KTCT Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has a new teacher! Iris, the first humanoid robot teacher in the state and possibly the country, was developed in collaboration with Makerlabs Edutech, as part of the Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) project, a NITI Aayog initiative designed to boost extracurricular activities in schools.

Iris, who is multi-lingual, can answer complex questions across various subjects, provide personalised voice assistance, cater to different learning styles, facilitate interactive learning experiences, and make education more engaging for students. For added mobility, Iris comes equipped with wheels, and has a dedicated Intel processor and a co-processor for manoeuvering tasks. With an Android app interface, users can easily control and interact with Iris for a personalised learning experience.

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“I should make class fun by having a discussion with students, as they are already tired from their consecutive science classes,” thought Tr Aarti, the English teacher of Class 12.

‘What do you want to become in life?’ was the topic. The students replied enthusiastically that they wanted to become doctors, engineers, IAS officers, businessmen, lawyers, scientists, etc.

Then Tr Aarti wrote on the blackboard, ‘Does anyone want to become a teacher?’

No hand rose and there was pin drop silence in the class. Tr Aarti then wrote out a third point, ‘Why don’t you want to become a teacher?’

The students replied saying that teaching was a low-paying job and the status of a teacher in society had declined as compared to the olden days.

“Who wants to become a teacher for a day on Teachers’ Day?” asked Tr Aarti.

Suddenly, all hands rose high in the air.

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“Jay, you really expect me to believe that your dog ate your homework? You know the new headmistress is taking rounds of the school and you still didn’t do your homework! This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable! Stand outside the class!” Ms Smita scolded.

“Sorry, miss,” Jay apologized.

“Shlok, you’re late! Did you bring your homework or was your homework eaten by dogs, too?”

“The dog did not eat my homework… he only tore it.”

“Enough of these lies, stand outside the class! I didn’t expect this from you, Shlok!”

Ms Smita was right to not expect this kind of behaviour from Shlok. After all, he was one of the best students in the class, hardworking and always ready to help his classmates. But she was wrong to think that Shlok was lying…

Earlier that morning, Shlok was walking to school with his homework sheets in hand that he had remembered to grab at the last moment, when he saw a dog that was chasing after a cat, run straight into a lady carrying many paper sheets in her hand just like him, making all the sheets fall to the ground. She began desperately trying to collect them but they were flying all over with the wind.

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Most people can look back on their school days and remember one teacher who really inspired them. Peter Tabichi is the most-loved teacher from Kenya who is committed to making a difference in the lives of his students. To some students, he is the parent they don’t have; to others, he is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. His remarkable contributions to the pupils of a school in Kenya’s remote Rift Valley region won him the prestigious Global Teacher Award in 2019, beating 10,000 other nominees from 179 countries globally.

Peter Tabichi was born in 1982 in Nyamira County, Kenya. He lost his mother when he was just 11 years old, leaving his father, a primary school teacher, to raise him and his siblings alone. Coming from a family of teachers, Peter wanted to become a teacher. He joined the Franciscan religious order, a unit of the Catholic religious order founded by St Francis of Assisi, and became a Franciscan friar.

Peter is a qualified science teacher who worked at four schools in Kenya and Uganda before ending up at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School where he has taught since 2015.

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“Teachers are holy angels leading their flock out of darkness.” ~ Jeanette Walls

A village government school teacher became the first Indian to win the Global Teacher Prize 2020, selected from over 12,000 nominations from over 140 countries. The Prize was established by the Varkey Foundation in 2014. The excited Ranjitsinh Disale declared that he would share half of his $1 million prize money with the other nine finalists (each would get about Rs 40.57 lakh).

32-year-old Disale was declared the winner of the prize on 3 December 2020 for his work for girl child education and revolutionising textbooks in India.

“I am lucky that I chose teaching and could bring change in students’ lives,” Disale said. “Teachers are the real changemakers who are changing the lives of their students. Teachers work for the outcome and not for income, and these teachers (the finalists) are doing tremendous work and they should also get the reward. I want them to feel like winners and be equally happy. Together we can change this world because sharing is growing,” he announced.

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A teacher at heart, Shreenarayan believes no physical disability can come in the way of the development of a person, and everything can be achieved through hard work. His life and achievements are no doubt an inspiration not only for the physically challenged but to society at large.

His father had thought it better that he died. But today, his son has made a big difference in the lives of so many people. Here is the story of a courageous young man who lost both his forearms but still managed to equip himself with multiple degrees and, incredibly, gain renown as a teacher of the visually handicapped, besides fighting for the rights and happiness of the physically challenged.

“How are you going to write and teach Braille to the children?” That was the question put to Shreenarayan at an interview he attended for the post of teacher at an Institute for the visually challenged. The question was valid, since Shreenarayan had both his arms amputated.

“If you permit, I can demonstrate to you,” was the young man’s calm response.

So impressed was the interview board that Shreenarayan was told, “If you clear this interview, it will not be because of consideration for your physical handicap but your merit.” That was the recognition of his spirit that helped him overcome all odds and come out a winner.

