In Manipur’s Chatric Khullen village a new school by Gemson Haorei Trust holds a class for 70-year-olds. There appear many who urge to learn the alphabet for the first time. The elderly education project is an initiative of a youth returnee from Delhi due to the Pandemic.
However, this project is initiated by Sorinthan Haorei, who is also the founder of Gemson Haorei Trust. Previously this year, the 28-year-old founded Oasis Academy for children up to Class VII, and in May, opened it up to 20 adult learners as well.
Well, his grandmother(70) is also a student here in the school. They are now learning numerals from one to 1,000, alphabets, and how to write their names.
What amazes him the most is for many of the elders, the forthcoming exam will be the first one of their lives.
“Most of the elders here did not receive basic education when they were young. The highest one of them had studied up to was Class IV,” says Sorinthan. But education was not the only reason this school was set up: “They (the elders) are involved in agricultural activities and most live away from their families. So another reason we took this up was to provide a platform for socialization, to keep their mental health up in times like these,” Sorithan says.
