rk sharma

MY TEACHING
JOURNEY

R.K.Sharma

MY TEACHING JOURNEY

Let, not thy winged days be spent in vain. when once gone,
no gold can buy them back.

-APJ Abdul Kalam

MY TEACHING JOURNEY

The light that led me into the path of service to mankind
through my teaching career

Pujya Muktanandji Bapu

A brief history of the great soul who
gave his life in the service of mankind.

PujyaMuktanandji Bapu is a
compassionate, philanthropist, humanitarian
and the most generous saint of Chaparda.
PujyaBapu with his social works has become
very popular not only in his own region but also in Gujarat and
now due to his popularity he has been chosen unanimously as the
president of ‘Bharat sadhu Samaj.’

Pujya Bapu was born on 17th may 1959 in a small village
called Sarsai in Visavadar taluka, Junagadh district. He hardly
completed his primary education i.e., 7thstandard. During his
school days he used to visit Pujya Bhagavatinandji Bapu who
lived at Surevdham ashram near Chaparda village between the
Ambajal and Drafad Rivers. It is very beautiful with nature's gift.
Pujya Bapu was very much attracted by the peaceful environment
of the ashram as well as the thoughts and preaching’s of Pujya
Bhagavatinandji Bapu.

Fromchildhood, the seeds of philanthropy and help the
needy people generated in his heart. This strong desire moulded
him towards the service of the society rather than to acquire
education. At the age of just 14 years,Pujya Bapu took deeksha
of sanyasfrom Pujya Bhagvatinandji Bapu and became the sincere
disciple of his guru.

With the support of his guru,Pujya Bapu started his mission
to serve humanity in all aspects. He started his mission with the
eye camps. Later on, he realized the lack of education among the

people. He felt, this was highly needed for social awareness.
Sideby side he continued his social works and was always ready
to help the people in the days of natural calamities.During the
time of Tsunami, flood, famine, drought, earthquake, etc.Pujya
Bapu reached first with his team at the spot and started relief
camps to provide food, shelter, clothing and medicines. He
always helps the people at the time of disaster. It may be in
Gujarat, India or even Nepal.

PujyaBapu is always in favor of education. His inclination
towards education became very strong when he saw the orphan
children of earthquake victims of Adhoi village in Kutch.

Therefore,PujyaBapu with 120 students of Adhoi started shri
Brahmanand Vidya Mandir at Chaparda in June 2001.

In course of time this educationationalcampus established by
him at Chaparda now has become a banyan tree with 18
institutes from primary to college education.

He then focused on the health and hygiene of the orphans,
sick,poors, and needy people. He constructed a
modernmultispeciality hospital with 172 beds named ‘Jay Ambe’
with all the facilities from outdoor to indoor patients. All types of
operations and treatments are done free of cost in this hospital.

Pujya Bapu also established old age homes( Vrudhasram) for
discarded people in different parts of Gujarat like Chaparda,
Mendarda, Guptprayag and Gandhinagar where about 400 old
men and women are taking shelter under the care of P.Bapu. He
provides all the essential needs to these people free of cost and
nurses them just like a family.

Pujya Bapu is still busy with his mission of service to the
society like group marriage, eradication of addiction, meaningless
ceremonies, helping the animals and birds and growing plants. In
short, I can say that there is no end to his social works. Still, he
is busy with so many projects such as Anandadhara project to
uplift the standard of education of the government primary

schools of Visavadar taluka, naturopathy, bird’s sanctuary and
many more works of Bharat Sadhu Samaj.

At the end I quote the saying of PujyaBapu, “Help the
suffering humanity, raise the downtrodden, and inspire
those who are on their feet, show the right direction to
those on their move”.

We all the employees, followers and disciples of Pujya Bapu
follow the above saying and work in their fields with full devotion
and dedication. The blessings of Pujya Bapu are always with us.

Words of great educationists

“Education should be imparted with a view to build up a society
that we would like to see in the future. It should be on the base
of human dignity and equality.”

- Radhakrishnan

“Education is the manifestation of perfection already in men. It
is an assimilation of noble ideas.”

- Vivekananda

“Schools and colleges are the factories for making character.
Parents send their boys and girls to nurture them into good
human beings.”

- M.K Gandhi

“The highest education is that which does not merely give us

information but makes our life in harmony with all its existence.”

-Rabindranath Tagore

“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change

the world” - Nelson Mandela

R.K.Sharma With the blessings of Pujya Bapu I
put forth this small book which will
speak about my teaching journey. I
have completed 51 years of my
teaching in various schools and
colleges. I had both sweet and sour
experience in my journey.Man, always
wants something with ease but great
things never come from comfort. We
have to work hard constantly and
continuously.

Suddenly an idea sprang up in my mind: Why should I not
assimilate my rich and long experience in a book, so that it will
be a sweet memory of my teaching journey of 51 years. My
Grandsons were also of the opinion that I should write a book of
my experience. Hence, I started writing this book based on my
experiences which include learning, teaching, understanding and
sharing the knowledge with my students and colleagues. I have
worked in 5 schools, on 5 different posts (Teacher, Supervisor,
Vice Principal, Principal and Education Director), in 3 mediums
(Hindi, English, Gujarati), under 2 boards (CBSE and GSEB) and 2
types of schools (government granted and self-financed).

This is not an easy task for me to assemble a long
experience in a nutshell. Even then I have just tried to write it.
This book is mostly based upon my own experiences,
observations, informationreceived, knowledge acquired,
deliberations with educationists, preaching’s& discourses of the
saints and the books on education.

It is just my first endeavor to write a book in a very simple
language. So that anybody can read and understand it. I have
tried to cover all the aspects of becoming a perfect and a noble
teacher and an able administrator.

“The teacher could never be ordinary. Both construction

and destruction belong to him”. -Chanakya

It is the right saying of Chanakya because aChild’s heart is
like an empty vessel, what the teacher wants to fill it with, he can
fill.Therefore,the child's future is shaped in the classroom and the
future of the nation is in the hands of the teachers. Hence, he is
called a ‘Nation Builder’.

