Admissions open for L.K.G. to 8th standard, says a flyer the Coimbatore Corporation Middle School, Masakalipalayam, printed in English and Tamil.
Beneath a collage of pictures, the flyer says why parents should choose the school: loving and hygiene atmosphere, wide and varied curriculum, competent and qualified staff, well-equipped library, free medical check up and laurels the students have won.
The flyer that mentions phone numbers, a WhatsApp number, Facebook link and an email address also says that the school provides sports uniform, stationery, bound books, accident insurance and much more.
The school had planned the flyer for distribution among parents in Masakalipalayam but its digital copy, shared on social media platforms, went viral evoking immediate response, says P. Sakthivel, a teacher. “Within a couple of days, we, the teachers, got 100 enquiries and the schools is about to admit at least 20 students.”
Even as Mr. Sakthivel went about finalising the flyer’s design with help from colleague Mary Divya, who mooted the idea, the school’s English teacher P. Latha sought admission for her two daughters in the school. “I want my children to be beneficiaries of the change we, the teachers, are bringing to the school and provide them good education, as I have witnessed the change in students in the school,” she says.
Ms. Latha enrolling her daughters in her school is perhaps the best testimony to the change the teachers have brought about to the school, as no parent wants to transfer his or her child from a private school to a government institution, says R. Raveendran, Secretary, Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore.
The change started more than a year ago with the transfer of K. Mythili as the head mistress. Under her guidance the teachers got together to improve the atmosphere to provide a better learning environment.
Mr. Sakthivel followed it up securing internet connection at no cost for a computer in the school. “A private service provider agreed to give a free connection, which we used in out smart classroom, where we take the students to hear and show audio and visual content to supplement the lessons they have learnt.”
Mr. Raveendran adds: seeing the students’ enthusiasm to learn and the teachers’ commitment, the service provider gladly agreed to provide a connection to each of the eight classrooms in the school, again at no cost. “That is why the school has claimed in the flyer that it is the first municipal corporation school in the State to have internet connection in every classrooms,” adds Ms. Mythili.
These changes the teachers were making to the school spread through word of mouth in the locality resulting in parents seeking admission in May-June 2018.
Abbas C. Kabeer, a parent, says when he transferred his son from a private school, where he could not pay fee, to the Masakalipalayam school, he was apprehensive. “Initially I was worried as the quality of education and my son's, Azaruddin's, ability to adapt. This worry vanished in two months as the teachers frequently held parent-teacher sessions.”
J. Jerome, another parent, too shares a similar opinion.
Even as they went about bring about the change, one step at a time, the teachers also brought the students under a group insurance scheme with a ₹ 1 lakh coverage. This resulted in the strength going up from around 90 to 145 in a year, the head mistress says.
The school now wants to carry forward the change with more students to the ensuing 2019-20 academic year and that is the reason that it printed the flyer. But then there is always the possibility of the Coimbatore Corporation transferring the teachers and the successors being not as enthusiastic as the incumbents.
“Yes, there is such a possibility and as a parent I'm apprehensive of it. But as a teacher I'm confident that those teachers who remain in the school will take along the new teachers to help the school grow from strength to strength,” says Ms. Latha.