His students can decode all the principles of science, says Faisal Khan aka Khan Sir, but cannot understand the thinking of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB). In the protests over the recent RRB exam results, mainly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the head of a coaching institute and a popular YouTuber is among six teachers who have been booked for instigating applicants.
Khan, who has amassed a YouTube following of 14.5 million from his videos, refuses to incriminate applicants, breaking down complex topics into easily understandable details. However, the 29-year-old says that the working of RRB is beyond his understanding. Speaking to reporters on January 26, Khan said: “The people of RRB do not know the ground reality.” Stating that the government “cannot be blamed for everything”, he said it is good that the Railways has decided to listen to the students.
Khan opened his GS Research Center at Chak Musallahpur, a Patna coaching hub, five years ago. In the center there is a large hall with tin shed which can accommodate about 1,000 students at a time.
However, Khan really started when he started his YouTube channel in 2019, and soon gained an audience for his videos explaining things in Hindi, with lots of local language and proverbs inserted. In 2021, he started an app called ‘Khan Sir Official’. ‘, which has over one million downloads.
A teacher in the area said that before the arrival of Covid, around 12,000-15,000 students used to attend classes in batches at the GS centre. Khan has said earlier that he charges fees according to the paying capacity of a student. The coaching center has no other teachers, although it does have a dedicated “research team”.
The Center provides coaching for examinations conducted by Railways, Staff Selection Commission, State Teacher Eligibility Test and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.
Khan did not respond to calls or text messages as he was not available since he issued a video appeal to the students to maintain peace on Thursday night.
In a video on his channel, he said that with a degree in science and a Masters in geography, he decided to try out teaching. “I started with just six students in Patna. They told me I was good at explaining things. This is when I decided to pursue this field, ” he said.
About his style, his ease at explaining issues like the Galwan Valley crisis – a video of it went viral at the height of India-China border tensions – Khan once said: “Unless a teacher understands the mind of an average student, he cannot teach well.”
He said he liked doing the Galwan video as he is fascinated with defence subjects. “It is my first love. However, a lecture comes after several days of preparation. There are occasions when I spend nights at my studio, ” he said in an interview recently.
In the wake of the RRB protests and the case against Khan, there has been an outpouring of support for him on social media.