Art teacher makes portraits to congratulate school toppers

Tirupur: Students of the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Udumalpet were pleasantly surprised to find hand-painted portraits of three Class X quarterly exam toppers adorning the otherwise stark notice board.
Art teacher B Narayanan, who put up the portraits, said he wanted to encourage students to excel in studies. “We used to put up the names of five students, who scored good marks, on the notice board. I decided to make it more inspiring and made watercolour paintings of three toppers in the recent exam. The initiative will create healthy competition and motivate more students, especially the 150 Class X students, to focus on academics,” he told TOI.
The portraits have certainly caught the fancy of students. “Several students told me that they will work hard to score good marks in the half-yearly exam to have their portraits on the notice board,” Narayanan added.
Headmaster C Rajasekeran is now planning to adopt the method to inspire Class XII students. “The state government, a few years ago, had banned displaying mugshots of board exam toppers. We plan to display portraits of toppers in quarterly and half-yearly exams to encourage them to do well in the next exam.”