THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Anchored notat sea, but on their school ground, the boat was according students a whale of a time. Some even invited their juniors from kindergarten to join in and pose for pictures. The excitement was rife. The cautious teachers, however, did not drop their guard — preventing the tiny tots from entering the ‘Vayanathoni’: an installation set up as part of the reading-promotion activities of Government UP School, Beemapally.
The exhibit perfectly encapsulated the coastal school’s rising stock. The school did not distinguish itself with either academic or extracurricular achievements until a few years back. As a result of various initiatives spearheaded by teachers to connect more deeply with students and bring out the best in them, the school was on Saturday honoured with the state government’s Sreshta Vidyalayam Award for the ‘Best Primary School of Keralam.’ The school with 525 students, most of them from fisher families, also picked up the `5 lakh cash prize.
Started in 1940 as a lower-primary school, GUPS is located roughly 200m from the coastline and Beemapally mosque. The post-Covid phase was the toughest for the school, say teachers. Students became extremely detached from academics and socialisation after being stuck in their homes for nearly two years. This was accompanied by disciplinary issues, potential substance abuse risk among vulnerable sections and sharp decline in academic performance -- which teachers decided to solve one at a time.
They realised that academic recovery would have to begin with rebuilding the students’ relationship with the school. In 2022, a ‘pusthaka vandi’ (book van) was organised that visited public offices, police stations, etc., collecting books for the school library.
“The vast majority of students had never even read children’s magazines or books. Since reading is essential for the imagination to grow, we held similar activities every National Reading Day. Today, we have books worth over a lakh in our library, and our students have become good readers,” said school librarian Mujeeb Rahman. The latest addition to the school’s reading activities is ‘Amma Vayana’ -- a reading space for the mothers of students in the school library -- ushering them into the world of reading, and thereby creating conditions for more kids to take up reading.
In a move to combat the risk of substance use among kids, the school conducted roadside awareness programmes with demonstrations of science experiments -- including on how alcohol affects our bodies -- near the mosque. “The programme had twin benefits: making both society and our students aware of the ill-effects of intoxication, and building a positive image about our school,” said Remya Laiju, an LP teacher.
Even before implementing initiatives to address what they saw as the biggest challenge of bettering the school’s academic record, the teachers spent their 2024 summer vacation visiting the homes of every student. As a result of the challenging effort, which even took a toll on their health, the teachers analysed how supportive each student’s family was and their level of education. This helped them formulate interventions to support the children.
“Until then, we did not fully understand why some children were struggling,” a teacher said. The visits, along with the tests conducted in the initial months of the 2024-25 academic year, helped them to identify those requiring additional academic support.
However, the solution seemed far more complex. With a significant number of students attending the madrassa after school, additional classes could not be arranged after regular hours. So teachers altered the school schedule. The morning session was advanced by 30 minutes, which allowed for the creation of ‘zero hour’ before winding up the day’s shift. The specially demarcated time was used for scholarship prep, completing pending work and individual academic support. For now, the Vayanathoni awaits children to step in, sail and anchor at the ports of their dreams.