a school in 2016, they found out a few problems:

• parents wanted teens to drop out of school and start working to earn

• the locals were burning plastic everyday to keep warm or to just get rid of it

The duo reached out to parents telling them that their kids could study in the school if they were able to turn in 25 bottles of plastic in a week.

They taught locals the importance of waste segregation and how the plastic could be turned to Eco-bricks used to build structures.

These eco-bricks are made by stuffing plastic bottles with plastic bags which make it strong.

The best thing about these eco-bricks is that unlike conventional bricks, they can be re-used to build new structures.

All of this happens at a recycling center in the school itself.

Alright, so this solves the problem of waste management & parents not spending money on fees.

Education is still a luxury for a lot of family’s in India. Parents don’t send kids to school so they can earn for the family.

So how does Akshar Foundation solve this problem?

They use a method called meta-teaching.

Students in higher classes teach younger students for atleast 2 hours a day. They are called Student Teachers.

They get paid in monopoly money which can be deposited in a student account which the school opens for all students.

This monopoly money can then be exchanged for daily goods and supplies by students at the school.

Students also get paid for bringing in plastic and go for a plastic drive on a designated day of the week.

This mechanism helps in doing some really good things for these kids

They get to learn things which most of us never did in school:

• Leadership

• How to teach

• How to manage money

• Personal responsibility towards nature

Akshar combines conventional subjects with vocational training in carpentary, farming and other life skills.

By building this model, Parmita and Mazin were able to change the face of Pamohi by using child labour to end it.

The school has more than 100 students now and they were successful in bringing back kids who dropped out of school to work in stone quarries.

Akshar is able to give underprivileged students the skills they need to build a life.

Students are able to address local needs of the community and even built an animal shelter where they tend to their injuries by learning first aid.

Akshar Foundation is implementing their model in a government school in Delhi with the plan to expand & transform public schools using their low-cost, children-centered education reform.

They are able to do this good work by donations they receive! Here’s how you can help

Their philosophy for students is:

“Learn more to earn more”

If this helped you in learning something new, would be great if you could help me earn for them by donating 250rs through the link below. It’ll be used to cover operational costs at the school. https://www.aksharfoundation.org/donate