Meet Rural Teachers Who Double Up As YouTubers In Their Efforts To Spread Education

Gaon Connection introduces you to teachers from government schools who are posted in the rural pockets of Uttar Pradesh who are tech savvy and are determined as digital comrades in the education space. They have their own YouTube channels through which they are spreading the joy of learning.

Also, the latest edition of Gaon Connection's e-magazine which is titled as Teacher Connection — the namesake of our long term project to celebrate and document the inspirational efforts of teachers across the length and breadth of India's rural hinterland, is dedicated to the teachers who have launched YouTube channels.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE COPY OF E-MAGAZINE

Meet some teachers from rural pockets of Uttar Pradesh who double up as YouTubers:

Sanjeev Sharma enjoyed a celebrity moment when he got off the train at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. “A woman asked for a selfie with me. I asked her who she was and the response made me feel elated,” the 45-year-old teacher said. She was a ‘fan’ who followed Sharma’s YouTube channel.

Be it a ‘100 Days of Reading Campaign’ or ‘NIPUN Vaarta’, Sharma has been experimenting with his channel and treats it like an archive for future generations.

Sharma is a principal at the upper Primary School Rajmargpur, Aligarh, UP. Visit his YouTube channel here.

Rakhi Agarwal has devised a new way to keep her third-graders engaged and motivated to perform better in the class. “I announce that whoever does the best activity, I will record their video on YouTube,” she said. And the results are promising.

“The children are so keen that they check with me everyday about the comments, likes and subscribers of our YouTube channel,” the teacher laughed.

Her digital revolution is allowing her students to be up-to-date with education-related things.

Agarwal is an assistant teacher at the Composite School Janaita, Sambhal, UP. Visit her YouTube channel here.

Awadhesh Pandey is passionate about using magic shows on his YouTube channel. The quality of education in his school and student’s interest in studies have improved multifold ever since he launched the channel.

“Students want the teachers to come up with new ways of teaching them. Magic shows are very popular amongst students,” Pandey said.

Pandey is the headmaster of the Upper Primary School, Karpiya, Barabanki, UP. Visit his YouTube channel here.

Vipin Upadhyay’s YouTube channel is a space for cross-region learning and at the same time making his students camera-savvy.

“I have told them that the mobile must be held horizontally, and it should not be titled,” said the teacher. His students have turned into videographers who are often behind a mobile’s camera recording his lessons as he teaches them.

Upadhyay is an assistant teacher at the Primary School Amkheda, Jalaun, UP. Visit his YouTube channel here.

Shivani Singh's attempt to create a YouTube channel is to show a wider audience, what was unfolding in rural hinterlands. Involvement of the parents in her digital ride, worked wonders in strengthening her bond with them.

“They tell me that it is the trust they have in me, that they continue sending their wards to the school. That is what I have earned,” said Singh.

Singh is an assistant teacher at the primary school in Gangapur, Mirzapur, UP. Visit her YouTube channel here.

Vaibhav Chaudhary is interested in technology and his passion for video editing led to the launch of his YouTube channel.

“Apart from students and teachers, parents and guardians also watch my YouTube channel. It helps them keep a tab on what and how their child learns,” said Chaudhary.

Chaudhary is an assistant teacher at the Primary School Kasampur Veeru Khalsa in Bijnor, UP. Visit his YouTube channel is here.

Anjali Tomar videos demonstrate innovative teaching techniques and she primarily focuses on live streaming and recording the classroom sessions.

“The biggest advantage of my YouTube channel is that it has become a digital archive of my classroom innovations and experiments,” she said.

Tomar is an assistant teacher at Primary School Alawalpur in Ballia, UP. Visit her YouTube channel here.

Rakesh Vishwakarma believes that constant engagement with the viewers in the comment section of his YouTube channel is something that increases his expanse as a teacher.

“I keep the notifications on the comment section of my channel and I try to reply to the queries of the students as well as the teachers as promptly as I can. It helps me build a community of learners and teachers,” he said.

Vishwakarma is an assistant teacher at Model Composite School in Sanaiya Jatt, Rampur, UP. Visit his YouTube channel here.