Deep Narayan Nayak (37) grew up in a limited family in Nandigaon village of Jamuria in Asansol, West Bengal. From the first day to the last day of school, he never wore a new dress or read from a new book. Deep and her four sisters managed with hand-me-downs and worn-out uniforms, which their mother would somehow arrange for them.
His desire to study was such that he always kept resources from affecting his academic performance. But after the five children grew up, their father’s income derived from multiple jobs was not enough to feed nine mouths (including his grandparents). With all the brothers studying in school till class 8, the financial shortage increased, due to which his sisters dropped out of school.
As a child, Deep managed to complete his education, earning a B.Sc in Botany. Later, he had to give up teaching but trained as a teacher and became a primary school teacher. Seeing children facing similar struggles in his own childhood, he refused to remain silent. He was determined not to let other children, especially girls like his sisters, go through the hardships he had.
Deep started supporting the two children in his school by providing them with new books, slates and other necessary materials. This small act turned into a huge movement to educate underprivileged children and break the cycle of poverty. Starting from Jamuria district, it has spread to seven more districts in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bangladesh, impacting more than 10,000 students.
Called ‘Raster Master’ (teacher of the road), Deep educates not only the children, but also their parents and grandparents. Her programs aim to reduce dropouts, provide nutritious food, prevent child marriage, reduce the gender gap in education, empower women and change mindsets.
In addition, he works to improve education and livelihoods through his Raster Master Research Center and International Foundation.
Breaking the vicious cycle of poverty
Deep remembers his father working as a daily wage earner in the morning, cleaning a medical shop and working as a watchman at night. In fact, the family lived in a house where his father worked as the owner was out of the country.
“My father worked for us day and night. But when the landlord returned, we had to move to a small mud house (cottage) far from the village where there was no electricity. So I used to wake up at 3 am every day to study and read in the evening because there was light on the street,’ says Deep.
He went to school without electricity at home.
After class 10, his classmates moved to the city for higher education, but he could not go due to financial constraints. She considered quitting and working like her sisters. So he started teaching children. But a gentleman noticed her good grades and encouraged her to continue her studies.
Although government schools are available, only a few are enrolled. Deep was among the three students there and he was the only one to pass the board.
The well-wisher lent the books with the condition of returning the books within two years. “He was saving the book for the child of a domestic worker two years younger than me. He motivated me to study well and complete Class 12,” adds Deep.
Initially wanting to study chemistry, he changed his mind when he could not afford the many books required for the course. So he chose Botany because it contained less number of books. He didn’t have a book for about three months after starting college. When the principal found out, he arranged for Deep to be borrowed from the library for a year.
After completing his degree, Deep became a primary teacher in 2010. On his first day at school, he felt a strange sense of deja vu, which he didn’t expect or want.
“I saw kids from the same background as mine – three or four siblings, no proper jobs for parents, and borrowed old books. These children were going through the same pain and struggle I did growing up. I don’t want to see another child go through the same hassles as me to get a good education,” he adds.
He started buying new books and slates for the two children at his school. The number gradually increased as other children also needed these bright books. Most of these children had no idea what a new book or slate looked like. As the ‘Raster Master’ tried to buy it for as many children as he could with his money, he knew it wasn’t something he could continue for long.
So he came up with a unique model that would soon become the first step into a movement.
3G model
Deep started painting the walls of the children’s homes with chalk. That way, when the kids come back from school after doing their homework, the parents start learning too. He calls it the 3G model – teaching three generations in reverse. The child, often the first learner in the family, teaches parents and grandparents.
He started teaching by turning the mud walls of the village houses into classroom walls. By painting small sections of the wall black, he has opened several blackboards for these children to learn on.
When the parents did not want to send their children to these classes, he started asking the children to teach the parents. Now, many mothers, fathers and grandparents have learned enough to write sentences or their own names. He says this method builds bonds, provides basic education to people regardless of age and helps the older generation understand the importance of education.
His motto is ‘where there is a wall, there is a road’.
“When I started teaching children, I noticed that their studies often stopped around class 10. Boys started working, and girls got married or even worked. The 3G model helps prevent this. It makes parents aware of what they are missing out on and emphasizes the importance of education,” says Deep.
