Teaching his passion, even little is big enough

Ferozepur, Amid reports of the education system steadily tilting towards commercialism and teachers drawing flak for absenteeism, lack of passion and plain apathy, teachers like Dr Satinder Singh come like a fresh breath of air.
Having shot to limelight during his stint as a commerce lecturer at Government Girls Secondary School in Ferozepur city for his “out-of-the-box” approach, Satinder was promoted and posted as Principal of Government Senior School, Gatti Rajo Ki, a few months ago. The school is a stone’s throw from the India-Pakistan border.
Since this posting, he has been on a mission to not only increase the enrolment in his school but to also improve learning outcome in classes.
Having been conferred with a national award in 2011 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development for his yeoman’s services in the field of education, Satinder also plays a vital role in environment protection.
Before he took over, the government school at Gatti Rajo Ki wore a deserted look but his continued persuasion and interaction with villagers has led to more students rejoining the school. Now, even remedial classes are being held here.
“I spent a lot of time interacting with villagers, especially the youth, making them aware of the perils of drugs. I guide them about future prospects after attaining education,” says Satinder.
The school where he teaches is the only Class XII school in the region which caters to a cluster of almost a dozen villages, including Gatti Hajara, Bhakhra, Jalloke, Rahime Ke, Chandiwala, Bhanewala, Churiwala, Tendiwala and Khuder Gatti.
“When I had joined here, I was taken aback by the plight of the poor children. The dropout rate was high and so was absenteeism from classes,” he says. “Even the facility of potable water was not available in the school. However, I made an effort and with the help of some local NGOs. Our school is the only place in this border area that has the facility of potable water now,” he adds.
“I have also tried to improve the infrastructure of the school without any cost to the state exchequer. The earlier issue of shortage of furniture has also been sorted out.”
Dr Satinder is also the president of AGREED Foundation, which works towards environment protection.
“It was my own choice to serve the border people while residing on the banks of the Sutlej as they have been deprived of education more than anybody else,” he says. Along with my team, I have started various activities to draw students to the school. Competitions like declamations, painting and games are now a regular feature here. We also encourage students to use waste material following which several creative projects have been made.
“The biggest problem due to which these students lose their interest in studies was English. I asked students to learn five words of English daily or at least two words if they find it difficult. This scheme is working well and spoken English of these students has improved a lot,” says Satinder.
“As most children were either working as daily wagers or helping their parents in household chores or farming, we faced a lot of reluctance from parents in sending them to school. However, our persistent counselling paid off as most of such students have now started attending school,” he says with a sense of delight.