Lone teacher makes primary school an example for others

For years, the lone teacher at a government school in Phillaur is teaching students not only from classes 1st to 5th, but pre-primary as well. He has held the baton of the school for the past eight years.

Government Primary School-Jhandi Peer, Kadiana in Phillaur, is situated at a remote area. The school has grown leaps and bounds because of the sincere efforts made by Jagjit Singh Randhawa, the only teacher at the school, who had joined it in 2017.

Not only did he turn the school into a smart one because of his hard work, but also went to the nearby areas and admitted children to the school who used to beg to earn a living. The school has great infrastructure, beautiful walls, rooms and attractive paintings. Nobody could imagine a government primary school at such a remote area to be this beautiful that stands out among all.

Besides persuading the students in and around the village to join the school, he also encourages them to take part in sports activities. When he joined, there were only 14 students, but with his efforts, today there are nearly 80 students.

"I am hopeful that we will have around 90 students in the next session," Jagjit Singh said.

He is doing home visits of kids and telling the parents to send their wards to the school.

Before Randhawa joined, teachers used to come only on a deputation basis in the school. Randhawa had also visited the school twice. It was then he took note of the neglected state of the school. He says there was nothing in the school back then. Then, he contacted NRIs of his village and then got many facilities for the school.

About two years ago, he made girls belonging to financially poor families compete with well-trained participants from private schools. It was a block-level competition. Randhawa, who encouraged the girls to take part in the event, said these young swimmers suffered a lot in their lives. “They live in poor conditions and there were times when people would help the family with food and other things. Even the girls were into begging. The girls learnt swimming by spending hours in the river.” he said.

The teacher, while recalling the incident, said the girls were not regular in the school. “I once went to their jhuggis to ask their parents to send them to the school regularly. Their parents told me that the girls had gone to swim in the river,” the teacher said.

Last year also, a girl from his school stood first in the district-level sports tournament and has participated in state-level tournament.

Now, the teacher feels that staff crunch could be a spoilsport. "I really want that teachers must join so that we have good teachers to teach the students," he said.

For two years, another teacher from Mansa had also joined the school but then she was transferred. "I want my school to grow higher and I want my students to grow in life," he further added.