A teacher-student bond that's of the classroom and financial kind

The bonding between a teacher and his/her students is often seen as a key requirement for proper dissemination of knowledge.

This teacher at the government higher primary school at Nooliggeri near Nagara in Hosanagar taluk of the district takes her bonding with students a step further.

Rekha Prabhakar gifts a financial bond worth Rs 1,000 to each student enrolling for grade I each year, making the student’s parents as the nominee.

The teacher changed the destiny of this school, which had less than double-digit strength around eight years ago. It now has 83 students on its rolls, thanks to what is now popular as ‘Rekha bond’.

The bond is kept in the bank for 10 years. On maturity of the bond, the amount is credited to the bank account of the student.

The teacher’s selfless initiative is encouraging parents to enrol their wards in the school, 18 km from Hosanagar town, on Hulikal road.

When Rekha was appointed here in 2010, only three to four children used to enrol for class 1 each year. The total school strength was just 20.

The bond scheme that Rekha introduced in 2013-14, proved a gamechanger as more children, mostly from the labour class, started taking admissions here.

Four students benefited in the first year. Since then, more than 10 students are enrolling for class 1 every year. In the current academic year, 13 students got admissions, even though classes didn’t commence because of the pandemic. A total of 63 students have benefited from the ‘Rekha bond’ so far.

Rekha hails from Shankaranarayana of Kundapura taluk in Udupi district. Her husband Prabhakar Kulal is employed with the forest department. She travels 100 km to school by bus every day from her native place.

Speaking to DH, Rekha said “Both myself and my husband come from not-so-well-off families. Many people had contributed financially for our education. Fortunately, we got government employment. So, we want to help students coming from humble backgrounds as much as possible.”