Surojit, Deep’s student for more than seven years, mentioned that all the children eagerly await Deep’s visit to their Bankura village. Surojit, now 20 and studying engineering, credits Deep with his crucial support. Her father works odd jobs, and Surojit becomes the first engineer from their village. “We are all waiting for Master’s arrival, especially the small children. He also gets food for us, which the children, who eat the mid-day meal, enjoy a lot,” he says.
Due to Deep’s efforts, many children are now pursuing various degrees like engineering, nursing, arts and more outside their village and state as well. From a student studying psychology at Delhi University to getting a government job, the teacher feels immensely proud, sharing stories with many others.
“Earlier, children used to go outside the village as laborers or only after marriage (out of respect for girls). Now, they have the freedom to dream and pursue the education they love,” he shared.
Shalini from Sukhbazar in Howrah is the first to go to Delhi to study from her village. She was certain she wanted a degree in psychology and worked toward it. While most of the girls in her school got married during school or after class 12, Shalini took Deep’s help to convince her parents to pursue her education.
“Everyone in our village wants the girls to get married soon. It is believed that a girl should only go to her husband’s house outside the village. It was because of Deep sir that I was able to study psychology at Delhi University,” says Shalini.
Starting from Jamuria, Deep’s initiative gradually expanded to other districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand. He now has a team that trains other teachers as they have students ages 5-50.
“Each age group should be taught in a way that matches the way they learn. We have a team of 150 people, including 50 teachers and 100 assistants. After training, assistants become teachers. We go to each village and select teachers from there as they are well equipped to teach the children,” he added.
The ‘Raster Master’ education model is an almost zero investment system with huge returns. The teacher says it will cost Rs 100 to convert the street into a classroom. It helps bridge the digital divide for students who can’t afford phones, don’t have internet and don’t have electricity.
Through the 5L (Language) model every child is taught five languages – Bengali, English, Hindi, Urdu and Ol Chiki. They can read, speak and write in all languages.
Deep himself is on the streets from 8 am to 8 pm to teach children. He continues his job as a government teacher and takes classes before and after school.
They also provide nutritious food to children as they do not want them to suffer from malnutrition. He pays for it all out of his own pocket, exhausting all his savings and salary for the cause.
I feel guilty for leaving my sister
When Deep was younger, he didn’t remember a single person being motivated to study because of his male gender. She noticed that even today, girls face barriers to education while growing up. This inspired her to make it her mission to support girls and talk to their families about giving them better educational opportunities.
“Even today people are not happy when a girl child is born. Even though sex determination tests are illegal in India, people still look for ways to find out and abort the baby. I want to ensure that every child, especially girls, gets a good education,” he says.
When a daughter was born, Deep began visiting hospitals and homes to encourage parents to celebrate her arrival. He gifts sweets and gives 10 saplings, which grow into valuable trees over 20 years that can be sold at a good price. “I give trees like mahogany that sell for about Rs 1 lakh per tree once grown, which takes about 10 years. I tell them to carefully water these trees which will become an asset for them tomorrow,” adds the teacher.
He believes that caring for a tree is like nurturing your dreams. At first, people didn’t believe him, but after they saw trees growing in different houses, their faith grew in the raster master. To inspire parents to educate their girls, he brings back former students from the village who are now successful engineers and graduates.
“Earlier I used to bring senior officials to give motivational speeches, but that didn’t work. When a girl whom you have seen since childhood comes with a degree, the parents come from the same background and become more connected,” he adds. He shows them real-life heroes they can connect with and relate to, making them realize these dreams are within reach.
His goal now is to spread his centers around the world and make education accessible to all. “I don’t want anyone to go through what my sisters did. I will ensure that every girl and every boy gets an education,’ he says.
He was selected among the top 10 teachers for the 2023 Global Teacher Awards presented by the Varki Foundation in partnership with UNESCO.
Deep now needs additional funding to expand its model and provide more resources for students. If you want to help, you can contribute:
Raster Master International Foundation
A/C No. – 40715717111
IFSC – SBIN0006188
Branch – Jamuria Bazar
(Editing by Pranitha Bhat and Padmashri Pandey)