MADIKERI: A school on Kodagu’s border with Kerala that was on the verge of closure is on the path to revival, following the efforts of an NGO. The Kannada high school at Karike has now been turned into a smart class, with teachers volunteering to take online classes for rural children.
The Karike Government High School was on the verge of closure after three teachers there opted for transfer. The school had just one permanent teacher this academic year, who also serves as acting headmaster.
The residents were worried about the future of their children. Nevertheless, NGO Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) came to their aid. “SVYM has been active in the district since 2017, as we introduced mobile science labs for the students of government schools after tying up with Rotary institutions. We were approached by the district education department to depute teachers to the border school at Karike,” explained Praveen Kumar S, the education head and CEO of SVYM.
As a first approach, SVYM requested the network of teachers who volunteer with it to take classes at the school. Three teachers volunteered. “The three teachers visited the school during the vacation and conducted classes. Over 100 students of the school visited the institution during Dasara holidays to attend the classes,” Praveen said.
As a second approach, SVYM called for more teachers to volunteer to teach at the institution. “Under the initiative of Vignyana Vedike, SVYM has a big network of science and maths teachers, who visited Karike and taught the students,” he said.
Further, as a third initiative, SVYM introduced smart classes at the school. Audio-visual study content developed by the NGO was used to teach the students maths and science and this arrangement will continue at the institution till the end of the academic year.
“The problem at the Karike school will find a permanent solution only with the appointment of teachers. However, we have started online classes through a smart class setup, which will continue regularly till the end of this academic year,” he confirmed.