Punjab: A school that nurtures big dreams with limited resources

Punjab: A small, quaint village Bhowali, close to the India-Pakistan border, runs a middle school with 63 students and four teachers. Though the number may seem small, the school has won big by winning the state award for the best school in the middle school category for 2024-25. The school has won a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh from the education department. What made the school win the award? It has set up a kitchen garden, a makeshift science lab (most middle schools in the rural border area do not have science labs) and separate toilets for girls and boys. Considering the infrastructure challenges faced by government schools in the border area, the construction of separate toilets is an achievement. The school is sending four students to the INSPIRE award and the National Science Congress. The school also runs a community science club led by science teacher Pankaj Kumar. The club has been included in the Commendable Clubs list released in 2022 by Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The community science club is set up by government school teachers in the rural area and is affiliated to the Centre’s VIPNET programme. Pankaj Kumar, who has been teaching at the school for the past eight years, says they have focused on encouraging and nurturing scientific temper among the youth and the community. “Over the years, the school had many infrastructure challenges which we have overcome. We created a kitchen garden with the support of our students and parents, who are rural. The school also effectively implemented IT initiatives by setting up smart classrooms with efforts directed towards getting funds from the education department. We now have 18 students pursuing education in English medium,” Pankaj said. School principal Rajesh Kumar, who is also a social science teacher, and his team are putting their efforts into building a community around the school. Despite facing a staff crunch – as the school does not have a Hindi teacher and all four teachers are teaching additional subjects – the teachers also ensured that no student dropped out. Pankaj, who also teaches mathematics, says, “The biggest challenge for middle schools in the border area is to retain students, especially girls. Most students and their families in border villages focus only on earning a livelihood, which means earning money comes before completing education.” In 2021, Arshdeep, a class VIII student of the school, along with his younger brother Amandeep, developed a prototype of a low-cost air purification system, for which they were recognised at the INSPIRE Awards organised by the central government. Their father Harpreet Singh was a combine driver. The school teachers reach out to parents to get them involved in school activities, whether it is checking the preparation of mid-day meals or setting up community kitchens using organic farming methods. Pankaj said, “CBSE had recently directed all schools to create kitchen gardens in schools to introduce students to the concept of ‘grow your own food’. However, we have been doing this for the last 10 years. Now we are aiming to increase our enrolment and are using the cash prize of Rs 5 lakh to create an activity room for students and a science laboratory in the school.”