Tirupur: Have you ever heard of dowry system in education field? Yes, you heard it right. The parent-teacher association (PTA) of a government primary school here has come up with the idea of ‘Kalvi Seer’, a verbatim translation of which would mean education gift, to give facelift to the school by improving its infrastructure to woo more students.
The move comes at a time when many government schools are being shut down due to erosion of patronage.
The panchayat union primary school at Kavithalakshmi Nagar at Anupparpalayam was started in 2007 and it mainly benefits the children from labourer community families.
Though it was converted into a corporation school after the area was brought under the limits of Tirupur corporation, it is still called panchayat union primary school.
“When I joined the school as headmistress, the student strength was just 24. Now, it stands at 152. This year itself, 51 students have joined newly. Of them, 40 have taken admission to Class I,” said M Karpagam, headmistress of the school.
Apart from good teaching, the school provides good environment to the students. “Students are trained in extra-curricular activities, including yoga, karate, dance and chess, to name a few. So, I have put my two children in the school,” said K Suresh, a parent.
Recalling the old days, Karpagam said they had a difficult phase when the school was started next to Anupparpalayam weekly market, where garbage would be dumped. “The place was too small, but we later managed to expand the school with the space given from the market,” the headmistress added.
Recently, a decision was taken to give facelift to the school. But funds were an issue. “In order to improve the infrastructure and facilities, I requested the parents to contribute. Many readily obliged. Since they were donations meant for the welfare of their children, I asked them to provide them as ‘Kalvi Seer’ to the school,” the headmistress told TOI.
Subsequently, they painted the building with drawings, making it attractive for the kids. “Now, we have got computer, printer, fans, table and chairs as ‘seer’,” said Ramadass, PTA member.
As in the case of dowry given to a bride, there was a procession for ‘Kalvi Seer’ as well that started from Selva Vinayagar temple on Avinashi Road at Anupparpalayal Pudur. Teachers, students and parents took part in the procession that featured a troupe playing drums.