Contributed By: Dr. Equbal Wajid
[An extract form author’s autobiography]
It was difficult for Dr. Syed Hasan to hire all trained teachers for his School so he commonly employed untrained teachers, and through his continuing efforts he used to train and out lined them in his desirous frame. He use to take daily or weekly classes for the teachers throughout the years. The teachers who had no interest in learning and enhancement of knowledge took these classes as waste of time. But few of them were always serious. Dr. Syed Hasan used to teach us child psychology, motivation, personality development, and leadership.
I believe that, many of those teachers of Insan School, though they are not certified as trained teachers, but they are never less than a trained teacher.. There are still few names remaining in the campus like Abdul Ahad Bhai and Muzahir Bhai who can create miracles and can run, handle, execute, and arrange big institutions at all levels. Once Mr. Abdul Ahad Bhai a senior teacher came to our hostel, he gathered the students and gave a lecture on cleanness. When he was talking about how to broom and maintain the cleanliness of the hostel. I was surprised how he is speaking and from where these words are coming. Definitely this was the training of Dr. Syed Hasan that he was capable of talking on this issue in such detail.
In class IXth there was chapter in the Urdu text book named “ Tamater Sehat ka Khazana”[ Tomoto: the treasure of health] I was assigned to teach the lesson. Those days I was trying my best to practice the methods of teachings exhibited by Dr. Syed Hasan. He told us to correlate the lessons with the life so that the knowledge should come to practice. I took a big size tomato in the class and tried to convince the students that it is a treasure of health. It was Saturday. The students were to go to market in the evening. When the students returned from the market, it was observed that everybody has carrying a bag filled with tomato. As a result Tomato was seen everywhere, under the beds, in the racks, they take some pieces to dining hall and eat with meals. The Tomato case was so highlighted that it slowly expanded in other hostels and the whole season Tomato was a topic in High School. Any of my students who met me later after years in Aligarh or somewhere else recalled that days and enjoyed. In 2005 when I met one of my student Iqbal Sami in Dammam,Saudi Arabia, he remember the Tomato story and enjoyed a lot.
Beating was absolutely prohibited in Insan School, but there were other psychological methods of punishment. I remember, once, when a teacher Sohail Bahi [form Balia U.P] beat a student with stick, a staff meeting was called on for this issue. Dr. Syed Hasan discarded this act without speaking anyone’s name openly. He said in the meeting:
“This is an insane activity”.
He tried his best and even, at last use the threatening technique on the teachers that if anyone would fail to regard the student. By nature I never liked to be so serious among my students. I always created interest in my class rooms. Even Dr. Hasan has admired this quality of mine. At a place he wrote about me:
“He [Equbal Wajid] always creates interest in the class room and enjoys with his colleagues.”
During my 14 years tie in Insan School/Insan College, I never beat any of the students except once.
It was the Urdu class of eighth or ninth. I was busy to demonstrate or tell something. I saw one of the students in the class not as much attentive at all rather than he was laughing, and despite my care he continued chuckling on me. His name was Mohammad Jamil, from Calcutta, he was a nice student, favorite to all the teachers. He was also favorite to me. I ask a student to bring a stick. He brought it from a nearby ditch and I beat him angrily, one, two, three, four, five, six strokes. He stood up and said staring on me:
“It is the first time that a teacher has beaten me in the School”.
“It is the first time that I have beaten a student in the School”. I replied.
No answer.
I said again after a pause:
“We both have broken the records”.
The class was silent at this comment but I cared some of them kept smiling.
This matter was not taken into account, nor reported to Dr. Syed Hasan despite he never allowed anything to escape his notice. Everybody in the class knew that I never raise stick on the students. It was regarded as a case of probability and as a first chance for both of us.
