The inspiring story of Mr Sanjeev Bagul

Mr Sanjeev Bagul is a Zilla Parishad teacher from Pune with more than 29 years of teaching experience. 10 of the 15 students whom Bagul sir teaches belong to the Katkari Adivasi Samaj. Parents of these students do not own technology of any kind, not even mobile phones. Online education was impossible for these students when the nationwide lockdown was imposed, unless technology was provided to them.  Dr. Ranade of the Joshi Hospital in Pune came forward to solve this problem. 15 tablets were donated from the IWAD trust to these students on the 26^th of June as a result of Dr. Ranade’s efforts. Hardware without the software would not help these students with any learning gains and so Bagul sir reached out to Mr. Deshpande from Chaitanya Software, Pune. Chaitanya Software was able to provide curriculum-based content mapped to each grade, which can be accessed on Tablets without an active internet connection. 

Bagul sir soon found out that technology cannot replace a teacher. His students needed someone to facilitate their understanding of basic mathematical concepts while they viewed the content loaded on their tablets. Bagul Sir found a local young lady with a D.Ed. qualification and requested her to help his students learn. This lady started visiting students on alternate days and facilitating their learning while ensuring she followed all Covid-19 precautions. In addition to resolving the doubts the students had, she also gave them assignments for Math and Marathi language, followed by feedback to them on the assignments given. Parents of the 5 students who did not belong to the Katkari Adivasi Samaj became good teachers themselves and helped their child under her guidance. For all her selfless efforts, Bagul sir gave her Rs.1000 as honorarium from his own salary. 

Bagul sir himself was able to visit his students and facilitate their learning thrice a week after some of the stricter lockdown rules were relaxed. He also provided his students with self-study materials and activity books for subjects like English, Marathi and Math published by “पक्का पाया’ the publication, and asked them to solve the exercises given within this material. Not being content with ensuring learning for his students alone, Bagul sir distributed this self-study material to other teachers via Whatsapp.

In addition to taking care of the learning needs of his students, Bagul sir also addressed his student’s physical needs. He had observed that many of his students had lost weight in the absence of the mid-day meal scheme. Bagul sir appealed to Dr. Ranade for help again. The students have been getting an egg and a banana each week through the IWAD trust for the past 4 months. Bagul sir also managed to make arrangements for materials such as books, sketch pens, school bags etc. from people’s participation and voluntary organizations like Rotary club.

The efforts taken by Bagul sir have been recognised and discussed in official government online meetings of different districts, like Beed. Some officials have even visited some student homes to observe how students are engaged in learning. The efforts have also received acknowledgement across English and Marathi newspapers and TV channels. 

Bagul sir is proud that 100 percent of his students are connected to education even when schools are closed

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