An Inspiring Story of a Government Teacher, Priti Gandhi
Great teachers are capable of changing the lives of their students for the better. They can become a support system that is lacking in students’ lives. Leading the students to the right path can help them to dream bigger. Only great teachers understand that they as teachers hold students accountable for their success and failure. Also, they assist them in living up to their full potential. Teachers are those faces of society who can expand students’ limits and push their creativity.

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One such teacher on the list is Priti Gandhi who is the principal of Kalol Primary School, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. She is a teacher who knows what is must for the growth of her students. She understands the true value of reading. Hence, she started an initiative to develop reading habits in her students. For this, she started a home library and a reading corner project for those students who cannot afford to buy books.
She, above all, stated that she always wanted to do something which could benefit her students at the large end. She made this possible with her husband’s full support who also appreciated her idea of the initiative. Gandhi was very eager to start this initiative after a lot of thinking and discussions as she believes that reading is a great habit that not only gives good knowledge but also a sense of language. Furthermore, it improves vocabulary and enhances imagination. Hence, she is in huge favour of reading being enjoyed by students.
For the first step, she surveyed the Kalol Taluk and came to find out that there was not a single library for the students. Her students above all come from the economically weak community who could not afford to buy new books. Thus, considering the initiative, she started giving a book kit to such students. Each kit consisted of an aluminium bag with 20 books inside. These books covered various subjects and topics. She gave the kit to a student for a month and once the student is done reading all the books, h/she would return the kit.

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Gandhi specifically chose the aluminium box to contain the books so that books would remain undamaged. In simple words, she was thoughtful of her students’ living conditions and aware that the rats etc. at their homes could possibly damage the books. So, to prevent that to happen, she chose an aluminium box for the kit. Moreover, she started the initiative with a single kit, but once her idea worked out well, she increased the number.
After the success of these kit libraries, she ended up organising around 54 kits. It became a regular thing for her and she would distribute these to her students on monthly basis. Moreover, the kit library was not the only thing she took in her hand as she even started a project ‘reading corner’. She saw a piece of empty land which was used for waste.
However, Gandhi knew that she could use this space for a better cause. She thus got the area cleaned and arranged some chairs and reading tables. She even decorated it by painting its walls and sticking posters. Next, she organised several books according to levels so that students could pick them up freely. This ‘reading corner’ step brought many students every day after school for reading and spend time there. Most importantly, Gandhi even set up some tests afterwards to check her students’ progress.

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She claims that she has seen a lot of changes in the students since the time they started reading. They have moreover started taking interest in the classes as well. Their vocabulary has also improved to some extent. To sum up, her idea came out to be a hit and bore the fruit she desired. She must be very happy and proud of herself as she has been included in the list of 100 teachers as part of ‘Teachers As Transformers: Innovations in Gujarat’s State Schools.’
This Professor Devoted Her Life to Educate the Underprivileged Children

