Villagers of interior Edula Lingampet village in Medipalli mandal here have set an example by increasing the enrolment rate in government schools by involving the entire village community.
When the Government Primary School and Zilla Parishad High School in the village were on the verge of closure due to low enrolment of 14 and 24 students respectively last year, the villagers, with the help of government teachers, regrouped and strove to increase the enrolment to 150 and 80 students respectively, in both the schools.
It all started with the motivation given by ZPHS headmaster Kalikota Tirumal. Village Sarpanch Vijayshankar and other community elders formed into Village Education Development Committee (VEDC) and each house donated Rs. 200 for beautification of the primary school. Later, caste sanghams, youth organisations and NRIs living in the Gulf nations donated for the development of the schools.
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Following an assurance given by the school management to provide English-medium education, the villagers stopped sending their wards to private schools for which they used to shell out Rs. 9,000 for each student. Now, they are just to contribute Rs. 2,500 per each student for sending their children to government schools. With the amount contributed by parents, the VEDC has purchased uniform and other accessories for schoolchildren. Besides, they have also appointed Vidya volunteers and ayahas to look after the nursery and primary school children. They are given salary from the funds collected from the villagers.
Also, the villagers have given a makeover to the ZP High School by taking up repairs and painting the building. They have also mobilised funds to the tune of Rs. 6 lakh and have constructed dais, kitchen and toilets, dug a bore-well, bought furniture and other teaching aids etc. VEDC member Janga Reddy said the villagers were saving Rs. 7,000 per annum by admitting their children in government school. “We ourselves told the teachers to provide education and leave the development part to us,” said Sarpanch Vijayshankar.
The role of community in protecting the government schools was laudable, said ZPHS headmaster Mr. Tirumal. Now that the schools’ strength has increased, we urge the government to sanction additional classrooms, toilets and compound walls, he said.
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