E-Paper
Kota teacher pledges support to over 2,000 students amid Covid-19 crisis
Shashi Prakash Singh, popularly known as SPS Sir, resides in Kota, Rajasthan and has been teaching for 14 years now
A coaching teacher has pledged to facilitate school and coaching fees of 2021 such students who either lost their earning family member to Covid-19 or have family members who lost employment amid the pandemic.
36-year-old Shashi Prakash Singh hails from Baliya in Uttar Pradesh and teaches chemistry on an online coaching platform in Kota, Rajasthan. He was in complete disarray when his mother and elder brother tested positive for Covid-19 in April.
Despite all efforts, Singh could not find a ventilator for his mother in the hospitals of Lucknow after which he sought help on Twitter. Several of his former students came to the rescue.
"Three of my students studying in medical colleges traced a ventilator bed for my mother in a hospital in Noida after which my mother could be saved," he said.
"The students' gesture prompted me to support those students who are severely hit by the second wave of Covid-19 either due to the death of their earning family member or due to the pandemic-induced unemployment of their kin," said Shashi.
"I decided to form a corpus fund of ₹11 from my pocket with the determination of arranging more funds for such financially distressed students," he said.
"I am providing financial assistance worth up to ₹25,000 for meeting the requirements of the annual school or coaching fees of such students," he added.
Singh said he has already extended financial assistance to nearly 16 students who hail from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bengal and others.
One of his students, on condition of anonymity, said that he lost his father to Covid-19 but Singh approached him with ₹25,000 assistance which helped him with his school fees.
Shashi Prakash Singh, popularly known as SPS Sir, resides in Kota, Rajasthan and has been teaching for 14 years now in various coaching institutes, such as Aakash, Allen, Pathfinder Academy etc, to name a few. He is presently one of the top educators on the coaching portal Unacademy.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Singh decided to support 2021 families by investing all his savings and assets.
Shashi said that he strongly believes that the strongest pillar for the middle and the lower class people is education which is the only platform that can secure their future and provide more security to the entire family. "Financial instability, especially in current times of crisis, can strongly hinder their education which can put many families’ future in darkness," he said.
"It is my opinion that money should never be a limiting factor in anyone's success and bright future," he added.
