KANNUR: The students of Chattukappara Government Higher Secondary School in Kannur have turned heaps of waste into a money minting source. The school has converted an unused classroom into a junkyard, exclusively for dumping the waste collected from various parts of the panchayat.
The real purpose of the scrap collection is not to ensure cleanliness but to mobilise `1 crore for upgrading the school into a ‘Centre of Excellence’, under the state government project. The government will provide `9 cr to the school for the expansion project if they can raise `1 crore on its own. The project will be implemented with the support of the Kuttiattoor grama panchayat.
The first load of scrap was sent to the dealer on Sunday. “Being a government school, we have to mobilise the fund with people’s participation. A meeting of the panchayat committee decided to collect scrap and unused materials from various parts of the panchayat. We are collecting waste paper in phase-I; plastic and iron will be collected in phase-II; and e-waste in phase-III. We hope to mobilise `5-10 lakh through this initiative,” said school principal A V Jayaraj.
Ward-level meetings were held and villagers urged to provide as much scrap as they could. The school also approached volunteers of the Kerala Library Movement requesting them to contribute newspapers and periodicals. The scrap collected from households are transported to the school in the school bus after school hours.
“This initiative ensures people’s participation in the development of the school, without seeking donation. It would elicit an ‘Our School’ feeling among the people,” said Jayaraj.Thus we can ensure a clean panchayat.
A meeting called by Thaliparampa MLA James Mathew had triggered a competition among the panchayats to have their schools included in the government scheme.
“A meeting of all school principals and PTA presidents decided that the school that first mobilises `1 crore and prepares the master-plan would be selected,” said James Mathew.
“The other panchayats chose other modes such as ‘chit fund’ and ‘goat/poultry’ farming for their schools. The schools are also planning to raise funds through contributions from former students. All the schools have constituted School Development Committees. Donation of gold ornaments by students and former students of the Malappattam Higher Secondary School has already hit the headlines,” he said.