Heritage school regains lost glory, thanks to alumni

From 300 students in 2014, the number is set to touch 1,000 this year

The Model Higher Primary School in Vitla near Mangaluru was set up 140 years ago.

For 47-year-old Subraya Pai, a grocery shop owner and a cashewnut trader from Vitla, working for the revival of a government school that caters to children from economically and socially backward families is akin to religion. “You have to spend just a portion of what is given to Brahmakalashotsava (a service in temples) for the image makeover of these schools,” he says.

Mr. Pai has shown how this can work in the Model Higher Primary School, a heritage school set up 140 years ago. It was here that he and his father studied. He is a member of the Bharati Janardhana Seva Trust, set up in the name of his parents, that has adopted the school since 2014.

From 300 students at the time of adoption, the number of students in this school is set to reach 1,000 this year. “That was the number of students when I studied,” says Mr. Pai with pride. He is also happy with the government recognising the school as among the 100 government schools that will teach in English medium from this year.

The government allowed this school to have English medium of instruction for classes 6 to 8 in 2014, while Kannada medium education continued for classes 1 to 5. The government has posted 15 teachers, while the trust pays for the services of 11 additional teachers that include those exclusively for spoken English, art, and moral education.

While the trust has carried out repairs of the old building, Ajit Kumar Rai, an old student, built a new block of 10 classrooms in 2018 at a cost of ₹1.5 crore. One among the 10 classrooms is digital and used for presentations on science and mathematics. Mr. Rai’s colleague Iyano Williamson donated modern furniture to the classrooms.

The trust started LKG in the school in 2017. It has involved local grocery shop owners in its initiative to provide breakfast to students from last year.

Mr. Pai is hoping that the State government grants the school permission to open a secondary school section. “If we get the secondary school section, these children will get quality education for all 10 years and will not be forced to discontinue studies for want of money to study in private schools,” he says.