Retired, not tired — ex-Professors creating ‘Super 30’ in dist

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 27

A group of retired professors is on a mission to repeat the success story of “Super 30”, an educational programme for poor students.

Surinderbir Singh, former principal of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College; RP Singh, former principal of GGN Khalsa College, and Baldev Singh, retired physics professor, visit government schools across the district and ask students of medical and non-medical streams to attend free coaching classes being conducted at the gurdwara located in E- Block of BRS Nagar.

The classes are being conducted to prepare students for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to be conducted in the first week of April.

On his visit to Government Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, Surinderbir said society had been cruel to children studying in government schools. “It may sound harsh but the government school students are treated like social outcast and second-rate citizens. There is a general perception among people that the students of government schools are below average in studies and are misfit for competitive exams. However, the fact is that the students of government schools are as intelligent as those studying in public schools that charge high fees,” said Surinderbir Singh.

He said a majority of students of government schools came from a humble background. Owing to the financial crunch, they did not get the required exposure. To provide a level playing field to these students, he visited five schools in a week and ask students to attend free classes being conducted at the gurdwara.

At present, more than 60 students attend the classes. The number swells on the weekend.

Former Principal of GGN Khalsa College RP Singh is planning to develop a mobile application and a website to reach out to maximum students. “Knowledge is to be shared. We need to get abreast with technology. In this age of smartphone, it has become imperative to develop a website, so that students can learn while sitting at home,” said RP Singh.

He said they had started free coaching classes in 2015 and so far, students of their academy have availed themselves of government scholarships worth Rs 26 lakh.

Baldev Singh, retired professor of physics, said by imparting free coaching to poor students, he was making the most of his experience.

“We are doing so with a purpose. We are retired, but not tired. Our knowledge shouldn’t go in vain. A majority of the students who come to us could not afford tuition. We have witnessed that the needy students are more sincere in studies than those studying in high-end schools,” believes Baldev Singh.