Teachers are the building blocks of our lives who make our foundations strong. They don’t just teach us theories and numbers but also train us in the way of life. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they help build our worldviews as well.
We have listed down a few teachers who have dedicated their lives for the betterment of those underprivileged kids who don’t have the same access to opportunities as everyone else.
Prof Dattu Agarwal
Prof Dattu Agarwal is no stranger to the challenges and the discrimination that a visually challenged individual has to face in this world. An unfortunate event in his childhood took away his eyesight. But he never let that stop him from helping others. He’s always believed in empowering the visually impaired, especially the girls since they have lesser access to amenities. In 2007, he founded the Ambubai Residential School For Blind Girls in memory of his mother. This school in Gulbarga, Karnataka started with just four girls and now has 75. They work hard on their studies day and night in hope of a bright future. Prof. Agarwal wants to give them the best education he can.
Dev Kumar Varma
Growing up in a small village in this district, all Dev saw was pain and hardships. Education was hard to come by, and almost everyone around him suffered due to poverty. But he persevered despite the challenges. Dev finally went to NIT, got a job and became financially independent. However, during the 2014 elections, his life changed. Dev was appointed as the district election in-charge and had to train personnel and travel to government schools which were polling centres. Here he saw that high school students struggled to spell even the most basic words. That’s when he knew he had to do something to help the hundreds of children who were not getting the education they deserved. Dev and his wife, Priyanka, an IIT alumnus, started taking free tuition for underprivileged children in their house in Katras, Dhanbad and in 2015 started Pathshala — a free school for underprivileged children in Jharkhand. They started with 7 children and 3 teachers, and today have over 500 children and 15 staff members. The children at Pathshala get free uniforms, shoes, stationery, books and transport to school. Dev and Priyanka are dedicated to giving every child the education and life they deserve.
Pooja Patel
Pooja was not ready to compromise on the needs of her 2-year-old son, Vasu, a child with special needs. A mother with a strong will and determination, she took it upon herself to build the right school for Vasu and many more like him. That was the start of Prayas — a parent’s association for children with special needs in Rajkot, Gujarat. Pooja took it upon herself to do her M.Ed in Special Education and grew Prayas to what it is today. Pooja has dedicated her life to these 200 children and gives them and this cause, all her attention 24/7. To her, their well-being is of utmost importance. Prayas aims to provide holistic support to children with special needs through psychological, emotional, social, educational, vocational, homeopathic and other medical guidance to their children, thereby ensuring that they achieve their full potential physically and mentally, and also easing their integration into the larger community.
Neetu Singh
Neetu Singh started Sabki Pathshala with an aim to give the children from the Delhi slums a proper education — one that they deserve but can’t afford. Coming from a similar background as theirs, she knew their struggle too closely and never wanted them to have a life fraught with uncertainty and danger. Neetu’s first job after completing her B.Ed was as a guest lecturer in a high school in Delhi for visually-challenged boys. With utmost dedication, Neetu devoted months teaching her students. But as luck would have it, she lost that job and that sent her into spirals of depression. However, after months of suffering, she was able to rise above the situation and do something for the slum children. That was when she started Sabki Pathshala in 2015. Despite getting rape and death threats to stop her school, Neetu has never lost hope. Her Pathshala has benefitted around 80 students over the years and continues to change the lives of many more.
Donatekart has been fortunate enough to be able to support these dedicated teachers and help them build a better future for their students. You can click here to learn more about them and similar causes on Donatekart’s platform.
