Manjeri: Sharif, who is a teacher, has been winning hearts by organising free educational trips for his students. PC Sharif, an Urdu teacher at Thrikkalangode Manavedan UP School, once again took his students on a free trip to Kakkadampoyil, continuing a tradition he has followed without fail. For the past 15 years, this teacher has been arranging free trips for his students.

Sharif’s students look forward to these trips every year. To them, Sharif is a symbol of affection that gives wings to their dream of travel. This year, 87 students from the UP section joined the trip—32 from Class V, 27 from Class VI, and 28 from Class VII. The initiative, which began in 2008, has continued uninterrupted. Back then, many poor students in his class could not afford to go on school trips. That reality deeply moved him. From then on, he decided to travel with his students, and the practice continued every year. He sets aside a portion of his own income to fund these trips.

He had taken students to Tripunithura Hill Palace, Kochi Metro, Kozhikode Planetarium, Beypore, Kappad, Athirappilly, Vazhachal, Thrissur, Malampuzha Fantasy Park, and the Nilambur Teak Museum. Through these trips, he aims to help children understand nature and fellow human beings beyond classroom textbooks, he said. A native of Areekode, Sharif has been teaching at the school for the past 20 years.