There are many people in this world, who try to be a leader but an actual leader is one who knows the way and goes the way. And this is the story, of an amazing teacher who is a leader in his own way! Dr Anuj. Agarwal, the Principal of Rajkiya Inter College, Maanpur, Muzaffar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh

FROM ZERO TO SUCCESS

It all started in 2014, when he was appointed as the Principal of Goverment Intercollege. It was under MSDP (Multi-Sectoral District Development Plan),  a foreign term to most of the privileged students but this is actually a plan to connect underprivileged students to education.  It is a government plan to connect the students and children who are isolated from the technological advances and education of present time.

But as mentioned by him, it is not that easy like it seems. The school under this plan only gets the building, without any electricity or any water facility. It’s extremely difficult to make the school function in such a place that lacks basic necessities, but he did not give up.

He made sure to start from zero and go to hundred! This may seem impossible but remember, he is a true leader, he walked that path, and faced all the hardships and obstacles. He made sure that he will be strong, and understood the pain of the children who wanted to learn but can’t learn because of pressure and other reasons.

He visited homes in the villages and made sure that every child in the village gets the proper education. He visited places and Ganges banks, where many small students used to work by running for errands. He got them to school and made sure of that.

But then there came another challenge!

Only making sure that the students attend the school is not enough, but they also have to make sure that the children do not drop out from school and have a joyous learning experience and maintain proper attendance but how to do that?

As any occasion or any festive season used to come, the children will again go for work. To earn the livelihood, the family members also engage themselves in the work.

Now what?

But these problems also cannot stop the leader, he visited the houses of the students who don’t come for long, Mr. Anuj persuaded them to complete the education and come to school. He with the help of local communities and people created a model of the smart class that will help the students to learn digitally and with animations and videos.

The children wanted to learn from a smart class like any other convent school, and so he arranged for the same. Not only this but also, he arranged electricity to operate it.

THE COMPETITON

They also organize different competitions to make the education system interesting. Have u heard about KBI? Yeah, you heard it right not KBC, but KBI! “Kaun Banega Intelligent!”.  A competition that contains questions from different subjects. SSC, Science, English Literature and Hindi. Students who reached the finals also get different prices, like wrist watches.

Every student prepared for the same and played the quiz with great zeal and enthusiasm.

He made sure that the students also don’t lack in English-speaking language, considering it’s one necessity to learn English now. He arranged English language club in 2019.

“Easy, effective and rapid English,”, he called it!

They allocate a room for the same with a unique history of writers on charts, like Swami Vivekanand or Shakespeare to name a few, everyone’s life history can be found on the chart papers, not only English videos but also the classes on tenses and grammars make the foundation in English strong.

 He also mentioned that he gives the topic to students to write an essay, but he also mentioned that cramped learning is monotonous!

So, how he planned to overcome it?

He made sure that children visit every place, like if the essay is on village then the students will visit villages and if it’s on school, then they will visit the schools. He also made sure that peer learning is happening.

How?

He grouped 5 students who can teach their classmates who lack some concepts, and this is how they learn in a healthy environment. This is how education goes hand in hand with fun filled classes which have digital facilities as well.

 He gave a very innovative idea also on plant growth to keep the environment clean and green. “Matka Thembuk Paddhati” is a technique, by which plants were watered by sing a Matka (earthen pot) by piercing it and using coconut ropes.

As a result, the water loss is less and not only this but the plants also grow very healthy and fast as compared to the normal plants. It was a success, and this idea got praised by Zila Adhikari as well.

EDUCATION FOR GIRLS

That is not all. He did not forget the girl child! He emphasized on the fact that Prime Minister’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojna.’ He brooded over it and taught the girl child how to stich and do Kadai. By giving them proper education and vocational education to make sure they become self-independent and gain knowledge also.

A True Leader! But that is not all! According to the Prime Minister’s ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Namamai Ganga’, he protected and clean the environment also.

His School is near banks of river Ganges, where thousands of devotees come and bath but don’t maintain proper cleanliness because of crowd. Some 240 children and local communities comprising class 6 to class 12 students were there who made sure that Ganges remained clean. They picked the waste and work extremely hard in making sure that Ganga remains clean and holy.

Spreading awareness and cleaning was all part of their daily routine.

Polythene and Plastic was a major problem, they also made sure that by collecting waste clothes from home and local communities they will clean up the environment so they did the same. They made clothes bags and they distributed to villagers, for carrying prasad and good that they earlier used to carry in poly bags by utilizing the limited resources that they have.

Mr. Anuj not only focused on girl child, on minor communities, on infrastructure or digital classes by the end his team also made sure that students have fun in learning and with every kind of technological advances.

One can truly say that he walked the path like every protagonist of the story has. inspiration. His inspiration is his dad, who was a schoolteacher, and his mother who supported him for the same. He walked the path clearing difficulty children faced and made sure he understands their pain and problem and undergoes the process to make sure that the best happens.

He carved his own way and his student’s way.

A great Leader!