A PhD Engineer from Jharkhand quit his job to start school. Sajid Khan calls Mount Everest Public School, which he opened in his hometown, a scholium.
Mohammed Sajid Hussain had the perfect life on paper, from receiving a Marie Curie grant for his PhD in Germany to securing a job as a researcher at the famous National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) in Bangalore, but his life was lacking purpose for the then 28-year-old.
So the 35-year-old returned to his homeland of Jharkhand and discovered his calling when he founded a school that gives practical education and real-world information to students.
Sajid attended a government school in Chitarpur village in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district before attending the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore to earn his engineering degree.
Sajid’s efforts were rewarded when he was awarded the Marie Curie scholarship at Germany’s Technical University Braunschweig.
Sajid went to India and began working at NAL in Bangalore, but he was still dissatisfied. He confesses that he continued to work as an engineer solely because he had a degree in the field, but that his true aim was to help people and affect positive change in society.
So, in 2014, Sajid founded Mount Everest Public School in his hometown, which he describes as a “scholium” that teaches kids both academic and practical knowledge. Sajid left his well-paying career in 2016 to devote his whole attention to school.
Sajid’s family was upset that he quit his career for what they saw as a useless endeavour, despite the fact that he was doing good for society and helping so many people around him. Sajid’s determination, though, was unshaken, and he continued to follow his ambition.
Sajid feels that the present issue is that students are exam-driven and do not understand the practical subtleties necessary to thrive in the jobs they pick.
He claims, he tried with his creative learning concepts and gained a lot of insights. Sajid made contact with officials, including the District Magistrates. They were enthusiastic about the idea and granted him permission to include his curriculum in select government schools.
Sajid has helped incorporate his “Schoolasium Innovation Lab” in nearly 50 schools
With the assistance of teachers and education officials from Jharkhand, Bihar, and Bengal, the “Schoolasium Innovation Lab” has been implemented in 32 government schools and 15 private schools.
Students who wish to participate in the programme must pay a minimal cost of Rs 500; however, if they are unable to do so, the money is waived. Sajid claims that they are always on the hunt for contributions and investors and that they now employ 60 individuals, many of them are volunteers from universities like IIT and NASA.
Sajid says that in the last five years, he has witnessed a significant improvement in rural pupils.
He says that his approach helps pupils improve their confidence, problem-solving abilities, practical knowledge, and communication skills.
Sajid Hussain, says, his ” scholium” has a long way to go, but he gets a lot of joy from assisting others.
Sajid’s outstanding efforts earned him a position on Jharkhand’s top 11 best entrepreneurs list in 2018, compiled by the US Consulate General in Kolkata and the Department of Information Technology and e-Governance in Jharkhand. For his unique learning programme, he received the ‘Best Innovative Idea’ award from DoIT & eGov and the Government of Jharkhand in 2019. He has also received the PM award in the area of Innovation.