PRAYAGRAJ
SPOT CHECK
Students of this government-run primary school located in the remote rural area of Chibaiya village of Bahadurpur development block in Prayagraj, impress the visitor with their fluent recitation of tables, general knowledge and spoken English, all thanks to the involvement and dedication of four teachers who manage the 110 children studying in Classes 1 to 5.
With dreams of making the country the cleanest in the world, to becoming like the PM of the country, these children can easily give students of so-called elite schools a run for their money.
For example, 9-year-old Nitin Gaur, son of a roadside fruit vendor Kirtan Das Gaur and a student of Class 5 recites tables up to 20 with speed and precision. He can also understand and speak in English. Ask him about his ideal and he replies with a gleam in his eyes ‘PM Sir’. When asked about what he liked in country’s PM, Nitin said ‘Swachta Abhiyaan’. “I like cleanliness. My school is also very clean and my teacher never allows anyone to throw even a piece of paper on the floor,” he said.
Similarly, Akansha Gupta (9), daughter of Shiv Babu Gupta, a utensil shop owner and a student of Class 5 can read her English and Hindi text books with confidence. Ask her about her ideal and she also looks up to PM Narendra Modi. “My father has a radio in his shop and he listens to PM Sir’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme which I also like. PM Sir talks about common things mostly about how to keep cleanliness around, how to make the country better, farmers and their problems, etc. My three sisters and I like PM Sir a lot. We have his photograph also at home,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, Akansha Gupta (9), daughter of Shiv Babu Gupta, a utensil shop owner and a student of Class 5 can read her English and Hindi text books with confidence. Ask her about her ideal and she also looks up to PM Narendra Modi. “My father has a radio in his shop and he listens to PM Sir’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ programme which I also like. PM Sir talks about common things mostly about how to keep cleanliness around, how to make the country better, farmers and their problems, etc. My three sisters and I like PM Sir a lot. We have his photograph also at home,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}Likewise, Khushi Yadav (8), daughter of Uday Bhan Yadav, a milkman, can run through arithmetic problems with ease. Ask them names of the president of India and how many states the country has, Khushi, in two plaits tied with a red ribbon, gives the answers with a confident smile.
When asked if she liked coming to school, the shy child said, “I like to come to school as Madam gives us clean food and a badminton racket to play. My teacher also tells us interesting stories everyday which interest me,” she added.
According to school headmistress Rajni Srivastava, all four teachers had a common aim: to teach students as our own children, besides eating food provided under mid-day meal (MDM) along with children to ensure food quality.
Another primary school teacher Madhuri Mishra, teaching students of Class 5 informed that apart from the prescribed syllabus, she kept teaching students about things of common awareness like names of the president, prime minister, chief minister, besides other details of the country like number of states, their names, their capitals and held short quizzes every week to assess the attention level of students.
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Caption 01: Nitin Gaur
Caption 02: Akansha Gupta along with class teacher Madhuri Mishra
Caption 03: Khushi Yadav
Caption 04 : Primary School, Chibaiya in Prayagraj.
(All pics by Anil Kumar Maurya/HT)