Old KSRTC bus to be remodelled as classroom

Thiruvananthapuram: The department of computational biology and bioinformatics in Karyavattom campus is getting ready to give a different learning experience to students. An abandoned KSRTC bus from the Pappanamcode depot was transported to the campus with the help of a crane to set up a classroom in the front of the department. Being the first phase of converting the bus to a classroom, the students have completely changed the seating rules written in each of the seats to ‘Sapnasanchari’, ‘Padippist’ and more, instead of women, men and the disabled.
Other works, including painting and wiring are in progress. The classroom is expected to be inaugurated next month by the transport minister. The bus is set up in such a way that the front row of seats is removed and the driver’s seat is used as a whiteboard, to add a fun touch to the effort, they have also designated a student as the conductor. The bus can accommodate around 40 people at a time. At first, the department was planning to get a train boggy and later it was dropped due to the difficulty in getting through the formalities. They requested the transport department to allot an old bus four years ago.
Earlier, the department had tried different ways in setting up a classroom, including the Kalari battlefield.
“In Kerala, colleges which have specially designed spaces are very less. It is also very expensive to construct designed buildings. So, we thought about this idea of reusing a KSRTC bus to create an extraordinary space,” said Achuth Shankar, head of the department.