The Hindu : School proves a boon to rural students

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 16, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

School proves a boon to rural students

By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao

WARANGAL, FEB. 15. Thirteen-year-old Eslavath Raju wakes up at 5 am to reach school by 6.30 am after walking 3 km from the Seethya thanda, a small hamlet in Parvathagiri mandal. He stays beyond school hours to practice archery and realise his dream of becoming a national champion.

Like Raju, scores of children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who never visited a neighbouring village took part in the State-level archery competitions and made it to the inter-school national archery event in Sangli district of Maharasthra, thanks to the Kalleda Rural School run by the Rural Development Foundation, floated by Good Samaritans. Boys and girls of the school besides winning medals for individual performances secured a gold medal for the team. "We will win more medals and bring name and fame to our district,'' said K Kapil, a student of eighth class.

Teachers at the Kalleda Rural School (KRS) pledged to make every child realise his or her dream come true. Besides making education affordable to the rural poor, the school takes care of individual needs of the children like food, textbooks, notebooks, training in extra curricular activities and taking children to various places across the country. Children hailing from the nook and corners of the mandal appear more confident than those studying in elite educational institutions in any urban area.

Speaking to The Hindu, the headmaster, A Chokka Rao, said that the school has come as a boon to the hapless rural folk. "This was started by E Rammohan Rao and his brothers who are all well settled now. They hail from this place and with a view to giving something back to the village they floated the Rural Development Foundation,'' he explained. The family members gave in lease a huge building to the school in which the family once lived.

The school offers quality education by admitting restricted numbers. Staff at the KRS treat the children compassionately, imbibing a sense of belongingness among every student. The school secured top ranks in the seventh class examinations in the district. With the first batch of SSC about to take examinations, teachers and students are working round-the-clock to bag distinction. "Out of 494, hardly any student misses the class. Since we move very closely with the children, they love to come to school,'' pointed out D Damodar Reddy, a senior master of KRS.

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