Samresh Jalan started his journey in Bengaluru working with the faculty training firm Shiksha Mitra. There he worked for a year, striving to carve the best and easiest way for teaching to inculcate creativity in students so that they will fall in love with studies and be smart enough to imply in real life what they have been taught in classrooms.
After having outsourced around 1700 teachers trained under his supervision, Mr Jalan was hired by a German Company ‘Ad Block Plus’ as a Junior Manager. But the man was destined to serve children in Khagaria, a district in Bihar. He resigned and returned to India after 9 months in Germany.
Turning point
Soon after the campaign got over, he became jobless again. But he never let himself run short of opportunities. The next great thing came across his way. Out of 40000 applicants, he was among the 250 who were selected for the most renowned ‘JAGRITI YATRA’. However, he decided not be a part of it and rather he found reforming the school in his hometown better.
And the journey begins
Embracing Einstein’s philosophy “Great people don’t do different things but they do things differently”, Mr Jalan embarked on a journey for educational reforms. Starting from 11 December 2013, in a small place like Khagaria which didn’t even have a direct train from capital of the country, he was determined to start reform in the school called New Holy Ganges Public School.
To move beyond the books to the real depths of education that is the growth of creativity, innovation, humanity and leadership, many activities are being organized in this school. Recent instance is the Wall Painting Festival organized for 15 days, followed by an exhibition of three days to show the entire world. It was a commendable and courageous experiment and best part being, the festival wasn’t only for this school but children from all nearby districts and villages were invited.
Working tirelessly towards bringing in the holistic growth of the children in that area of Bihar where people are ignorant towards the needs of the hour, Mr Jalan started as the managing director and has been successful in organizing many events which witness leaders from round the globe. He believes in vocational education and hence focuses more on project-based education rather books and classrooms.
Obstacles which could never challenge his passion
It wasn’t at all smooth for Mr. Jalan. Especially when it comes to bringing reforms, obstacles are inevitable. He shares, “We have people here from IITs and IIM and even overseas, they give their views and lectures about how they feel about what I am doing, but nobody dares to stay here for some time and experience the ground.” Moreover, he lacks the support and spark in local youth. People are actually indifferent and don’t have a sense of responsibility and belongingness.
And the journey continues
He realized that while a library does exist, it is non-functional, smart classes are there for namesake, the whole lab remains closed just because of one acid (that is easily available), he just looked to the problem with a sense of responsibility to get them fixed.
His vigor and passion didn’t let him stop. Indeed, he is looking forward to the project of satellite schools in seven villages with a vision to reach out to as many children. He not only ensures the betterment of education among children but feels proud in channelizing the vibrant energy of the youth in doing the same. That’s how he creates win-win situations and is emerging as an icon.
His family has always stood by him. They supported every decision he took and he states, “It’s because of them only that I could cover this distance so far and I’m ready to go miles.”
The Logical Indian salutes Mr Jalan’s perseverance and dedication to reform India’s education system. We need more people like him with his passion in our country. In the end, the message he wants to convey is: “We would love to have people with great vision and out of the box ideas willing to work with us for the cause.”
– Mansi Saini
