GUNTUR : As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Good handwriting is a necessary part of education,” believing the same, this 54-year-old teacher is on a mission to instill the importance of better handwriting skills in students. Uppala Rammohan Rao, a native of Bapatla district, is renowned for his lucid calligraphy among many students in government schools in the erstwhile Guntur district. This National Best Teacher Awardee has, so far, trained over 28,000 students and 2,800 teachers in more than 1,000 government schools in the erstwhile Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, and Srikakulam districts.
Explaining his fascination with calligraphy and handwriting, Rammohan Rao said, “During my service, I observed that intelligent students failed to secure good marks because of bad handwriting. There are over 5,000 personality traits linked to a person’s handwriting. Understanding pupils’ handwriting styles could help them understand their learning style and how they process information during teaching. Proper handwriting also improves concentration. To write a neat and beautiful script, several factors contribute, including handwriting size, pen pressure, attention to detail, letter spacing, pen lifts, maintaining good posture, momentum, grip, and line adherence, captivating the concentration of the writer. This yielded positive results, and a few of my colleagues also came forward to learn it. However, we could not afford a tutor. So, I started taking up handwriting classes for both teachers and students. The joy I felt after I improved my handwriting and the effect it showed on my students motivated me to launch the Andamaina Chetirathalu, Bangaru Bhavithaku Batalu programme.”
Started in 2019, the programme garnered several accolades and a great response from the teachers. Our primary motive is to train teachers so that they can train thousands of students in their entire careers, he added.
After witnessing the results, education department officials in Nellore and Srikakulam districts contacted Rammohan to train government school teachers. This initiative soon became a movement as he managed to rope in a few of his colleagues and friends in the programme. During the training, all required stationery, including books, pencils, and other items, is provided free of cost. Till now, Rammohan Rao and his team have spent over Rs 13 lakh under the programme.
Even after training is completed, a WhatsApp group is created after the session, and required tips are given to teachers, said Rammohan Rao. He is aiming to reach the fruits of this programme to over 1 lakh children in the next few years.