Md Shoaib, 12, sprints back to Mazdurpara in Ward 66 of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation the moment his school gives over. There, a new kind of learning awaits him, one that comes in the form of bottle-top games with the new didis and bhaiyyas who visit his slum with a green cart. Little Amira Khatoon too loves playing those games. But more than that, she loves the maths and English that she gets to learn while playing.

Chakke Pe Kaksha is an initiative by the NGO Ektara to help kids understand that learning can be fun. The concept is a collaboration with the Mobile School, a Belgian organisation that aims to empower street children across the world.

The cart comes with extendable blackboards. In its most compact form, this mobile school is just 1.5 metres in length and, when fully extended, six metres long.

So, how did the idea come about? "I and my friend Vinita Saraf (founder trustee) started Ektara six years ago with an aim to make a meaningful difference to society in our own little way. We feel humbled to have touched the lives of 650 slum children and women from the backward communities in the Tiljala and Topsia areas. We are the first NGO in India and the third in Asia to implement this Mobile School project," said Namrata Sureka, founder trustee of Ektara.

Panels come out of the cart with lessons on basic education, creative therapy, health care education, life skills, children's rights, entrepreneurship and game education.

"There are panels on academics, numbers, social skills and more. Some panels are also for adults and adolescents. Anybody above the age of five can benefit from these panels," said Manjusmita Bagchi, programme officer for education at Ektara.

The mobile school currently covers Ward 59 too. The visits are four times a week - on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

With more than 300 educational materials packed into the panels, the mobile school reaches the kids instead of them having to take the initiative to go anywhere. It reaches them in their own environment. "This is an extension of what we do. These two-hour-long after-school sessions with us give the children a good idea of health, hygiene, extra-curricular activities and more. This is our way of empowering children," said Anupriya Bhattacharya, programme officer for the community engagement programme.

Shamima Khatoon, an employee of Ektara who is also studying commerce at Jogamaya Devi College, is one of the didis of the mobile school. "It is a lovely experience to teach these kids. If they learn anything, it would mean a lot to each one of us here. I am from a middle-class family and this is my way of doing my bit for the community," she said.

For Shayma Shamim, a student of English at Surendranath College, seeing the children happy fills her with joy. "Time passes really fast with them around. Most love our story-telling sessions," she added.