- 5 minutes ago
جموں و کشمیر کے ضلع ڈوڈہ کا بریسوانا گاؤں سطح سمندر سے تقریباً 7,500 فٹ کی بلندی پر واقع ہے اور ضلعی ہیڈ کوارٹر سے تقریباً 50 کلومیٹر دور ہے۔ سترہ سال قبل، کسی کے وہم و گمان میں بھی نہ تھا کہ ایک دور افتادہ ایک خوبصورت اور پہاڑی گاؤں، تعلیم کے میدان میں ایک مثالی نمونہ بن جائے گا۔ صرف ضلع میں ہی نہیں بلکہ پوری یونین ٹیریٹری میں حاجی پبلک اسکول کے ایجوکیشن سسٹم کو عزت کی نگاہ سے دیکھا جاتا ہے۔ حاجی خاندان نے غیر منافع بخش اور امدادی تعلیمی ادارہ کی بنیاد 2009 میں رکھی۔ مقصد تھا، علاقے کے کم آمدنی والے کسان خاندانوں کے بچوں کو معیاری اور سستی تعلیم فراہم کرنا۔ حاجی پبلک اسکول روایتی تعلیم فراہم کرنے والے موجودہ اداروں سے بنیادی طور پر مختلف ہے۔ یہ ایک انگلش میڈیم کو-ایجوکیشنل اسکول ہے۔ یہاں نرسری سے لے کر دسویں جماعت تک کے طلبہ تعلیم حاصل کرتے ہیں۔ اسکول میں روایتی رٹہ سسٹم کے بجائے سرگرمیوں پر مبنی پڑھائی، عملی سائنس کے تجربات، اور ریاضی کے عملی طریقوں پر زور دیا جاتا ہے۔ اسکول کی ایک بڑی خاصیت یہ ہے کہ یہاں مقامی اساتذہ کے ساتھ ساتھ ہندوستان اور کینیڈا، سنگاپور، امریکہ، جنوبی افریقہ اور فرانس جیسے ممالک سے رضاکار آ کر بچوں کو پڑھاتے ہیں۔
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:18Welcome to ETV Bharat, this is Amir Tantri from Haji Public School Breswana in District
00:24Doda. Situated at the height of 7500 feet from above sea level, we are at this school. This school was
00:32established in 2009 by Sabha Haji. We will talk to her how did she conceive this idea but before that
00:39we will ask her some personal questions. Sabha, welcome to ETV Bharat. Good morning, thank you very much for
00:47coming here. Welcome to Haji Public School. Sabha, tell us something about yourself. I am from the
00:53Haji family and born and raised in Dubai. Then I did my high school and college and a lot of
00:59my
00:59career in Bangalore. My father is from this village in Doda district, mother is from Kishtwar. I am one
01:05of four siblings and we had a great childhood where we used to come to the village every summer and
01:11so
01:11we have a very strong connection with this village and eventually life came full circle and I have
01:17come back to where my father was born. Tell me, how did you conceive this idea to establish a school
01:25at a place which never had connectivity? People used to walk for hours together to reach this village
01:32and if they had to go to the district headquarters they had to walk for hours and then board a
01:37vehicle
01:38and reach. How did you conceive this idea? So it is not me, it is my family. That is why
01:43the Haji
01:43family here comes into play. My father is from this village and the only reason our family has raised
01:51ourselves or you know is through education. This was a very clear realization where my father,
01:56my uncles, my poofi, because of them they you know they got an education and that is the only difference
02:03between them and their cousins here in the village. So in 2008-09 I was working in Bangalore
02:10and I was working in a very well-paying job because of my education and editorial.
02:16In 2008-09 I could see my Nanihal home, you know, under fire. So I just had like a very
02:27strange click in my head
02:28that what am I doing in Bangalore away from my parents, away from our roots. I made an instant decision
02:33to wrap up
02:34my city life and come back here to Doda and let me see what I can do. I have skills
02:39enough,
02:39I can help you here. And while we were in Doda, my mother, father and I, this idea came up,
02:45my uncle Nasir Haji, he is the main, you know, the strength behind this. We first sat down and we
02:51said,
02:52let's do something big, long-term, just say, what actual hassle is. And that is through education.
02:57And instead of giving monthly stipend or scholarship, better is start our own school.
03:02My next question is, why only education? You had many options. You would have helped this village
03:09in different terms. But why education? Because I really feel and I think it's very obvious
03:14that education covers everything. You prepare a generation to do then whatever they want. Give
03:19them the skills and opportunities which just by pure luck they don't have. There is no difference
03:24between a child here and the child of a billionaire sitting in a city. The difference is luck,
03:29circumstances, which family and opportunities. That's why the children are back behind.