The punishment methods in the school were all psychological. When students go miss-behaving or create problems the matter was being reported to Syed Hasan. There was nothing like expulsion. Not a single student in the history of Insan School/Insan college has been expelled or ejected. It doesn’t mean that there was no any problem child, surely problem children were there, but the method of punishment was purely psychological. An unbeaten psychology had been created to such students, and they were forced psychologically to turn positive. I believe that not a single school administration in the world will dare to keep on any of his student who points a Knife to his teacher or abuses him openly in front of all.
Did it happen at Insan School? Yes it happened so and the case was handled so smartly that the accused student turned to be a favorite, helping, respect-paying, and gentle personality. He became the leader of the school at many occasions. It was class Xth my favorite class. I was sitting in the office. What it happened that on an issue Naseem Bhai who was after all a bold teacher from Araria District, called a student named Mohammad Aslam in the office and slapped him two or three times. Within minutes he ran to the hostel and returned with a necked knife. He pointed the knife to Naseem Bhai and started abusing him. He scratched off his name from the class attendance register by his knife and said that he doesn’t want to be in the campus any more.
The student of other classes’ gathered and watched him. All the teachers watched him. All of us thought that Mohammad Aslam will be ejected from the school but instead of facing any kind of expulsion he was treated psychologically and later on shaped into a respect-paying and gentle personality. The same day when Dr. Syed Hasan saw him after few hours of the occurrence near the school-canteen, he wished him with an over cheerful face showing that he may not have been taken this issue on account. Again and again when ever Dr. Syed Hasan saw him he tried to demonstrate a clear face impression.
This was a patent type therapy used by Dr. Syed Hasan. He used to call it a supportive– psychotherapy. They saw, within a week that Mohammad Aslam was assigned to carry out the proceedings of morning assembly of the School, and soon after he was a changed man. Had he been ejected from the school his problems may have continued with him in future? Does anybody know about that? Can his parent pay the price of this treatment? Was this even was noticed by any one at time? The answer is in silence.
After his matriculation Mohammad Aslam went to A.M.U. Aligarh. There he studied commerce and came back to Kishanganj, and started running his own Bakery, which soon regarded as the biggest Bakery in Kishanganj town. [to be continued]
[An extract form author’s autobiography]
It was difficult for Dr. Syed Hasan to hire all trained teachers for his School so he commonly employed untrained teachers, and through his continuing efforts he used to train and out lined them in his desirous frame. He use to take daily or weekly classes for the teachers throughout the years. The teachers who had no interest in learning and enhancement of knowledge took these classes as waste of time. But few of them were always serious. Dr. Syed Hasan used to teach us child psychology, motivation, personality development, and leadership.
I believe that, many of those teachers of Insan School, though they are not certified as trained teachers, but they are never less than a trained teacher.. There are still few names remaining in the campus like Abdul Ahad Bhai and Muzahir Bhai who can create miracles and can run, handle, execute, and arrange big institutions at all levels. Once Mr. Abdul Ahad Bhai a senior teacher came to our hostel, he gathered the students and gave a lecture on cleanness. When he was talking about how to broom and maintain the cleanliness of the hostel. I was surprised how he is speaking and from where these words are coming. Definitely this was the training of Dr. Syed Hasan that he was capable of talking on this issue in such detail.
In class IXth there was chapter in the Urdu text book named “ Tamater Sehat ka Khazana”[ Tomoto: the treasure of health] I was assigned to teach the lesson. Those days I was trying my best to practice the methods of teachings exhibited by Dr. Syed Hasan. He told us to correlate the lessons with the life so that the knowledge should come to practice. I took a big size tomato in the class and tried to convince the students that it is a treasure of health. It was Saturday. The students were to go to market in the evening. When the students returned from the market, it was observed that everybody has carrying a bag filled with tomato. As a result Tomato was seen everywhere, under the beds, in the racks, they take some pieces to dining hall and eat with meals. The Tomato case was so highlighted that it slowly expanded in other hostels and the whole season Tomato was a topic in High School. Any of my students who met me later after years in Aligarh or somewhere else recalled that days and enjoyed. In 2005 when I met one of my student Iqbal Sami in Dammam,Saudi Arabia, he remember the Tomato story and enjoyed a lot.
