Prakash Pandey &#8211; India’s youngest change-maker in Rural Education

Prakash Pandey – India’s youngest change-maker in Rural Education

Its story of Prakash Pandey’s, whose immense strength and belief of sharing learning and education with others led him to create an independent movement in rural India’s education sector.

We have to start this story as a thought-provoking matter of concern. Here, we will be talking about the condition of the Indian Education System in the 20th Century. This thought came to our mind when we spoke to this person who is tirelessly working towards Rural Education.

Till today the school education exists at a pre-dated level. It’s continuing to be an uncommon reality in most parts of India. Go to any village or Taluk in the far interiors of the rural countryside. The scene is pretty much the same everywhere—an old, dilapidated building, where children continually jostle for space and attention. Classrooms with low or no-lighting, sporadic availability of blackboard and chalk for conducting lessons are common scenarios. And the most de-motivating factor of it all is the endless low supply of good teachers. These teachers cater to the child’s overall development throughout any academic year.

Given such a condition, those who receive education in the villages and can realize their academic journey entirely are the ones who are considered lucky. We are also fortunate to have some people who recognize the value of education that shapes little lives by sharing the light of knowledge.

We bring you the journey of one such person who not only reached the incredible milestone of completing his education level but is also determined to touch the lives of his village children. These children seemingly have little or no access to good and quality education.

The Belief in Education

The handsome young boy is Prakash Pandey: born and brought up in Chorauwan in Bihar. Chorauwan is a small but captivating village in the interiors of Bihar, which in current times is one of India’s rapidly developing states, soon transforming into an excellent cultural hub in its own right.

As a young child of his village, Prakash, like many others, saw the dream of studying and becoming something in the field of his chosen work. Prakash completed studies in his village itself and pursued higher studies even further. Soon he was invited to Delhi.

Living his Dreams

While he was in Delhi, Prakash’s hard work was rewarded by the excellent quality of education that he had earned. His education quality fulfilled Prakash’s dreams while he was away from home. The availability of various basic amenities and facilities and the easy access to the best library services altogether made Prakash’s education a beautiful experience that left an indelible mark on his mind.

After completing his successful education in Delhi, Prakash Pandey joined the Indian Air Force, completed his ground training, and became one of the leading officers. Prakash was earning well, and by now, he had become an independent young man.

However, Prakash had an unrealized dream. He often thought about the backward quality of education that was still prevailing in his village, which particularly saddened him.

Prakash Pandey returns to his home.

One day, when he visited his village, he was sad to see the backward condition of his village. Nothing had changed in the system of education in these many years. Children even today had no access to good amenities and facilities, not to mention the lack of a decent library. Prakash Pandey was indeed taken aback. It was the day when he decided to take a U-turn from Delhi and stay back in his village for good.

Converting Dreams into Reality

Perched atop the panoramic village view sits a beautiful rustic home that has now been converted into a spacious and vibrant school. It is Prakash’s house that has now been converted into a school.

Prakash started the first privately-run school in Chorauwan village in his own house. Set up in the year 2017, the school was ready with fully functional classrooms with blackboards, benches, and tables and running with a consistent supply of electricity throughout the day.

One can make out of the happiness on the children’s faces that a school with good facilities was indeed a dream come true for them. This school is called Paathshala – which also translates to a temple of education.

Dreaming, Toiling, and Executing

It takes blood, toil, and even sleepless nights to prepare oneself for a journey that will ultimately bring them happiness and a sense of fulfillment.

Prakash Pandey’s school was built out of his sheer hard work and motivation, not to mention he has spent his savings to make a privately run school that hosts decent amenities: a reality for the children in his village.

As we spoke to Prakash about this, he said, “soon as I decided to set up the school, I spoke to a few youngsters in my village who were motivated to help me. Together with my friend, we achieved the first target of reaching out to these youngsters. We trained them in various modules relating to numeracy, language, and even computer literacy.”

“Though the overall literacy level was comparatively moderate, there were more educated the girl children in our village than the rest.” – says Prakash Pandey.

The next target to achieve was: providing a class apart of amenities and facilities to the students by giving them access to classrooms, learning aids, and a fully functional setup of a few computer rooms. We wanted to make sure that every child in our village was exposed to the world of computers right from the early schooling age, and we initiated with the primary usage of computers.

Training the staff

Prakash wanted to set up a model of education which was very different from the rest. Therefore he decided to motivate the students who completed their schooling by providing them free access to training.

Upon completing the module, they can join the school as teaching staff. Prakash and his team also paid the teachers and other staff like in a regular school to keep the motivation level high. The school caters to 400 students with classes up to the VIII standard.

This girl speaks

Ranjita is a class IV student who is a bright and effervescent child. She loves Maths, Language, and Computer literacy. I love going to school”, quips a happy Ranjita… Like Ranjita, many other children happily attend school. It motivated the elders in our village to send their children to our school – gushes an animated Prakash.

Bridging the gap

School education in India is at a stage where there is a despicable gap between the systems in rural India and system in urban India.

This story is about one such change-maker. He wanted to share the same with the people of his village with his grit, determination, and passion for knowledge. In the current times, we need more Prakash Pandey’s who loves to give back to society have the passion for making the dream of quality education an actual reality for all: irrespective of all the odds. Here’s on behalf of everyone from team Storyofsouls.com. We give a big salute to you, Sir. You genuinely are transforming lives through Teaching.

Our Storyteller: Alifia

Hi, I am Alifia. I am a senior creative writer and a communication consultant. Writing is my passion, and reaching out to youngsters through my words is true love. I have written short stories for online journals, feature articles for magazines. I am also writing for numerous newspapers and online blogs. My passion is to explore the opportunity to write for children and youngsters. I especially like motivational writing, counseling through words, and fun and learning-oriented topics. I also take up the group and individual learning sessions that motivate children to coordinate and communicate better! Reach me at: WriterAlifia.

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