Babar Ali

Babar Ali (born 18 March 1993) is a teacher and politician from Murshidabad in West Bengal. He was called the "youngest headmaster in the world" by BBC in October 2009, at the age of sixteen.

Career He had begun teaching at nine years of age, mostly as a game, and then decided to continue teaching other children at a larger scale. In Murshidabad there had been no governmental or private schools. Pupils come from nearby villages and walk up to four kilometres in order to attend their lessons.

Babar Ali succeeded in having his school recognized by the local authorities when he realised that this would entitle its pupils to the portion of free rice given to pupils at the end of the month by the government. also recognised as the Literacy hero by international literacy association in their "30 under 30" list, Also received Education leadership award by BBC knowledge, His story became a part of the syllabus for the PUC English textbook for Govt. of Karnataka, and also in curriculum across the globe. He was featured on Aamir Khan's TV show Satyamev Jayate in July 2012, and is regularly invited to speak at various conferences and forums all over the world. Babar is also a TED Fellow and an INK FELLOW AND INK Conference speaker and Wired fellow, Babar graduated from Berhampur Krishnath College (under Kalyani University in West Bengal, India) in English Honours, and Completed his M.A. in English & History.

Legacy The Karnataka government has included Babar's story in the prescribed English text book for first year PUC. His story is also in the main course book for 10th grade by NCERT in the CBSE board. Former President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind mentioned Babar Ali and his work in his speech addressing the nation on 25 January 2020.