ONGOLE: The Goutham Rural Education Development Society (GREDS), a Ravinuthala (Korisapadu mandal)-based non-government organisation, has been working for the past 17 years to improve the academic environment in government schools by extending financial support for science laboratories, teaching and learning material, libraries and other study resources.
Although the government provides funds for infrastructure development, several government schools in Prakasam district continue to face shortages in facilities compared to their student strength. To address this gap, an education development society founded and run by an NRI couple has stepped in to support schools with key academic infrastructure.
GREDS was established in 2006 by Kodavalla Hanumantha Rao (KHR) and Anuradha, natives of Prakasam district. Over the years, the society has spent around Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore on rural education development initiatives. These include establishing a large library with thousands of books in Ravinuthala village to promote reading habits among students, providing study material for youth preparing for career opportunities, setting up full-fledged science laboratories at Inkollu and Ravinuthala Government High Schools, and extending financial assistance to several government schools for academic purposes.
“After setting up the library with an investment of Rs 1 crore in Ravinuthala village, many students benefited from study material related to State and national-level competitive examinations. The library witnessed hundreds of regular readers for many years. Though the number has reduced due to easy access to computers and mobile phones, a significant number of regular visitors still use the facility,” said Moparthi Venkata Rao, retired headmaster and chairman of the GRED Society.
The society has been supporting government schools by providing benches, learning materials, dictionaries, grammar books and study resources for Class IX and X students. It set up science labs at Inkollu and Ravinuthala schools and contributed Rs 3 lakh for burial ground works in Ravinuthala village.
“We were born and brought up in a poor family and faced several financial difficulties in completing our education. As one of seven siblings, my brother experienced these hardships closely, which motivated him to support government school students,” said Kodavalla Purnachandra Rao, brother of Hanumantha Rao and GRED Society executive committee.
After completing his schooling in Ravinuthala, Hanumantha Rao studied at Loyola College, later at REC Warangal, and then at IIT Madras. He pursued his MS at the Michigan Institute of Technology in the US and is currently working as a Microsoft executive in Seattle. Recalling the challenges he faced in accessing quality education in his native place, he set up a library in Ravinuthala in 2009, naming it “Kodavalla Venkateswarlu Grandhalayam” after his father.
“Since establishing the society and the library, our mission has been to provide a better academic atmosphere for rural students. We also plan to enhance our support based on present and future student needs,” Hanumantha Rao said.