Classroom on wheels for students in Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar: In a one-of-its kind initiative, the Lohit district administration in Arunachal Pradesh has set up a classroom in an old and abandoned bus, replete with tables, chairs and stationeries, as part of its initiative to deal with space crunch in school buildings.

Space crunch in schools is one of the major reasons leading to dropouts as juniors are often made to sit with seniors in one class, with subject teachers imparting lessons to them simultaneously, a district official said.

"The 'school on bus' idea has been well-received by the students of a government-run primary school at Thowang village in the district, and they seem "more excited than ever" to attend classes, he said.

"The initiative has not just solved the problem of space crunch, albeit temporarily, but it also infused an element of fun and interactive learning," Lohit deputy commissioner Prince Dhawan said. The bus has been painted and decked up in a way that it looks like a classroom on wheels, he asserted.

"The exterior of the bus has paintings of political map of India, national animal and human anatomy. Inside, we have made arrangements for boards, tables, chairs and necessary stationeries.

With this intervention, children are seen staying back even after school hours," Dhawan maintained. The district administration is looking to refurbish more such buses to promote fun learning and improve attendance rate in schools, he added.