Six teachers from this Haryana village even pay from their pockets to uplift govt primary school

Smart classroom, attractive-paintings, all green campus, clean toilets, rainwater harvesting system, clean and hygienic kitchen, open mathematics lab, uninterrupted power backup and regular parent-teacher meetings- these are additional facilities being provided by teachers of a government primary school in Sisoli of Kaithal district to 194 students free of cost.

All six teachers and the village sarpanch had joined hands to prove that a government school could also provide all the facilities being provided by the private schools.

Rishipal Nain, a teacher of the school said that it was started in 2016 -when the government primary school of Sisoli village started classes with about 130 students and two teachers.

“One year after four more teachers were deputed following the request of the villagers and this formed a team of six dedicated teachers. We began the facelift of this school and provided all facilities by spending money from our pocket”, he added.

Teachers said that there was a general perception that private schools are better than the government schools and most parents prefer private schools for their children. Also sending the children in private schools has now become a status symbol in the society.

Rakesh Kumar, a mathematics teacher said that the change in the atmosphere of the school even brought a major change in thinking that the private schools are better than the government schools. “In the past three years the strength of the children has increased to 194 including 54 girls as over 30 children earlier studying in the private schools took admission in our school”, he added.

“In the past two years our four students got admission in the Navodaya Vidyalaya as we provide free coaching to interested students for the competitive exam, even the school remains open on Sunday”, said another teacher Rajesh.

Moreover, these teachers were paying Rs 3000 per month to a girl from the village as she prepares the students one year before they took admission in class I. “In government schools, the children directly get admission in Class I and many of them are not prepared to attend the classes. We started a nursery class by hiring an educated girl of the village at Rs 3000 per month so that she could provide basic training to them one year before they get admission”, said a teacher Manoj Kumar.

Besides quality education, these teachers also organize several other activities like painting and dance competitions, GK Quiz, Sports Meet, and stage performances.

The villagers are also happy with the working of the teachers as village sarpanch Krishan Kumar said that besides teaching these teachers also play the role of a peon, sweeper and grander as there is not a single peon in the school. “Our teachers do not hesitate to cook mid-day meals for the students if the cook is on leave and they provide free uniforms, shoes, and books to the students, who come from the general category but belong to poor families”, he added.

The initiative of these teachers even grabbed the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he praised the teachers for spending their salary to provide better facilities and quality education and atmosphere to the students. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in a tweet also thanked these teachers for taking such a big initiative.

These teachers also have a dress code, pink shirt and black trousers and they come to school on a bicycle. They said that as the schools were closed since march, these teachers are holding online classes and even go to the home of the children to check their homework.