Mewat teacher who reduced dropouts by girls gets PM Modi's praise

MEWAT: An elementary school headmaster, who brought down the dropout rate, especially among girls in Mewat, one of Haryana's most backward districts, earned a tweet of commendation from PM Modi on the eve of Teacher's Day.

"Shri Basruddin Khan... has played a key role in promoting the education of girls. He has also made a significant contribution towards identification and enrolment of out-of-school children. Congratulations to him for the National Award for Teachers," the PM posted on Tuesday.

Delhi's Geeta Gangwani was also among several teachers who received similar tweets of appreciation.

In conservative Mewat, where an estimated 20% students drop out of government schools, Basruddin Khan has played the pied piper to perfection. The 54-year-old science and mathematics teacher has filled up vacant benches, brought down drop-out rates and spread awareness on the delicate issue of vaccination in the Muslim-majority district. He also roped in the services of an NGO to launch Udaan, a programme aimed specifically to ensure that girls don’t drop out of school.

In at least three villages where Khan worked, attendance among students increased dramatically. When he started his career in 1993 in Jharpuri village, there were only 20 students in Class VI to VIII in the school he taught. By the time he left two years later, the number had almost tripled to 57. In Siroli village, where he taught at the Government Model Sanskriti Senior School for 18 years, the number of students shot up from 96 to 638 between 1995 and 2013. The school also had an impeccable a 100% pass record for several years, unprecedented in the village.

Khan has been posted at the Government Middle School in Tappan for the past five years. Till date, he has persuaded various agencies and NGOs to invest nearly Rs 1.7 crore to improve the school’s infrastructure. For the past 25 years, Khan’s routine has hardly changed. He leaves for school around 7am and stays there till 7pm. He engages students for extra classes in the evening and prepares notes for the next day.

His mantra is simple. “You have to involve children. There is so much to play with in science and maths. Whenever something is taught practically, kids learn faster and get more curious about it. Then, there is no looking back.”