This story is from September 7, 2020

Adversities made this Bihar school teacher think differently

Saurabh Suman who was initially upset to be stationed at a village in Supaul district, is now thankful for the job that gives him immense opportunities to sharpen his skills.
Adversities made this Bihar school teacher think differently
Adversities made this Bihar school teacher think differently
Pained to see difficulties of a differently-abled boy, inspired Saurabh Suman, a government school teacher in Bihar to make something innovative for differently-abled people and incorporate innovation in education at the school level.
Journey towards innovation
Prototype and models created by Saurabh, a computer science teacher at Lalit Narayan Lakshmi Narayan Project Balika Ucch Vidayalay, Triveniganj, Supaul, and his students caught the attention of district administrative officials during their official visits to the school.
“My journey to innovation in education and its implementation in real-life started after a student narrated the problems being faced by her differently-abled brother. The boy used to cry to communicate with his family which compelled me to think of something innovative,” says the 37-year-old school teacher.
Saurabh and his students won the best model at Eastern India Science Fair 2018 in Kolkata for representing a model on transport and communication. He also made a chip-enabled stick for the visually-impaired. “The stick called ‘Smart Stick’ gives an alert in case of any obstacle comes in front of them while walking,” says Saurabh. He was initially upset to be stationed at a village, but now feels thankful for the job that gave him opportunities to sharpen his skills. “Sometimes adversity makes us think differently,” he adds.
He thanks his school principal for supporting him to carry out innovative projects on the campus. Saurabh also thanks ‘Teachers of Bihar’ a social media platform that offered him a stage to communicate with his colleagues based in various districts to exchange ideas.
Born and brought up in Chapra, a town in Bihar, Saurabh is overwhelmed with the praises pouring in. But, this has put pressure on him to think of unique ideas to encourage students, most of them from underprivileged sections.
Challenges

With regular participation in national level competition and appreciation, students and their parents started recognising him. “Initially, it was difficult for me to convince parents to allow their daughters to participate in the events as it requires travelling to different cities,” says Saurabh, who urges female colleagues to support the girls in the campus. Post COVID-19, he developed a chip-enabled I-card which detects flouting of social distancing norms. “People wearing the I-card get a warning if social distancing is not followed around the user. It is important specially for the visually-impaired,” he says.
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