1. The Change Maker
A Mathematics teacher enables ICT based learning in a small school in Uttarakhand and makes the
school a sought-after one
Forest fires cause widespread damage to vegetation and animal life. But is there a way to contain them?
This question was put to high school students of Government Inter College (GIC), Dudhli in Uttarakhand
by their teacher Jagdamba Prasad Dobhal. The students explored the topic and found that fire lines are
used to contain forest fires. A patch of land through the forest is cleared of bushes, which ensures that
the fire cannot spread beyond it. The students visited the forest near their village and studied how they
could create a fire line. They used Google map to figure out where they could have a fire line. With the
help of the Forest Department, they made a fire line that was 10 m wide and 8 km long. The Forest
Department sent an appreciation letter to the school saying that such efforts should be replicated by
schools across the country as it helped raise the awareness on how forest fires happen and spread.
This is indeed a huge achievement for any school, more so for a small school in a village 20 km from
Dehradun. A school with fewer than 300 students and which has limited resources. But Mathematics
teacher Dobhal does not think that resource limitation should come in the way of what can be done to
enable better learning. Technology is the way to that. And ever since the Intel Teach training he
attended in 2002, he has tried to make learning more comprehensive and easy using ICTs.
It was at the Intel Teach training that Dobhal saw a computer for the first time in his life. But it
immediately opened his mind to the huge learning potential that computers could bring to a classroom.
At the time he was posted at Government Inter College, Nainbagh, Tehri Garhwal. One of the first things
he did to ease the administration issues was to create admission records of all students from 1972 till
2005, the year he left the school. With these records in place, old student looking for certificates and
other data could easily be assisted by the school.
One day while riding on his scooter during summer, he saw a landslide happen. Landslides are usually
associated with monsoon, but this occurrence got him thinking. He decided to have a project based
approach to help the community figure out what could be the reasons behind the landslides and if there
were some things they could keep in mind to reduce their occurrence. He got his students to collect
data and photographs of all the landslides in the region in the past few years. He took them to those
sites and got them to interview people residing there. Students spoke to people who were impacted by
the landslides and got a firsthand feel of the damage. In their exploration they found out that most of
the landslides that had happened in recent years were because of some human generated activity like
construction of roads, deforestation, fires, etc. This project bagged a prize in Aarohan 2004, a
competition organized by the Uttarakhand government with Intel’s support.
Teaching, Against All Odds
Soon after, Dobhal was transferred to GIC, Dudhli, a village closer to Dehradun. Dudhli is more
accessible to the state capital, but the school had limited resources. Dobhal sought the permission to
start using technology for teaching. The principal agreed, but told him that he would have to find the

2. resources himself. After much fund raising efforts, he managed to get four black and white TV sets and a
DVD player for the school in 2006. He started by playing educational CDs for the students so they could
learn from resources other than their books.
Over time, he got a computer and dialup connection at the school. With this he was able to expose the
students to more information, and other interesting material related to the topics. He started
encouraging the students to participate in various science fairs. Students started taking an interest and
browsing the Internet to look for information for their science projects. The results were astounding.
From absolutely no participation till then in various science fairs, the school now ranks among the top
when any such fairs are held. Students started being selected at the state fairs to compete at the
national level. The reputation of the school started to grow.
Intel® Teach’s Project Based Learning Program
The Intel® Teach Program is aimed at improving teacher effectiveness through professional
development, helping teachers integrate technology into their lessons. The program promotes students'
problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration skills. Having reached 1.3 million teachers in India
and training more than 7 million teachers in 50 countries, Intel Teach is the largest, most successful
program of its kind.
Transformation In Progress
Dobhal has been using ICTs in classrooms for almost a decade now. What are his achievements? He says
there are three main achievements. One was increase in enrolments at the school, especially when
other government school enrolments are on the decline. From 240 students in 2006, the school now has
294 students. “In fact students who were slated to join high profile public schools chose to join our
school,” he says.
The second achievement, which is a matter of great pride for the school, is the jump in pass percentage.
Earlier, the school saw pass percentages which were well below 30%. Today, the pass percentage for
board-level exams is 80-90%.
The third achievement is the widespread participation in co-curricular activities by the school students.
A single teacher can bring in such tremendous change in a school, despite having limited resources to
begin with. Today, the school is equipped with high end computers, a projector and broadband
connectivity, and has been termed a Smart School by Department of Science and Technology. That’s
why Dobhal won the state level Best Teacher award in 2009, and followed it up with the President’s
Award in 2010.
Currently, Dobhal is busy creating a Mathlab for class IX and X, and he has motivated his students to
work with him on it, using a project based approach. He aims to make this Mathlab a role model for the
state. And if he needs help, he just speaks to the team at Intel, who are always willing to help him out.
School: Government Inter College, Dudhli, Uttarakhand

3. Teacher: Jagdamba Prasda Dobhal, teaches Mathematics to class VI-X
Projects Impacting Community
Landslides and their causes
Creating a fire line in a forest
Achievements
School’s enrolment has improved
Pass percentage has gone from below 30% to over 80%
School is now well known for its co-curricular activities