SRIKAKULAM: Winning against all odds, the Mandal Parishad Primary School located at Jammu in Vizianagaram district, is the only school from both Telugu states to bag the prestigious Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2021-22. The school stood strong even after getting battered by the Hudhud cyclone and the dearth of support from the state government policies did not affect its determination.
The school management committee has changed the face of the school with the help of school alumni, donors and NGOs. The school got revamped with modern classrooms, well-secured compound walls, sophisticated toilets, a play area with necessary riding toys, theme-driven classroom walls, a Reverse Osmosis (RO) water plant and a beautiful garden.
They have also been providing hygienic breakfast with the help of a charitable trust, nutritious lunch under a mid-day meal scheme and free transportation to the students with the help of donors.
Mandal Parishad Primary (MPP) School in Jammu, is one of the schools that were badly affected by the Hudhud cyclone in 2014. The entire school building except for one classroom collapsed. Though the school headmaster M Rammohan Rao approached the district officials to renovate their school, it went in vain due to various administrative reasons.
With no other alternative, he was forced to conduct classes from the first standard to the fifth standard in a single classroom. His determination to provide education to students, most of them whose families belonged the below poverty line, pushed him forward to find a way to renovate the school.
Initially, he spent Rs 50,000 from his own pocket and appealed to the alumni to help to develop the school in 2015. N Srinivasarao, K Chinnarao, K Jaggunaidu and 30 other alumni of the school came forward and sponsored Rs 4.5 lakh worth of material to the school.
That was the beginning of the school's transformation. The school got the much-needed facelift with basic amenities provided, later, the school got much-needed support from various donors and NGOs.
The headmaster M Rammohan Rao also found a solution to bring back the dropout students from CR Nagar, which is two kilometres away from the school. He with the help of donors took up initiatives like free breakfast and transportation to children.
He arranged a free auto service for CR Nagar students with his own money and provided free breakfast to the students under Sai Amrutha Hastam, with support from Siridi Sai Seva Trust organised by K Haragopal.
A few other donors like MK Bags, and Raj Pioneer footwear have been providing free bags, shoes, and uniforms to all the students every year. The school’s student strength increased to 72 from 50 students now. As a result, the school has bagged district-level Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar in 2016-17 and state-level Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18.
It was also nominated for national-level Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18. The government of Andhra Pradesh has sanctioned `11.6 lakh for the development of the basic infrastructure and beautification under Nadu-Nedu phase-1.
The school management committee (SMC) have completed the repair works of the classrooms with Rs 4.6 lakh and provided infrastructures like benches, tiles, chalkboards, toilets and digital classrooms with Rs 7 lakh.
Now the ministry of education of the Government of India has announced Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP) 2021-22 to MPP School, Jammu for its excellence in drinking water, sanitation and hygienic practices. This is the only school getting SVP from Telugu states among the 39 schools across the nation.
“We have been conducting remedial classes, yoga and dance classes to our students. I hope this award will become an inspiration to other teachers and schools and believe that hard work would give success,” Mantri Rammohan Rao said.