Teachers at this government school survey nearby villages to enrol out-of-school children

Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh

The Lieutenant Colonel Shivnath Singh Inter College sits right on the border of Ranjeetpur and Bhaupur in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh. Spread over nine acres, the campus has several species of trees that makes the environment cool and green.

Bordering the green are classrooms with clean and bright whitewashed walls. The government school has about 1,000 students and 30 teachers who learn and teach in its 24 classrooms, five laboratories and two staff rooms.

What sets this school apart is the fact that its teachers go way beyond what is expected of them. “Before the new academic year begins, our teachers conduct a survey in the nearby villages. They spread awareness about the importance of school and motivate parents and children towards education,” said the acting principal Shashi Prakash.

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In the course of their village visits, the teachers find families where a child is not in school because he or she cannot afford the fees. Those children are identified, their parents counselled and the children are enrolled in the Lieutenant Colonel Shivnath Singh Inter College. Teachers also take care of the needs of students coming from economically weaker sections.

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A Class 11 student, Parul wants to be a police officer and she is grateful for the help extended to her by the school. “There are months when I cannot afford the fees, and my teachers take care of that for me,” she told Gaon Connection. “Because of that I am prepared to do anything it takes to become a police officer and don the uniform,” she said.

“We are government teachers who are paid well and we decide amongst ourselves that we would take care of the fees and books of such children and take them into our school,” the principal told Gaon Connection.

“It is a matter of pride to us in school that we teach students for most of whom education would otherwise be unaffordable. They are children of either farmers or people who are in private jobs that do not pay much,” he added.

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Educating children of factory workers

The school was established in 1962 by a colonel in the armed forces. The school has had an active National Cadet Corps (NCC) wing since 2016. The NCC is the youth wing of the Indian Armed Forces with its headquarters in New Delhi.

“There are about 200 children in the junior and senior wing of the NCC,” Gopal Singh, their teacher, told Gaon Connection.

Children from other schools as far as Jhinjhak, Kanchausi, Auraiya, etc., also come to this school for the NCC training that happens on Mondays and Thursdays.

“I want to join the Indian Air Force,” said class 12 student, Hitesh Pandey. He said he had already begun to prepare for it. “My teachers support me in my dreams,” he told Gaon Connection.