Meet Padma Shri H. C. Verma, who struggled to pass in school, teaches India Physics today
HC Verma said the
reason why there were news reports of students committing suicide despite
reaching IITs or even in coaching institutes while preparing for entrance exams
was that they could not withstand the academic pressure despite scoring good
marks in schools.
By : Arun Kumar |
Hindustan Times | Feb 10, 2020
A teacher must first
fall in love with the subject he or she teaches before expecting the students
to do the same. The schools are not the place to just score marks. They are the
place to empower mind and improve capabilities. The target of education cannot
be and should not be to clear board exams or IIT/NEET entrance.
When noted educator and
retired IIT-Kanpur professor HC Verma says this, he means it, for he has lived
that way right since his childhood, when he was a below average student and
struggled to pass exams, to this day, when his entire life is devoted to
developing scientific temper among students in the language they understand and
enjoy.
Not the kind to shift
blame for the education slide, especially in his home state Bihar, Verma feels
that the biggest thing lacking in schools these days is the target and vision.
“Why do we study? What
for teachers teach? It is the drift from the target that is creating the
problems. If the vision is not clear, we should not expect positive results.
Marks cannot be the target, capabilities and empowerment certainly is. If one
is empowered, marks will automatically come. The central theme is that child is
an empty bowl. Students must be given situations where they think. We need to
catch them young,” he said.
Verma, the recipient of
this year’s Padma Shri Award for his distinguished contribution in the field of
science and technology, said the reason why there were news reports of students
committing suicide despite reaching IITs or even in coaching institutes while
preparing for entrance exams was that they could not withstand the academic
pressure despite scoring good marks in schools.
“Isn’t it the moral
duty of teachers to groom students in a way that they don’t wilt under academic
pressure? What is the need to be happy with marks if students commit suicide?
Education should be such that teaches students not to give up and be ready to
face all situations. The society also needs to focus on this. Blaming coaching
institutions is not the solution. It is the schools and the teachers who will
have to strive to stay relevant, which will automatically shrink the space for
parallel system and this requires emotional attachment with the profession,” he
said.
The recipient of
Bihar’s highest award in the field of education, Maulana Abul KalamAzad Shiksha
Puruskar, 2017, Verma said that shifting the blame by saying that the teachers
or students are not of good quality would not serve the purpose. “This is
running away from the problem. If a person can be motivated, he can do
anything. We can create quality, provided we honestly try and this has to begin
from schools,” he added.
Verma, who studied in
Patna Science College and also taught there before moving to IIT, Kanpur, is
known for his famous book ‘Concepts of Physics’, which is the prize possession
with all IIT aspirants. Now, almost three decades later, he has come up with
another one ‘Bhoutiki ki Samajh’ in Hindi.
“In the last 28 years,
my understanding has also developed. So, I came up with a new book. This time
it is in Hindi instead of a revised edition in English for wider reach. In science,
language should not be a barrier. I am also working on the second part. We have
also developed B.Sc-level online interactive courses free of cost, which
students can use with just mobile. The response has been good, though from my
State Bihar it has been not satisfactory despite my letters to VCs and
principals to popularize this free opportunity among students,” he said.
At the IIT-K, he has
been instrumental in making a group of faculty members and students together
with local youths to run an NGO called “Shiksha Sopan”, which maintains direct
daily contact with students and their families to not only give educational
help, but also inculcate Indian values and culture. It also runs scholarship
programs and Pratibha Poshan Yojana to identify talent in the interiors and
give them opportunity at the residential summer camps.
In 2011, Verma
initiated a new project National Anveshika Network of India (NANI), which has
become a flagship programme of the Indian Association of Physics Teachers
(IAPT). Verma has developed more than 1000 ‘low cost’ physics experiments which
can be used by teachers in their classrooms. Informal open-ended experimental
activities have also been developed where students are initiated in a direction
and they conceive, assemble and perform experiments on their own.
He earns huge amount
through royalty from his best-selling books, but he spends all on his passion –
to groom next generation. “What will I do with the money? Have a few houses
here and there. It is better to spend on developing labs and improving
teaching,” said Verma, who enjoys living a simple life.
In Kanpur, he has
developed ‘Sopan Ashram’, which are equipped with classrooms, laboratories and
a lot more to generate interest among students by acquainting them with
dimensions of science.
“We are developing it
as a place of science tourism. Children from government schools come here,” he
said, adding the next in line is a project in Bihar to improve quality of
science teaching in schools by training teachers. He has already trained
thousands of teachers in other states, including Jammu & Kashmir where he
spent several months.
The Bihar project is
being developed with the help of IIT, Patna. “It was planned two years ago,
when I was honoured by the Biahr government, but it got delayed. Now, I have
got information from Manoranjan Kar, principal supervisor at IIT, Patna, that
it will take off in the next 15-20 days.
“It is a three-year
project to train government school teachers on understanding of physics and
teaching methodology. The government also has a big role to play, as
coordination is important. The teachers will be grouped in batches and trained
at camps in Patna for making science teaching meaningful and entertaining
through low-cost experiments, which can be performed at home. If teachers get
involved and strive for self-renewal, quality will certainly come,” he added.
