New lessons ‘on train’ for tiny tots

The students of Thazhathukulakada DVUP School are in for a surprise on school reopening day.

The little ones will be welcomed not to regular classrooms but train coaches as the school authorities have gone in for a novel plan this academic year.

Their school is now DVUP School Express, a stretch of classrooms-turned-compartments, where they will engage in studies. “This was done to make classes more exciting and pique their curiosity. Sitting in coaches for their classes will make learning a more fun and pleasurable experience for the students. Now they won’t consider attending school a chore,” says Headmaster T.N Hemanth.

The idea of converting classrooms to bogies came from the very famous children’s book Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window, authored by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.

“In the book, there is a school that functions in train carriages and last year we staged a play based on the book. The book inspired us to change the structure of the school,” he says. The school has around 150 students in class 5, 6 and 7 and each class has two divisions. It’s not just the structure as the school follows railway format in everything. Class 7 A is now A7 and staff room and seminar hall were rechristened as SR and SH. “It took us five days of art work to convert the school,” he adds.

Weightless bags

Last year, the school introduced an initiative to reduce the weight of school bags by providing two sets of textbooks.

“The students were given old and new textbooks. While the new ones were taken home, old texts were kept at school. We also provided plates and glasses for lunch so that the students can come to school more freely,” he says. The school also boasts classrooms under the shade of trees complete with bamboo benches.