John Ruskin an English critic, has said,“Education does not
mean teaching people to know what they do not know; it
means teaching them to behave as they do not behave”.

Here I quote some lines from G.Narayan’s book excellence in
education, “In true education, both giver and receiver gain.
In each session of education both can undergo the process
of improvement when there is an intensive interaction”.He
further says, “Actually teaching is limited, learning is
limitless. Nobody can develop others. One alone can
develop oneself and others can only participate,
contribute, help, and assist in the process”.

Thus, education is the development of the talents and skills
and the noble ideas which are already in man. The teachers bring
out these instincts which make man a perfect human being.

There should be perfectness and completeness in education.

The journey of a teacher must be full of happiness and
satisfaction. The image of the teacher should be embedded in the
heart of the students throughout his/her life then only he/she can
be the best teacher.

An Introduction

The role model for a student is his parents first and then his
teachers.

Of all the professions, a teacher’s profession is the most
respectable and commendable profession. ‘Once a teacher always
a teacher’ is a very well-known saying every human being is a
born teacher at his own level. Be it parents, academic teachers or
spiritual teachers to cite a few. They are the pillars for shaping
the future of every human being. A good teacher is not just one
who has a list of qualifications attached to his name but one who
has the passion for teaching, love for his subject and a heart to
love and understand every student from a student’s perspective
and not from a teacher’s perspective.

From an early age, I had the desire to become an ideal
teacher. My parents also wanted me to be a teacher, as they
believed that a teacher’s profession is a very noble and
respectable profession in the society and a teacher commands
respect at all times anywhere in the world. Therefore, I decided
to be a teacher and make it my career.

It is often said without ambition and determination we cannot
do anything. Ambition is needed to achieve a certain end, either
personal or collective or social or for the nation and determination
is needed to reach the goal we set for ourselves.

What is ambition?

Ambition means to achieve an end, to have the drive, the
personal drive; the feeling that without struggling, without
competing, without accepting challenges, one cannot attain
anything in this world.

We need to respect ourselves if we want the world to
respect us. When we work with self-esteem, we gain self-
confidence. This is very important to achieve the goal we are
heading towards.

Self Esteem

Self-esteem is actually ‘swabhiman’ which means fulfillment
in what we are. The path that helps us to build confidence in
others. Only then we can have the ability to build team spirit
among the co-workers. Team spirit, is an essential requirement
for running an organization especially when we are working in an
educational institution because we are going to handle students
from different background, it is the teacher who acts as a
gardener in nurturing a sapling to grow into a full-grown tree. The
first requirement is the need to have confidence in our self so-
that we can build confidence in others. This is the foundation of
team spirit. Feeling of superiority takes one away from the team
and it is difficult to get dedicated persons to work. With a
dedicated team of workers, we can pave the bright future of the
saplings given under our care.

Self-esteem is very important because it heavily influences
people’s choice and decisions. In other words,self-esteem serves
a motivational function by making it more or less likely that
people will take care of themselves and explore their full
potential.

This strengthened my desire and with these ideals in my
mind I decided to become a teacher.

My Teaching Journey

The teachers journey represents a lifelong commitment to
learning, not only about your content area, grade level, curricular
changes, school policy, and technological innovations, but about
true passion for new knowledge and skills that make you more
effective as a professional and a human being.

After acquiring my master’s degree in Geography in 1967, I
became the Principal of a private Inter college in Agra district.
Being away from the city the college environment did not suit me
and after a year I left the college in October 1968.

I registered my name in the employment exchange office
Bharatpur (Rajasthan). Then I went to meet my relatives at
Ahmedabad (Gujarat). One of my relatives told me about the
vacancy in a government granted Hindi high school in
Ahmedabad. Hence, I applied and got the job as a Geography
teacher in the school. Though I worked at the school only for one
year, I introduced many innovations in the school. I set up a
Students' council and Geography club in the school. Many
activities were done in this club such as quiz competition, India
through maps, general knowledge test, and some games and
sports. Finally, there was an annual get together and prize
distribution function. The winners were given prizes and
certificates by the President of the trust Shri Babusingh Tomar.

Shri Babusingh Tomar R.K.Sharma discussing
Giving away the prize withS.M.Bhadauriya

After completing one year in the school, I went to Agra for
getting a bachelor’s degree in education and came back to
Ahmedabad after completing my B.Ed.

Meanwhile I got an appointment order from employment
exchange Bharatpur for the post of the Principal in Govt. higher
secondary school, Bharatpur. It was a golden opportunity for me.
I rushed from Ahmedabad to Bharatpur but I could not reach in
time, the candidate next to me joined the post and I missed the
chance.

Once again, I came back to Ahmedabad with a very heavy
heart in April 1971. In the same year Prakash Higher secondary
school came into existence. It was the first school in Ahmedabad
recognized and affiliated to the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary
Education), New Delhi. I applied for the post of PGT Geography
and was appointed to the same post. I joined P.H.S.S. on 18th
June, 1971.

Prakash Higher Secondary School - Ahmedabad

“Don’t struggle to be a batter teacher than everybody else.
simply be a batter teacher than you ever thought you could be”. -

Robert John Meehan

My real teaching journey started from

Prakash Higher Secondary School,

Ahmedabad. I preferred this institute

because I found favorable conditions to

impart my knowledge to the young

generation and expose them to the world

of Geography. The management of Shri J.C.Shah
P.H.S.S. was in the hands of professional

persons. The director of P.H.S.S. Shree J.C.Shah was a well-

known educationist and had deep knowledge to run Educational

Institutes. That time he had many schools and Institutes under

his able hands.

The director Shri J.C.Shah was a very strict disciplinarian.
He always believed in 100% success. He used to tell us “Either
do the work with 100% success or drop the idea”. He never
believed in cheap popularity.

He was a man of actions. I was with him for a very short
period of one year but during this period I learnt so many things
regarding regularity, punctuality, sincerity, firm determination
and learning habits. Above all I learnt the way to run a school
and take it to great heights. He was really a dynamic person and
he believed in respecting and protecting human values. Under his
able guidance I learned the value of these qualities and made a
part of my life.

