Special Encouragement Award

Mud Wall to Blackboard

SUDIPTO DAS

India

Story

With no smart phones & internet connectivity for online classes, a headmaster of a poorest tribal dominated area in India, transformed the entire village into a classroom during pandemic era. Here more than 90% students living far below poverty level. Kumar came up with an inspirational idea to go to the village and turn the mud-made village walls into blackboards to keep the learning habit active

Comment

COVID-19 pandemic makes us depressed and being a photojournalist I am always eyeing for a positive photograph that can give our society an optimistic message. The winning image is a story of a poorest tribal-dominated village in the state of Jharkhand which gives us hope during the most challenging time in our lives. The state where every fourth day a child is trafficked– a state that is striving relentlessly to keep its children in school and prevent child labour. The headmaster Sapan Kumar believes education is the only solution to these problems and thus his relentless effort to ensure that not a single child of his area has left uneducated. My heartfelt gratitude to the honorable judges for selecting my photograph as one of the winners.

※The works and comments hat have been selected are expressions of views and opinions of the creators and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the organizer.