03:38Let us start on a good scale, on a very good quality, the same kind of schooling that I would
03:43expect for my children or my cousins or my sister's children. Why do I have to say,
03:48we will give them the best education. They will become the best possible. It's a very clear thing.
03:54And as I have taught for 17 years now in this school and led the school, it has become clearer
03:58and clearer that the whole world, education or right education, not this factory system of
04:04you know, rote learners and don't ask questions. You, we want to start making great well-developed citizens
04:12who learn how to ask questions. This is humari classroom ka hai mahol. You will ask teachers
04:17questions. You will ask why for everything. School rules ke liye bhi ap poochhenge why, why,
04:22what is the logic. Then you become adults who can critically think about anything.
04:26Toh this has become clear to me now. Aaj kal ke mahol mein toh bohati zahada zururi hai. And education
04:31is
04:32is really the. Aap ha luk chabi jis se sara khul jayega. Pura puri dunya khul jati hai.
04:39So, who all supported you in this cause? I can say this is a noble cause for all these people.
04:47It is noble. Definitely education by itself is. It is our family. Essentially the school,
04:53even till today, is very hand to mouth. We run only my family, my immediate poofies, uncle,
04:58sister, brother, all of us cousins. We contribute for our funding. But now over the years, because
05:04we have, you know, very good friends of ours. Thvore close circle mein mere regular donors of the
05:09school. Wo saal ya do saal mein kabhi, they send a lump sum. That is the financial bit. Mostly it
05:14is
05:14Mr. Nasser Harji who helps through his friends and his networks. But we are self-funded. Of course,
05:19government aid nahi hai koi. In terms of support si village mein school bana hai. Village at that time,
05:25it was one, you know, dot on the mountain jaysay hoota hai. At the time, it was one, you know,
05:28dot on the mountain jaysay hoota hai. Up highway pe chagre hai. Oopper mountains pe
05:32koi teen ka chhat chamakta hai. Wo hamaara gaon hai. So, coming up last highway pe
05:38stop hai. Premnagar. Premnagar se pull par karke, four and a half, five hours walk up. In those days,
05:45yeh school gaon waal hoon hai bana hai hai. Ek ek teen ka patta hon hon hai apni kamar pe
05:50utha ke la hai. Sari hai jo lagay hain buildings mein construction mein. Bhatti jo
05:54yaan lagay hain. Hamnei bricks khud bana hai. The villagers made it. They have literally
05:57built the school, but this was a real hunger for educating the children. Bokut inko bokut
06:03zyadha shok hai apne bachyong ko. Obviously, padhane ka, they missed good education and they really
06:07are, you know, the way, the extent they go to, the villagers ki of course support. And my father is
06:13a elder
06:13yahaan pe hain. Sara village, he knows them, he knows how to, he knows the families. So,
06:20he was the main, you can say catalyst. Okay. And my mother is an educator, principal. So,
06:25she was like the admin head, the skeleton of the school, the rules, the discipline. She's been a
06:32lifelong educator. She brought that experience into our school and taught us everything. Tell me one
06:37thing, what was the most difficult thing you had to cope with among the
06:42children, their parents, and overall in the society? Even today, that continues to be
06:49the main problem. It is this, the discipline of education or the support for education,
06:56it's a mentality ki bhai, education and discipline and self-study and sticking to the rules.
07:02Yeh thoda lackadaisical, thoda casual hai abhi bhi yaan pe. So, teaching kids bhai, there is structure,
07:08there are rules to be followed and aapko bhaut mehnat karni hai. Yeh nahi ki ap school mein daakhil huye
07:12aur khud ba khud padha hai karni hoti hai. So, even teaching kids how to study, you know, all of
07:20that.
07:21Even teaching kids how to study or guiding them because it seems after all these years also,
07:27they are not, we are not at the place where children are studying on their own,
07:31where they know ki bhai apna discipline schedule rakna hai. So, that is, that is a big challenge.
07:36We want kids to be self-motivated, take their initiative to understand.
07:41But it wasn't easy because changing the mindset of people who have all together seen the government
07:47schools where nothing was happening and after turmoil of 20 years of this militancy and everybody
07:56was sticking to their homes to save their lives. But it was not easy when you came here in 2009.
08:02Yeh, it was not easy. It's never been easy. But the thing is ki, the way the villagers
08:07our community wants the kids, want the kids to study, right? They are hungry for them to succeed.
08:12Jaha par woh na ho pa hai. Jaha par unki padhai thik nahi ho pa hai.
08:16They want that for their kids, next generation. The next generation needs to understand ki,
08:20what all the family has missed and what all is possible through education. Anything is possible.