The Principal Dr.H.J.Shah followed the Dr.H.J.Shah
footsteps of his father. He too was a strict
disciplinarian and followed all the rules and
regulations of the Government as well as
of the trust to the core. He also stuck to
the school policy regarding admission,
promotion and other rules and regulations
of the school.

He always tried to give justice to each and every student.
There was no discrimination in admission on the basis of caste,
creed, religion, sect, rich or poor. I have also followed the same
policy in all the schools where I have worked and am still
working.

I also learnt from the Principal to promote and encourage
the staff who worked nicely, properly and systematically. We had
a very good rapport with all the staff members. Whenever there
was any sort of ceremony or function in the school, the whole
staff worked together in a team and the work was completed
successfully. Soon we came to be called ‘Prakash Parivar’.

Today I remember some of my teammates like
Mr.N.M.Nampoothiri, Mrs. H. Rangarajan, Mr.Rajan. Mr. G.Dave,
Mr. N.H Dave, Mrs. V. Bali, Mrs. Geeta Nair, Mrs. LakshmiTata,
Mrs.M.S.Iyengar, Mrs.S.Verma. Mrs.Bhatnagar and many more.

I experienced that the principal was not only the head of the
institute but he was also a guardian of the students and staff.
Whenever a student or a teacher fell sick or there was some
special occasion, the Principal used to visit them at their homes. I
learnt from him how to maintain a cordial relationship with
teachers, students and guardians. Even today, after 50 years we
have the same relations.

When I joined P.H.S.S an English medium school, Miss
D’montry an English lady was our supervisor. She was very strict.
Many teachers left the school in the beginning due to her. But she
was very much cooperative. I learnt many things from her that
was essential for a good standard school regarding the teaching
process and the smooth interaction of the teacher and the
students such as: -

 Complete preparation of the lesson.
 Proper planning and use of teaching aids.
 Proper and relevant interaction with the students on the topic.
 Encouraging the involvement of every student in the teaching

learning process.
 Freedom to students to express their views.
 Preparing a question bank for every lesson to help students be

thorough with every lesson.
 Regular checking and assessment of students’ performance

through homework and classwork.
 Complete evaluation of the child through chapter test, weekly

test & periodical tests.
 Health and hygiene to be strictly followed through regular

medical checkup.
 Talent and skill of every child to be recognized and given

encouragement to surge ahead.
 Engaging students in creativity-based education.
 Teaching students through project work assigned to them.
 Proper use of laboratory, library & teaching aids.
 Involving students in group discussion.
 Encouraging and appreciating the students at every step to

build confident students of the future.

I became the supervisor in 1974. I learnt the administrative
responsibilities as a supervisor and the above tenets helped me

to successfully do my duty. I was also entrusted with many more
responsibilities like:

1. Framing of the time table: -

 Favorable time table always encourages teachers to discharge
their duties well.

 Teachers should be allotted the subject of their choice as far as
possible.

 Periods for a teacher should be between 30 and 33 in a week.

 There should be a free period after every two periods as far as
possible.

 The main subjects’ periods should be in the first half of the
school time.

2.Proxy Period Arrangement: -
 Proper justice to be given for arranging proxy periods.
 Supervisor to have a time table of free teachers.
 A teacher with more free periods to be given proxy first.
 As far as possible senior teachers to be given proxy in upper

classes and primary teachers in lower classes.
 Teachers should have planning for the free period. It is the

best policy.
 Proxy period can be exchanged with mutual understanding,

after permission.

3.Formation of committees: -

 The school committees play an important role in smooth
running of the school. The concerned committee looks after the
activities of its field.

 Teacher’s opinion should be taken before forming the
committee.

 There should be an in-charge teacher for each committee.

 Desired Committees –

 Prayer committee  Celebration committee
 Examination committee  School decoration committee
 Games & sports committee  Reception committee
 Cultural program committee  Scout-Guide committee
 Exhibition committee  Tours and picnics committee
 School magazine committee  School cleanliness committee
 Co-curricular activities  Social service committee

committee

Students Council

A student council helps share ideas, interest and concerns
with teachers and school principals. They often also help raise
funds for school wide activities, including social events,
community projects, helping people in need and school.

4. ExaminationPattern: -

School examinations are very important for the progress of the
students. The school holds different types of evaluation pattern
such as chapter wise test, weekly, periodical test, monthly,
terminal & annual examination. The records of all the tests &
exams to be maintained. The supervisor should look after the
following: -

 Paper setting: -

If more than one teacher is teaching in a particular class
which has many sections, the senior teacher & the most
reliable teacher should be given this responsibility to draw the
paper of that subject.

 Paper typing: -

It is the most confidential work. The most reliable person
should be kept for this work.

 Assessment of the answer sheets: -

Assessment key should be prepared before the checking of
the papers and according to the key assessment should be
done. Teachers should follow the policy of where to put marks
rather than where to cut marks.

 Rules of promotion: -

Rules of promotion could be framed by the management but
approval should be taken from D.E.O. and followed as per the
policy of the government.

 Marks or grade for the activities: -

Marks or grades should be given for the co- curricular
activities, games and sports and other achievements of the
students at state, nation or international level.

