The government higher primary school at Rayarakoplu in Alur taluk — a village where man-elephant conflict is an eternal problem — had only 45 students in 2018-19. In a turnaround, the school, which was started in 1948, has already admitted 280 children this year and many more are queueing up.
This trend is largely attributed to the introduction of English medium in the school after it was upgraded into a Karnataka Public School (KPS) last year. It was merged with a high school and a PU college.
There are 176 such schools across the State and the government has introduced English medium from class 1 in these schools from the current academic year.
When this reporter visited the school, a few parents had come to the school for applications.
Growing demand
“So far, we have issued 747 applications and nearly 400 have taken admission for classes 1 to 10. Among them, 280 have taken admission for the higher primary section (classes 1 to 7). We have been forced to turn back many,” said R.C. Byrappa, principal. As the teaching faculty took the initiative to strengthen the school, an association of old students stepped in to help.
“With the help of old students, we have been able to improve basic infrastructure. The association has also sponsored teachers for pre-primary classes,” said H.H. Devaraj, a teacher in the high school section. The high school has registered 100% results in SSLC in the past three years and that prompted the local people to turn towards this school.
“There are three to four private schools in nearby areas. However, the decision to have English medium from this year has made many parents bring their children to this school cancelling their admission in private schools,” said Mahadev, vice-principal.
At the rate of 40 students per class, the school can accommodate 280 in the higher primary section.
Honnesh Kumar, Block Education Officer (Alur), told The Hindu that it may be difficult to provide quality education if there are more than 40 students in a class.
The school needs additional rooms to accommodate the strength, besides teachers. Chandrashekhar, a resident of Rayarakoplu, said he got his children admitted to the KPS, after cancelling their admission in private schools. “I also studied in this school and the recent results in high school and the introduction of English medium prompted me to admit my children here,” he said.
Mobile apps
The government provided ₹10 lakh to the school for basic infrastructure. This was utilised to strengthen the building, develop smart classes, and install CCTV cameras. The school also has mobile-based applications to inform the parents about the children’s attendance and study progress. The faculty are making efforts to arrange vehicles for pick up and drop as well.
