Tag: school

Tale of a Bihar school: Gunny bags for benches, open sky as roof for 250 kids

Source: indiatoday.in

The Rajkiya Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya in Bihar’s Basanta village, 40 kilometre from Patna, teaches students from classes 1 to 8. Almost 250 children study here, however, due to lack of resources, the school runs from just two classrooms, forcing many to study in the open space outside.

“There is a lack of resources because of which children are studying outside the classroom. We have taken up the matter several times with the district officials but to no avail,” said Sanjeev Kumar Sah, a class teacher at the school.

India Today TV travelled to this government school in Vaishali district and found that there were no tables and chairs available for students from classes 1 to 4. Lack of resources compelled the children of these classes to get their own sitting arrangement to school.

“We don’t have a chair and table to sit and that is why we bring empty gunny bags to school to study”, said student of Class 2.

There is a separate room just outside the school premises which is being used by students of class 3 and 4 to study. Urvashi Kumari, teacher of these students, complained that the roof of the room is broken from many places because of which water fills up the classroom during the monsoons.

When India Today TV went into this classroom, it was found that the children were sitting on the floor with water and studying.

“The roof of this class is broken and we have raised this matter many times but nothing has been done. We have no option but to teach students in this situation,” said Urvashi Kumari.

Such is the condition of the school that students of classes 7 and 8 share a single classroom and two teachers use the same blackboard. While Ramanuj Prasad teaches History to students of class 7, Richa Kumari teachers Maths to students of class 8.

Gaya school headmaster honoured

Source: hindustantimes.com

Virendra Kumar, headmaster of Pawra Middle School in Gaya’s Gurua block, has been honoured by the union ministry of human resources for his efforts towards educating children in an area hit by Maoist violence.

Union minister Ramesh Pokhrial gave away the award to Kumar at a function in New Delhi on August 18.

Earlier, Kumar was honoured by Sri Aurobindo Society, which had earlier sought innovative ideas from teachers across the country with regard to teaching in schools. Three lakh teachers submitted their ideas, of which 66 teachers, including two from Bihar, were selected for the honour. The two teachers who got the award were Kumar and Mukesh Kumar of Begusarai.

Kumar, himself son of a teacher, was promoted as headmaster of the Pawra school in 2017. He was surprised to see low number of students and teachers in the school. “The next morning, I travelled around the village and realised villagers were reluctant to send their children to school. After much persuasion, some agreed to send their wards to the school,” said Kumar.

Gradually, children started coming to the school and the attendance of students shot up to 95 per cent from 20-30 per cent.

“’We now have 341 students enroled. I first tipped two kids from each class and made them the mohalla leaders. I also gave whistles to every mohalla leader and asked them to blow the whistle while leaving home for school, to gather other fellows. The kids’ team moves around the village half-an-hour before school starts. And thus, all children reach here on time,’’ Kumar said.

A school charges waste instead of fees in Bodh Gaya

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

For students of Padampani School, it is praiseworthy to be a part of a great initiative to keep the environment clean. Total credit goes to the school authorities, who encourage students to pick up wastes on the way to school and dump it at the dustbin kept at the entrance gate of the school. The school considers those wastes as school fees.

The school was jointly started by a Korean activist and a group of people from Bodh Gaya. Soon after it gained popularity, many social organisations started lending their support to the school. Manoj Samdarshi, the founder of Padampani School, said, “The school was started with a motive to educate poor kids of the nearby villages and to keep the areas around Mahabodhi Temple clean. A Korean social activist, Shin Geong Hawa, helped us a lot. Besides, we also get funds from other social organisations. The school is running well, and we have provided suitable infrastructure to the students.”

Currently, the classes starts from standard 1 to standard 8. However, constructions works are going on and soon it will get affiliated to the Bihar Board. Deepak Kumar, vice-principal of the school, said, “By now, over 250 students have got enrolled at our school and the number will only increase with the time. We provide all the basic facilities, including mid-day meals. Students also get to learn various co-curricular activities, including yoga and meditation from experts. We also encourage students to plant more trees. With the help of our students, we have planted more than 200 trees in and around the school premises. Students also learn more about environment preservation through workshops, which we organise frequently.”

Creating awareness! Waste is all that it takes to study in this school in Gaya

Source: timesnownews.com

Gaya: The students of Padampani School in Sevabigha village here collect waste materials on their way to school as their school fee. This step has been taken by the school authorities to create awareness among the children about the importance of protecting nature.

Deepak Kumar, Vice Principal of the School, told ANI: “We started this school in 2014 and now we have around 250 students here. We impart free education and provide free uniform, books, mid-day meal to the students. Instead of fees, they are supposed to collect waste materials on their way to school and dispose it off in the dustbin kept outside the school.”

“We send all the waste materials for recycling. Our main focus is to instil awareness among the children to create a clean and green environment. With the help of students, we are taking care of more than 200 trees on the school premises.”

Manoj Samdarshi, the founder of Padampani School, said: “We are running this school on donation as most of the students belong to very poor families. However, we provide socio-cultural classes, along with other activities like sports. The school aims to keep areas around the world heritage site of the Mahabodhi temple clean and waste-free.”

Echoing the importance of protecting nature, a student said: “We collect waste as fees which are later sent for recycling. Along with good education, we are also taught to value the importance of nature. This helps us keep our area clean.” 

Helped by official, daughters of two ex-Maoists join school in Jharkhand

Source: hindustantimes.com

Daughters of two former Maoists were admitted into a residential school for girls in Dhalbhumgarh under East Singhbhum district, thanks to the initiative by Gudbandha block development officer (BDO) Seema Kumari.

Slain Maoist Sanjiv Munda’s daughter Sabera Munda and jailed Maoist Bhuglu Singh’s daughter Anisha Singh were given admission in Kasturba Gandhi Girls’ Residential School (KGGRS) in Class 6 on Friday.

“Their mothers have written letters to me requesting to arrange for their daughters’ education as they are very keen to go to school. I discussed the matter with the district social welfare officer and then talked to the Dhalbhumgarh KGGRS authorities who readily agreed to admit the two girls. I took them in my vehicle to the school on Friday and got them admitted in Class-6,” Kumari said on Monday.

She said both the girls had dropped out of school after Class 5 a few years ago owing to abject poverty and Maoist background of their fathers. “They told me that they wanted to go to school and become self-reliant by pursuing higher studies. We hope the girls succeed in their mission and inspire other parents to send their wards to school under ‘Beti Bachao, Bei Padhao’ mission,” added Seema.

Both the girls hailed from Jiyan village under Maoist-infested Gudabandha block, on the borders of Jharkhand and Odisha, about 90-km from district headquarters Jamshedpur. The development is also indicative of how East Singhbhum is slowly coming out of Maoists’ shadow of violence.

Carrying a reward of Rs 25 lakh on his head, Kanhu Munda had surrendered with his entire squad on February 15, 2017 by handing over their weapons to the then Jamshedpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Anop T Matthew. Squad member Bhuglu Singh, also from Jiyan village, had also surrendered on the day. Singh is in jail. Sanjiv Munda, on the other hand, was killed in an encounter with the police in 2013. He too hailed from Jiyan village and was a member of Kanhu Munda squad.