Man runs school for the poor under a bridge

Three years ago, Rajesh Kumar Singh set up a makeshift classroom under a metro bridge in New Delhi. He had only 2 students then, but now his two-hour morning classes have over 60 pupils, six days a week. Singh has a day job as a shopkeeper in the Indian capital. He pulled out of college in his third year due to financial difficulties and says he started his school because he didn't want other children to face a similar fate.

His students come from nearby slums - their families too poor to send them to school. Students from ages 3 to 16 sit in his open-air classes. All the reading and writing material is provided to the children for free. Singh and Laxmi Chandra, who also helps at the school, decided to hold classes under the bridge because they could still be held during the monsoons and on hot summer days.

At the school, a quarter of the students are girls, and although there is a lack of facilities, many walk long distances barefoot to attend Singh's classes. Many parents of the students at the school under the bridge are now also sending their children to government schools, realizing the more education they receive, the better.

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