Of letters and human niceties

Geetha H.K., a teacher of Government Lower Primary School at Yelagudige near Aldur in Chikkamagaluru taluk, has won many a heart by writing letters to her students enquiring about them during lockdown. Her gesture has been well appreciated by many, including Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S. Suresh Kumar.

She posted letters to all her 16 students on May 31, 2021. The letters reached the students on June 1. “Within minutes after they received my letters, students and their parents started calling me over phone. For many students, it was the first letter addressed to them in their life. They were all thrilled and thanked me for writing to them,” Ms. Geetha said.

The teacher was impressed when Deekshith, a class II student, called her over phone after receiving her letter and enquired about her health. “I was moved by his call. That day, I was on phone for nearly three hours as every student called me one after the other,” she said.

Ms. Geetha has been teaching for the last 19 years. Earlier, she worked in Bhadravati and Mudigere taluks before joining the school at Yelagudige 10 years ago.

She teaches 16 students in the village of 45 households. She got this idea of writing letters at a review meeting chaired by Mr. Suresh Kumar, during his visit to Chikkamagaluru on May 17.

He had suggested that teachers in high schools write letters to students in SSLC and motivate them to keep studying, without wasting time during the lockdown.

“I got the idea from his suggestion and wrote letters to my students. In each letter, I enquired about their health and their parents health, besides advising them on their studies. I had pointed out the special quality of each student in each letter,” she said.

The teacher wrote her letters on inland letter. Besides, she sent empty inland letter to all so that they could reply. “Some have replied to my letters, while a few have taken the help of their parents to write back,” she said.

Mr. Suresh Kumar has, in his Facebook account, posted that the State was fortunate to have such a kind-hearted teacher.