Karnataka's Umesh TP is among the 46 teachers nationwide selected for the prestigious National Teachers Award-2022.
Published Sep 05, 2022 | 7:30 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2022 | 7:30 AM
Umesh sir with his students of his school in Amritpuradi in Chitradurga District of Karnataka/Supplied
In his first year as a teacher in 2004, Umesh TP found everything he expected of a school: Classrooms, desks, blackboards, chalks. But there was something missing: Students.
It was not as if the village the school was located in did not have children; it did. The problem was, very few of them enrolled.
“It was extremely disappointing,” Umesh told South First of his early days as a primary school teacher in Karnataka’s Bellary district. “There were so few children in the classroom.”
But being the son of a poor peasant, he could empathise with the locals; they were usually penniless farmhands who needed every little contribution to the family income, and their kids could do that helping on the fields, instead of attending school.
Umesh, then aged 27, had two options before him. One, he could go to work every day, sign in the attendance register, teach an empty classroom, and pocket his salary at the end of the month.
Or else, he could do something about the problem.
He chose the latter. It involved old-fashioned campaigning.
So, accompanied by a colleague, Umesh took out his cycle to ride out to the fields and tell the children’s parents they were making a mistake by keeping their kids away from school.
He even had to plead with the landlords on whose land the kids and their parents were working.
“I took with me photos of women police officers, teachers, doctors, engineers, etc., so I could tell the villagers their children too could become like any of these people, earn a decent living, and make them proud,” Umesh recalled.
During the pandemic, Umesh held classes for small groups of children near their homes. (Supplied)
The villagers were unconvinced. The money their kids were earning was now, the rosy picture that Umesh painted was too far in the future.
But Umesh refused to give up.
“It took me about four to five months of persistent effort, but at last I started seeing children slowly entering my classes,” he said, smiling as he recalled those days. “Even girls enrolled.”
Umesh didn’t stop at that. He ensured that the mothers of the children met in the school premises every month. His idea is that when you meet the mothers, the real difficulties of sending children to schools is understood.
“Also, mothers know how to push their children towards education. I felt they should be tapped, and years before the concept of mothers’ meets was introduced in government schools in 2019, I started it in this village,” he said.
In 2009, Umesh started teaching at a primary school at a tribal hamlet in Chitradurga district. Connected only by a dirt road to the outside world, the village was also off any bus route. Umesh usually walked or cycled to school from where he used to stay in Chitrahalli village, some 10 km away.
Umesh taking ‘mobile’ classes during the pandemic. (Supplied)
The new posting brought new challenges. When two of the school building’s three rooms collapsed in 2015, he taught for two years in a temporary tent and under a tree. He said that the enrollment of children never decreased.
“I took the help of Rotary Club, a private NGO called OSAT and got four well-equpped rooms, toilets for both boys and girls, wooden desks, reading tables, water filters, etc. I even built a wonderful library with more than 1,500 books in it,” said Umesh.
Umesh also managed to build a small science laboratory. “My children know how to use a microscope, though the syllabus for primary school children doesn’t call for a science lab,” he said.
“I want to kindle interest in them to become scientists.”
When the pandemic struck, Umesh refused to be beaten. “I decided to start my own way of reaching out to children. I started Jagali school (a school close to thechildren’s homes), Gudi school (schools in temple premises), Marada kelage school (under the tree), etc.
Instead of children coming to school, I began going to them.
Umesh also feared catching Covid19 in Holalkere and stopped returning home after school. “I thought if I get infected, I could infect the children and their families, so I decided to stay in school itself,” he said. “The villagers shared their food with me.”
Umesh’s is a hi-tech classroom with wi-fi and a TV to teach his students. (Supplied)
Later, when the government introduced online classes, Umesh realised the initiative would not help the children of his village, as their parents did not have android phones or internet connections.
So he started teaching on his cell phone. The kids would leave a missed call from as early as 5 a.m., he would call back and begin giving individual lessons, ending with a lesson plan for the following day. His help was available 24/7.
“I attended hundreds of calls during the pandemic, not only from students of the primary school, but also from older boys and girls who were now in high school,” he said.
Umesh’s life has been dedicated to his students; teaching is what gives him the most satisfaction. “I am only here because of them and for them.”
The award that he will receive on Monday, 5 September, will be a testament to his dedication.
