BMC To Launch Signal School For Financially Backward Class People

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will soon be launching a signal school for 100 street children who are deprived of socio-economic status and education as well. The civic body plans to build the first school in Mumbai for beggars and homeless children under the Santacruz Chembur Link Road (SCLR) flyover at Amar Mahal junction.

Signal School will be housed in five to six renovated containers. Officials from the BMC claim that one signal school is operating successfully at Teen Haat naka in Thane, and the organisation plans to duplicate the model in Mumbai.

In order to provide education for street children who lack it, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) established the first signal school in 2018 with the assistance of the nonprofit organisation Samarth Bharat Vyaspeeth. The idea of signal schools was also contemplated by the state government in Mumbai. But during the last few years, the plan has not come to pass. After Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the minister of skills, employment, entrepreneurship, and innovation, recommended that such schools be established in Mumbai, the idea was given new life. The district planning committee (suburb) will provide funding for the project.

Dr. Sudhakar Shinde, Additional Municipal Commissioner, said, “The civic planning department has finalised a vacant place below SCLR at Amar Mahal Junction after surveying homeless children in the eastern suburbs. At Signal School, a consultant was brought in to design, construct, and bring in the facilities. Along with all the necessary tools, this school will have a science lab, computers, printers, and other supplies for learning.”

An NGO will work with the school to manage it. A civic official stated, “Children who are homeless not only lack access to an education, but they also struggle to attend regular schools. We therefore intend to transport these kids to the signal school. We also intend to provide food for the students in the school and to provide some facilities for sports and games in this school. He stated that children who demonstrate academic success or a willingness to learn will eventually be transferred to regular schools. Classes at the signal school will cover standards 1 through 10.”