By Manoj Pathak

Ranchi, Mar 20 (IANS): Generally government officials do not get free time from their work schedules. Proving to be an exception, Abu Imran, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has taken the initiative to promote education among parents and students in Jharkhand.

Imran not only visits schools himself in remote areas to teach students for a few hours, but also visits villages and inspires parents to send their children to school and explains the importance of education to them.

Imran, the Latehar Deputy Commissioner (DC) and IAS officer of 2010 batch, has also been the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of the district before taking over as the Deputy Commissioner. This is the reason he is well acquainted with Latehar.

When Imran joined here as the Deputy Commissioner, his attention was drawn towards the education system in the remote areas here.

Imran told IANS, "I have been in the habit of teaching children in schools and colleges since the beginning. There is usually a lack of awareness about education in remote areas, but when an officer goes to these villages to teach and meet the parents of these children, there is an increased need for imparting education to them and spread awareness about education."

Nawagarh was once considered a stronghold of Maoists, but Imran, along with his wife Jabeen Fatima, has highlighted the need for education in the regions's Higher Secondary schools.

Imran took a class of intermediate and matriculate children along with his wife and gave the mantra of success in life to them. Gun-shots were once heard in these areas but Imran and his wife visited the schools and gave a pen and diary to encourage the children and said they should never adopt shortcuts in education or employment in life.

The Deputy Commissioner admits that there are many problems faced by the schools here, but by sitting on the children's benches, he came to know about the minor problems, which can be solved by communicating with the common man.

He told IANS that 'Gyan Kora Latehar' was started on YouTube when the schools were closed during the Coronavirus. Subjects were uploaded on this channel by getting experienced teachers to tackle the syllabus, which benefited the students a lot.

He said in many schools, students also complain of not finding teachers of requisite subjects, but today when many subjects can be learnt from social media sites, there is a need to inform the students about it.

Imran said there are several problems, but merely pointing at them cannot be the way out. Everyone of us can come together to solve these problems. There may not be a complete solution achieved to the problems, but some success would definitely be achieved.

Imran visits the villages and spreads awareness among the people to eradicate social evils. On Friday, in the Project High School at Sasang village in Chandwa Block, located on National Highway-39, Imran informed the children about curriculum-based knowledge and spread awareness among them to eradicate social evils. He then visited the Kasturba Gandhi Residential School at Chandwa.

The villagers also appreciate the Deputy Commissioner's initiative. Madan Prasad of Nawagarh says that it is because of this unique initiative by the Deputy Commissioner that teachers in schools are reporting on time and children are also coming to school.