Interview with Amit Bansal
Amit Bansal
Director, Head Faculty,
Lead Educationalist at Horizons
Ludhiana, Punjab, India
Q1. Please share your educational and professional journey?
I have done BTech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology, Bathinda. After that I pursued an MBA in HR. I started coaching in the year 2001 and today it has been two decades that I have been into this noble profession, trying to serve the students to the best of my abilities and trying to make a difference in the society by helping instill good values in my students along with imparting quality education to them.
Over the period of two decades, I have been fortunate to work with the topmost business houses, the topmost doctors, lawyers of the city and I am currently serving students from Canada, Bahrain, Singapore, South Africa, and from all across the country through online classes. Also, I have been fortunate enough to be awarded many awards along the way. It is very well said if you do your work with zeal and enthusiasm, rewards and awards shall follow. God has been kind and the same happened with me as well.
Q2. You are an Electronics Engineer. What did attract you towards teaching instead of any corporate job?
I am an Electronics Engineer, yes, but what happened was that even when I was in my Engineering College, I used to teach my juniors who often came to me with their problems asking me to help them with their queries. It was that time when I really felt that I have a passion for teaching others and trying to help them with their studies and curriculum. After passing out from the college and while I was preparing for my CAT examination, I started taking classes by the side. But soon enough I realized, that this is where my passion lies and I left the preparation for the CAT examination mid-way and hopped onto this coaching Thing full time.
Teaching has always been attractive to me as compared to corporate job. In a corporate job you are trying to live somebody else’s dream and trying to make profit for them. While in teaching, yes, we do make a living for ourselves and the number of hours that I put in are entirely for me. But yes, somewhere down the line, you also get the feeling of being able to make a difference in people’s lives by helping them realize their career goals.
Q3. Which one thing do you want to change in yourself and why?
I am too much of a perfectionist and that is something I would like to change about myself. The reason is that sometimes it lands me up in trouble, When I do not find people living up to my expectations or are not living up to the standards that I have set up for myself and also expect from my team and people around me.
Q4. You are a Maths Genius and Students fear maximum from Maths. What is the main reason behind it?
Maths might be an area of concern for many people, but I would really want to say here that we need to love maths and not fear it. The reason is that everywhere you see around yourself, you will feel that you have been surrounded by numbers. From the time you sit in your car looking at the speedometer and odometer, to the time you get down at a shop to buy something and where you have to pay again in numbers (i.e currency).
So maths is an integral part and parcel of our life and we can get over the fear of match only by loving it. If a student has this feeling, that I just have to fulfill this task of having to do the maths examination and getting over with that, you are never going to score good and you are never going to start loving maths. It needs to have a love truly from within.
Q5. Tell us about one of the moments which changed your perspective towards life?
The moment that has changed my life and my perspective for life was the time when my father expired. Suddenly, the whole family saw our world crumbling around ourselves. We had to deal with people changing their behavior towards us and having to change our lifestyle. This one moment, that initial period of time after my father’s death, was really an eye opener to how the world operates and why we should not get too much attached to worldly relations and methods of the money.
Q6. You are teaching both Online and Offline medium. Which one is more effective according to you?
Yes, I have been teaching in both online and offline modes. They both have their own pros and cons. But I really feel that it is very difficult to replace the physical presence of a teacher in front of you; that human touch that a teacher provides being there in flesh, right in front of you to answer your queries is an altogether different experience which cannot be provided by an online curriculum.
But I do believe that as we progress towards a different world, we will have to have a mix and match of both; so that we can have the best of both the worlds. For example, what we have been planning is to have may be 4 days a week online class and 2 days a week in-person class, so that both the aspects- that time saving aspect of the online world and also the physical requirements of having to meet each other are also met by having offline classes.
Q7. What do you want to achieve in your life?
This might feel very superficial and very cliched, but I really want to make a difference in the lives of maximum number of people that I touch. Apart from this my personal goal is to have my brand franchises all across the country and God willing even beyond the boundaries of the country as well.
Q8. What message would like you like to give to the young students for scoring good marks in Maths?
To really score good marks in maths, children, you have to love Maths. If you live in the fear of having to appear for maths exam, and if you study just for appearing for the exam you are never going to do good in maths. Many people do not believe it, but I really do believe, that the love for mathematics can also be developed. It does not have to be inherent. What you really need, are a few small Successes to happen in your journey. once you start getting marks which are better than your current score, you automatically would start developing a love for maths. And from there on, there will be no looking back. This is my sincere conviction and my advice to all the people who might be reading or listening to this and also for my students who I teach.
Q9. What are your views about New Education Policy (NEP)?
The education policy is a step in the right direction, provided the implementation is in line with what is expected of the education policy. The introduction of the things like coding and vocational courses is a good initiative, as it will help the students to be future ready from a very young age. Also, the efforts to try and uni-formalize the different education boards, is a very appropriate thought. It will bring parity to what is happening across the country and across different educational boards. But we will have to really wait and watch to see how it is implemented by the government, by the educational boards and by the institutions.
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