‘I am keen to work as a teacher in an Apeejay school’ 

After completing her class 12 from Hemnani Public School, Lajpat Nagar, Gunjan Verma opted to do a Nursery & Primary Teacher Training (NPTT) course from the International Women Polytechnic alongside pursuing her BA in English (Honours) from  Delhi University. In 2013, she got a job with Little Millennium School, Tilak Nagar. After which, in 2014, Gunjan started to work at Nav Uday Convent Senior Secondary School, Najafgarh. “After gaining a few years of teaching experience, I was sure I wanted to enhance my teaching skills further and hence, I decided to pursue B Ed.” This is when Gunjan enrolled herself in the School of Education, Apeejay Stya University (ASU). In an interview, the 27-year-old talks about her learnings at Apeejay and more. Edited excerpts:

How did you zero down on Apeejay as your choice for B Ed? 

I took a gap of six months before I joined Apeejay Stya University. My cousin searched for colleges for B Ed programmes and she suggested that I join Apeejay. I had also heard a lot about it. As soon as I completed my first year in B Ed, I simultaneously took up a teaching job at St. Charles School, Samaspur – where I taught for almost a year. The principal of the school was very supportive to allow me to do my teaching practice. I completed my B Ed in 2019 and got a job offer from Notre Dame School, Kair.  I am teaching English and Social Studies (SST) to the students of classes 5 and 6. I am also keen to work as a teacher in an Apeejay School. I am waiting to receive that opportunity.

How did you strike a balance between your education and work?

At St. Charles, I was teaching the pre-primary section. Honestly, I did not put in any extra effort to balance the two. It worked out automatically. My teachers at Apeejay – Anand Pradhan Sir and Vijay Kumar Sir — were very supportive and encouraging. In fact, the St. Charles principal was also very cooperative. Also, while I was undergoing my teaching practice, there were not many classes held. So I could invest more time in my teaching practice. In addition to teaching pre-primary, I chose to teach class 4 and class 5 students. It’s because my main subjects were English and SST and there was no way I could teach these subjects to the pre-primary level. I also used to take up doubt clearing sessions on English and SST for classes 4, 5 and others. 

Did you always wish to become a teacher?

Yes. I always wanted to become a teacher. In fact, I was inspired by my teachers in school – the way they used to teach, solve my problems. They were more like friends than teachers. 

What did you like about studying in Apeejay?

Apeejay taught us to be well-versed with technology and so, having that knowledge helped me switch to online classes quickly when the pandemic hit in 2020. At Apeejay, we were taught how to use different technological teaching tools. Vijay Sir taught us how to make a classroom lively and engaging using laptops and computers. I was not very confident in using technology but Apeejay helped me build that confidence. Today, it’s because of Apeejay I am able to reach out to my students via an online learning model. No doubt, I have had amazing mentors and teachers at Apeejay because of whom I received so many good teaching opportunities in my career so far. Another good part about Apeejay is that all the facilities are available within the campus – from food to stationery items.

Any words of wisdom for anyone willing to take up the teaching profession?

This is a never-dying profession. But I feel a lot of people these days choose teaching as a profession thinking it’s a 7 am to 3 pm job. I would request not to choose this profession with such a point of view. As teachers we nurture engineers, doctors, IAS officers, etc. Teaching is not an easy task. You need to have that passion and then only you will be able to encourage hundreds of students in building their career. I am keen to work as a teacher in an Apeejay school.