Giving Compass' Take:

• A science teacher in a Baarali school in India kept noticing that more and more students were not coming to class. He found out that many of them had to walk long distances through the forest and mud to get to school, prompting him to start driving the students to school himself to reduce dropout rate. 

• What are some more sustainable solutions to address the dropout rate of young Indian children?

• Read about Door Step School that sets up classrooms where students need them. 

A teacher in rural India is being praised for steering his students in the right direction — literally.

Rajaram, who teaches math and science at the Baarali Government Higher Primary School in the Udupi district, took it upon himself to buy a bus and begin driving his students to and from class when he noticed a discouraging dropout rate occurring at the facility, reports The News Minute.

“There are no roads from the houses of the children to the school,” Rajaram told The News Minute. “There is a mud path through the forest and most of the girl students began dropping out as their families were scared of allowing their children to walk for a total of 6 kilometers to and from school.”

Dismayed by the increasingly low attendance, the teacher sought out a solution and reached out to an alum for help.

Rajaram and Hegde pooled together the funds, along with one other alum, Ganesh Shetty, and purchased a vehicle six months ago, according to The News Minute.

But hiring a driver was still beyond their financial resources. So, Rajaram volunteered to take the wheel himself.

Rajaram and a group of former students have continued to pay for the bus’ insurance and gas out of their own pockets, according to the report. But instead of seeking out ways to pass the buck, Rajaram’s focused on brainstorming ideas to further enhance school attendance.

Read the full article about teacher and bus driver by Joanna Prisco at Global Citizen