Additional responsibilities undertaken

 Public Examination:

I was appointed as the center superintendent by the CBSE,
New Delhi to conduct the all-India secondary school and all
India Senior school certificate exams at various centers of
Gujarat. I conducted these exams very effectively and
efficiently in many CBSE schools all over Gujarat. Such as: -

Sr.No. Name of the centers Years

1 Kendriya.Vidyalaya. Gandhinagar 1976

2 K.V. AFS. Jamnagar 1977

3 K.V. Gandhinagar 1978

4 K.V. Vallabh Vidyanagar 1979

5 May Flower Eng.Academy Mehsana. 1980

6 K.V.Vallabh vidyanagar 1981

7 K.V.Vallabh vidyanagar 1982

8 K.V.Vallabh vidyanagar 1983

9 K.V.Mehsana 1984

10 K.V.No.1 Ahmadabad 1985

11 K.V.No.1 Gandhinagar 1988

I also conducted the all-India senior school certificate exam

in Geography practical at various centers. The details are as

follows: -

Sr.No. Centers Years
1 K.V.Surat 1975
2 K.V.Ahmedabad 1976
3 K.V.Gandhinagar 1977
4 K.V.Baroda 1979
5 NavRachana School Baroda 1980
6 K.V. AFS (Air Force Station) Jamnagar 1981
7 Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Baroda 1983
8 Guru Shikhar School Mt.Abu 1984
9 K.V. Rajkot 1984
10 K.V.No.2 Ahmedabad Cantt. 1986
11 NavRachana School Baroda 1989
12 Prakash Hr. Sec. School A/bad 1990

❖ Tours and Picnics: -

Tours and picnics are very important in the students’ life as
they provide practical knowledge from the nature. India has a
wide range of diversities in food, shelter, clothing, languages,
religions, customs and traditions. The students should know all
these aspects of life through personal visits.

I was the tour in-charge and it was the policy of the trust
that the principal or vice principal should join the tour. I often
joined the tours with the staff and the students. The School used
to conduct tours and picnics every year. The students had a
glimpse of the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Kutch
to Kolkata and also Nepal and Srilanka.

A glimpse of Nakhi lake Mt.Abu

Ajanta- Ellora caves

Nepal Botonical Garden Kandey -Srilanka

Tours Organized During My Tenure

Sr.No Places Year

1 Abu-Ambaji-Udaipur tour 1973

2 Ajanta-Ellora tour 1974

3 North Gujarat darshan 1975
4 Agra-Delhi-Mussoorie tour 1975

5 Saurashtra darshan 1976

6 Ajanta-Ellora-Nasik tour 1977

7 Air trip to Udaipur 1978
8 Baroda-Pavagadh tour 1979

9 Ajanta-Ellora tour 1980

10 Nepal-Calcutta-Darjeeling 1981

11 Ahmadabad-Dakor-Pavagadh tour 1981

12 Saurashtra-Darshan 1981

13 Udaipur-Chittod tour 1982
14 South India-Srilanka tour by Ship 1983

15 Mt. Abu-North Gujarat tour 1983

16 Kashmir tour[cancelled] 1984

17 Air trip to Baroda 1985

18 Calcutta-Darjeeling Nepal by Air 1986

19 Kashmir tour [cancelled] 1987
20 Kashmir tour 1988

I was promoted from supervisor toVice Principal in June, 1986.

This new assignment added some more responsibilities along with

the previous ones which I was

discharging as the supervisor.

Now I had to train and guide

the teachers, checking of

lesson plans and observing

the teaching lesson in the

class, planning of conducting

tests and exams, annual

R.K.Sharma sports and annual day
celebration, guest lectures,

innovation of lab and laboratories and library. These all were

done with the consultation of the Principal.

Activities of the school

 Old Students Association (O.S.A)
We set up an OldStudents’ Association (O.S.A) in the school.

I was the patron of the OSA. We had annual meeting of OSA

every year and exchanged our views, opinions and suggestions

with each other. Even today OSA is working very nicely. We are

proud of our old students. It is very rarely seen that P.H.S.S. has

more than 250 grandchildren (the children of the old students)

studying in the school now adays.

The old students’ Association– ALUMNIMEET

Dr. H.J.Shah Principal Addressing the Staff & alumni in the auditorium
alumni

R.K.Sharma is with Mr. Vimal Ambani Dinner with alumni
and Other alumni

Group Photograph – Staff and alumni

 Social Service

The principal, staff and the students were very eager and
enthusiastic to serve the people in the days of crisis. The students
of PHSS had always come forward generously at the time of great
calamities like flood, earthquake & tsunami to help the people in
every form. At the time of Machchhu dam disaster which accrued
on 11thAugust 1979, the Morbi town and adjoining places were
completely washed out. The teachers and the students collected
clothing and money from the societies. We collected rupees
1,11,111 in cash and many bags of clothes, blankets, bed sheets
and eatables in a record time of just one week. We personally
donated a cheque of rupees 1,11,111 to Shri Amar Singh
Chaudhary the then chief minister of Gujarat and went to Morbi
to distribute the materials collected by the students. We selected
a village near Morbi town and distributed the things to the
villagers with our own hands. The villagers were very happy to
receive the clothing, blankets and eatables.

Bouquet is presented to DR.H.J.ShahPri. and Others are
C.M.ShriAmarsingh Chaudhari in the Discussion with C.M.

A cheque of Rs.1,11,111 is Distributing materials to the
handed over to CM villagers.

 Philatelic club
Philately is the study of postage and postal history. It also

refers to the collection, appreciation & research activities on
stamps. Keeping all the facts & figures in mind the management
established the Philatelic club in the school. The inauguration of
the club was done by the then postmaster general of Gujarat
Shri. R.K.Saiyed Saheb. He very much appreciated the efforts of
the Principal, staff & the students. All of us started collecting the
first day covers, rare postages & coins.

Games and Sports
“Apart from education you need good health and for that,
you need to play sports.”

– Kapil Dev
The Students enjoy games and sports in the school. They
mostly like cricket, volleyball, football, skating, swimming,
badminton, table tennis, athletics and even singing and
dancing.Many students participated in the Inter school and Inter
State competitions and won accolades for the school. PHSS
always held a leading role in Games & Sports. We arranged
annual sports day every year for two days. All the students took
part in many events and received prizes and certificates.

TEAMS AT PRAKASH

Cricket Team Under 18 Cricket Team Under 14

Volleyball Team Boys Volleyball Team Girls

❖ Labs & Laboratories – Joy of practical learning

Knowledge becomes wisdom only after it has been put to
practical use.

PHSS Always focused on practical knowledge. Theory and
practical should go simultaneously. We had well established Labs
& Laboratories, which have been now innovated with all the
modern equipment’sand facilities.

