Hyderabad teens reach out to government school students; conduct workshops on creativity, communication skills

Founders of Ashayam, a student NGO, interact with the students of a government school in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

In a society where teenagers are often obsessed with social media and self-absorbed, two students from a private school are scripting a new chapter of social service, empathy and reaching the unreached.

For Ishaan and Neha, class XI students of Chirec Public School, this journey of skilling the government school student started after the pandemic when the new world order broke out with uncertainty everywhere. “Pandemic hit students hard. Our conversations with the family helpers made us realise the status of not-so-lucky students in government schools,” they said explaining how the idea emerged.

Without the school environment, students tend to lose the requisite communication skills. The duo realised this during their visit to the neighbourhood government schools. “Realising the impact, both psychological and physical, of the pandemic on the lesser-privileged, we started engaging the students through small activities in their schools.”

That desire to make some change and scale up their activities led to the creation of their student NGO ‘Ashayam’ in 2022 which now operates in several schools in Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

Pooling their pocket money and some financial support from their parents, Ishaan and Neha started weekend workshops in schools focussing on communication skills, creativity and leadership through interactive sessions. After initial hiccups, they are now satisfied with the response. “Lot of students we worked with are far more confident and speak in English without fear. We are students teaching students. There’s no hierarchy, just fun and learning.”

Both Ishaan and Neha want to get more volunteers on board and also expand to Various States. The platform would give immense satisfaction for those joining and the website created gives them the guidelines. They can be reached at ‘Ashayam’ website.