JOIN USA physical education teacher of Barali Government School in Brahmavar has been making all efforts to retain the students through his silent work.
Along with imparting physical education to the children for the last 15 years, Rajaram has been driving the school bus to ferry schoolchildren. As a result, the school has seen a considerable increase in enrolment.
Early morning
As a teacher, he begins his day at 6 am by training the students. At 8 am, he gets students from a distance of 5-km from the school on the bus. By 6 pm, he returns home. In case he is out of station, he arranges for a driver to ferry the students.
A native of Hebri in Udupi, Rajaram also teaches Mathematics and Science to the students.
Barali School has a history of 60 years. The school has a strength of 3,500 to 4,000 old students. In the past, the school had 200 to 300 students. Over a period of time, the number of students started dwindling.
To increase the enrolment in the school, old student Vishwanath Hegde Barali donated a minibus to the school through Sri Rama Seva Samithi. The old students only bear the maintenance cost of the bus, said Rajaram.
Four directions
Students come from Sriyara, Kallubettu, Horalijeddu, Altharu, Karthibettu, Kajralli and Musapuri. The area has been divided into north, south, east and west and the students are picked accordingly, he said.
On a whole, he drives 60 km daily. A sum of Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 is required for the maintenance of the bus per month including for diesel and insurance, which is borne by the old students, said Rajaram.
Gram panchayat former member Praveen Shetty said, “A teacher like Rajaram is a model in saving the government school from closing down.”
Ganesh Shetty, an alumnus, said, “Teacher Rajaram was expressing concern over the dwindling of students. When we discussed it with our friends, entrepreneur Vishwanath Hegde donated the bus.”
He added, “Rajaram is a model. Last year, the school had 60 children. Now it has increased to 90 and the credit goes to Rajaram.”