TIRUCHY: As economically weaker sections are running from pillar to post to avail admissions for their wards in reputed private schools, a Panchayat Union Middle School (PUMS) in a remote village in Perambalur has won the hearts of parents.
With about 52 children from Kothavasal travelling several kilometres to study in private schools, parents, after experiencing changes in infrastructure and teaching at the government middle school, have opted to enroll their children at Kothavasal PUMS. All this is thanks to the efforts of a 41-year-old teacher, who along with other faculty, reached out to every parent in the village asking for their children to be enrolled here.
With classes from or standards I to VIII, of which those up to class IV are being taught both in English and in Tamil medium, the PUMS in Kunnam taluk was just another school. It was in August 2016 after being appointed as BT assistant (English), teacher S Elavalagan brought remarkable changes in the way the school functioned. He noticed that the majority of parents, despite their downtrodden status, had been sending their children to distant private schools. Since the parents stated that private schools are superior in teaching English and computer skills, Elavalagan, through a personal contribution of `1.68 lakh, purchased nine computers for the school and improved the environment of the computer lab. “District administration also provided us a projector, through which we installed a smart classroom to teach spoken English to children of all classes. Including the computer sponsored by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), we have about 15 now, on par with private school labs,” Elavalagan said. Interestingly, Elavalagan’s wife S V Jayanthi also happens to be a faculty member. She is also supportive of efforts by the model teacher.
Since villagers prefer private schools only because of the perception that they are better at teaching English, all seven teachers of the Panchayat school have been careful to brush up the children’s Tamil and English-skills.
The admirable efforts helped the children bag prizes at district-level elocution competitions in Tamil and English. “For the school’s annual day, we personally visited and gave invitations at all 443 houses in Kothavasal. A majority of parents attended the function and our children surprised them with their academic and extracurricular skills, such as hosting the event completely in English. This came as a big surprise to the villagers, who had never seen their kids speak fluent English,” Elavalagan stated.
As the admission process in Kothavasal PUMS is underway, 49 children have chosen to study there as opposed to a private school. The annual day celebrations provided a boost as it was hosted on YouTube and circulated on social media platforms to win the confidence of parents. Even as enrollment has gone up from 123 to 157 now, neither teachers nor villagers have stopped their efforts to bring in more students from Below Poverty Line families in nearby villages.
Horticulture classes
Even as the private schools are lacking in imparting gardening and other green practices among students, the Kothavasal school management for the past 10 months have been cultivating a vegetable garden. With support from the agriculture department, district administration and particularly parents, students have been producing 15-20 kg of vegetables per week which is sent to the school kitchen for the midday meal scheme.
Kothavasal Panchayat Union Middle School
Classes: Class I to Class VIII
Teachers: 7, including headmaster
Number of class rooms: 7
Smart class room: 1
School’s strength:
2016-2017 123
2017-2018 157 (continuing)
A total of 49 students from Kothavasal, who had been studying in private institutions, joined the school in May 2017