Vidya Bharati Alumni Ashish Sharma gives up higher education after passing 'GATE' Exam to run his educational project

“Children are the most valuable resource in the world”- Ashish Sharma

Children are an important resource of our country and needs to be nurtured properly today so that they can become assets in the future. India has a rich heritage of education which dates back to Vedic times when education was imparted through the system of ‘Gurukul’. Later Indian education improved further with growth of institutions like Nalanda and Takshila where students from foreign lands came to study.

In spite of such a glorious past, it is sad that approximately 8 million children in our country have never gone to school or dropped out at an early age (as per government statistics, 2004).

Indian government has always laid great emphasis on education and crossed major landmarks on the same, but the it alone cannot be successful in the endeavor unless individuals and private organisations lend a helping hand as well.

One such individual working in the field of education, is Ashish Sharma, an alumnus of Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gwalior, Kedardham, Madhya Pradesh. Ashish is associated with an organisation named Aaroha Tamso Jyotih (journey towards excellence from ignorance), which is situated in NIT Bhopal Campus and was established in the year 2015. Presently approximately 400 volunteers are working in this organisation under several projects related to child education, such as:

• Project Akshar : Under this project volunteers shortlist 30-35 children from a slum area, who are then provided education by the volunteers for a minimum of 2 years from which again 5 to 7 students are selected for project ‘Pathsala’.  At present they are supporting 250 such students. 

• Project Pathsala : 5-7 slum children  are selected, who are admitted to schools. Funds for their studies are collected from tourist places in Bhopal by Aaroha volunteer team.

• Project Aakar : Under this project regular digital education classes are provided to children residing in slum areas from Monday to Friday.

• Project Aanand :  Under this project cultural events are organised to showcase individual talents of children living in slums.

• Project Pradaan : This project deals with provision of nutritious food to malnourished children, as well as distribution of necessary educational kits.

Engineering student Ashish, along with founder Shri Shreenivas Jha is responsible for end to end operation of the organisation. In the initial days, the organisation faced several hurdles, but Ashish, never gave up hope. Through constant effort he managed to double the number of beneficiaries from 50 to 150. In a short span of 4 years the organisation has been able to positively impact the lives of approximately 700 children. In the year 2017 the organization was honored for its great work in the field of education by Kalam Centre.

Ashish who is an excellent student, passed 'GATE' examination, but gave up the opportunity for higher studies to voluntarily devote more time in the organisation and help as many children as possible. According to him, the immense satisfaction that he gets from helping the others, is worth every sacrifice.

Ashish credits his school for setting him on the path of social service and shaping his strong moral values.

To share your inspirational story like Ashish, kindly email us at info@vidyabharatialumni.org and we will contact you back.