Chemistry Lab Computer Lab
Physics Lab Maths Lab
Bio Lab
Astronomy Club
Library School Canteen

 Annual Results

P.H.S.S has always retained the best results in quantity as well as
in quality. It always had the 100% results in the boards.

❖ Annual function

The annual function is the mirror of the school through
which we can peep into the holistic performance of the students
in all the areas that enhances the pride of the school. It provides
a solid platform to the new saplings to develop in a free, frank &
favorable environment. The annual function of Prakash was
always a unique one. It laid great stress to bring the maximum
students on the stage so that they could become fearless and
confident in showing their talents in the future. We kept a very
wide range of items in the function which reflected social, cultural
and religious unity in the country.

Conclusion

P.H.S.S. provided me a solid platform to develop myself into
a good educationist and a good human being. On the whole I
learnt the art of nurturing students to become good human
beings in the society. The credit of my success today undoubtedly
goes to the years of experience I had at Prakash.

Today I can very confidently say Prakash is ‘Prakash’ (The
light of knowledge). No other institute can be like P.H.S.S.
Therefore, I very freely and frankly say ‘Prakash’ is in my blood.

I became confident to organize and run a school from its
initiation both academically and administratively.

I worked in P.H.S.S. from June 18, 1971 to Jan.31, 1988.
With very heavy heart and tears in my eyes, I had to resign as I
was appointed the Principal of Shri Manas Bharati Vidya Bhavan a
Govt. granted school at Junagadh.

Shree Manas Bharati Vidya Bhavan, Junagadh

“The principal is the heart of the institute, who keeps the school

bright and live. He is the bridge between the teachers and the

students.” -Vinobabhave

I joined Shree Manas Bharati Vidya Bhavan as the principal
on February1, 1988. I found it a challenge to do justice to my job
for I had to face a complete new and raw atmosphere. I noticed a
vast difference between Prakash and Manas. It can be seen as
under: -

Sr.No P.H.S.S. M.B.V.B.

1 Prakash located in the heart of the Manas located in the outer skirts

old Capital city A’bad. of Junagadh

2 It is in the urban Settlements It is purely in the rural
settlements

3 School building very good with all A very poor building without

the facilities plaster on the walls.

4 It was a new school. It was also a new school.

5 It had professional Management It had nonprofessional
Management

6 It was an English medium school It was a Gujarati medium school

7 Staff was of the best quality Staff was of very Ordinary
quality

8 Most of the guardians were Mostly guardians were farmers

graduates and above and engaged in and laborers and very few were

Secondary occupation. servicemen.

9 Prakash is affiliated to the CBSE New Manas is affiliated to the Gujarat

Delhi State Board Gandhinagar.

It was a moment of concern and worry for me. I was in a
state of to be or not to be the principal of Gujarati medium. But
my inner self assured me I should take up the challenge and I
took up the charge of Principal with the holy blessings of Pujya
Morari Bapu at a grand function arranged by the trust on Feb.1,
1988.

Blessings of P.Morari Bapu

It was my first visit to the school. I had not seen the school
building before, not even at the time of interview. It was a great
challenge for me to be the principal of a Gujarati medium school.
I did not know fluent Gujarati except reading & understanding.
But the D.E.O. Miss Gloriaben Chavda was very much impressed
with me and told me that I would get an experienced clerical staff
to support.

When I entered the

school, everything was so

messed up that I was

perplexed. Nothing was in

my favor except the

management who

promised full support.

R.K.SHARMA (Principal) Specially the President of
the trust Shri B.M.Ratiya,

who had full confidence in me and provided full cooperation in all

my works

 My first findings at Manas: -
 Irregularity of the staff.
 No planning books.
 Irregular classroom teaching.
 No preparation of the lessons.
 Office record improper and dissatisfactory.
 Very less teaching aids.
 No library and laboratory.

 Very poor performance in the Board examinations over the
previous years.

 No coordination or cooperation among the staff.

 Most of the teachers were of one community.

 Some teachers were good but others needed guidance and
training.

 School activities were very few.

 Homework and class work checking were not up to the
mark.

Seeing the total environment of the school at the first stage,
I was very much disappointed and frustrated. There was a
question in front me, what to do? I couldn’t decide whether to
continue or to go back to Prakash, Ahmadabad. I called my
brother-in-law (wife’s Brother, principal Inter college Moradabad)
to discuss and to take the decision. He (Dr. R.P. Sharma) came to
Junagadh to see the circumstances and told me it wasn’t
advisable to stay in Junagadh and advised to go back to
Ahmedabad.

I more or less made up my mind to go back to Prakash but I
discussed with my wife and wanted her opinion also. She very
boldly said, “Accept the challenge and don’t deceive the
management as they were behind you for a long time.”
Then I settled my mind and accepted the challenge. The major
problem to me was the language. Sometimes I couldn’t
understand properly the dialect mixed Gujarati of the rural
people.

Now I started seriously to work on how to tackle unfavorable
circumstances. I drew a plan; it was as under: -

 To observe the behavior of the staff and the students for a
week or a month.

 Avail the confidence of the peons and the clerical staff.

 Try to win the confidence of the staff.
 Increase love and affection with the parents and the

guardians.
 To hold meeting every week and discuss with the teachers

how to uplift the school education.
 To meet the education inspectors and assistant education

inspectors every week to understand about the rules and
regulations of the board and school organization.
 To maintain the records of school properly and keep the
management aware of it.
 All changes and implementation to be made known to the
management.
 President to be called in the staff meeting.
 To encourage and appreciate sincerely working teachers.
 Main leaders of the staff to be taken into confidence.
 Every teacher to be given a particular responsibility.
 Not to impose any work but take the opinion of the teachers
and accordingly allot the work.

Meanwhile I started the school innovation work with full

devotion and dedication. The staff also started to cooperate with

me. Once the renovation was done it was looking very nice and

attracted the students and the guardians towards it. We ordered

to construct 18 bathrooms and toilets. Within three months all

the bathrooms& toilets were completed.

