BENGALURU: With poor maintenance of decades old government schools continuing to be a cause of concern, School Bells - Campus to Community, a non-profit organisation, has been working on rejuvenating them. As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the organisation has joined hands with the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to give 75 schools across Karnataka, specifically in the hometowns of freedom fighters, a new look under their ‘School Bell 75’ initiative.
School Bells is a separate initiative under the Yuvaka Sangha, a non-profit working towards the development of youth in the state. “We are currently collaborating with RGUHS with student volunteers from their affiliated colleges helping us in painting the government schools, which are often in rural areas. The colleges are also helping in providing material resources as well,” said Mahesh Krishnamurthy, project director for Yuvaka Sangha.
The organisation was started in 2018 with college student volunteers, who help in renovating schools and teaching students. “Currently, we’ve covered 13 schools as part of School Bell 75. Usually, around 50 volunteers travel to the schools and stay overnight to complete the work. We’re now undertaking only the repainting of the schools, but eventually after everything is completed, we’ll also work towards helping with classes,” he said.