Nirmal: Inspirational story of a teacher who walks the extra mile

From being forced to work as a daily wage construction worker as he could not pay his examination fee, Kurra Shekhar is now a State-level award winning teacher, and is inspiring many students

Nirmal: From being forced to work as a daily wage construction worker as he could not pay his examination fee, Kurra Shekhar is now a State-level award winning teacher, and is inspiring many students, all from economically challenging conditions, to win scholarships from the government and continue their education without any interruption.

Currently working with a government school at Velmal-Bopparam in Soan mandal, Shekhar hasn’t forgotten his roots.

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“I was forced to become a daily-wage earner when I could not pay my examination fee of Rs 150 while I was pursuing my Intermediate. I was engaged as a laborer in the construction sector and migrated to Mumbai. So, I explored opportunities that could bring respite to economically disadvantaged students.

Soon after I secured a job, I found that the National Means-cum-merit Scholarship Scheme helps students from poor backgrounds and started preparing my students to crack the scholarship,” Shekhar told Telangana Today.

The son of an illiterate farmer Buchchanna and homemaker Lingavva, Shekhar was initially posted at a Zilla Parishad Secondary School in Koutala mandal headquarters of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. Under his guidance, 12 students of the school were selected for the scholarships between 2011 and 2012 for the first time. The pupils were given Rs 12,000 per annum.

He was then transferred to a government school at Kishtapur village in Jannaram mandal of Mancherial district. Buoyed by the extraordinary success in his maiden attempt, he groomed more students from rural areas. He went an extra mile by sparing additional time on holidays and after working hours to train his students.

As a result, the school stood first in the district in securing scholarships for a record seven times in a row and appeared in the top place in the State twice from 2013 to 2022. As many as 200 pupils of this institution bagged the scholarship and the school has become a role model to other institutions in the district.

The 40-year old, who hails from remote Lingapur village in Kaddampeddur mandal of Nirmal district, said he was delighted to have played a vital role in the lives of many students in getting the scholarship, which in-turn turned out to be of great help to their families.

To his credit, Shekhar has won the State-level and district-level best teacher awards considering his contributions to the field of education in 2019. He bagged the district-level best teacher award in 2018. He was conferred with Vidya Seva Ratna Award by Gandhi Global Family, a Hyderabad-based NGO, in 2021. ZPSS Kishtapur also won the Harita Mitra award for raising greenery in 2018, under Shekhar’s guidance.