How a Teacher Saved His Students From Child Marriages and From Becoming School Dropouts

  Subhas Dutta has taken it upon himself to put an end to child marriages in his village. With a mike in his hand he paces through the roads and educates parents about the laws and the evils of child marriage. Dutta is the headmaster of Maharajpur High school, situated barely 20 km from Birsingha which also happens to be the place where Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the champion of women’s education was born. Dutta has been addressing this social evil since 2018 and has so far been able to stop 12 child marriages. For the past two months he intensified this drive as 55 students between classes VIII and XII dropped out of his school last year. Of them 27 were girls and they were married off at that young age. Most of the boys dropped out of school to take up jobs.  Dutta regularly does a door-to-door campaign to deter parents from marrying off their girl children by explaining the ill effects of child marriage and its laws. He also roped in the beneficiaries of Kanyashree, a Bengal government scheme for the girl child to spread awareness. They also give an ear to the parents’ problems and try to find a solution together. The concerned teacher dedicates his time and efforts to the growth and well being of his students by stopping child marriages.