In January last year, when a group of successful professionals visited their alma mater in Dodballapur taluk, barely 60 km from Bengaluru, they were shocked to see its dilapidated state. The Government Model Higher Primary School in Melekote, which was established in 1905, had not even celebrated its centenary year.
Instead, they found that the building’s tiled roofs were cracked, windows were broken and classroom walls were stained with rain water. Shankar M.R., a Bengaluru-based advocate who had taken the initiative to organise a delayed 100-year-celebration for the school, said, “When we saw the school, we were dejected. People even asked us if there was a need to celebrate the school. But the school had given us so much. It was time for us to do our bit back to ensure that we could restore the glory of the school.”
They decided to pool their resources and overhaul the school that had helped lay the foundation for their future careers. Anil Babu, a software engineer, also from Bengaluru, and Shankar, got in touch with 20 alumni, who each gave ₹ 5,000 for a 'slight' facelift before the celebrations.
Mammoth assignment
They all knew they had a mammoth task ahead of them. “After we got the estimates and chalked out what was needed to be done, we found out that it [the restoration] would cost at least ₹ 10 lakhs. We approached the education department but officials said they were not in a position to provide any financial assistance,” Mr. Babu said.
Children playing at Governament Primary and Middle School at Malekote.
Undeterred, the core group of 20 former students started digging up records of others who had graduated from the Government Model Higher Primary School and collated a directory of around a hundred people. “Many of them had relocated and we were not able to trace them. However, we requested everyone we could reach to visit our school,” said Mr. Shankar.
That was the turning point. Several alumni were in tears when they saw the structure and money —from ₹ 100 to ₹ 2 lakh — started pouring in. They formed a Yuva Spoorthi Trust with the ₹ 15 lakh that they had collected. Another non-profit organisation donated ₹ 10 lakh towards their cause.
In September 2016, the trust formally adopted the school. Its members include software engineers, lawyers, and private and government sector employees who live in different parts of Karnataka.
But every weekend, they would return to the school to oversee its makeover. They renovated five classrooms and an office, and constructed a compound, and on February 8, they held a delayed but triumphant centenary function attended by 2,500 people, including old students, teachers and people from the village.
The next chapter
Shankar, Babu and their friends are trying to do more for the school. This academic year, through the trust, they plan to build better toilets, provide the school with a computer lab and a digital library, and focus on bringing in tools to improve the quality of education.
“The school has improved a lot under the dynamic leadership of these students,” said headmaster Chidanand Aihole.
The school currently has 199 students from Classes I to VIII. Manoj M., a Class VIII student of the school said, “Earlier, we would find it difficult to sit in the class when it rained as the water would seep through the roof. Now, we do not have any problems and our school stands out compared to the rest of the schools in the taluk.”
