Dev, who himself has been through hard times, decided to educate the children working at coal mines and has helped eradicate child labour to a great extent.

Dev Kumar Verma belongs to the city of Dhanbad in Jharkhand. He is the Founder of ‘Pathshala’ where he teaches children working in the coal mines. It has been five years that he has been supporting the well being of children through the medium of education.

Dev shares that people don’t realise what cost it takes to generate electricity and what the coal mines children have to go through. He says these children, who should in their age study and play, live a life of darkness. He adds that owing to poverty, such children have to indulge in illegal smuggling of coal to fill their stomachs.

Moved by their plight, Dev started Pathshala in 2014 to help these children build better lives for themselves. He shares that the model of Pathshala is being replicated in states across India including Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha and ten such schools are running in various towns across these states.

Talking about his childhood, Dev shares that as a child even he used to work at coal mines before he completed his education and became an Officer at the same coal field. Dev then ventured on a mission not to let these children suffer and to give them access to quality education. With his savings, Dev opened a school in proximity to the coal mine area for the convenience of the children. He is currently working to build a Pathshala High School.

Talking about the challenges he faced, Dev shares that sending children to school didn’t go well with the Syndicates at the coal field who felt that the children won’t be working in the field anymore. It was a difficult scenario for Dev to fight with the mafias and children’s parents to let them obtain education. However, with his persistence, he could brighten the lives of many children who continue to study at his school.

Gradually, Dev started receiving support from his friends and companies in the form of CSR funding. He also raised financial help from online platforms to help children with school uniforms, books, rations and other important resources. Dev shares that his friend circle have also adopted some children and funded their education and other basic amenities.

His Success Mantra is to work with honesty and hardwork to achieve your goals in life.

Dev shares that digitalization and social media helped Pathshala achieve great heights. He also got contacted by big news channels to cover his school journey which helped Dev reach a wider audience. He and his entire family are invested in and dedicated to Pathshala’s mission and Dev himself teaches children before going to his office. He shares that his school is technologically efficient and online classes are conducted as well.

Besides work, Dev spends all his extra time in Pathshala with a focus on extracurricular activities by making children participate in state-level competitions like Dancing, Singing, Extempore speech to give an impetus to their confidence. He adds that Pathshala not just focuses on education but also takes into account children’s overall development. Dev also places emphasis on their food by providing a one time meal in Pathshala.

During the pandemic, Dev also served meals and arranged milk for children.

He advises everyone to educate themselves and spread the educational wave around them.

Dev shares that now the story and journey of Pathshala is available in the form of a book by the name ‘Aasmaan mein Surag’ available on Amazon and Flipkart. His website can be found at https://pathshalatoall.org/.