Gujarat: Gurus who went beyond gyaan!

Ila PatelAMC primary school, NaranpuraMath Teacher

If there is one thing Ila Patel understands about the class 1 & 2 standard students then it is that the children trust the words of the teachers. Hence, she makes a point reiterating to the students that tobacco and alcohol are harmful to their health and often shows them videos of the ill effects of tobacco. "Ideally this is not what a teacher needs to remind his or her students of in any school. But many of my students come from poor households were drinking and chewing tobacco is common," said Patel. She said she uses the daily dose of reminders and video messages to impress on them never to touch intoxicants. When asked about her influence won't be limited since the students spend a limited time in school, Patel points an interesting observation to make. "I have found that young children often take their teacher's words to be the gospel's truth and that helps," she said. Patel who has also won an award for her innovation to use puppets to teach the students the alphabet said that almost all of her students have learned how to read letters from the songs she has made. "I use puppets and a song that involves all the letters of Gujarati alphabets to help them remember it. When students sing the song and simultaneously see the alphabets they not only manage to learn them but also string together the alphabets to read words and sentences on their own," said Patel.

Darshana MalakiyaAMC school in BehrampuraMath & Science Teacher

The Math and Science teacher for primary section knew very well that any number of theories will not have an impact on the understanding of the students, if not demonstrated practically. As a result, she took it upon herself to organise a visit for the students at various science institutes in the city. This included a visit to the Science City, the Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Centre and ISRO among others. "I know that just telling them about scientific experiments or drawing it on board will never generate enough curiosity in them.

So I made it a point to ensure that they would be taken to these institutes." She said at these institutes, the children get to see practical experiments they were taught in school. "Moreover, visiting such institutions will also encourage them to think big as many of these children come from an underprivileged background," said Malakiya.She has also recorded 25 video lessons for BISAG, an institute that provides smart learning through videos to remote areas of the state.

Daksha ParmarAMC primary school, GIDCSocial Science Teacher

Long before the single-use plastic ban came into force, Daksha Parmar, a primary school teacher had convinced her students to reduce plastic waste. "I told them of the ill-effects and knew that mere talk would not work. So, I myself stopped using such plastic and curbed bringing it to school," said Parmar. She said she also encouraged her students to pick up plastic waste from school too and deposited it in a bin. "Earlier, when children in my school would bring ready-made food that was wrapped in plastic but now they make use of the mid-day meal scheme. The padikus (snacks in plastics) have almost stopped," said Parmar. She said that she also convinced the teachers not to bring plastic to school. "Initially, it was difficult but slowly and gradually they also stopped bringing it. We need to reinforce it time and again so much so that people think of the ill use of plastic every time they use it. That is the only way we are going to stop it," said Parmar. She was also instrumental in 20 of her students getting the National Merit Means Scholarship under which each student gets Rs 1000 help per month. Of the 20 students, 9 were meritorious students.

Chirag JoshIAMC primary school, ThaltejPrincipal

It's been over a decade that Chirag Joshi, the principal of AMC's primary school in Thaltej has been associated with education and managed to get Rs 35 lakh worth of donations for the school. "I believe that people are interested in helping others and that we should not rely on the government alone for everything. It's been now 7 years that I have been associated with the school we have managed to get Rs 35 lakh worth of things, be it smart boards or uniforms or books for the children through donations from common citizens," said Joshi. Under the Jan Bhagidari programme, the school encourages locals to volunteer their time, energy or money to help improve the school. Over the years, the combined efforts of the teachers and the principal have also ensured that the students win awards in innovation as well as sports at various national competitions.

Purvesh PanchalAMC school in Noble NagarGujarati Teacher

Other teachers teach students but Purvesh Panchal, a young teacher of an AMC school in Noble Nagar also went to solicit new students for his school when it opened. And like any good marketing person, Panchal let the school's work speak for itself. "When the new school opened I went to meet the students and parents in the nearby areas asking them to register themselves in the school. Obviously, they had their apprehensions because everyone has this image that nothing ever gets done in government schools," said Panchal. He said, instead of countering the doubts with platitudes, he offered that the parents could test the students of his school. "I asked some questions to the students of my school and those, who studied in private schools. They were simple questions. But while my students could answer them the private school students fumbled," said Panchal. He said, he wanted to impress upon the parents that just because they paid for a private school, it did not mean they could get a quality education. "This is a government school with no fee and our school teaches well and has all the facilities, I wanted the residents to take advantage of it." Today thanks to the efforts of Panchal his school has over 1000 students and a waiting list of 400.