08:25If you put hard work in, you do your, get your skills up, get your competence, but also hard work,
08:30communication, personality, yeh sara count karta hai aaj ke zamanin.
08:33It wasn't possible for one lady to do. Yeah. How did you get support from the volunteers?
08:41Yes. So that is lucky for me through again communication and my network in Bangalore,
08:46my friends who told their friends building credibility ki bhai ek school hai, you can trust
08:51this girl, go and try it out. So it was trial error and in the beginning people I knew that
08:56that's how
08:56the volunteer program started in 2011 mein pehle mehre dost ta hai hai. They stayed for short term.
09:01Because they came, their photos went out on social media. Then other people started applying. Then I made a
09:07formal volunteer program where people had to apply in a certain way. I would do interviews and so on.
09:12So it slowly built. Ek do saal ke baad, the people who came are again very good in communication,
09:17in photographing. So they took pictures of the school, the work they were doing.
09:20Us waktam abhi kindergarten, first primary mein teh. Children were very cute. They still are. But
09:27those are good pictures to show remote area mein. They were actually doing good work.
09:30But that is how you build credibility. You do good work, your credibility builds. And there are a lot
09:35of young people who want to help, who want to volunteer. And that's, you know, that's the,
09:39I want to tap into that pocket ki bhai aajao. There is a lot of work to do. I need
09:44people who can
09:44come and help the school, stay for four to six months, teach. How many teachers do we have?
09:48At 25. All are from outside? No, there are a lot of our, our base is the local teachers who
09:54have
09:54been trained and have worked with the school for a long time. But we do have like 10, 10 teachers
09:59bhaar ke hotte hain and then rolling volunteers. And what is the strength of students? It's around,
10:04it's 400 to 450 on a like abhi session change haura hai. So we expect to go up to 450.
10:09So from where
10:11these students come? Right. So this is the mountain Doda, Doda district ke pahaar hain de haan pe.
10:17Because, because 400 to 450 people coming from one village is not because population is scattered here.
10:2520 to 30 villages se aaphi. 20 to 30 villages se aaphi. People have moved actually to the village
10:28for the school. Bhalesa se bhi hain. Kishtwaar se bhi aate hain. Jammu se. But our first thing is
10:34admission mein I have a restriction. First my village gets priority. Then the nearby villages get priority.
10:39Do you have limitations in there? Yeah, yeah. We don't want overcrowded classes. That's a very
10:43important thing in school. So 25, 30 se aaphi we try not to go. Had hoti hai toh we'll go
10:49a little bit
10:49about that. Otherwise we split into sections. So that's very important for good teaching. That you have to
10:54have a healthy sensible number of kids per class. Primary mein haas kar you need. If there are 20 se
10:59zada becomes difficult. So then we put in a helping teacher or something. Very important to maintain
11:04a student teacher ratio. Healthy ratio. During this time you might have faced many problems or roadblocks
11:10by some people. Because few are, few were the established one who didn't want anybody to come
11:16to steal their show. So do you think you have faced some? I say I won't say. I don't think
11:23the established schools have. The thing about education is all parents want the best for the
11:28kids. Mujhe lagta hai yeh jo school achha dega. Parents will go there and then plus convenience and
11:33so on. So for instance, yahan par doda ke ya jammu ke kyun hi aayenge. There are good schools over
11:39there. It's not like I'm tapping into anymore. Yahan par ek bhaat urgent need. This is very remote.
11:44Maybe you'll see the terrain. What kind of people have, do you have here? We have a mix of,
11:50like all, mostly farmers. Mostly farmers jinnke paifadars jate hai for manual labor,
11:55hand to mouth, woi below portal. But all subsistence farmers. Some are drivers, private cabs. Some,
12:02very, very few, the privileged ones have some government jobs. Woh bhaat hee kam hai. Most of them are
12:08their own private farmers. They are mazdoor hoate hai, ya koi chhaan hai, koi mason hai,
12:14something like that. Really a very underprivileged section, we could say, in terms of man. But
12:21shukar hai. They are all landed farmers. Aapne aapne ghar hai, healthy bachche hai. So that's it.
12:25Our demographic hai, yahan par. We have Gujjars, Bakarwals. Bakarwals toh ni, sorry, they don't stay
12:30for long. Then we have a normal Pahari Hindu-Muslim community jo hai. And a lot of Gujjars who is,
12:35this is a tribe that I really like to see, yahan par hain humare. That is a community I really
12:40want to see do well.
12:41When you started the school in 2009, the first batch was KG. Yeah, we started KG.
