MANGALURU: Parents pay hefty fees to get their wards educated in private
schools, but a government lower primary school in a village of
Udupi district pays Rs 1,000 to each student. This is to save the school from closure due to poor admissions.
This is an initiative of headmaster Suresh Shetty, who pays students' bond money from his earnings. The school is in Konjady, 50km from
Udupi town. "The school had many Kunbi community students when I took charge three years ago. There were 13 students in all, and the number kept dropping every year. To attract them, I introduced a Rs 1,000 bond to every student who takes admission (from the previous academic year). Now, the number has increased to 28," Shetty told TOI. The school has classes 1 to 5.
It was the only education institution in the area for long after it opened in 1959. Shetty said kids were not turning up because teachers weren't regular. "I made sure two teachers come to school every day. Parents were convinced about it," he said.
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