TIRUCHY: A week before exams, students are most likely to be preoccupied with their books and the impending papers, especially if they are about to sit for Class 12 board exams. But, imagine painting their classroom a week before the exams! That is exactly what a group of Class 12 students at the Lalgudi Boys Government Higher Secondary School did.
As a parting gift to the institution that nurtured and taught them, the students gave their classroom a gift of cleanliness and went a step beyond in painting it anew.
Prior to the commencement of public exams from May 5, all classes were instructed to clean the scribbling on the walls. Students of Class 12E discussed the classroom's cleanliness with their class teacher Solomon Paulraj.
"We were discussing how to clean the wall. The students pitched in and said that they will paint it anew. They said it was their classroom and that they wanted the next batch to feel good upon arrival. Instead of approaching painters, they took the job on their own shoulders. The painting was completed in less
than a week. A total of five students volunteered to paint the classroom," Paulraj said.
The class comprises of 40 students and all of them, including the class teacher, contributed to buying the paint and other necessary items. M Dhanushkumar, P Gurumoorthy, G Prakash, R Surendran and P Yogeshwaran painted the classroom after school hours. They started work at 4.30 pm and finished it by 7 pm on Tuesday.
Prakash said their idea was to leave behind a clean, neat classroom for their juniors. "The room was dirty, and the walls were scribbled. We wanted the students who will enter 12 E next year to feel good about the room. We hope others clean their classrooms too," he said.
Praising the students, headmaster R Sudhakar, said, "The act of these students is very commendable. They took matters in their own hands and made the changes. Students from other classes have now come forward to paint their classrooms too. These students are inspiring others."