Come August, underprivileged children in the six cities of UP will find schools at their doorsteps.

As part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), ‘mobile schools’ will be used to ensure that children who are not able to go to school in the urban areas are not deprived of education.

“The concept is already in use in places like Mumbai and Delhi where there is a shortage of land for construction of schools,” said Ashok Ganguly, Additional State Project Director, SSA.

The six cities where the mobile schools will run on a pilot basis are Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Aligarh and Gorakhpur. The project will cost around Rs 45 lakh.

“The concept is being initiated to ensure education to underprivileged children who are unable to attend private schools,” Ganguly added.

While two of the buses are owned by the SSA, the four others will be provided by the UP State Road Transport Corporation.

“Classes I to III will be held inside the buses which are being modified to suit the purpose of a classroom. The interiors will be partitioned so as to accommodate maximum number of children in different classes. We are focusing on the children residing in slum areas where they do not have any schooling facility,” said Veena, State Project Director, SSA.

Around 8,000 children have been identified in Varanasi who will attend the mobile schools.

Surveys to identify children in the remaining five cities will be completed by July.