Teachers lure kids from alcoholism to books in Nashik's Rajewadi village

RAJEWADI: Education had always taken a backseat in Rajewadi village, around 40km from Nashik. The village of 200 families is known for rampant alcoholism, with even children drinking with their parents in the evenings. Little wonder then that the only school in the village, which was built in 1958, had a strikingly high percentage of dropouts.

The students in this poorly staffed zilla parishad school presented a sad sight: unwashed, undisciplined and unused to anything resembling a timetable.That was till Pankaj Dashpute, a teacher from Nashik, sought a transfer to the school in 2013.

In a heartwarming turnaround over two years, Dashpute and his two colleagues -Hemantkumar Ahire and Sunita Sonawane -have managed to refurbish the two-room school even while gently nudging parents to get their wards back to the classroom. Their labour of love has borne fruit in good measure -today, as many as 106 students attend school from classes 1 to 5. After joining, Dashpute and his colleagues began maintaining the two toilet units in the school and also managed to repair the compound wall. The culture at home is very important for them." "Over the last two years, we worked with families to try and wean them (children) off alcohol. The progress has been slow, but I have had three families come to me and say they have given up alcohol," says Dashpute.