This school's walls are a window into the world of stories

A trip to Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School at Bokkapatna-06 in Mangaluru takes visitors to a world of stories through its beautiful artworks on the walls of the school.

This is thanks to the efforts of 17 drawing teachers of the district who came together to paint the walls of the school with the artworks that tell stories related to children.

The school had remained closed due to Covid-19 pandemic for nearly two years. To attract students and to give a feeling of learning atmosphere for them, the drawing teachers came together to paint the walls of the school, Ambika, a drawing teacher at Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School at Bokkapatna, told DH.

“We had organised ‘Pranathi Varna Sambhrama’ from October 27 to 29 to adorn the walls of the school with beautiful artworks,” she said.

The drawing teachers Dinesh Shettigar, Sundar, Manjunath, Sudheer, Rajeshwari K, Shalini, Harsih Acharya, Channakeshava D R, Taranath Kairangala, Muralidhar Acharya, Murali Krishna Rao, Dhananjay P, Umesh, Balakrishna Shetty, Prasanna Kumar, Suchetha and Olavia participated in the initiative. Along with the teachers, even the students have drawn warli art, which they had learnt in the classrooms, on the walls. This gave them all together a new experience, explained Ambika.

“The art works were made using oil paint. There is a huge butterfly and waterfalls paintings on the walls of the schools. Each painting is related to the activities of the children. When the children look at them, they tend to connect it with their lives,” said Ambika.

A portion of the wall has a drawing of a train, which they have named as ‘Bokkapatna Express’. The train and the butterfly are the most sought after paintings among the students. The walls have paintings of scenery, lion, crow, children playing and also on themes related to moral stories, balance in nature, waterfalls in the evergreen forest, messages related to cleanliness, learning to gain knowledge and so on.

Owing to Covid-19 pandemic, the students had remained away from the schools. The paintings on the walls aim at attracting the attention of the students and bring them back to the learning process, said Ambika.

After viewing the walls of the school, the students retell what they saw on the walls in English and Kannada to their teachers, she added.

“The donors, who normally help the school during the annual day celebrations, helped us in procuring the required materials, including oil paint for the paintings. Further, old students carried out shramadaan to clean the walls of the school,” Ambika added.

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