As per needs, the management had extended the building by

constructing two more office rooms, one for the Principal and

other for the clerks. Later on, the trust had purchased the

adjoining building of the society. It served our necessities of staff

room, supervisor room and the room for the teaching aids. Now

our physical requirements more or less were completed.

After that we made cycle stand. All the rooms and lobby were

provided lights & fans. We purchased four bulletin boards, books

for library, instruments for laboratory, games and sports and

some necessary teaching aids.

STAFF PRIMARY SCHOOL STAFF SECONDARY SCHOOL

Now the whole staff and the students were quite happy. The
management was very happy with the progress of the school but
I was not so happy because the main task before me was to
improve the performance which was a herculean task for me. The
stars of bright future started twinkling. The complete grant of the
school was now being deposited in principal’s account in the bank
and the principal was given the full freedom to use the grant for
the betterment of the school and education. The President Shri
B.M.Ratiya and the secretary Mr.DilipbhaiRatiya were always with
me and stood in all the conditions with me. I assured them that
every coin would be spent with their permission and observation.
Now we had a full-fledged school with all the necessary facilities.

My next target was to uplift the education system of the
school. Here I applied my rich experience of the past to modify
the education pattern. The teachers now started to cooperate
with me and worked as per my guidance. In the beginning I was
told that the staff was not good at all, they would not cooperate
but I found something different. With just a little encouragement
and appreciation I saw wonders.

With the collective effort and team work, we achieved
supremacy in school education in the district. It took about five
years to uplift the education system of the school. Our efforts did
not go in vain and the school got a good name and fame in the
district. The initiatives that I had taken bore fruitful results and

the school was now a fully-fledged and one of the best schools in
the district

With the full cooperation and willing support of the teachers
and other staff members the school reached the pinnacle of
success. The clerks & peons were dutiful and loyal. They
performed their duties very well. The clerks were instructed to
keep all the records completely and properly.

Now the very important and the most difficult task in front of
me was the improvement of our performance in the board. Apart
from school activities I mostly concentrated on class room
teaching and the evaluation of the students’ progress. For this I
took the following measures: -

 Introduction of chapter tests.
 Writing of the logbook properly and regularly.
 Detailed teaching of every chapter and regular testing

through class tests.
 Framing of question bank chapter wise.
 Checking of class work and home work regularly
 Compulsory Project work of every chapter.
 Extra coaching for weak students
 Regular parents meeting for informing the progress of their

wards.

Other responsibilities

1) The chief conductor of board’s examination

After joining Manas Bharati Vidya Bhavan, I was appointed
as the chief conductor of examination of Junagadh south by the
D.E.O. In those days total control of conducting the board
examination was in the hands of the chief conductor. He was fully
responsible for the smooth conduct of the exam right from
getting the question papers till all the exams were conducted and
the answer sheets delivered back to the board. All this had to be
done in complete secrecy. With the grace of God, I was successful
in doing this job without any hurdle. My thanks to the staff for
standing by me at all times. I conducted these exams till my
retirement.

2) Director of Centre Assessment

In 1990, I was appointed as the director of the Centre
Assessment of the board's examination. Our school was the
center of the assessment. In those days modern technology was
not so populartherefore, most of the work was done manually.
About 45 to 50 thousand answer sheets were sent to the center
to assess. It was the responsibility of the Director to manage the
assessment work by appointing the required staff and completing
the assessment as per the guidelines of the board within the
stipulated time allotted.

It was the director’s duty to see proper justification was given
to the assessment work by qualified teachers. The bags of the
answer sheets were kept in a strong room under the custody of
armed guards.

 The opening and closing of the strong room were done in the
presence of the director and the armed guards.

 The assessed answer sheets were also counted, packed and
sealed in a bag and kept in the strong room. Strong room
was also sealed after the finishing the work every day.

I remained as the director of the center assessment
throughout my service period. The work was done with utmost

attention, accuracy and efficiency. Shri Gopani saheb Dy. Director
of Education, Gandhinagar, visited our center and appreciated the
work open heartedly.
3) The President of Hindi Samaj, Junagadh

I was elected as the president of Hindi Samaj, Junagadh by
the executive committee. The main aim of the Hindi Samaj is to
promote and propagate the national language Hindi. We
conducted many activities in Hindi for the students of the schools
of Junagadh. The main activities conducted by thesamaj were
elocution competition, poem recitation, essay competition,
patriotic songs, quiz competition, drawing and general knowledge
test. Most of the schools used to take part in all the activities. The
winners were given prizes and certificates. All the activities were
done in Hindi. More than 3000 students used to participate in

these activities every year.

Celebration of Hindi Din
Mr.R.K.Sharma addressingthe
students

Students of schools

4) Project for Education
Reforms

Dr. Jayanti Ravi, Education Commissioner Gujarat, Started A
Project to uplift the boards results of the schools those have less
than 30% result. She made a team of two experts and allotted 10
poor schools to each team. I and Dr. RamaDevani Principal of
government girls’ school Keshod were given 10 such schools of
keshod taluka. We both did tremendous work in these schools for
three years. Then our efforts brought very colorful results. All the
schools except two brought more than 60% board’s results. Our
efforts were appreciated by the education department of Gujarat.

5) Panel Inspection

District education officer (DEO) madethe panel to inspect the
schools of the district. The main task of this panel wasto present
a detailed report about the regularity, discipline, strength of the
students, condition of infrastructure and side by side the
suggestions to uplift the standard of education. We the three
members of the panel did very marvelous work and presented in
holistic report to the D.E.O. It was highly appreciated and the
schools also tooknote of it and later on they made so many
changes in their schools to raise the standard of education.

6) The Students performance in the board

We planted the tree of students’ progress and after five
years we got the best result in the district. Our student
DharaiyaChetankumar stood first in the district. Then after our
students started getting good position in the Junagadh Centre as
well as the district. Finally, our student master Chintan
Mangukiya with 95.34% marks stood first in the district and
Saurashtra and got 8th rank in Gujarat Education Board in 2001
which was my retirement year. It was the best reward to me at
the time of my retirement.

