KADAPA: The introduction of ‘Nadu-Nedu’ scheme has given a vibrant look to all public schools, which today appear as swanky as any private institution.
Nearly 70 per cent of students have been attending classes ever since schools were reopened five days back. A more encouraging aspect has been that schools are reporting a marked improvement in fresh enrollment, which is nearly 8,000 new enrollments in the past five days.
In keeping with the scheme proposals, classrooms have been painted; new blackboards and desks are provided; classrooms now have fans; toilets are remodelled and Reverse Osmosis (RO) water plants have been installed to provide clean and fresh drinking water.
The Gandhinagar Municipal High School here has an overall strength of 972 students from standard six to 10 and on an average over 700 students are attending classes every day. It has had 150 new admissions in the last four days. The school has a total of 41 rooms, all of which have been renovated under the scheme.
Meanwhile, all students expressed delight at the new-look.
Aravind, a 10th standard student, said the atmosphere in classrooms was inspiring as also the books and kits that have been provided.
"I'm happier at school than at home," he says. Another student, Vishwanath, said “The school now has all the facilities that we need. Even though I have been studying in the same school all these years, it seems like I have come to a new school.”
However, while there is a requirement for 33 teachers, seven posts remain vacant. The headmistress said that it was embarrassing to have a single attendant for such a large school.
Zilla Parishat Girls' High School in Jayanagar has 580 students and it has reported 150 new admissions. Headmistress in-charge of the school Indraja said that parents are still coming for admissions. The school has renovated twenty classrooms and set up shuttle badminton and basketball courts. However, Jayanagar colony gets flooded when there is even a slight excess of rainfall. This impacts the school premises considerably. Hemalatha, studying ninth, said the school environment had changed completely and it was a lot of fun. Madhavi, another student, said the blackboards and desks were very nice.
On the faculty front, there are only 12 teachers of the 20 required.
Students said that they were happy to be in the classroom. Around 65 to 70 per cent of students have been attending classes in the district, which has a total of 4,653 schools with an overall strength of 4,15,635 students. Over three lakh students have been attending classes regularly.
From Kadapa district, 1040 schools have been selected in the first phase of the Nadu-Nedu scheme. To take up the 6,591 works that have been sanctioned, the government has released Rs 278.32 crore. As of date, 6,586 works have been completed, including toilets with uninterrupted water supply, installation of fans and tubelights, green chalk boards, construction of compound walls besides some major and minor repairs.
