My journey began in 2006 as a ‘Shiksha Mitra’ (teaching assistant) and I continued work in that role until 2010. I then became an assistant teacher, and in the year 2015, I was appointed as a Science teacher in Composite School Sahawa. An incident in 2006 changed my perspective towards children. During lunchtime, I noticed a boy taking out rotis (chapatis) from his lunch box and keeping them in his bag to eat later. I asked him why he was doing so, and told him that his food was right in front of him and he should eat it now.
He replied, “Sir, I will take it home and eat it.” That day I realised that I would do something better for these children every day after seeing that boy.
I teach science, so I start everything with chemistry formulas, whether it’s the roll number of children with practical demonstrations, the date of the month with the class board, the day of the week or the attendance sheet. This makes it easier for children to understand things. That’s why I teach science in a way that it doesn’t feel like a subject, but rather like an everyday occurrence.
I make my students participate in interactive sessions and I have prepared 100 to 150 working models with children, which also allows children to use them and learn. Therefore, by using formulas everywhere, children are made to revise things, which helps them understand things in a better way. The children easily understand every aspect of chemistry. This is like an achievement for me.
Twenty six students from my school have won the national scholarship through their hard work, and have brought the name of our school to the forefront. They have received an amount of Rs 12,000. These children have showcased their talents and proved their teachers’ hard work in state-level competitions, whether in the field of education or sports, and have emerged victorious. Children from distant villages are coming to our school to study even during this scorching heat. I love being attached with children.
As a result of this affection for children, I got the opportunity to work in the Basic Education Sector and was also honored with the National Teacher Award. After that, I was also honored with the State Award. With this, I got the opportunity to go to the Netherlands.
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All these moments are very special for me, in which the children made cards, paintings for me, and made those moments special. My experience in the Netherlands was very good, we learned a lot there. We saw how children are being made skilled there and how much they can do with their daily lives. I felt that all these experiences should also be available here. According to the children’s interest, their further studies are carried out, which helps us learn and make our children even better.
As Khursheed Ahmed told the intern of Gaon Connection, Ambika Tripathi.
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