‘It was my dream to get a govt teacher job… kept trying’: Meet Vijay who failed 26 times, and triumphed at 59

Vijay Kumar Sharma teaching at a private school in UP. (Express)

At 59 years and seven months old, Baghpat resident Vijay Kumar Sharma will embark on a new chapter of his life from Monday — stepping in as an assistant teacher at a government-aided school after spending nearly four decades teaching in private schools.

Sharma cleared the Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) examination this year and will now join Inter College Ailum, a government-aided higher secondary school in Shamli district, located 15 km from his residence at Barawad village in Baghpat district. He will teach Sanskrit to students up to Class X.

“It was always my dream to get a government job as a teacher, and I made several attempts over the last 27 years. I kept giving the exams, and now, at the age of 59, my dream has finally come true,” said Sharma, a father of five, including three daughters, after clearing the exam conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission (UPESSC).

Kumar graduated in 1987, followed by dual postgraduate degrees in Hindi and Sanskrit, and completed his BEd in 2003.

Recounting his selection, Sharma said a vacancy opened this year for 292 posts of Sanskrit teachers. “I had cleared the written examination several times but repeatedly failed to clear the interview stage. There were times I felt that the selection process itself was flawed, but I never let that hurdle make me feel hopeless — I kept trying… This time, there was no interview, and I believe that gave candidates like me an equal opportunity to prove ourselves,” he said as he thanked the government for eliminating the interview round in the selection.

According to him, he will get about two years and a few months to teach in government schools, since the retirement age is 62. “I was born in February 1967. I will serve just over two years, but even that is deeply satisfying — it was my dream to teach at a government school,” he said, adding that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally handed him his appointment letter in Lucknow last Tuesday.

Vijay’s two sons serve in the UP Police, while his wife, Kaushal Sharma, is a homemaker. Of his five children, four are married.

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Vijay’s eldest daughter, Mamta Sharma, who also appeared four times for the government teacher exam, said her father is a huge inspiration for young people who give up on life over failures.

“My father failed 26 times, but I never once saw any helplessness or self-doubt in him. After our brothers were selected into the UP Police, we asked him not to take the exam anymore, but he never listened to us and kept trying,” she said.

Speaking about her early days, the daughter said, “We faced financial difficulties in the early days, since my father was the sole earning member of the house. There were five of us children, all studying at the time. My father, who lives a simple life, has been teaching in a private school and running the household on a modest income. Even today, he pedals 10 km to the private school where he teaches Sanskrit and Hindi.”

“He always dreamed of getting a government job as a teacher, and despite every struggle, he would fill out the form for the post every single year,” she added.