CHENNAI: The summer of ’24 was unusual. On one hand, heat waves and yellow alerts were declared and on the other, heavy showers were recorded — mostly during late evenings or nights. The state received 41.9mm of rainfall last month. Even when the rain is as minimal as this, Kannagi Nagar Government High School’s playground is flooded, water seeps in through the cracks in the classroom structures, and buckets are placed to collect the rainwater to be used in washrooms, eventually leading to mosquito breeding and a source of other diseases.
Established in 2003, the school spreads across 32,000 sq ft. Its dismal condition has been constant for over two decades. There was no compound wall separating the school premises from the road, no name board for the institute, no definite structures or painted walls, no proper water facility in the washrooms, limited desks, and no library or science labs. The lack of barriers meant students walked out of classes, on to the streets, and the teachers had to bring them back. Residents nearby used the campus to wash and dry their clothes, sleep, eat, and bathe.
On Friday, this school got a new lease of life, and the locals in the area got a new perspective. To bring a change in the lives of the students, Kannagi Nagar Government High School was revamped by Bounteous x Accolite, Round Table India Foundation, and Ladies Circle India and handed over to the school authorities. The event was officiated by former Tamil Nadu chief secretary V Irai Anbu, who unveiled a stone plaque on the campus and G Arivoli, director of School Education, among the others involved in this project.
Timeline of transformation
Wanting a better learning environment for the students, Muthamizh, a volunteer from Streetlight — an NGO that helps children access school — wrote a request letter to Ladies Circle India in 2022. Banupriya Srinivasan, national trust advisor of this non-political and non-sectarian organisation made it her mission to find a donor so that the school could be revamped. “While reaching out to corporates, I was in talks with Bounteous x Accolite, a global leader in IT services, located in Perungudi. As part of their CSR, they wanted to work on a school in a 5-km radius and I felt Kannagi Nagar School was the perfect match,” she says.
In the later half of 2022, the corporate officials visited the school and interacted with the students to understand their needs. “We wanted to get involved in a school by getting our people to work alongside them. Child education and welfare is an area where people feel most connected and in turn, they can create a larger impact in society,” shares Vasan Sampath, president and global salesforce practice head, Bounteous x Accolite.
To make this transformation, the company has prepared a five-year plan and has set it in motion. The first three phases focussed on construction such as building a boundary wall around the campus, a gate, a name board, a running water tap facility in washrooms, green boards, 25 classrooms with no water leakage, tables and chairs, a library, a lab consisting 12 laptops, and 26 desktops. “In further time, the construction of an auditorium, science labs and skill development classes are mapped out catering to a thousand students from classes 6 to 12,” affirms Vasan.
A better tomorrow
Teachers and students alike welcomed this change. The school’s headmistress, Andeshwari shares, “The work being done has changed how people perceive the school. Earlier, parents would not cook and pack lunch for their kids. They used to send money with the kids to buy lunch from a nearby hotel. Now, since the gate is locked and a watchman from the community is appointed, the students do not go out and are disciplined.”
She points out that building the boundary wall was a task. “Since people from the area treated the property as their own, they were against the wall and gate construction,” she adds. The local people broke down the boundary, making it difficult. “But at the end of eight months (the first phase started in November 2023), the parents understood the importance of education and school campus because the children want to learn and get to a position,” notes Andeshwari.
Now that the demands are slowly met, the school students see their dreams turn into reality. C Rajeshwari, a class 12 student says, “The maatrams (changes) I was expecting since I was in sixth class are taking place now. Though I am happy about it, I am also jealous that the changes are happening in the last year of my schooling.” Another student B Priyadharshini expresses, “Since we are now provided with tables and chairs, our school is now a centre to conduct SSLC exams. The fear of going to another school for exams is no more.”
Three organisations — two non-governmental organisations and one corporate — came together to bring smiles on the faces of the students and help them pursue their dreams. The assessment of the school, estimating the funds required for the project and helping with the contact of a contractor was provided by Round Table India Foundation. The funding was by Bounteous x Accolite through Ladies Circle India. Handing over the first phase of work to the school was no “less than a milestone considering the board exams dates and opposition from the community,” shares Banupriya. Now, that it is completed, the students are back in classrooms, preparing for a future and the organisations with the next phase.