Beyond the classroom: Teachers in Sirsa, Fatehabad turn challenges into change

A teacher’s work does not end with a school bell. For three teachers from Sirsa and Fatehabad, teaching has meant taking learning beyond classrooms, preserving history, serving society and, in one case, even fighting back from cancer. On this Teachers’ Day, their stories show how educators can leave an impact far beyond their schools.

Vimmi Goyal: Ups the number game

For Vimmi Goyal, a PGT mathematics teacher at Government Senior Secondary School, Chattargarh Patti, Sirsa, the biggest challenge came when schools shut during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the classrooms closed, she turned to technology. Between 2020 and 2022, she delivered more than 80 mathematics lectures through Haryana’s educational channels, helping the students continue learning from home.

Her work, however, has gone beyond digital teaching. Under her guidance, the students represented Sirsa and Haryana at national-level exhibitions. She also accompanied a student to Assam for a national exhibition in 2021.

Her expertise earned national recognition when she was invited to speak at an NCERT discussion on inspirational learning and the National Education Policy in 2022. Her contribution has also found a place in the new NCERT Class IX mathematics textbook, and she is part of the team working on the Class X book. For Goyal, teaching means making mathematics easier, practical and interesting for children.

Pankaj Kumar: From cancer survivor to keeper of forgotten histories

Pankaj Kumar

Punjabi teacher Pankaj Kumar of Government Middle School, Ramnagaria, Sirsa, faced one of the toughest battles outside the classroom when he was diagnosed with mouth cancer in 2022.

After surgery and prolonged treatment in Delhi, he returned to teaching and social work with renewed determination. As part of the Ministry of Culture’s District Digital Repository project, Kumar researched and digitised the stories of 197 unsung freedom fighters, taking their stories to the national portal. For this work, he was honoured by Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi in June 2026.

He has also helped document and digitally preserve 50 rare manuscripts from the district.

In school, Kumar uses puppetry, games and activity-based learning to make lessons engaging. His journey, despite illness, has become a lesson in resilience for his students.

Devender Singh Dahiya: When service continues after retirement

Devender Singh Dahiya

In Fatehabad, former teacher Devender Singh Dahiya believes that retirement from a job does not mean retirement from society.

Honoured with a Teacher Award in 2012 for his work at the government school in Hijrawan, Dahiya retired last year from Government Primary School, Arhawan. But instead of slowing down, he took up a new role in social service. He is now district president of the Akhil Bharatiya Shaheed Samman Sangharsh Samiti, state chairman of the Government Primary Teachers’ Association and president of the Jago Welfare Society.

Through these organisations, he works on social awareness, public welfare and issues concerning teachers, while also promoting respect for freedom fighters. Their journeys offer a simple message this Teachers’ Day: the best teachers do more than teach lessons, they inspire, preserve, serve and keep learning themselves.