At 86, age no bar for her passion of teaching

Nellore: Age may not be a constraint for people who want to fulfill their ambitions. Though she is aged, she is young at heart and has been serving needy children who study in government-run schools for improving their language skills.

• Hailing from Pucchalapalli family she strives for improving language skills among children in government schools
• Distributes books she wrote on improving English teaching, learning methods free of cost

She worked in a senior position in state government and has been passionate to work for poor children who cannot afford expensive schooling in city limits. Kamala Ajwani, joined the family of Dr Jetty Sesha Reddy as daughter-in-law who is closely related to Pucchalapalli Sundaraiah. She got married to Jetty Dasaratharami Reddy in 1953, elder son of Sesha Reddy.

She worked as Joint Director in the Department of Technical Education for more than 37 years and superannuated in 1988. Even though she was working in the government,t she was planning to study education system in government schools where poor students lag behind in communication skills and fail to compete in many aspects.

She also observed students who studied in Telugu medium and were facing trouble in pursuing technical education failing to manage instruction in English medium. She felt English should not be a barrier for the learning process. She decided to work for them after her retirement. But, she lost her husband and her well-settled children took her to Unites States.

But, she failed to compromise and returned to India and started working with the Education Department for improving language skills among children in government schools. She has been staying here for the last 13 years and wrote more than 50 books making language teaching and learning easy for both teachers and children.

“Major reason for backwardness among children in government schools is that they have no command over English which is a foreign language. They find it difficult since teachers were also not showing adequate interest and failing to make the classroom a child-friendly. Both mother tongue and English have to be taught with equal priority keeping global prospects in mind. Government should also focus on the aspect,” said 86-year old Kamala Ajwani.

At the age of 70 she started visiting various schools, observed teaching standards and suggested measures for improvising language skills of teachers and students. She was printing the books with her own funds and distributed to schools every year. During 2009-10, she got support from the then collector G Ramgopal for teaching in government schools on how to teach English in a simple way. Government teachers Padmaja and Krishnaveni were also deputed for assisting her.

“She is a living legend who strives hard for improving language skills among children. We were lucky enough to work with a great visionary. The way she teaches was simple, understandable and students were able to speak in English in a month. She conducted sessions for teachers also for teaching language in an efficient manner,” said Padmaja, a government teacher, who worked with Kamala Ajwani.

Kamala also constructed a model school in the city in 2002 which is being currently managed by Jana Vignana Vedika. The Adarsha Educational Society is taking care of schooling of around 200 students. Still, she spends much of time in printing books, distribution and working with children practically even at the age of 86. Interestingly, the state government has not honoured her with any award till now considering her services to children who study in government schools.

By PV Prasad