This school does not accept money as school fee but something unusual: Read To Find Out!

School fees has always been a concern to our parents be it for primary, higher or college semester. But something that will shock you is a unique school in Assam where students bring polythene bags full of plastic waste as the only form of fee that the school accepts. The school—Akshar is tucked away in the pristine woods of Pamohi, Assam.

According to Time8 reports, a couple from Assam started this school that provides education to small children in lieu of plastic wastes. This school was founded in June 2016 by Mazin Mukhtar and his companion Parmita Sarma. Mazin who arrived in India from New York in 2013 for a school project which interestingly led him to get in touch with Parmita, who was a Social Work student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and was aspiring to work in the education sector. Parmita and Mazin helped each other which finally led them to establishment the unique school, "Akshar".

In an interview with The Better India, Mazin said "The greatest challenge was to convince the villagers to send their kids to school. Because most of them were the earning member of the families. The little kids worked as laborers in the nearby stone quarries under harsh conditions. So, we thought of designing a curriculum that would fit their financial needs while getting the right education for them.”

“We were shocked to see that these families create bonfire out of the plastic waste to beat the cold during the winter season. Hence, we decided to start educating the community about the health hazards of burning plastic. Each child brings in at least 25 items of plastic waste per week, as their contribution to their community and the environment,” said Parmita.

Media reports further state that, the couple also started lessons for the villagers on how to go about recycling plastic waste by creating various construction materials with the plastic waste that can help in creating better infrastructure on campus. Surprisingly, the school which started with only 20 kids, now has over 100 kids between the ages of 4 and 15 years.