School teachers of the Panchayat Union Middle School at Pirattiyur have pooled in money to paint the walls of their school colourfully.
Though the school has got additional classrooms with a fresh coat of paint, the teachers decided to improve on it.
The work, which was initiated during the lockdown included painting colourful cartoon characters for the primary classrooms, drawing portraits of freedom fighters and writing proverbs and morals.
The idea was the brainchild of K. Asha Rani, Headmistress of the school, where students up to class 8 study. “This was the best time to do it as the children would not be around. The new classrooms were to be used from the upcoming academic year, and as part of the renovations, we decided to change the look of the school,” she said.
Each classroom also has a painted chart of phonetic pronunciations of important conversational words. “We take an active interest in teaching our children to converse in English. Because of this, our children have won innumerable elocution competitions,” Ms. Devi said.
The students of the school have become famous in the locality for speaking in English and have renamed the school “e-campus,” with the “e” standing for English. “All our subjects are taught here in English. Even though Tamil is our life, English is required by the society. The children are therefore taught to speak in English but to never forget their roots,” Ms. Devi said.
The teachers have also had hoardings painted to promote the school on at least 22 walls in a five-kilometre radius around the school. The advertisement announces the achievements of the school to the reader, M. Ramesh Kumar, Vice-Principal said.
The hoardings have brought at least 60 new enquiries to the school, which already has a strength of 250 students. “This year, we will increase our school strength to at least 500. If the private schools can market, why can’t we? Mr. Ramesh asked.
The entire effort cost ₹30,000 and it meant that the teachers, especially the headmistress and the vice-principal went to school every day, even during the lockdown. “We have meticulously planned this and had to see it through,” they said.