Of a village school near TN border

When many government schools are closing down due to lack of students, there is one school in a border village of Malur taluk which has caught the attention of even the border villages of Tamil Nadu.

As many as 70 students from 14 villages of the border Hosur taluk of Tamil Nadu have been admitted to the Government Higher Primary School in Sampangere village of Malur taluk. These villages include Belthur, Devarahalli, Kannimangala, Muduganur, Satyamangala, Peddapalli and Bagalur.

The teachers and headmaster M P Raju of this school have not restricted their activities to  teaching of the three R’s but have also ensured that through their efforts the students have a well-equipped and clean school premises and building.

Sampangere village comes under Jayamangala Grama Panchayat. The village with a population of 3,000 has 600 voters. The school which was in a dilapidated condition was reconstructed at a cost of Rs 30 lakh with 12 classrooms. Provided with all the amenities, it has become the biggest government higher primary school in the taluk.

When the soft-spoken ‘Raju mestru’, as he is known, came here as the headmaster in 2006 there were a few classrooms in a dilapidated structure and there was no equipment. But Raju was not disappointed. Instead he took it up as a challenge.

He had an experience of working for 24 years in an Urdu school in Sitanayakanahalli.
There are 205 students in this school from standard one to eighth. There are a number of extra-curricular activities including yoga and meditation. The school has won many prizes in district level competitions. The students of this school were selected for state-level quiz contest in 2010-11.

Earlier classes were conducted in two classrooms in a dilapidated structure. A holiday was declared whenever there was heavy rains as the classrooms leaked.

Raju was determined to get a new building for the school. He along with the teachers convinced with the family of late Appaji Goudar to part with 14 guntas of land free of cost. The school got a grant of Rs 10.50 lakh for construction of three rooms, another two rooms from the fund of MLC S R Leela and from her personal capacity funds for one room.

Funds for six more rooms were raised from various benefactors. Three toilets and a toilet exclusively for the handicapped were also constructed.

Block Education Officer Venkataraya Reddy is all praise for Raju for his dedicated work. The biggest higher primary school building with all facilities in the taluk is largely due to the efforts of headmaster M P Raju, says School Development Monitoring Committee Chairman Shankarnarayan.