Coaches students for free, arranges books, stationery for those in need

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ropar, February 10

Even as the state government and the Opposition are busy targeting each other over jobs to the youth in the past three years, a government schoolteacher has done what those in power could not do. Sixty of Sher Singh’s students have already joined the Army.

Singh, a Punjabi lecturer at Government Senior Secondary School in Phulpur Garewal village, Kandi area, started coaching poor students in 2014. His aim was to get them jobs.

Singh’s efforts yielded results as 60 of his students got into the Army, 25 of whom were commissioned on Saturday. Many others got jobs in the Police Department and government sector, he said.

Singh, a postgraduate in English and science, doesn’t charge a penny from students. He even arranges books and stationery for those in need.

Three of the 25 successful students, Vir Barinder Singh, Zorawar Singh and Sharanjit Singh, have been able to make it to the technical trade in the Army against the total quota of eight posts allocated to the entire state.

Gurvinder Singh (22), son of a labourer from Rasoolpur village, said he was looking for a job after completing his graduation from Industrial Training Institute (ITI) when he came to know about Singh’s coaching centre. He studied science and mathematics for a month there and was able to crack the examination, said Gurvinder.

Similar is the story of Akashdeep Singh, a Class XII pass out, and Parminder Singh, a graduate, both from the Chamkaur Sahib area.

Singh said he thought of started coaching classes when he noticed that a majority of the students after passing out from schools and colleges roamed aimlessly in the area.

Ropar district was yet to be developed and people had small land holdings here, the youth didn’t have much to do even at home, he said.

First, he started putting up newspaper clippings regarding vacancies at the school gate so that people in the area could notice it and apply for suitable jobs. Then, he started coaching Class XI students, who were physically fit and wanted to join the Army. Soon, others contacted him and the number of students started increasing, he said. A WhatsApp group of job aspirants has been created in which information regarding jobs is shared every day.

It was not easy for students belonging to poor families to reach the school from far-off villages. Many couldn’t afford to spend on books required for coaching, he said.

“Initially, I spent money on books and other stuff, but later those belonging to well-off families started extending help,” he added.