Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

An honour he never expected

R. Sujatha

Karnataka teacher wins green award for his untiring work

Ramakrishnappa. — Photo : R. Shivaji Rao

CHENNAI: For this science teacher from the remote village of Venkatapura in Pavagada Taluk of Tumkur district in Karnataka it is an honour that he never expected. For more than a decade now he has served as a resource person in his village inculcating in 40,000 students in and around his village and in other parts of the State a desire to conserve Nature.

"My school opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m. anybody can walk into my school at any time," says Ramakrishnappa, assistant master at Government PU College in Venkatapura, who retires this yearend. "My family lives 200 km away. My wife Sarvamangala is a village woman. She manages my family, finance and my coconut grove."

The only science teacher in the school, he also teaches mathematics to the 367 students in his school though his main subjects are physics and chemistry. The physical education teacher of the school Ananda Krishnappa assists him in his bio-diversity programme for schoolchildren. Mr. Ramakrishnappa is the recipient of the fifth CPR Environmental Education Centre award for environmental education.

"My village is situated in the border of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and has naxalite activity." He terms his activities as people's science movement. "We include bird watching, biodiversity, interaction with farmers, hunters, traditional practitioners and forest producers. It [the movement] respects gender equity, the common man and the student community."

Apart from programmes to introduce students to Nature, he has helped form 1,200 self-help groups for women in Tumkur under Continuing Education Centre. He has written three books and a team led by him is studying the behaviour of captive elephants in temples.

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