Bina Sheth Lashkari (born ) is an Indian Doorstep school founder in India. Over 30 years she has helped to organise the education of 100,000 children in Mumbai. In 2013 she was awarded the

Stree Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is the highest civilian hon ...

Life

Laskari took her first degree in

child psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

. She started her work when she founded her first school in Cuffe Parade in

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Kolbhat ...

in 1988. At the time children from the slums could only look on as richer children went off to posh schools. She originally had 25 children and their

Banjara The Banjara (also known as ,Vanzara,Lambadi,Gour Rajput,Labana) are a historically nomadic trading caste who may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now Rajasthan. Etymology The Banjaras usually refer to themselves as ''Gor'' and outs ...

parents were working for low wages gutting fish. She had been inspired to the idea while she was taking her master's degree in social work. She had visited the local school and she was surprised to find that children were leaving after her three or four years. Visiting the children's parent she found that the children were all ready an essential part of their families wage earning. They could not be spared if the family was to survive. With the assistance of Rajani Paranjape she started a school that could be on their doorstep. On

International Women’s Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

in 2013 the President of India

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

presented her with the

. The award was one of six made in New Delhi at the Presidential Palace -

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

. She was nominated by the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

for her work in education and training. In 2016 the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited her in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. That year the school's campaign had led to the naming of streets after their pupils. Previously unnamed streets in three areas of Mumbai were named after their students. The objective is to inspire other students to gain an education and have ambition. In 2019 it was estimated that over the 31 years she has helped to organise the education of 100,000 children in Mumbai. By that time the school had seven yellow school buses with school equipment inside them. Each of them stops four times each day for two and a half hours, so each bus is teaching 100 children each day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lashkari, Bina Sheth Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Mumbai Indian women academics