Along with master Chintan, our 20 students got 90% and
above marks in the board exam. Our board result has always
been the best in the district for the last ten years.

 Our outstanding students

Sr.no Name of the student Rank Percentage Year

1. Dharaiya Chetan M. District 1st 85.85 1992
2. Trivedi Ripal K. Center 1st 87.29 1994
3. Bhimani Vikas V. 91.85 1997
4. VadherTejas V. District 1st 93.28 1999
5 Mangukiya Chintan District 1st 95.34 2001
Saurashtra 1st
and 8th rank in Congratulations

the board.

Chintan Mangukiya with the principal, parents and the class teacher

The catchment area of the school grew more and more.
Apart from city area it spread up to Khadiya 15kms to the East,
Jetalsar 25 kms towards north, and Vanthali and Shahpur 15 kms
towards south-west. The strength of the students increased
above 1200. It was the golden period of Shri Manas Bharati Vidya
Bhavan, Junagadh.

The Co-Curricular Activities: -

The main aim of education is the all-round development of
the child. Keeping the same aim in my mind, I concentrated to
bring out the hidden talents of the children. To fulfill this
objective, we started different types of activities.

Apart from curriculum studies, the co-curricular activities are
very important for the students as they develop the skills,
knowledge, imagination, thinking, observation, teamwork and
discipline. The main activities performed by the students were: -

 Handwriting competition
 Patriotic songs
 Teachers' day
 Hindi debate
 Gujarati debate
 Drawing competition
 Quiz competition
 Project work
 Mehndi & Rangoli competition
 Essay writing competition

❖ Games and sports

The main sports activities were as under:
 100m, 200m, 400m run, Hurdle race, three-legged race

 Long jump,high jump, Hop Step & Jump, Skipping, Tug of War

 Shot put, hammer, discus and javelin throw

 Kabaddi, kho-kho, volleyball, football etc.

❖ House System: -

All these activities were arranged house wise. The whole school
was divided into four houses such as Sardar, Shivaji, Subhash
and Pratap. Each house had a teacher, house master and two
teachers, asst. house masters, one student leader and two asst.
leaders. In this way the students learnt the democratic behavior

through these activities. The house system was first of its own
kind in the district. It was appreciated by the DEO & the
education department.

The winners of all these activities were awarded prizes and
certificates in the Annual function of the school by the eminent
guests. All the house masters were also awarded the prizes &
shields and the winner house was declared the champion of the
year.

A Glimpse of Prizes Inauguration of Manas Ratna by
shri Manoj Agraval IAS (DDO)

Shri Dilipbhai Ratiya Trustee Shri B.M.Ratiya Precedent of Trust
Sardar House Champion - cultural Subhash House Champion – Games &Sports

Shri Manoj Agarwal IAS (DDO) General championship to Shivaji House
Pratap House Champion – Co curricular activities

 Hand Written Magazine: -

The school magazine helps the students in enhancing their
writing skill, it also pushes students to think out of the box, come
up with new ideas and show their creativity.

The students under the guidance of the teachers prepared the
following hand written magazines every year: -

 Veena  Sugam
 Sugandh  Manas Pushp
 Arpan  Madhuram
 Khusboo  Manas Jyot
 Manas Deep  Manas Bindu
 Pushp  Manas Ratan

❖ Apnikamai Saptah (self-earning week)

I introduced this activity in our school. The main aim of this
activity was to mould the students towards apnikamai and to
make them feel the importance of self-earned money. The
students took great interest and enthusiasm in this and collected
a handsome amount. The management, teachers and even the
parents appreciated it. This collected amount was donated to the
Blind School, disabled students, Soldiers’ Welfare fund and to
poor and needy students.

❖ Annual Function

The annual function provides the students a solid platform to
display their potential talents. We used to celebrate our school
annual function in the town hall of Junagadh city. Shri Manas
Bharati Vidya Bhavan celebrated its annual cultural program and
prize distribution function in the town hall. All the eminent
personalities were invited like the Collector, D.S.P, D.D.O, D.E.O,
E.I, A.D.I, all the principals of schools, colleges and the parents.
Our annual function was also remarkable and appreciated by one
and all.

Pri. R.K.Sharma presenting Mr. R.R.SharmaPri. Primary
the Annual Report Anchoring the function

Mr. Manoj Agarwal Audience – Backbone of Annual
IAS(DDO)Addressing the Audience Function

Student Council

Conclusion

It took five years to establish the image, reputation, and
good name and fame of the school. The journey of my first five
years was very painful, full of challenges, hardships and
frustration. But I did not lose the courage and confidence because
of the full support of my management, staff, students and full
cooperation of my worthy parents. I am proud to have set a mark
for myself in the world of education.

As per my date of birth I should have retired on 29th Nov
2001, but I got extension of six months as per Gujarat Govt. rule
to complete the session. Hence, I retired from my service on 31st
may, 2002. My first day and the last day in Shri Manas Bharati
Vidya Bhavan were the most memorable one and heart
rendering. On the first day I joined Shri M.B.V.B. was on a grand
function day with P. MorariBapu as the chief guest and in the
same way on my last day in the school, there was a grand
function with the chief guest Shri H. V. Bhatt Dy. Director of
Education Gujarat, Dr.Jhanjhurukiya D.E.O. Junagadh, many
respected dignitaries, our management, staff, students and the
parents.

Here my teaching journey in Shree Manas Bharati Vidya
Bhavan came to an end in a very pleasant but the most emotional
environment. Even today I have a deep and hearty attachment
with my students, staff, parents and the management.

Shri Brahmanand Vidya Mandir- Chaparda

I retired from Shri ManasBharatiVidyaBhavan on 31st May,
2002. Before my retirement I went to meet the principal & staff
of P.H.S.S. at Ahmedabad during Diwali vacation. The principal
and the staff were very happy. I was thinking of settling in
Ahmedabad. The Principal offered me to join Prakash. I almost
made up my mind to join the school. Even the principal
announced in the staff room that Mr. Sharma would join us in
June, 2002. We all were ready to go back to A’bad. But the
proverb “Man proposes but God disposes”, became true in my
case.