12:47Have they reached now? Alhamdulillah, they are one of our kids is, has just finished her BA honours
12:53from Bangalore, Mount Kamas. And she's in Masters of, Masters Literature in Central University of
12:58Kashmir. Me do hain pehle bach ke. Ek humara ladka, Aligarh mein law kar raha hai, in his Masters again.
13:04They have reached Masters stage now. Okay. Yeah. And others have also. They are yet to be employed.
13:08Yeah, yeah. They have not reached that stage. But there, mashallah, really bright. And they are
13:12doing, jahan par bhi hai. Like for example, she's going to Mount Kamas, the toughest college for
13:15English language. She did very well there. Masters, abhi ismeh, Masters course. She's doing well.
13:21So, I keep track of their academics. Aligarhwala lalka taup ar tha, apne entrance exam. Okay.
13:26Central University. Anybody into medical field or? They have tried, I think. So, that's where I'm
13:31saying that for discipline of cracking the neat abhi tak nahi hua hai. That is, they're trying. A lot of
13:36kids are trying to crack the neat. Abhi tak nahi hua hai. Few may be trying for competitive exams like
13:40KS and IS. They will reach there eventually. Abhi tak. They are still, a lot of them have the dream
13:45for
13:45administrative exams, UPSC exams and so on. I mean, let's see. Inshahabar, whatever they want,
13:52wherever they can do. Sabha, tell me, you have spent 17 years of your youth here. What about your
14:00personal life? I'm very happy with my personal life. I've had a very good childhood, college years,
14:07friendships and which are still very strong. But I have a lot of friendships now, I have a lot of
14:15friends. Because I'm not a very social person. Even when I was in the city, I had a fixed set
14:19of
14:20small friends. So, through the internet, I'm still in touch with you. Life demands something more.
14:25Do you want to get married? No, not at all. I'm very happy here. Plus, I'm not fit for
14:33my mentality. I don't think it's suited for it. I'm very happy. I can help the kids. I can do
14:39what
14:39I'm doing. Very fulfilled here with the school. Very busy. So, you want to spend your rest of life
14:44here only among the kids. I want to set up the system in such a way,
14:47that if I'm not staying tomorrow, anything can happen. The school goes on as it does.
14:52I don't want to close the school or the systems. I mean, what I want is that it's running so
14:58smoothly
14:59that I can even come and check in once in a while. But I enjoy being here actually.
15:05You have been praised by many people all over Jamukasmin, all over India. Many people have come here.
15:11I once read and Dr. Amitabh Mattu wrote something about you. You're famous among youth.
15:19So, how do you see that exposure that in a place where you have established this school
15:28and the praise you got? It helps in terms of everything I need is for the school. I need
15:36staff. I have a good staff. Continuously, we want good staff for the school. I need funds to help the
15:41school. Volunteers. I need a good quality. It helps there. Otherwise, I don't think, for example,
15:47I don't consider myself famous. I consider if I'm doing this job and I have made networks in the
15:52education field. That is my good luck and I can ask these people to help me, kind people to help.
16:00And they have been very helpful in the past. Professor Amitabh Mattu is a legend in education.
16:03His mother and Professor Neerja Mattu. These are legends of Kashmir. So, they took an interest in
16:08the school. They visited the school here. They brought some ministers to the school here.
16:13This is very good. In that sense, people knew that, okay, this is it. What I would like that to
16:19be used as
16:20is that the rest of the school is inspired by their villages. Whoever, you are educated,
16:26your privilege, start education, improving the education in your villages. Go to villages,
16:32backward areas. That is what would help. Like, my fame has got nothing on its own.
16:36Now, Adrian, tell me, what is your message for the community overall and for the education system of
16:41Jammu and Kashmir, especially Dodalistic and Jammu and Kashmir in India? I feel for the community,
16:46that you have, from our side, we are doing, I know we are doing a good job in the school.
16:51You need to support your children better. You need to go away from the traditional,
16:54strict, mar-peet-wali parenting to understanding parenting. And this is not just engineering
16:59or medical. If your child is interested in the field, there are thousands of jobs in the field.
17:07And if you look at the private field, if you don't get jobs, go for private jobs, go for more
17:13education. You, the more you learn, the more you earn. If you are after earnings,
17:18the more you learn, the more you earn. If you are after earnings,
17:19the more you learn, the more you earn, the more you earn.
17:22But support your kids, discipline-wise and studies-wise. That's for the community.
17:27This was Sabha Haji. The girl, I can say still the girl running this school,
17:34Haji Public School, at a place where there were no roads, no concrete buildings,
17:41but now people are interested towards education. ETVBharat will report about education at every
17:49time. And this is Amir Tantare from Haji Public School, Breswana for ETVBharat.