Shreenarayan was in Class VI when he suffered an electric shock. Doctors told his parents that his arms would have to be amputated at the shoulders in order to save his life. His father was not in favour of amputation. “It is better that he dies. Who will take care of him? He is good for nothing without his arms,” was the man’s stand. But his mother felt otherwise. After taking some herbal medicines for a month, the boy’s condition improved so much that doctors said his arms needed to be amputated only below the elbows.

Back home, the young boy found that his mother was often at the receiving end of his father’s wrath because she had gone against his wishes and arranged for the amputation. So, he decided to leave home, and his mother gave him some money to help him till he found his feet.

With the help of some influential people, Shreenarayan was admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute. There he got artificial hands. “But the artificial hands would break after every two or three days,” he rues.

That was when a woman working at the institute asked him to try to write by holding a pen with his elbows. In a matter of a few months, he could not only write at a normal pace, but also do chores using his elbows.

There was no looking back. After Shreenarayan completed his graduation, he did his LLB and B.Ed., and qualified as an educator for special children as well. “When I came to study in Allahabad for my graduation, I realized that one has to fight for one’s rights, whether to get hostel accommodation or avail of the quota of college seats reserved for the physically challenged,” he says.

Shreenarayan and others like him formed a group to get their legitimate rights. “Many a time we sat in dharna (protest) or resorted to hunger strikes,” he recalls. “We had to deal with corruption at almost every step.”
Today, Shreenarayan is known for his competence as a teacher. He has also been honoured for his untiring efforts towards the education, economic empowerment and dignity of the physically challenged.

His first job was to teach visually challenged students at the Rajkiya Drishti Badhit Vidyalaya Mahokhar Banda in Uttar Pradesh. The students there did not believe that a teacher without hands could write or read Braille. They even urged him to teach them orally, empathising with his disability and not wanting to burden him. And when he showed them that he could indeed write and read Braille, they were astonished.

“Since they could not see, they would touch and feel me to see whether I really did not have hands,” remembers Shreenarayan with a smile. He taught there for four years before moving on to the Prayas Rajkiye Aksham Vidalaya in Pratapgarh. He currently works at the Rajkiya Mamta Vidyalaya Kodihar in Prayagraj.

“In class he used to behave like a teacher, but outside the classroom he was more than a friend,” recalls Shishupal, a student of Shreenarayan, now doing his post-graduation in history.

His students say that they used to drop in on Shreenarayan at his home, offering to help, but he always refused these offers.

“Shreenarayan Sir is our role model,” says Ram Kirpal, who is also doing his post-graduation. “We were really surprised that Sir could handle everything independently, including washing his clothes and making his food. What I liked most about our Sir is that he is not only a very good teacher, but also cheerful by temperament and even today we seek his advice and suggestions regarding our career, and he is ready to help us in every way.”

His willingness to help others has made Shreenarayan an activist. Although he himself was lucky to find a devoted companion, he realized that often, parents were not keen to get their handicapped children married. So with the help of an NGO, he organised the marriages of five handicapped couples more than a decade ago. Now it has become an annual affair. The newly-wedded couples are given almost every household item they need to start their lives together. Shreenarayan and his group of friends also help unemployed couples generate income, whether it is by opening a shop or by some other means of employment.

A teacher at heart, Shreenarayan believes no physical disability can come in the way of the development of a person, and everything can be achieved through hard work. His life and achievements are no doubt an inspiration not only for the physically challenged but to society at large.

Courtesy: Grassroots, September 2019

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I am a student of Std 11 with Arts. I want to become a teacher and social worker. I am also interested in dance. I want to do all these in DU University but I am confused about how to go about it.
Arun / Notre Dame School, New Delhi

Teaching at any grade level usually requires a bachelor’s degree in the subject you wish to teach. To teach in secondary schools one should be a graduate and also have a B.Ed. (Bachelor of Education) qualification. Graduate teachers with a B.Ed. are known as Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs).

A Bachelor’s degree in Social Work (BSW) is the minimum requirement for most entry-level positions in the field of social work. Besides BSW, undergraduate courses in psychology, sociology, and related fields satisfy hiring requirements in some agencies. A Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) is generally necessary for positions in health and mental health setting, public sectors and administrative positions. MSW is of a two-year duration and requires some field work.

At present, focus on 10+2 and get a good percentage. Join a good college for graduation in the field of your interest. You can pursue your interest in dance by taking private classes.

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Dear Tiyana, at the tender age of 12 you had a “crush” on a married teacher whose age is double yours. You came to know that he also liked you, but did not make a proposal of love to you as he is already married. Your friends came to know about your feelings for your teacher and began to tease and taunt you. Finally you realized that your “crush” for him at the age of 12 was completely wrong and decided to finish whatever was going on between you and him. That was the right thing to do and now it is better that you concentrate on more important things in your life: your family, your good friends and your studies. Time will slowly change your feelings for him.

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