Babar Ali: The youngest headmaster at age 16

Our series "Teacher Warriors" honours some of the country’s best and bravest teacher warriors, striving to give kids a fighting chance at a better present and a future floating with possibilities. In the third episode, Parvathy Jayakrishnan speaks to Babar Ali, Founder, Ananda Siksha Niketan :

In 2002, a 9-year-old boy travelled 10 kilometres every day from his humble home in Murshidabad, one of the most backward districts in West Bengal, to attend school. Ignited by his passion to learn and pass on what he had learnt in school, he would call in other children of the village to his home, gradually turning his backyard into an open air school of learning, of course, for free. At age 16, Babar Ali was declared the youngest headmaster in the world by BBC (British Broadcasting Company). His vision and dedication to educating children has earned him respect not only in his village but also across the world, where his biography has even been included in textbooks in some European countries.

Today, with the help of funds from well-wishers across India, he has built a new school. Babar’s Ananda Siksha Niketan is a morning school that provides education to 300 underprivileged children and he has a hundred other children attending classes in the evening in his backyard.

At age 9, what inspired you to start teaching other children?

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I was attending a school which was 10 kilometres away from my home and I used to see children of my age playing around or working in homes or grazing cattle, but they did not even think of attending school. I told them that I could teach them what I learnt from school every day and that is how they started coming home to learn from me. It was not easy for me to convince them but I when I did, the results were brilliant. Today, I have children in the age group of 5 – 14 years coming to learn in my school. I strongly believe in Swami Vivekananda’s words – “Service to man is service to God”.

Who inspired you to attend school and acquire education?

My father is a jute trader and mother works at the anganwadi centre. Both of them supported me to go to school. In fact, my father was keen that I attain education. He wants me to do IAS but my mission is to educate as many children as I can.

Could you share an experience that reinforces your belief in your mission?

I started my school with eight children, of which six were girls. I can proudly say that all the girls have attained a Bachelor's degree and one even achieved a first class. Today, all of them are teachers in my school, helping me fulfil my wish to provide good and free education to all. In the last 10 years, the number of children attaining primary and higher education in my village have increased manifold. Once, I even received a letter from some students in the US, encouraging me to continue my work!

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What are the challenges you face?

We do not get enough support from the government to improve the state of our schools. We run solely with the support of well-wishers from across the country. The school in my backyard cannot function when it rains as we do not have a roof.

Do you have any other ambitions you would like to fulfil and what would you like to be known as?

My ambition is “Education for all” and I hope to spread my mission across the country. I did my MA in English and I’m now pursuing another MA in History. My first identity is that I’m “the teacher”. I’m also the headmaster and I have administrative duties but I take at least six classes every day. But I also want to be a student forever. Because when I’m a student, I can learn more and teach others.

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue as a part of our cover story on Teacher Warriors. Subscribe to ScooNews Magazine today to have more such stories delivered to your desk every month.

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< EP2: Amitabh Mehrotra | EP4: Faith Gonsalves >