Can We Have More Teachers Like Him

I belong to a small town KANDHLA in District Muzaffarnagar UP. Year was 1972 and I was in Class X.

 

This is a story of a passionate teacher to prove the point, how a single individual can make a difference in the society.

 

Kandhla is famous for two schools, National college and Hindu Inter college, both up to Class 10 plus two. These two colleges were having competition for better results and that competition percolated down to teachers and students as well. Those days, there were two careers only, either one becomes doctor or Engineer, otherwise one is perceived as gone case.

 

How many students get admission in Roorkee Engineering College, (IIT Roorkee now) will decide the winner between two colleges. It was always the talk of the town throughout the year till the results were out. National college was the winner every year.

 

National College was sending at least four students to Roorkee Engineering College and over a period of 15 years, that number became almost 100 …there was almost an Engineers Brigade, as it used to be called those days in Kandhla. My elder brother was also part of it.

 

How it was possible …no coaching, no guidance in that sleepy small town.

 

It was very simple, total entrance exam for Roorkee Engineering college used to be of 350 marks, Mathmatics-200, Physics-50, Chemistry- 50 and English -50. It used to be subjective papers so cut off was around 210 ….

 

Prakash Goyal Sir was teaching Mathematics in National college. His formula for admission was simple, get minimum 190 in mathematics and minimum cut off in rest of the papers. He ensured that all good students get 190 minimum …. year after year, this formula worked. I had a chance to go to Roorkee to meet my elder brother,

everybody was talking about Kandhla Brigade. By the time, he retired, there were 500 students from IIT Roorkee who were taught mathematics by him, I am not counting students who passed out from other Engineering Colleges.

 

There were no private tuitions by him, as a rule.

 

If you go to town, and see 10 students on the road side with a teacher, rest assured, it was Prakash Goyal Sir only …. he was available to any one at any time, any place …no time or place restrictions, the only condition was that student should be as passionate as him.

 

As I pay my tribute to him …. I am sure some of the teachers and potential teachers will read this blog and be inspired by this story. India needs more of Prakash Goyal Sir; it will hasten our speed to become global GURU.