SRIKAKULAM: An outsourced drawing teacher at a municipal school in Gujarathipeta in Srikakulam town, Yerra Satyanarayana spends most of his time with students in the classroom. To impart moral and ethical values and at the same time beautify his school, he went an extra mile and painted the walls with engaging drawings. The initiative also creates social awareness among the students. Satyanarayana, a teacher at Andhavarapu Varaha Narasimham Municipal High School (AVNM) in Srikakulam municipal corporation limits, is contributing his bit in his school’s beautification under the Nadu-Nedu programme.
His paintings and murals for kids are very goal-oriented as they aim to address social issues with the help of academia. The subject of his creations are science, history, maths, Swachh Bharat and Covid precautions that are portrayed in a 4000 sq ft area. Now, he aims to paint the school compound wall.
The artwork in the classroom corridor depict important aspects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History and Mathematics. A portion of the walls outside the building is covered with paintings of plants, ‘save water’, Swachh Bharat and Covid-19 precautions.
Satyanarayana said, “I took up the job as an outsourced crafts teacher in 2012. I have received many state level awards for my drawings. At least 320 students trained by me have received national and State-level awards. I believe that a picture is an effective medium to raise awareness. Therefore, I started decorating the school with my paintings as part of the Nadu-Nedu scheme during the lockdown. Though the government has paid for decoration of 3000 sq ft area, I have painted on 4000 sq ft area because I feel it is my social responsibility to develop my school.”
Headmistress P Indira Mani said, “We paid the outsourced drawing teacher for his drawing and paintings as per the Nadu-Nedu grants. However, he did more work than what we paid for. I hope these paintings help create awareness on various social issues.”