Malappuram Urdu teacher taps savings to take deprived students on yearly school trips along with his family
A native of Arikode, Shereef joined the school in 2006. Two years later, during a routine visit to one of his classes, he noticed that a few students had stayed back while others went on the school trip.
A native of Arikode, Shereef joined the school in 2006. Two years later, during a routine visit to one of his classes, he noticed that a few students had stayed back while others went on the school trip.
A native of Arikode, Shereef joined the school in 2006. Two years later, during a routine visit to one of his classes, he noticed that a few students had stayed back while others went on the school trip.
Every year, while school trips remain out of reach for many children from underprivileged families, one teacher in Malappuram quietly ensures that none of his students are left behind. For the past 16 years, P C Shereef, an Urdu teacher at Manadevan UP School in Trikkalangode, Manjeri, has been taking his students on fully sponsored trips, turning what began as a small gesture into a yearly tradition.
A native of Arikode, Shereef joined the school in 2006. Two years later, during a routine visit to one of his classes, he noticed that a few students had stayed back while others went on the school trip. When he asked why, their answers stayed with him. "The children told me their parents couldn't afford the trip," Shereef said. "They simply didn't have the means to pay for it. Their sad faces touched me deeply because I knew that pain very well."
The ninth child in his family, Shereef, lost his father when he was nine years old and spent the rest of his schooling at an orphanage run by Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar "I know what it feels like to not even be able to afford a pen or a book, and the pain of watching others have it," he said.
Moved by the children's situation, Shereef asked them if they would like to go on a trip if he sponsored it himself. All of them agreed. In 2008, he took around 40 students those who could not afford the school trip, to the Nilambur Teak Museum. "I still remember the joy and wonder on their faces. I see the same reaction every time I take a new batch of students. It brings me great contentment," he said. "The first trip was in a school bus. The kids later said they wanted to travel in a tourist bus next time, with the music and the lights. I thought, why not?" he said. Since then, every trip has been on a tourist bus.
What began as a trip only for students who were left out has now included everyone. "Now, all of us go together, those who can afford the school trip and those who cannot. No one is separated," Shereef said. Over the years, the destinations have expanded to include Malampuzha, Kochi Metro, the Water Metro, Tripunithura Hill Palace, water theme parks and several other tourist spots across the state. Just last week, Shereef took his students to Kakkadampoyil, where they visited waterfalls and the Sky Wave park.
The excitement begins months in advance. "At the start of the academic year itself, they begin asking about the trip. A few days before it, some of them tell me they can't even sleep because they are so excited," he said. After getting married, Shereef began taking his family. His own children, now studying in Classes 9, 6 and 2, have grown up alongside these excursions. "When they were younger, my students would take care of my kids with so much affection," he recalled.
Shereef plans each trip well in advance, saving from his salary and even using interest from his provident fund. "After each trip, I start saving up for the next trip immediately. The most recent one cost around ₹60,000. Over the years, costs have gone up, whether for transport, park tickets, or food. But once I decided after the first trip that this would be an annual promise, there was no turning back," he said.