Teacher dedicated to cause of education despite kidney issue

There is an unusual silence in the classroom as students await their beloved teacher to start the lecture. Suddenly, a powerful voice fills the air and the students all ears, listening to each word carefully.

The teacher makes sure that he goes to each and every student to ask if they are understanding the lecture or if they have any query. Deepak Prakash, head teacher, posted at Government Primary School, Mandala Channa, is an epitome of bravery and dedication towards the cause of education and his students.

Until one meets him, one cannot get to know the struggle he has been going through and the fight he is having with time.

In the class, he wears a belt around the waist. Both his kidneys are damaged and he has to go for dialysis on a regular basis. This has been going on since 2018. Deepak now awaits transplantation. Still, no despair can be seen on his face.

The school situated in the Lohian block has a strength of over 80 students. The medical problem has not become an obstacle in Deepak’s love for teaching. He has been serving in the remote area for long.

He started his teaching career in 2003 from a private school before he got a government job in 2009. Deepak served as a teacher in Government School at Nurmahal and was later posted as Centre Head Teacher in Government School, Nahl. “I joined this school in 2016. I am suffering from the renal problem since 2013 and has been on dialysis for the last seven years,” he told The Tribune.

During the 2019 and 2023 floods, the Mandala Channa school was the worst affected as it remained under water for days. But the teacher did not stay back. He went inside the school to clear sludge and silt all by himself.

Even during the admission season, he visits each and every home in the village to convince parents to send their wards to the school.

He urged the villagers to make their wards study. “This is my ultimate goal. I don’t want any child left out,” he said.

Deepak, however, doesn’t like to talk much about his medical issue. “I don’t want to even think of my problem. If I start giving too much attention to it, it will get worse. I do everything happily,” he said.

A father of two girls, Deepak says he know the importance of education for girls. He also wishes to impart free education to the girls of the village.

Punjab