Alumni loosen purse strings to nurse village school

Time to repay

For the old students of the Madahalli government school in the taluk, actions indeed speak louder than words. 

While the government’s slogan that its schools need to be protected and encouraged has remained just that, a silent revolution is happening in this nondescript village. The alumni association of the school has done all that is necessary to give their former school the facilities that are virtually the preserve of the elite schools in the towns and cities. 

In a school where the total student strength has slumped to a mere 35, the alumni has succeeded in getting 35 more admitted to LKG, by visiting each and every house and convincing people to send their wards to the refurbished school. The students in this school have the luxury of an additional set of uniform each given by the alumni, apart from the free set distributed by the government. 

Well-designed desks and chairs form part of the paraphernalia for the students in the school. Three teachers have been privately hired to teach English to the children. 

Prof Bhoomigowda and his wife Prof Sabiha Bhoomigowda - who teaches at the Mangalore University - foot the bill for paying salaries to the English teachers. 

In fact, the alumni association was formed at the initiative of Bhoomigowda, who teaches at a private college in Mangalore. The professor had come on a visit to his school recently, and found that the school was on the verge of closure due to the dwindling numbers.

Pledge for revival

He held discussions with the village elders and other old students, and all of them resolved to give the school a new lease of life.
 The alumni of the school - Shivakumar, Mamata, Shivananju, Nanjundegowda, Anand, Mahadevaswamy, Murthy, apart from Kempaiah, the chairman of the school development and management committee, Gram Panchayat member Somashekharachari, Nandish and others joined hands to provide facilities on a par with private schools at this government school.

Murthy, the parent of one of the students, said his children earlier studied at a school in Malavalli. But, following the remarkable improvement in standards of the village school, he now wants to shift the students to the village school. Dr Nanjaiah and Puttu, hailing from Madahalli, have volunteered to provide the extra sets of uniforms to the children.
 Bhoomigowda told Deccan Herald that the clamour for English had led people to admit their children to private schools, where education has been commercialised, even as government schools were shutting down. He also blamed the officials of the Education department for their apathy towards government schools, weakening them further. 

“The closure of government schools will hit daily wage workers and the poor as they will not be able to admit their children to private schools, given the prohibitive costs. The formation of the alumni association is a step in reviving our school. LKG, UKG classes will begin from May 30,” he said.