Students from Government Senior Secondary School, Dhandhan, in Sikar district of Rajasthan, have gone on to do well in their lives. Some are pursuing engineering, medicine, and studying in bigger cities and even abroad. The Principal, Bhagirath Singh Mahicha, has worked selflessly for years here and never asked for anything for himself
“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.”
—Aristotle
Principal, Bhagirath Singh Mahicha being felicitatedThe teacher’s day celebrations of 05 September 2014, brought tidings of overwhelming joy for fifty-five-years old Bhagirath Singh Mahicha, and the teachers of Government Senior Secondary School, Dhandhan, in Sikar district of Rajasthan. With his modest school headmaster’s job, Mahicha could not even afford to buy a cycle all his life. When his former students and villagers in Dhandhan in Sikar district, handed him the keys to a white Alto car, he was dizzy with joy.
State governments over the years may have failed to improve educational standards in Rajasthan, but local villagers in Sikar district have set a new precedent through their community initiative. People in Fatehpur village not only hired private teachers for the village school also but honored the school Principal by gifting him a brand new Maruti car for taking new initiatives for the school. Going a step ahead, the villagers will also bear the cost of petrol and maintenance of the car for the next three years. About twenty other teachers have also been honored with silver medals.
The sincere efforts of the Principal and teachers have borne fruit by improving the standard of education in the village school and producing 100% pass results. “The school principal was transferred to our village about three years back. In 2011 there were around 300 children in the school and today there are about 1,100 children studying here. With meagre infrastructure and facilities, Mahicha and his team have taken various initiatives and managed to work against all odds. None of the students failed this year,” said Jagdish Sharma, the Dhandhan village sarpanch.
The indifferent attitude of the state government towards the village school had been a major worry for villagers and school administration in the past. School Principal Mahicha motivated the villagers to come forward and take joint initiatives to improve the standard of teaching. “Despite repeated requests, the state government failed to address the shortage of teachers in our school. Eventually, the villagers hired six private teachers for the school, who are being paid from a fund created by the monthly donations from the villagers,” says Sharma. The satisfied villagers said the government school at Fatehpur today is no less than any private school in terms of infrastructure and resources. Local transporters in the village are offering a free pick-up and drop facility to the children.
“The school principal was transferred to our village about three years back. In 2011 there were around 300 children in the school and today there are about 1,100 children studying here. With meagre infrastructure and facilities, Mahicha and his team have taken various initiatives and managed to work against all odds. None of the students failed this year”
-Jagdish Sharma, Sarpanch, Dhandhan village, Sikar district, Rajasthan
Mahicha is a regular school teacher, who rose in the ranks from a Grade III faculty to Principal, over a period of 20 years, amidst routine transfers and sundry odds of neglected government schools. But he chose to make a difference by putting his heart and soul in his job. In 1984, he joined Dhandhan government secondary school as a Grade III faculty and taught History and Geography until 1993, when he was promoted to the post of headmaster. In 1997 when the school was converted into senior secondary, effecting a principal’s post, he was transferred to a nearby secondary school in Jandwa (Churu). In 2000, that school too was upgraded to senior secondary level and Mahicha was again on his way out, this time to nearby Mainasara village in Churu. In 2004, Mahicha was posted as an elementary education officer in Fatehpur Sikar Block. It was in 2009 that Mahicha returned to Dhandhan yet again, this time promoted to the post of a principal. It was a homecoming of sorts. “This is where I had started my career as a teacher with as many as 225 students in 1984. When I returned in 2009, the number had increased to 442 but the number of teachers and the facilities remained the same,” says Mahicha.
Mahicha confronted the problem of shortage of teachers head-on. He refused to stick to the school working hours. “It was not possible for such few teachers to give adequate attention to all the students in the regular school hours. So we worked out special summer classes during the summer vacations and also extra classes late into the night. I must say that the teachers did not grudge the additional work nor did the students,” Mahicha said. While only the weaker students were drawn in for the extra classes initially, the brighter lot voluntarily joined them. “The results are clear for all to see,” beams Mahicha. “The pass percentage in the school has risen remarkably. This year in Science, the pass percentage was 98.7% while in Arts it was 96%. It has remained above 90% over the last five years, showing a steady rise. The overall quality of performance too has improved as the number of students securing first division marks has increased,” he adds.
At a time when the state’s pass percentage in science is 80% and in humanities around 75%, Mahicha’s school has come up as an island of quality education. The school now has students not only from Dhandhan village but also neighboring districts such as Churu, Jhunjhunu and Nagaur. Local Sarpanch Jagdish Prasad Sharma says, “Students and parents from neighboring districts have heard about the school’s performance and outstanding academic environment and have come in large numbers to enrol. The locals run a trust, ‘Dhandhan Development Trust Shakti Mandir’ that actively supports the school principal’s initiatives. Sharma adds that the school also runs a hostel with 30 rooms housing 160 students who have come from neighboring districts.
“It was not possible for such few teachers to give adequate attention to all the students in the regular school hours. So we worked out special summer classes during the summer vacations and also extra classes late into the night. I must say that the teachers did not grudge the additional work nor did the students. The results are clear for all to see”
-Bhagirath Singh Mahicha, Principal, Government Senior Secondary School, Dhandhan village, Sikar district, Rajasthan
In an effort to provide better facilities, the school is provided free water supply and the electricity bills are paid by the Trust. Who would not support such an industrious principal? Even as Mahicha is overwhelmed with all the support, he grapples with a skewed teacher-student ratio. “It must be noted that while the number of students has risen from 442 in 2009 to 1166 now, the number of teachers has remained the same. I think the government should sanction more posts for teachers here,” he says.
“Students from this school have gone on to do well in their lives. Some are pursuing engineering, medicine, studying in bigger cities and even abroad. The Principal has worked selflessly for years here and never asked for anything for himself. So we called a meeting of the village elders and decided to gift him something. Two teachers volunteered to collect donations from villagers. No villager was forced to contribute, but when at the end we counted the total amount, it stood at Rs.6.50 lakhs,” says Sharma. “We decided to buy a brand new car for the Principal and also foot the fuel and maintenance bills for the next three years. The meritorious students of the school were also rewarded with silver medals weighing 40 gms each. The villagers are so inspired that one of them even volunteered to bear the expenses for the awards given to meritorious students next year already.”
Meanwhile, Mahicha’s Alto that flaunts a sticker on its rear windshield announcing it as a gift from ‘All villagers and former students,’ has no driver. “I do not know how to drive. So, for now, my students are driving me around and even refueling it. This is overwhelming,” he smiles.
by Maj (Retd) Pradeep Khare
