Schools in Puttur remember Kalam

A programme was held at the Government Secondary School in Irde village near Puttur on Wednesday to mark the first death anniversary of the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

It’s the Vision to Mission talk by the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that inspired teachers of Puttur to implement Mission 95+, a programme to help slow learners pass Class 10 exam and Vision Puttur, a programme to improve the image of government schools.

On Wednesday, 76 government schools in Puttur block held programmes to remember Kalam on his first death anniversary.

While remembering the ideals of Kamal, students, teachers and members of school development and management committees recalled the benefits of the two programmes that brought a positive change in the perception about government schools.

Mission 95 + was mooted by Puttur Block Education Officer G.S. Shashidhar in 2014 for improving the pass percentage of students appearing in Class 10. The focus of the programme was slow learners.

Team

A team of 24 teachers was formed to bring out subject-wise booklets that focus on topics that slow learners should concentrate on. Apart from holding special night classes, teachers visited houses of Class 10 students during the examination preparation period to boost confidence.

This effort yielded results with marked improvement in the overall pass percentage of students in Class 10 exam in 2015 and 2016.

The Puttur block recorded a pass percentage of 89.11 in 2015 against the 79.76 recoded in 2014. There has been further improvement this year with a pass percentage of 89.2.

This programme was being adopted in other education blocks of Dakshina Kannada, which has improved its ranking from 29th position in 2014 to third position in 2016.

Deputy Director of Public Instruction Walter D’Mello said the programme was being continued this year too and the aim was to reach the top position.

As part of Vision Puttur programme, government schools in Puttur are implementing Gubbachhi speaking course, devised to improve communication English among students from classes 1 to 4. Some of the government schools in the block have started kindergartens and English medium classes.

The schools are also coming up with ‘kuteeras’ (thatched huts) on school premises to train students in native skills. School development and management committee members are actively involved in all these tasks.

The inspiration for Mission 95+ came from a talk delivered by the former President