Beating was absolutely prohibited in Insan School, but there were other psychological methods of punishment. I remember, once, when a teacher Sohail Bahi [form Balia U.P] beat a student with stick, a staff meeting was called on for this issue. Dr. Syed Hasan discarded this act without speaking anyone’s name openly. He said in the meeting:
“This is an insane activity”.
He tried his best and even, at last use the threatening technique on the teachers that if anyone would fail to regard the student. By nature I never liked to be so serious among my students. I always created interest in my class rooms. Even Dr. Hasan has admired this quality of mine. At a place he wrote about me:
“He [Equbal Wajid] always creates interest in the class room and enjoys with his colleagues.”
During my 14 years tie in Insan School/Insan College, I never beat any of the students except once.
It was the Urdu class of eighth or ninth. I was busy to demonstrate or tell something. I saw one of the students in the class not as much attentive at all rather than he was laughing, and despite my care he continued chuckling on me. His name was Mohammad Jamil, from Calcutta, he was a nice student, favorite to all the teachers. He was also favorite to me. I ask a student to bring a stick. He brought it from a nearby ditch and I beat him angrily, one, two, three, four, five, six strokes. He stood up and said staring on me:
“It is the first time that a teacher has beaten me in the School”.
“It is the first time that I have beaten a student in the School”. I replied.
No answer.
I said again after a pause:
“We both have broken the records”.
The class was silent at this comment but I cared some of them kept smiling.
This matter was not taken into account, nor reported to Dr. Syed Hasan despite he never allowed anything to escape his notice. Everybody in the class knew that I never raise stick on the students. It was regarded as a case of probability and as a first chance for both of us.
The punishment methods in the school were all psychological. When students go miss-behaving or create problems the matter was being reported to Syed Hasan. There was nothing like expulsion. Not a single student in the history of Insan School/Insan college has been expelled or ejected. It doesn’t mean that there was no any problem child, surely problem children were there, but the method of punishment was purely psychological. An unbeaten psychology had been created to such students, and they were forced psychologically to turn positive. I believe that not a single school administration in the world will dare to keep on any of his student who points a Knife to his teacher or abuses him openly in front of all.
Did it happen at Insan School? Yes it happened so and the case was handled so smartly that the accused student turned to be a favorite, helping, respect-paying, and gentle personality. He became the leader of the school at many occasions. It was class Xth my favorite class. I was sitting in the office. What it happened that on an issue Naseem Bhai who was after all a bold teacher from Araria District, called a student named Mohammad Aslam in the office and slapped him two or three times. Within minutes he ran to the hostel and returned with a necked knife. He pointed the knife to Naseem Bhai and started abusing him. He scratched off his name from the class attendance register by his knife and said that he doesn’t want to be in the campus any more.
The student of other classes’ gathered and watched him. All the teachers watched him. All of us thought that Mohammad Aslam will be ejected from the school but instead of facing any kind of expulsion he was treated psychologically and later on shaped into a respect-paying and gentle personality. The same day when Dr. Syed Hasan saw him after few hours of the occurrence near the school-canteen, he wished him with an over cheerful face showing that he may not have been taken this issue on account. Again and again when ever Dr. Syed Hasan saw him he tried to demonstrate a clear face impression.
This was a patent type therapy used by Dr. Syed Hasan. He used to call it a supportive– psychotherapy. They saw, within a week that Mohammad Aslam was assigned to carry out the proceedings of morning assembly of the School, and soon after he was a changed man. Had he been ejected from the school his problems may have continued with him in future? Does anybody know about that? Can his parent pay the price of this treatment? Was this even was noticed by any one at time? The answer is in silence.
After his matriculation Mohammad Aslam went to A.M.U. Aligarh. There he studied commerce and came back to Kishanganj, and started running his own Bakery, which soon regarded as the biggest Bakery in Kishanganj town. [to be continued]
