Every day, after his police duty, Head Constable Than Singh returns to a different kind of duty.
Near Delhi’s Red Fort, children gather in a parking area. There are no classrooms, no school bells and no elaborate infrastructure. Yet, for many of them, this is where a different future begins.
It started in 2015 with just four children. Than Singh, posted near the Red Fort, had begun noticing children spending their days around the streets instead of in school.
Some collected rags, picked plastic bottles or accompanied their parents to work. He could have simply felt sorry for them and moved on. Instead, he decided to do something about it.
He began teaching them after his police shift. That small effort became Than Singh Ki Pathshala. What began with four children has grown into an open-air school attended by more than 200 underprivileged children today.
Classes are held around the Red Fort parking area, sometimes within the premises of a temple. The setting may be modest, but the ambition is not.
Than Singh teaches the children the basics they need to step into formal education, reading, writing, numbers and language. But the lessons go beyond textbooks. Hygiene, personal safety and awareness about good touch and bad touch are also part of what they learn. Books, stationery, uniforms, food and other essentials are provided so that poverty does not become another reason to stay away from school.
The larger goal is simple: prepare children for formal schooling and help them move towards a life beyond the streets. And the impact can be seen in individual stories.
Children who once spent their days doing odd jobs have gone on to enter regular schools. One such student, Ravi, who had previously accompanied his labourer parents around the Red Fort, eventually entered Class 7 after finding his way to Than Singh’s classes.
For Than Singh, perhaps the most important lesson is one he knows personally. He grew up amid financial hardship and worked alongside his family while pursuing his own education. After two unsuccessful attempts, he joined the Delhi Police in 2010. Years later, when he saw children facing circumstances similar to those he had known, he chose not to look away.
In October 2026, his work received wider recognition when he was honoured with the Special Recognition Award at the NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth India Teachers’ Awards for his contribution to education and social change.
Sometimes, a school does not need four walls.It only needs someone who believes a child deserves a chance.
