Briton shows the way to good education at Sainiwal

Things changed when British national David Gee,who was on a visit to Punjab,adopted the school and raised funds to rebuild it.

“I was shocked to see the school building falling apart when I visited the state with a friend in 2001. There were no desks or chairs or writing material. Even teachers were missing,” said the former chief of criminal investigation department,Derbyshire,UK,after inaugurating the new building on Tuesday. The elementary school was built with a fund of Rs 7.5 lakh.

Gee had adopted five more government schools,raised their infrastructure and even appointed teachers and contributed a fund of over Rs 50 lakh. “I have adopted five schools in Singhpur Dona,Seham,Kangsabo,Sainiwal and Awanchaharmi. Now my mission is to improve quality of education in these rural schools,” he said.

He has also employed teachers in Seham,Bajuha and Sainiwal schools and given scholarships to poor children. Gee himself teaches basic English and mathematics during his visits to the country,twice or thrice a year.

Harpreet Singh Bal,the English teacher in Sainiwal Senior Secondary School and project director for the Sainiwal school building inaugurated today said,“Gee goes from door-to-door motivating people to send their children to school regularly.”

“My parents didn’t want me to continue studies,but when he (Gee) sponsored me they didn’t object,” said Parabhjeet,a student of Class VI in Singhpur Dona village and son of a daily wager.

“With his motivation,the strength of students in our school has now increased and people are more aware about educating their children,” said Rakesh Kumar Aggrawal,a teacher in elementary school at Singhpur Dona.