Maha ZP School Teacher Revolutionises Education Of Tribal Girls; Wins $ 1M Global Teacher Prize

Posted: December 4, 2020

Ranjitsinh Disale wins the global teacher prize this year for promoting girls’ education in tribal communities and introducing QR Coded textbooks for school children.

Maharashtra teacher Ranjitsinh Disale, working in a village near Solapur has won the Global Teacher Prize recently. His work in the Zilla Parishad school where a large number of children come from tribal communities, has changed the way education for girls is looked at, and has also brought to almost zero cases of teenage girls’ marriage.

For his sincere work to ensure girls from tribal communities go to school and be able to study without any barriers, Ranjitsinh Disale was awarded with the Global Teacher Prize and a sum of $1million. In his winning speech, he said that, “teachers are the real change markers” and also announced that he would be sharing 50% of his prize money with his fellow nominated teachers for their incredible work.

The work Ranjitsinh Disale does

In 2009, Ranjitsinh Disale joined the Zilla Parishad Primary School at Paritewadi, Solapur district in Maharashtra.The school he taught “was sandwiched between a cattle shed and a store room.” Most of the girls in the school belonged to the tribal communities that did not prioritise their education. Teenage marriage was a common practice as well.

Disale also found that the school textbooks prescribed for the students were not in their local language which made studying difficult for the school children. He took the task of learning their local language and translated the textbooks of Classes 1st to 4th. He also introduced QR codes in the textbooks so that the students could get access to online video lectures and stories.

It is now reported that there are no teenage marriages in the village and 100% attendance of girls at the school. The school was also recently awarded the best school in the district with 85% of his students achieving A grades in annual exams.

An inspiration

Ranjitsinh Disale’s contributions at promoting girls education in the village have been extraordinary. Due to his interventions, girls from tribal communities in the village are now getting access to proper education. One girl from the school has now graduated from University.

It is a hope that the contributions made by Disale inspire others to help and uplift the disadvantaged groups around them, especially girls, many of them who do not have access to proper education. It is only through a collective effort that the country can move forward towards a bright future.

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