Teacher, cook, peon… He’s all this school has

BHOPAL: We’d like to call him a one-man army but he prefers to call himself a teacher. Meet Pavan Mishra, who singlehandedly runs a government school in Bhopal — playing

teacher

, mentor, manager

cook

and peon in the course of 24 hours.

The 40-year-old heaves himself up the stairs with a stick and smiles as his class of 22 wishes him. This is what keeps him going, he says.

The primary school — in Bal Vihar in the

Walled City

— has five classes and once had 150 students but over the years, the number of teachers dwindled, and so did the pupils. But Mishra soldiers on.

The only ‘handicap’ that this polio-affected teacher has ever felt in his life is the lack of colleagues. “My disability has never come in the way of my keeping this school going, but it has definitely affected the quality of education. For example, I am bound to teach all the students in one classroom. I wish I had at least one more teacher,” Mishra told TOI.

It amuses him that the state education department has put him in the ‘surplus teacher’ category. Twice. “I was shocked when I saw my name on the list of surplus teachers. How can a school with one teacher have surplus? I immediately approached officials but I am not sure if I have been removed from the list,” Mishra said.

For three years, he has been running the school on his own. “Call me teacher, headmaster, helper or peon. I am all that this school has,” he said. He prepares lesson plans for five classes, corrects papers, takes care of administrative tasks that seem without end and serves midday meals. And he even ferries students to school on his trusty moped. If he sees a student absent for more than a day, he lands up at his or her home to find out what’s wrong. “If I feel the family is reluctant to continue with the child’s education, I counsel them,” he said.

He is a legend of sorts in this locality. “Beating the odds, Mishra Ji is doing his best to keep the school alive. He organises events and activities, and comes to school every day, But that is not what a school is all about. We need quality education for our kids,” said shopkeeper Mohammad Anas, explaining why the number of students is dwindling.

The students who have stuck on feel for Mishra. “We don’t want anything. We don’t even need benches but give us at least one more teacher because master-ji is not well and despite this, he takes good care of us,” said a student, Fouzia Khan, as the others nodded in support.

Mishra, who has not taken even a day off for the past year, said: “My students are my strength and I want them be on top of this world.” Left without an option, he puts all of them in one room. “I first teach students of class 5 and then move on, assigning classwork to the other students when I teach one group. They quietly do their work. But I am not satisfied by teaching this way. They need good education, which is possible if I get at least one more teacher,” Mishra added.

The school used to have four teachers but the government never replaced those who retired or got promoted and moved on. Mishra was always passed up for promotion. He doesn’t mind that as much as the fact that he doesn’t have an

Urdu

teacher. Sixty per cent of his students study Urdu.

The Right to Education Act makes it mandatory to appoint trained teachers for every subject. “A guest teacher for Urdu was sent here this year but his tenure ended in April. Since then students have not studied Urdu,” said Mishra, adding that recently 10 admissions were cancelled when the parents found out that it’s a one-teacher school.

Every year Mishra writes to the authorities to appoint at least one teacher but in vain. District education officer

D K Sharma

said that guest teachers can be appointed but only after it’s cleared by the higher authorities. “We face an acute shortage of teachers but it is not in my hands. The higher authorities need to pass some concrete directions,” he added.


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.