Suddenly I received a phone call from Shri Brahmanand
Vidyadham Chaparda at 2.30pm on 4th February 2002. The text
of the phone was ‘Pujya Muktanandji Bapu wants to meet you.
Please can you come to see him.’ I replied positively and got the
address and went to see P. Bapu at Chaparda Ashram. I met P.
Bapu along with Shri Bharad saheb. They were highly impressed
with me and straightway told me to join this school as the
principal. I could not refuse the proposal of P. Bapu and told him
that I could join the school only on 1st June, 2002 as I would
retire on 31st May, 2002. I dropped going to Ahmedabad and
joined Shri Brahmanand Vidya Mandir Chaparda as the Principal.

School Building R.K. Sharma-Principal

 Aim of the school

The main concern of P.Muktanandji Bapu from his
childhood was to improve the conditions of the poors, sick,
orphans, weaker sections of the society and the students of rural
poors.P.Bapu realized that the awareness among the children and
the youth could be brought through education. The youth are
shaped in the schools and colleges.

With this aim, the inception of Shri Brahmanand
Vidya Mandir was done by P.Bapu on June 10, 2001, with the
blessings of Dada guru P. GopalanandjiBapu and education
assistance from Gujarat famed educationist Shri GijubhaiBharad
and financial aid from London based trustee Shri AjaybhaiGudka
and his associates and the disciples and followers of P. Bapu.

With the blessings of P. Bapu, I joined Shri
Brahmanand Vidya Mandir, Chaparda. I found the same
conditions as they were in Manas Bharati Vidya Bhavan Junagadh
in the beginning. The school came into existence in June 2001.It
was just one year old but remained more or less eight months
without the principal. The principal Mr.J.V.Mehta worked hardly
four months. Mr.A.H.Borisagar an assistant teacher was
officiating the school. The school was quite in disorder. New,
fresh and inexperienced teachers were found in the school. The
school records were poor & improper. Once again, the same
challenge was in front of me.

Now the only favorable condition was with me my
deep and wide experience. Hence, I started to overcome the
unfavorable circumstances. Here also the best thing for me was
the most cooperative management. P. Bapu gave me full freedom
to do what I wanted to do but with the consultation of Shri
Bharad saheb.

Shri Bharad saheb is well known
educationist of Gujarat. He is the trustee of the
school. I came into contact with him at the time
of interview and came to know all about him. He
is the man of simple living and high thinking and
possesses very deep and wide knowledge of the
education system. I got his assistance in smooth
running of the school. His connote suggestions, guidance and
advice enriched my knowledge.

Later on, in 2005 I met Dr.Kirit Modi, Dy. director of
education London and Mrs.Meena Modi, principal London based
school. They were sent by our trustee Ajaybhai Gudka as they
were very close to him and were well known educationists in
London. Their rich experience also helped me a lot in uplifting the
standard of education and the performance of the students.

They presented their visit report to march from ‘Tradition
to Modern’and suggested many changes in the field of
technologies in education. Accordingly, they made many changes
in providing technology-based Education.

They again visited the school in 2008 and found many
changes as per their suggestions. They were very happy seeing
the progress of the school as well as the campus. They again
suggested to go ahead from ‘Good to Better’. With the help of
the teachers, I put my best efforts to improve the performance in
scholastic as well as nonscholastic areas.

Lateron, they used to visit the school ones in two/three
years and put their best suggestions to us. We followed them
very judiciously. I used to send annual report of the school to
them every year under the title ‘The Golden Glimpse’ and still it
is being sent.

Mrs. Meena Modi &Dr. Kirit Modi
along with Mr. Sharma going to

inaugurate the District
Basketball tournament.

Trustee shri Ajaybhai Gudka
Addressing the staff and the

students

 School Campus

The most attractive thing with the school campus was its
lovely, fresh, silent and peaceful environment. It was loved and
liked by each and every one at the first sight. The mission of the
school was to uplift the standard of rural population and to bring
out awareness about the social reforms through education.

The school is located in the heart of rural environment.
There is no village within the sphere of 3km. I once again started
the same planning and implementation which were adopted in my
previous schools to guide the teachers to reach to a perfect level.
The teachers were instructed and trained to follow a systematic
routine and put effort to bring out the best in the students.

Staff Members then and now
The teachers in Shri Brahmanand Vidya Mandir were co-
operative and ready to hold any sort of responsibility. I started
holding meetings with subject teachers on every Saturday and
staff meetings on the last day of the month. Sometimes P. Bapu
or Shri Bharad saheb or both remained present in the meeting.

Staff Meeting with P. Bapu and Shri Bharad Saheb

In the beginning, we had both hostellers & day scholars but
on the request of the Principals, teachers of primary schools and
Sarpanches of the villages, we stopped day scholars as the
strength of their schools was decreasing. Hence the school was
made completely residential. The students from std. 4th were
admitted in the school with hostel facilities. It was boys’ school up
to 2005. Later on, it was made co-educational school.

We constructed separate hostels for boys and girls. All the
modern facilities were made available in all the hostels. Now all
the students and guardians were quite happy.

Gradually the aroma of the reputation of the school started
spreading from Chaparda to adjoining areas, Talukas, and
districts of Saurashtra. The flow of the students to the school
started increasing year by year and the strength of the students
was unbelievable. Therefore, we needed more hostels to
accommodate the students. We already had two hostels and
constructed two more boys’ hostels.

Still the fourboys hostels were not sufficient. Our science
stream had earned a good name & fame. Hence the strength of
the science stream reached up to 600 students. Therefore P.
Bapu granted the construction of hostel no.5 exclusively for
science faculty.

Science Building Science Hostel

From the very beginning, I was getting the full support of
the management committee. Specially Mr.K.J. Dhadhal, the
administrator of the education campus. He always stood with me
to maintain the hostel discipline very well.