Arey O Nikhil…aajaa…madam bularahi hain…, second standard student Abhinav bellowed out as he ran to his class after their headmistress summoned his classmate Nikhil. Abhinav had complained to her that Nikhil was bullying him.
N.I. Harifa, the headmistress, remained nonchalant as the cry in Hindi reverberated along the corridors of the school where Hindi was not even a subject.
But, of late, Hindi has become the lingua franca of Sree Rama Varma Lower Primary School on Chittoor road in the city. It is a government English medium school, where 12 out of the total 36 students are children of migrants who speak in Hindi laced with a smattering of Urdu.
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A once pre-eminent school with a rich legacy has now fallen on hard times. The school, which once had multiple divisions each from LKG to Standard IV, now has only a single division each. The number of classrooms had come down from almost 16 to six over the years.
Ms. Harifa attributed this to the attitude of parents who overlook well-maintained government schools, which ensure free education, including two pairs of uniforms and meal, while forking out money beyond their means to enrol their children in private schools.
The number of students in the school with a capacity to accommodate around 150 was even pathetic two years ago when there were just 17 students. The number improved to 27 last year and reached 36 this year.
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The relative turnaround was brought about after all four teachers in the school canvassed students during vacations and pooled together around Rs.15,000 a month from their own hard-earned salary to arrange two autorickshaw trips each before and after classes. They knew that free conveyance could bring in more students.
“Most of our students are from Thevara region and 20 students from there are using the free trips, which remains a major attraction. More parents are willing to send their children if they are provided free trips,” Ms. Harifa said. But the teachers can’t afford it and the school is looking for sponsorship or support.
Rs.5 for midday mealWith the government support limited to the annual maintenance grant of Rs.7,500 and a school grant of Rs.5,000, the teachers are forced to find more money, including the monthly salary of Rs.3,000 for a teacher recruited to stand in for the headmistress whose preoccupation with administrative jobs leaves her with little time for taking classes.
The government provides a meagre Rs.5 per head for offering midday meal, which is inadequate to provide a decent meal plus egg and milk. That again leaves the school authorities at the mercy of sponsors.
“The school may function as long as teachers are willing to spare their money. But what if newly transferred teachers are reluctant to do it? They will have to; else there will be no school for them to work,” senior teacher M.M. Linet put it bluntly.