Teachers who attract students to govt schools in Kumaon

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, September 4

In a times when government schools are faring badly and private institutions have gained popularity, some teachers of government schools are working hard to provide quality education and cater to the needs of poor students.

Ramesh Chandra Joshi (35), deputed at Primary School, Jara, near Baram in Dharchula subdivision of Pithoragarh district, keeps scissors, combs, a bottle of oil and soap with him when he goes to the school every day. He takes care of students like a guardian and trims their hair, gives them soap to bathe and even cuts their nails before the assembly meet in the school.

“If we look after students like their guardians, they give us a good response and their parents do not shift them to private schools,” he said. The number of students in the school has increased from 51 to 65 after Joshi joined duty at Primary School in 2013. “We have also done experiments with teaching and syllabus and have started teaching English and mathematics. We are also organising extracurricular activities regularly,” he said.

The number of students increased in Government Primary School, Nagla, near Rudrapur in Udham Singh Nagar after Vinay Prabha Pathak joined the school in 1998.

“We have introduced smart classes like those in private schools and have found that if you provide modern teaching facilities to students in government schools, they do not join private schools,” Pathak said.

Pathak’s school now has a computer room, a garden and the DTH facility to enable students to watch news bulletins useful for them. “Several initiatives taken by Pathak include teaching by drawing sketches and filling self-evaluation chart, which enables students to adopt good habits and increase awareness,” said Pradeep Pandey, a resident of a nearby village.

Divya Darshan Sharma is another teacher who has brought changes quietly in education in government schools and strengthened belief in it. He started his teaching career from a remote school at Tarkuli in the Tamli area of Champawat district 16 years ago. He later joined a secondary school at Maunpokhari in 2004.

“After Sharma joined the secondary school at Maunpokhari, the number of students increased from 76 to 125,” said Hukum Singh, president of the Parents Teachers Association, Maunpokhari.

The students stayed in the school as Sharma used new methods to teach mathematics and science to primary and secondary class students, he said.

“His inductive methods make it easy for students to understand tough formulas of science and mathematics,” Hukum Singh added. Local guardians said Sharma had successfully maintained discipline in the school.

“The commitment shown by Divya Darshan Sharma has helped in maintaining the number of students in the school, even though some private schools have come up in the locality,” they added.