KOPPAL: As a noble gesture, a 10-member group of government school teachers have volunteered to improve the state of decades-old government schools in Koppal taluk, at their own expense.
It was on Teachers’ Day last year that a casual conversation between these like-minded teachers, set the ball rolling with regard to their cause to voluntarily uplift government schools that were reportedly left neglected. They decided to bear the cost of painting the school buildings, and have so far painted as many as 14 of them, including the BEO’s office in Koppal.
Painting each school costs around Rs 40,000 and the teachers have been willingly paying for it on their own, said Hanumantappa Kuri, a group member and cluster resource person. “We choose a government school building and take up its painting work on a Sunday. We commence our work by 6 am and see that we finish by late evening, with all 10 members joining in,” said another teacher Beerappa Andagi.
The other teachers include Kashinath Sirigeri, Sharanappa, Chandru, Suresh Kambali, Hulugappa Bhajantri, Veeresh, Guruswamy and Mallappa Gudadannavar.
So far, they have painted government primary schools in Iaakalgada Alwandi, Hitnal, Hosalli, Kavali, Chilakhamukhi, Mangalapur, Kutaganahalli, and Chamalapur villages of Koppal taluk, in addition to a government school in Kuvempu Nagar, besides the aforementioned BEO’s office. Koppal BEO Umesh Pujar said that the team has been accorded permission to push ahead with their noble cause.