BENGALURU: On Wednesday, the Government Higher Primary School in Vasanthnagar was unusually crowded with children and parents. There were at least 25 children who got admitted to this school. With this, the student strength here has risen to 280 — and it is increasing. Spearheading the change is school headmaster KV Sudarshan, whose initiative transformed a dilapidated school and brought it on par with any well-equipped private school.
Along with the old students’ association, he tried different donors. In 2018, Rotary Orchards Club came forward, and within 11 months, a three-floored building with 19 classrooms, five labs, a hall, a dining hall, a kitchen, a play area, and a computer room were constructed.
“Last year, we had 160 students studying and soon after the building was ready this year, the number rose to 280, including 25 who joined on Wednesday. This school has a capacity to take 810 students, and we are expecting admissions of 500 more students in the next two months,” said the headmaster.
Shyla (name changed) who had come to admit her daughter, said the building looks like a private school, and teachers are also good. “My daughter was studying in a private school and I got her admitted to this school,’’ she said.
The school offers Kannada and Tamil medium, and is also part of the Karnataka Public School project where English medium was started from this academic year. The school was started by Britishers in late 1920s for workers working in the Cantonment area. The Tamil school started in 1926 and four years later Kannada medium was started.
The school has also tied up with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) whose scientists come on Saturdays to teach science to children, which has proved to be an added attraction. Much to the teachers’ surprise, the school is getting recommendations from councillors or the local MLA.
“This is a government school, anyone can join. But looking at the building and hi-tech facility, parents are approaching leaders to get their children admitted here,’’ the headmaster said.